Autumnal Leafs
Our good friend [Scott S][0] has a new blog dedicated to beer, called [The Beer Whisperer][1]. There is no one who knows more about the ever-expanding varieties of beer than Scott. We’ll be reading it, and we hope you will, too.
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Fall gives us [great beers][2], [young wines][3], and [wonderful ciders][4]. But not all ciders are hard, which never fails to disappoint. I purchased some local pear cider, or *perry,* from a local farm stand with no alcohol in it. Who knew they even made that? But since I had a bottle of [rye whiskey][5], I turned my perry into something more enjoyable. Since I had time and other bottles of whiskey and Scotch to play with, I sampled my perry with any malted brown liquor that was kept in a barrel before bottling. I’m partial to rye, and it clearly beat out bourbon or blended Scotch. The rye added a nice sour note to the rich, but not overly sweet, perry. In a bit of surprise, [*Irish Mist*][6] and perry made a honey-sweet, very tasty drink, that needed a bit more ice/water to balance out.
I will probably come across some non-alcoholic apple cider this season, and when I do, I’ll repeat my experiments… for my readers, of course. Science is a hard life.
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A Negroni cocktail from **Nizza**
While at **Nizza**, I took a big risk and ordered an Italian beer. I didn’t go for the *[Peroni][9],* because I’ve heard enough about it to assume that I would be underwhelmed. So I tried [**Birra Moretti**][10] *La Rossa.* It tasted exactly like *Becks.* There’s a certain honor in that, but it did little to disuade my entrenched attitude towards Italian beers in general. Still, I like German wines…
At any rate, I next had an *[Estrella Damm][11],* which wasn’t Italian but Spanish. The *Estrella* was weak, and I’m now putting Spain in the same category as Italy when it comes to beer. It’s not particularly fair, since America has it’s vast majority share of weak beer, but there are just too many wines from Spain and Italy to enjoy, I don’t think I’ll miss much by skipping their beers.
[0]: ./index.php/author/scotts/
[1]: http://beerwhisperer.wordpress.com/
[2]: ./index.php/2011/10/captain-lawrence-brewing-pumpkin-ale/
[3]: ./index.php/2010/11/georges-duboeuf-beaujolais-nouveau-2010/
[4]: ./index.php/2011/03/fox-barrel-pear-cider/
[5]: ./index.php/2011/04/the-manhattan/
[6]: ./index.php/2011/07/irish-mist/
[7]: ./index.php/2011/08/lovely-lillet/
[8]: ./index.php/bottle-fund/
[9]: http://www.peroniitaly.com/us/
[10]: http://www.birramoretti.com/beers_la-rossa.htm
[11]: http://www.estrelladamm.com/en/
There are some great Italian beers, with their ranks growing weekly. You have to hunt for them, and they are rarely cheap, even in Italy, but they go way, way beyond peroni!
Thanks, Stephen. I would never turn down a beer, no matter what region. And I’m sure there are some outstanding beers from Italy, which I can’t wait to try. Money is no object, either, since I have no money.
Thanks for your comment!