{"id":9776,"date":"2013-02-11T09:00:17","date_gmt":"2013-02-11T15:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.guysdrinkingbeer.com\/?p=9776"},"modified":"2021-08-30T12:07:56","modified_gmt":"2021-08-30T17:07:56","slug":"review-brasserie-pietra-colomba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.guysdrinkingbeer.com\/review-brasserie-pietra-colomba\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Brasserie Pietra Colomba"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brasserie Pietra says:<\/p>\n

“A bottom-fermented, unfiltered beer white beer infused with a delicate mixture of indigenous arbutus, myrtle and juniper.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Brasserie Pietra Colomba<\/em>
\nWitbier, 5% ABV<\/em><\/p>\n

*This beer was provided by the brewer for the purpose of a review.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Karl<\/strong>: After reading the label and learning about the southern French influences and the Corsican spices and the birthplace of Napoleon, I could have sworn I smelled basil, or even marinara sauce with those fruity acidic notes of tomato as soon as a cracked open this beer. But that couldn\u2019t be, could it? they said this was made with herbs and wheat and stuff, but…Italian food in a French beer? Blasphemy.<\/p>\n

As I sampled further, it wasn\u2019t just imagination – there were definitely notes of savory herbs like basil, rosemary and thyme (or at least that\u2019s the closest that I could identify) floating around atop this brew; not as strong as the initial whiff but definitely present. Beneath that, however, was a solid – but not a standout – wheat ale. Like an herbal Hoegaarden, this is certainly wheat-y up front and lemon-y throughout but finishes dry, dry, dry – so dry I could swear my teeth squeaked.<\/p>\n

After a few minutes, the flavor of the herbs die away (the aroma remains) and you\u2019re left with a definite taste of vanilla frosting on the finish, which is really quite pleasant – kind of like that scene in Willy Wonka where the gum changes from dinner to dessert. Weird, but fun. Overall, I liked this – not a \u201cjump up and down and high-five the guy next to you\u201d kind of liking it, but yeah, a solid brew.<\/p>\n

Man. Marinara sauce and vanilla frosting. This might be the weirdest beer review from me yet.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Ryan<\/strong>: Well, I can’t say I picked up the plethora of aromas that Karl did but my sniffer did pick up a few unique smells wafting from my over-sized curved Weiss glass courtesy of this well crafted and refreshing Witbier.<\/p>\n

Lemon rind is ever-present in the nose as is a bit of spicy black pepper and a touch of oddly placed, but pleasant, orange cream soda.<\/p>\n

On the palate there’s plenty of lemon and loads of herbs – which I can’t quite place. The spices sat on the tip of my tongue, much like the actual names of the herbs and spices that I couldn’t pinpoint. I’m sure they’ll come to me in a few weeks.<\/p>\n

The lemon isn’t tart, thankfully, but you know it’s there. Kind of like a Lemonhead<\/a> after you’ve sucked on it for a minute or two.<\/p>\n

The finish is crisp and refreshing, punctuated by a richly carbonated and creamy body.<\/p>\n

My father-in-law, a devout Shocktop drinker, gave this a whirl a few weeks back and loved it. So much so, in fact, that he drank all of the “extra” bottles I had and took one back home to Michigan. We may have a convert on our hands.<\/p>\n