bacherotti beer

This past Saturday in Rome there was almost too much to choose from. On the one hand I wanted to see the Lorenzo Lotto show at the Quirinale, as well Alesksandr Deineka show at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni. On the other hand there were both beer and chocolate festivals in town. In the end the weather was too gorgeous to stay indoors with art or chocolate so I opted for beer, which at least included a long walk though Villa Doria Pamphili to the festival itself, which was held in the garden of a Villa overlooking St. Peters.

But first. Can I say something? What is it about beer festivals? Why do I always feel like I’m the only a) girl, b) person without a tattoo and c) person without dreadlocks? Is this just an Italian thing? Me, in my black jeans and trench coat, leather purse and – well – I’ll just go ahead and admit it, well-coiffed hair. I feel like I’m wearing a sign that says “doesn’t belong here.”

And then, maybe I don’t. I always feel like something of a wimp at these things. I know other people spend hours and manage to down rivers of beer. But for me it’s about discovering new beers, talking to beer makers. You know, tasting, learning, talking. Also, I’m also only 5 feet tall, so there is only so much beer I can physically imbibe.

And another question. I’ve been to wine tastings galore and pouring out or even spitting is an ok thing to do. Otherwise how do you make it through all the wines you want to taste? But – as far as I can figure out – this is a no-no in the beer world. At least at these kinds of happenings. I paid for my tickets to ‘taste’, 1 euro each. But the tastes were 10ml each. There was no way that I could finish that much of more than a few. And anyway, after sniffing, sipping and tasting there was no need to finish every last drop.

So, knowing I was going to be limited in what I tried, I first made the rounds of the stands and then picked one I would taste in depth. I like choosing one brewer, and talking about and tasting all of his (and yes, they are always ‘his’, never ‘hers’) brews and finding out how he made his decisions.

About half of the brewers I already knew very well (you can see the list here), so I went for the unknown. Bacherotti caught my eye. First of all he had several experimental beers made with off-beat ingredients like cocoa nibs, licorice and saffron. Also, he was from Umbria. And up until now I’ve not been wowed by many other beers that come from that region.

Bacherotti is located in Citta della Pieve, up near the border with Tuscany, and was started by Stefano Bacherotti, one of the founding partners of Olmaia. He started Bacherotti in 2009 and has been exploring the ‘experimental’ route ever since, using local  and other ingredients in strange and wonderful ways. One of his better known brews is Fortezza, which incorporates white truffles. Another is Gustizia, using basil. Neither of those brought to Rome that day, instead he took the opportunity to share some new experiments.

I started out with Temperanza, which – at 7,4% was anything but temperate. The color was much more golden than shows up in the photographs, due to the addition of saffron. It’s amazing how a much impact so little saffron can have. Only 13 grams used in the production of 2500 liters of beer. The beer is made in Citta della Pieve, and saffron has been grown there for quite a while, but to dye fabrics rather than use for cooking (or beer-making for that matter). But the nose was incredibly strong, much stronger in fact than the taste itself which was quite mellowed out, just barely a whiff of saffron.

I then went on to the strangely named (ok, most of these beers have strange names) Fluido 3/5, which refers to the dark color of this stout. Turns out fluido 3/5 is a type of petrol, and this beer was indeed dark and almost viscous looking. This time around Stefano used licorice, 3 kilos to make 2500 liters of beer. The effect was very subtle and any hint of licorice only came once I had swallowed a mouthful. Then my mouth was filled with that sweet almost medicinal taste of licorice, but in a good way.

 Left: Temperanza                                                   Right: Fluido 3/5

The one that I found really fascinating was Bokkarosa. First of all the bottle was quite jazzy, black and pink. And not only was it made with beets, but billed itself as Pink Ale. Pink Ale? Well, it will eventually be pink, explained Stefano. He’s figured out a way for the pinky beet color not to oxidize, but the bottle he brought to town were not so rosy. 60 kilos of beets (var. serraverza) goes into making 2500 liters. Since it’s made with fresh beets, the beer is seasonal, being brewed from May through February.

Somehow, with the whole idea of pink and beets I got ready for something very girly and sweet. Instead Bokkarosa is intensely bitter. “It’s an aperitivo” explained Stefano, “I imagine it being drunk before meals, as a way to get your appetite going.”

I ended by day with Noli me Tangere. By far the strongest of the bunch – 9.2% – is was made with cacao nibs. Not surprisingly it was chocolately dark, with a pale brown head. The nose was sweet, fragrant and…..well, chocolately. Round in the mouth it made me think it would pair well with nuts or even chocolate cake. “I think it pairs well with Cognac” Stefano declared. Yes. A sip of cognac, then a sip of Noli me Tangere. And so on. “Well, it’s after a meal on a full stomach.” It sounded pretty good to me. But since at that point my stomach was only full of beer, and it was 3:15 in the afternoon, I decided to skip the cognac and head through Villa Doria Pamphilli and back home.

 Left: Bokkarosa                                                       Right: Noli me Tangere

Birrificio Bacherotti
Voc. Fornace 27 Ponticelli
Citta della Pieve
0578 248 302 

Italian Beer Festival