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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6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
On tap at Rose and Crown. Lots of spice and sweet juice in the nose. Pours a brownish red with off-white head. Clear. Taste if spice and did with very dry finish. Some nice floral notes throughout. Little nuttiness at the death.
Tried
from Draft
on 14 Feb 2013
at 18:17
6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Thanks to JPDurden24 for sharing this. It pours with a copper colored body supporting a light tan head. The aroma is all candy and fresh Hubba Bubbu bubble gum. Hmm the gum note could also leaned toward the gum you used to get in a pack of trading cards back in the late ‘70s. Alright, this is so sugary bubble gum I really can’t get anything else anymore. The taste is straight up Hubba Bubba bubble gum mixing with light amounts of the odd spice or two, some honey and then a ginger sensation into the finish. Interesting and just too reminiscent of sugary bubble gum from my youth for me.
Tried
from Can
on 28 Jan 2013
at 17:26
6.6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Another odd experience. Pours clear copper with good lacing. Smells a bit like hefeweizen yeast. Light carbonation, medium consistency. Has an overall feel of a hefe with random extras. Honey present but not hugely. Taste has light sourness. Bottle at tasting.
Tried
from Bottle
on 25 Jan 2013
at 11:28
3.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 3
Flavor 4
Texture 4
Overall 3.5
Green beans and candi nose, weird. Clear copper, thick off-white head. Less vegetal on the palate, tart pomegranate. Odd hint of coffee in the finish, that turns out to be the best thing about it. Pomegranate isn’t something I want in beer. As a matter of fact, I don’t like pomegranate at all.
Tried
from Can
on 18 Jan 2013
at 16:58
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Pours deep ruby-tinged amber into a tulip. White head with medium retention recedes to mottle surface leaving no lacing. Spring flowers, hazelnut and bubblegum aromas. Dry with sweet honey and pomegranate upfront turning to hazelnut in the middle before a lasting flowery finish.
Tried
on 17 Jan 2013
at 15:00
8.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 9
750 ml bottle. Pours a slightly hazy bronze hue with a medium beige head with good retention. Aroma is doughy and full of clovey phenols, honey, grain, fried corn tortilla, earthy. Taste is lightly sweet and savory before turning on a lightly sour note (from the pomegranates, I imagine). Body is a little on the thin side. This is really well made and put together; quite tasty.
Tried
from Bottle
on 12 Jan 2013
at 18:30
6.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Location: 750 ml bottle from Buy Rite, 1/6/13
Aroma: It is extremely sweet with a ton going on: fruits, spices, bread, and nuts to name a few
Appearance: Pours a clear darker orange color with a beige head and without much lace
Flavor: The flavor is highly complex and super sweet much like the nose, it's quite interesting
Palate: This one is has a clean feel, is quite a bit cloying, and has a long, sticky finish
Overall Impression: This one is more interesting then good, but it is quite interesting. I guess you could say that about most of the Ancient Ale, but this one in particular is more interesting then good.
Aroma: It is extremely sweet with a ton going on: fruits, spices, bread, and nuts to name a few
Appearance: Pours a clear darker orange color with a beige head and without much lace
Flavor: The flavor is highly complex and super sweet much like the nose, it's quite interesting
Palate: This one is has a clean feel, is quite a bit cloying, and has a long, sticky finish
Overall Impression: This one is more interesting then good, but it is quite interesting. I guess you could say that about most of the Ancient Ale, but this one in particular is more interesting then good.
Tried
from Bottle
on 06 Jan 2013
at 12:23
6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Sample at The Daily Growler. The beer pours a clear orange-amber color with a medium thin off-white head that dissipates steadily Spotty lacing on the glass. Aroma of herbs, fruit and malt. Medium-bodied with a vinous character and flavors of herbs, earthy malt and fruit. The finish is floral and earthy with a bit of fruit left behind. A little disjointed but decent overall.
Tried
from Growler
on 05 Jan 2013
at 20:34
6.3/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Bottle. Pours copper/pomegranate. Nose is mostly pomegranate juice with some spice, florals and honey. Taste is more honey forward with pomegranate juice, raisin, off spices and a very harsh resin that seems out of place. Medium body.
Tried
from Bottle
on 30 Dec 2012
at 12:22