Birra Messina Cristalli di Sale
Heineken Italia in Milan/Milano (MI), Lombardy, Italy 🇮🇹
Lager - Premium Regular|
Score
5.60
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Unfiltered Sicilian lager brewed with salt crystals for a smooth, balanced, and floral finish
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7/10
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Appearance 7
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 7
Overall 7
Przyjemny pijany lager, flagowiec z solą z Trapani będąc w Palermo i nie spróbować ich lokalnego piwa to grzech.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Jun 2026
at 13:04
5.1/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 5
Texture 5
Overall 5
500ml bottle, drunk whilst listening out for birds by our apartment in Sinalunga, Tuscany. Misty golden yellow pour, white head. Tempered sweet malt with a modest salt influence, seems a little subdued, mild bitter close. A touch average flavour-wise.
Tried
from Bottle
on 25 Apr 2026
at 14:27
6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6.5
Flavor 7
Texture 7
Overall 7
Bottle, 0.5l. Cloudy copper pour, huge creamy off-white head, long lasting, sticky lacing on the glass. Nice on the nose, grainy and grassy notes, bready, mild spice.
Light to medium body, soft carbonation. Smooth mouthfeel and texture, soft, slightly fizzy, chewy, easily drinkable. Nicely balanced bittersweet taste. Aroma of grains, grass, bread. Hay, some floral notes, light spice. Wheat in the aftertaste, light fruity notes. Medium lasting finish, slightly dry, light spice, subtle salty.
Pretty good actually. Refreshing.
Light to medium body, soft carbonation. Smooth mouthfeel and texture, soft, slightly fizzy, chewy, easily drinkable. Nicely balanced bittersweet taste. Aroma of grains, grass, bread. Hay, some floral notes, light spice. Wheat in the aftertaste, light fruity notes. Medium lasting finish, slightly dry, light spice, subtle salty.
Pretty good actually. Refreshing.
Tried
from Bottle
on 25 Apr 2026
at 13:29
7.1/10
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Appearance 7
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 7
Overall 7.5
Unfiltered pale lager flavoured with salt crystals, representing the beer's history as a Sicilian brand founded in 1923, taken over - via Dreher - by Heineken in 1988 and now produced no longer in Sicily (the brewery there was closed in 2007) but in Puglia. Thanks to my girlfriend for bringing me a bottle of this all the way from Venice! Thick and rocky, egg-white, fluffy, slowly receding but generally stable head, lightly misty warm deep golden robe with olive-greenish tinge and lots of fine sparkling; turning more hazy with sediment. Aroma of dry white bread, dry straw, freshly cut dandelion leaves, young garden weeds in early spring, pumice and baking soda - the latter doubtlessly representing those mysterious salt crystals. Spritzy onset, utterly minerally, with the minerality brought by lively effervescence being amplified by those crystals, which add again a somewhat soapy, baking soda-like effect, though in a crisp, non-obnoxious way; rounded cereally pale maltiness with a bit 'more' to it, slightly 'beefier' than your average pale lager, cracker-like as it were, with more breadiness in the finish due to the yeast residue. A mugwort- and dandelion-like hop bitterishness lingers at the back, notably more so than is averagely the case in a pale lager made by a macrobrewing company. The added salt crystals, something I never saw in a lager (only in Gose), do bring an extra layer of minerality here and are clearly noticeable in both aroma and taste, but other than this odd gimmick, this lager is quite clean, sleek and pure especially for a Heineken product. German style Kellerbier-ish unfiltered lager with a special twist to it: this was more interesting than I anticipated, and in my view deserves a slightly higher rating here.
Tried
on 17 Apr 2026
at 22:06
5.5/10
Tried
from Bottle
on 01 Apr 2026
at 19:54
6.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6.5
Texture 6
Overall 6
Dorada mínimamente turbia. De abundante espuma de buena retención. Aroma ligeramente floral. Suave al paladar, ligeramente punzante de gas. Seca con un punto de sal. Sabor malteado y notas florales.
Tried
from Bottle
on 28 Mar 2026
at 18:50
4.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 3.5
Flavor 3.5
Texture 5
Overall 5.5
Złociste wchodzące w jasny bursztyn, lekko zamglone z pianą która szybko opada. Aromat słodowy, w smaku podobnie dominują nuty słodowe, goryczka w zaniku. Typowy lager koncernowy
Tried
from Bottle
on 14 Feb 2026
at 14:08
5.5/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 5.5
Flavor 5.5
Texture 5
Overall 5.5
50 cl, bottle.
Weird beer, somewhere between a lager and a weizen. I liked it, but I'm not sure I would drink this regularly..
Weird beer, somewhere between a lager and a weizen. I liked it, but I'm not sure I would drink this regularly..
Tried
from Bottle
on 11 Jan 2026
at 16:02
5.5/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 5.5
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
330ml bottle. Opalescent, orange, dark golden to amber colour with average, frothy, half-way lasting, minimally lacing, white head. Slightly bready, minimally strawy, minimally toasty, pale malty and minimally doughy, yeasty aroma, leafy and minimally citrusy hoppy overtones, hints of white bread crust, whiffs of nettle, lemon balm. Taste is slightly bready and minimally toasty pale malty, slightly leafy and minimally citrusy hoppy, hints of white bread crust, a touch of nettle and lemon balm.
Oily-watery texture, smooth and soft, minimally greasy palate, medium, mildly prickly carbonation.
Simple and monotonous, fairly drinkable - so-so.
Oily-watery texture, smooth and soft, minimally greasy palate, medium, mildly prickly carbonation.
Simple and monotonous, fairly drinkable - so-so.
Tried
from Bottle
from
Pakhuis Twente
on 21 Dec 2025
at 15:52
6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Pleasant and easy drinkable lager.
Pale malt, herbal, floral and mild bread.
[Bottle from Gundersen Travel]
Pale malt, herbal, floral and mild bread.
[Bottle from Gundersen Travel]
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Nov 2025
at 18:16