Birra Etrusca Bronze
(has 2 batches)
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, Delaware, United States 🇺🇸
Collab with: Birra del Borgo / Birrificio BaladinTraditional Beer - Gruit Rotating Out of Production
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Score
6.83
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This Ancient Ale proves that beside the wine on every Italian's dinner table, there should also be a place for beer.
To develop the recipe for Birra Etrusca Bronze, Dogfish Head's Sam Calagione traveled to Rome with molecular archaeologist Dr. Pat McGovern. With the help of Birreria Brother Brewers Leo DeVencenzo of Birra del Borgo and Teo Musso of Baladin, they analyzed drinking vessels found in 2,800-year-old Etruscan tombs.
Although Italian historians were a little reluctant to admit it, the team clearly found that the Etruscans had a taste for ale.
"In every part of the process, we go for as much authenticity as we can," Calagione says. "Ingredients are often tough to track down, and there can be financial and logistical challenges, but we really love embracing these risks to bring these beers to market."
The backbone of Birra Etrusca comes from two-row malted barley and an heirloom Italian wheat. Specialty ingredients include hazelnut flour, pomegranates, Italian chestnut honey, Delaware wildflower honey and clover honey. A handful of whole-flower hops are added, but the bulk of the bitterness comes from gentian root and the sarsaparilla-like Ethiopian myrrh resin.
Birra del Borgo and Baladin also will brew a version of Birra Etrusca, and to add complexity and variety, each brewery will ferment its batches with different traditional materials. Dogfish will use bronze, Baladin will use wood, and Birra del Borgo will use terra cotta.
Bottles of Dogfish Head's Etrusca will first be released in December 0f 2012.
To develop the recipe for Birra Etrusca Bronze, Dogfish Head's Sam Calagione traveled to Rome with molecular archaeologist Dr. Pat McGovern. With the help of Birreria Brother Brewers Leo DeVencenzo of Birra del Borgo and Teo Musso of Baladin, they analyzed drinking vessels found in 2,800-year-old Etruscan tombs.
Although Italian historians were a little reluctant to admit it, the team clearly found that the Etruscans had a taste for ale.
"In every part of the process, we go for as much authenticity as we can," Calagione says. "Ingredients are often tough to track down, and there can be financial and logistical challenges, but we really love embracing these risks to bring these beers to market."
The backbone of Birra Etrusca comes from two-row malted barley and an heirloom Italian wheat. Specialty ingredients include hazelnut flour, pomegranates, Italian chestnut honey, Delaware wildflower honey and clover honey. A handful of whole-flower hops are added, but the bulk of the bitterness comes from gentian root and the sarsaparilla-like Ethiopian myrrh resin.
Birra del Borgo and Baladin also will brew a version of Birra Etrusca, and to add complexity and variety, each brewery will ferment its batches with different traditional materials. Dogfish will use bronze, Baladin will use wood, and Birra del Borgo will use terra cotta.
Bottles of Dogfish Head's Etrusca will first be released in December 0f 2012.
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7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottle @ Post-Easter Procrastination, Ulfborg. Pours clear amber with small and quickly disappearing off-white head. Clear aroma of malt, caramel and barrel, with notes of yeast. Sweetish flavour of malt and fruit with notes of fruit and barrel. Acidic aftertaste. Quite boozy - in fact, it tastes of more than the 8.5% stated on the label. Okay, though-
Tried
from Bottle
on 11 Apr 2015
at 14:10
7/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
tap - This unusual amber brew has almost no head. It has a mild, yeasty, malt aroma. The flavor is sweet and yeasty, somehow spicy like Belgian yeast to me. Carbonation is low and alcohol is apparent. Interesting. Frankly the flavors are hard to place, but it’s pretty good.
Tried
from Draft
on 10 Jan 2015
at 14:41
6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Glass, 16 ounces, draught, drunk at Hopleaf, savoured on September 27 2014; eye: bronze, clear, no effervescence, no head, no lacing; nose: malt, light sourness, light acidity, light spices, slight medicinal; mouth: malt, light sourness, light acidity, light spices, slight medicinal, light hops, finale in light medicinal with slight presence of hops, medium body, quite carbonated, slightly bitter, slick texture; overall: interesting FRANÇAIS Verre, 16 onces, en fût, bue chez Hopleaf, voyage à Chicago, savourée le 27 septembre 2014; œil : bronze, limpide, pas d’effervescence, pas de mousse, pas de dentelle; nez : malt, légère aigreur, légère acidité, léger épices, très léger médicinal; bouche : malt, légère aigreur, légère acidité, léger épices, très léger médicinal, léger houblon, finale en léger médicinal avec très légère présence de houblon, corps moyen, pas mal carbonatée, très légèrement amère, texture coulante; en résumé : intéressante
Tried
on 06 Jan 2015
at 18:13
5.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 4
Overall 5.5
Draft: Poured a light amber color ale with a medium size foamy head with OK retention and minimal lacing. Aroma of hazelnut and unrefined grain is more or less interesting. Taste is also dominated by unrefined grain with some strong notes of hazelnut with some residual sugars which is probably derived of the honey that was added to this beer. Body is light with medium carbonation and with no apparent alcohol. I appreciate all the historical research that went into this beer but not sure I really enjoy the final product enough to try this one again.
Tried
from Draft
on 22 Aug 2014
at 11:21
6.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6
750ml bottle purchased @ One Stop Market back in March 2013. Snifter displays a amber with a (dare I say) Bronze color. Lasting ring of head with some retention. Aroma reminds me of incense burning in a Middle Eastern flea market. Sir, would you like to buy a Persian rug? No seriously, It smells like incense, that’s all I get.
Flavor has light pomegranate juice, Lightly tart, cracked black pepper and hints of some type of honey. Lightly grainy body and has some wheat feel to it. The carbonation is lively that kicks up the pepper flavor quite a bit. Medium- bodied, moderate carbonation. Texture is on the syrupy sweet side. I really wanted to like this but… meh. It’s just ok. Different indeed.
Flavor has light pomegranate juice, Lightly tart, cracked black pepper and hints of some type of honey. Lightly grainy body and has some wheat feel to it. The carbonation is lively that kicks up the pepper flavor quite a bit. Medium- bodied, moderate carbonation. Texture is on the syrupy sweet side. I really wanted to like this but… meh. It’s just ok. Different indeed.
Tried
from Bottle
on 04 May 2014
at 12:42
6.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
750ml bottle. Unfiltered red-orange. Initially foamy head fades away after a few minutes. An oddball beverage, not really many beer characteristics. Pomegranate, some honey sweetness. Tastes like an African fermented beverage. Has some depth, grows on you. Comes off bigger than the 8.5% would suggest sometimes, spiced, fruited mead tones. A unique beverage, but not that stupendous of a beer.
Tried
from Bottle
on 23 Apr 2014
at 21:09