This trip wasn’t all Belgium – we also made a stop over in Italy, to eat, drink, and enjoy some time in the sun.  While researching beer in Italy,  I quickly found this NY Times article, extolling the virtues of the new Italian beer scene.  I was intrigued, and made it a point to check it out.

We were not disappointed. We visited Birrificio Lambrate a brewpub in a residential neighborhood, producing a shockingly large number of beers.  But first, a tour of their operations.

 

It’s a classic brewpub, with large pieces of equipment stashed in very small spaces. It’s a family run operation, and Alessandra, clearly the mother den of the brewers, gave us a tour.

Why do breweries, in any country, always seem to have people just sitting around, eating ice cream?

After the tour, it was time to taste.

 

They produce a total of eighteen beers regularly, with some being seasonals that come in and out.  They had nine beers on tap when I visited.  The range would be familer to any American brewpub regular.  An IPA, a pale, a wheat, an amber, and on and on.

 

 

 

I was a particular fan of their Pale, which they also offered on cask.   Many of their beers seemed to rely more on a back end bitterness, rather than the aromatic hop usage favored in the US.  Other favorites included their German style wheat beer, black lager and smoked beer.

 

 

It’s really a shame that this great brewpub is a world away – I’d rather it be around the corner from me. It’d fit right in with the brewing culture in the US.  But that’s what makes it such a unique offering – it’s creating these craft beers in the heart of the wine world, and doing it well.  They’re also bottling their offerings, and having them offered at local restaurants.  In fact, they highly recommended a local restaurant nearby for dinner.  It turned out to be one of the best meals we had in Italy,, and paired well with their “American” IPA.

 

 

 

 

Tags: Birrificio Lambrate, brewpub, Italy, Milan

This entry was posted on Monday, September 6th, 2010 at 6:22 pm and is filed under brewery tour. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.