Rare Italian craft drafts & Puttanesca at NABC.

Thanks to Robin for permitting the plug.

NABC/Rich O's/Sportstime is doing a promotion this week called "Carobs, Chestnuts, Chinotto & Chamomile: Italian Microbrewed Specialties," and through Saturday, July 26, NABC co-owner Amy Baylor is cooking batches of Spaghetti alla Puttanesca.

http://potablecurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2008/07/carobs-chestnuts-chinotto-chamomile.html

Yesterday we tapped these four newly available Italian craft beers, each of which is brewed with a twist -- as indicated by the title. They will continue pouring until they're gone. Chocarrubica, Nuovo Mattina, Piccolo Seson and Strada San Felice are each available in 10-ounce pours for $7.00 (follow link above for descriptions).

Next week: Dogfish Head Off-Kilter Sixers ... http://potablecurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2008/07/week-of-july-28-2008-dogfish-head-off.html

I should have information soon on the date for the delayed Lambic by the Glass day (hopefully in August) and the lineup for this year's second Sandkerwa (August 29 start), which is the time for Bavarian drafts from Bamberg and environs.

A few of us went last night and had this and I must say it was some of the tastiest spaghetti I had ever eaten. The Strada San Felice was my favorite of the beers I tried. Good Eats!

Pardon the silliness, but ever since I saw the Lemony Snicket movie, when I hear/read "puttanesca" I think of the following scene:

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Violet Baudelaire: Dinner is served. Puttanesca.
Count Olaf: What did you call me?
Klaus Baudelaire: It's pasta... Pasta Puttanesca.
Count Olaf: Where's the roast beef?
Klaus Baudelaire: Roast beef?
Count Olaf: Beef, yes. Roast beef. It's the Swedish term for beef that is roasted!

This was my first chance to try italian craft beer, and I was blown away! I'm not an oatmeal stout enthusiast, but the Chocarrubica was absolutely amazing and the Nuovo Mattina was the most complex saison I think I've ever tasted. Both were very unique but excellent takes on the styles. The Piccolo seson tasted like a more traditional saison and the Strada San Felice seemed like a strong italian-style nut brown to me. Both of these were very good as well, but the first two were better. The Chocarrubica was mind-blowing though. I had to twist my dad's arm to take the trip over the river on a Thursday, and he only came because I asked him to. After he tasted the Chocarrubica, he agreed that the trip was well worth it.

Compliments to the chef on the Puttanesca as well. Stew-like spaghetti with everything but the kitchen sink thrown in. Very nice.

Italian craft beers are a very interesting thing. While I have never found a great beer style that is distinctly Italian, several Italian breweries have created some of the best renditions of other country's styles I've ever tasted. The first good Italian brewed beer I ever had (This is assuming you through out Peroni or Moretti, because they are simple Euro-lagers, and not very tasty to me) was a 2005 Panil Barrique. Simply put, this was the best Flemish Sour Ale that I had ever had, beating out the likes of Rodenbach, Duchesse de Bourgogne, etc. Unfortunately, they had some carbonation issues with the 2006 vintage that left it well short of their previous versions. The 2007 vintage is due out soon, and I have high hopes that they come back as good as they used to be. One of the best dopplebocks that I have tasted is made by Moretti (their La Rossa). One of the best Belgian strong ales I've ever tasted was the Demon Hunter by Birrificio.

I guess the Italian craft breweries can make a great beer, as long as you stay away from their every day lagers.

absolutely Todd
as a general rule Italians make terrible beer, but Roger has brought out the exceptions to the rule

Mass-market beer in Italy has indeed tended toward the standards of mediocrity experienced with the worldwide insipid golden lager yardstick, but the important thing to remember in this and other discussions is that all the beers we've had recently on draft, and the bottles discussed by Todd, come from small and innovative breweries that refuse to accept the norm. The reason I picked the Italian drafts featured last week was that each is outside the box in terms of ingredients, and offers a twist, especially when enjoyed with food.

Since this week is given over to Dogfish Head, and tap space is limited, we'll probably be pulling the Italians briefly and returning to what's left a bit later. I'll post later on the Dogfish Head sixers coming on this week.