G. Menabrea E Figli

After what seemed like the worlds longest hike through the Cinque Terre I encountered G. Menabrea E Figli (4.8% abv) at a small canteena on a train station platform! I was in desperate need for some rehydration so basically this beer went down a treat. The beer is a pale pilsner that is quite bitter for a thin bodied beer. According to the bottle "G. Meabrea E Figli is a “birra blonde” brewed in Biella, Italy since 1847, and so it is enjoying its 150th anniversary!" Well someone at the brewery can't add up! To sum this beer up, a truly random beer, that was a truly random find. Website

Birrifico del Golfo

Whilst dining in Monterosso I finally struck what I considered to be micro brewed gold! Birrifico del Golfo (5.0% abv) is a Golden Ale brewed in nearby Le Spezia. The beer is a hazy golden colour with a slight cloudiness due to either astringency from the mash (ie leaching of insoluble tannins in to the wort) or yeast. I personally think that the haze can be attributed to both as their is a slight astringent taste upfront. Besides this shortcoming the beer was essentially pretty good! I can't find any more information besides this as its probably been knocked up in some amateurs backyard, but then who cares!

Tuborg Green

In a beer sense I found Rome to be a little disappointing. Its a little bit like Paris where the predominant culture is a wine consuming one and unless you know where to go, its hard to find good beer. From Rome we headed to Monterosso in the Cinque Terre for the last stint of our short vacation. Whilst checking out the worlds smallest Spar supermarket I was a little disappointed to find that the only beer they had in the fridge was Tuborg Green (4.6% abv). Tuborg Green is a light and refreshing pilsner from the Tuborg brewery. The beer itself is clean tasting and very light for a pilsner with not a lot of bittering, so it is not a pilsner true to style, but still a highly refreshing beer none the less. The Tuborg brand and its associated products are owned by Carlsberg and thus are brewed for the mass market and are pretty much mega swill, but Tuborg Green is an exception to this rule. Website:http://www.tuborg.co.yu/