La Luna Rossa – Birrificio Del Ducato – Italy

IMG_1724Brew: La Luna Rossa

Brewery: Birrificio Del Ducato

Style: Sour/Wild Ale ABV 8%

Pours a violet amber with a nose of cherry, dark fruit and berries. This beer comes in at 8% and is a refreshing reminder that sour beers reminiscent of lambics can be more than fruity and light. La luna rosa has depth and a mouthwatering tartness to support the claim. Notes of black cherry, cherry, and raspberry permeate this libation yielding to that puckering thought-provoking taste only great beers can achieve. If you desire a brew that is not only authentic and unique but one that can satisfy your palate, seek out La Luna Rossa barrificio del ducato. It might be hard to find because it is produced in small batches with painstaking precision. It can also be expensive but keep searching if you find an absurd price tag, good carriers will have no trouble moving this exceptional product at a fair price, except no imitations, especially in the face of the sour beer connoisseur. Long live lactobacillus.

Seller Description:  The start is a sour base which has undergone at least 2 years of mixed fermentation with acetic and lactic bacteria as well as Brettanomyces strains. Amarena and morel cherries are then added for additional flavor for at least 6 months. The beer is then blended with part L’Ultima Luna and part young beer and poured into numbered bottles indicating the year of the curvee. 12 more months of maturation in bottle are required before entering the market.  La Luna Rossa resembles a Flemish red based kriek beer and is extraordinarily complex and elegant. Lovers of this blend find it hard to forget.

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The Passion of the Weiss – Schilling Craft Brews – Northampton, MA

The Passion of the WeisseBrew: Passion of the Weiss

Brewery: Schilling Craft Brews

Style: Berliner Weissbier

This Double Berliner Weisse pours a beautiful golden tone of cadmium yellow. The passion fruit nose is poignant and mouthwatering, ushering fourth a sip of tartness that can only be described as mindblowing. This Berliner packs quite a punch and emanates the tropical fruit flavor and tartness of its namesake. It is a beer that truly delivers with brilliant sourness, passion fruit flavor that is by no means eclipsed by its tartness, background notes of tropical fruit and citrus, and a perfect level of carbonation. Also, The sheer thought of integrating a fruit that possesses its own qualities of tartness into a sour beer such as a Berliner is unmitigated genius. The Passion of the Weiss was fermented with passion fruit and double brewed or ‘long aged’ in a small batch so it has a higher ABV than your traditional Berliner. For any connoisseur of beer sour beers are a treat and a delight, they explore new avenues of taste and new possibilities in the world of craft beer.

This Berliner comes from Mike Schilling, an expert brewer and creator of thought provoking beers, who consistently creates beers that are as interesting as they are delicious. This beer, I am sorry to say, is not available commercially. In order to find a libation with taste of this magnitude one must locate Mike Schilling and gain access to his stores or find out what new brew is on the horizon. ABV 6.2%