Menabrea 150° Anniversario Amber - Birra Menabrea SpA

orangemoustache

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev +22.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours a bright burnt orange with a tall tan head that retains exceptionally well leaving lots of sticky sheets of lacing as it falls to a quarter inch cap that holds the duration.The nose is mildly sweet with some nuttieness as well.Malts up front are sweet a caramely with toasted bread notes along with hints of roasted sesame seeds and gentle,earthy,spicy hops.The body is solid in every manor of the word with a nice dryness factor and an aftertaste that works as a constant calling card for another sip.Keep brewing this shit people,this is a fine Amber!

Serving type: bottle

05-23-2008 16:38:44 | More by orangemoustache

Bookseeb

Washington

3.73/5  rDev +21.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Appearance is a nice amber with a thick crisp head leaving a nice lace. Aroma is mainly sweet like honey blending nicely with the hops. Taste is not as sweet as the smell, bready, light malt and hop. Mouthfeel is light - medium, but maybe a bit thin, carbonation is good giving it a crisp finish. Towards the end of the glass I think my buds got tuned to beer, wish I had another to confirm that.

Serving type: bottle

08-21-2007 03:14:08 | More by Bookseeb

mdagnew

United Kingdom (Northern Ireland)

3.73/5  rDev +21.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

330ml bottle bought from GapWines, Belfast...

Poured a deep amber colour. Slightly off white head poured big, thick and foamy with a meringue like top then faded slowly to good thickish covering... barely any carbonation... some good sticky, clingy lacing...

Aroma - Quite salty, overripe fruits (apples, figs, oranges), quite harsh graininess (i notice maize is listed as an ingredient), burnt butter, toffee banana - banoffee pie ? Grassy and peppery hops, toasted bread, some raw nuts...

Taste - Lots of toasted bready malts, quite tart and spicy fruits (oranges, apples, some lemons), light caramel sweetness, thankfully the graininess from the aromas has disappeared, lightly roasted almond nuttiness, some peppery hop bitterness..

Feel - Fairly smooth and creamy... light bodied... pretty refreshing and drinkable...

Overall - A pretty good amber ale... shame it's retired as could happily drink a few more of these...

Serving type: bottle

04-25-2008 14:25:35 | More by mdagnew

NeroFiddled

Pennsylvania

3.63/5  rDev +18.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Note: This beer is not discontinued. It is stil being produced.

The Anniversary amber pours a clear, deep-amber/copper body beneath a good sized head of off-white froth that holds well and leaves some minor lace about the glass.

The nose is fresh and bright with a combination of lightly caramelish & bready malt and leafy & floral hops.

In the mouth it's gently crisp with a medium-light body (it starts at 11.8 P and should have a fingal gravity of around 2.2 P) and standard carbonation (5.6 vol/litre).

Although corn is used in its production, the maltiness still dominates. It's caramelish with an almost scorched side, and a bit of toasty breadiness. The hops appear leafy and herbal in flavor, and the bitterness is solid, leaving it to finish dry and herbal-like.

Overall it's a pretty decent beer, similar to a Vienna-style lager (I actually though of Dos Equis when I first tasted it). It's not great, but it's certainly not bad.

Serving type: bottle

10-01-2006 21:10:41 | More by NeroFiddled

nlmartin

Ohio

3.63/5  rDev +18.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

This beer was purchased at the Pour Shop in Evansville. The beer was served in a pub glass.

Appearance: The beer has a clear pale amber coloration. The head was two fingers high with a fluffy white coloration. The head never truly died while being drank.

Smell: The beer has a caramel maltyness that combines well with floral leafy hops.

Taste: The beer has a very nice lightly toasted caramel flavor. The hops bring a light herbal bitterness to the taste.

Mouthfeel/ Drinkability: The beer is approacing medium bodied. The beer is well carbonated. There are no off smells or flavors present in the beer. This is a very easy to drink beer. This beer went over very well with my macro drinking friends.

Serving type: bottle

10-21-2006 09:47:16 | More by nlmartin

RblWthACoz

Pennsylvania

3.6/5  rDev +17.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Sampled 1-25-2007. Pours a clear amber brown with a big off white head. A slight sweet hoppy nose with a nutty edge. Metallic with a slight nutty flavor. There's potential, but it doesn't really come through. Though the nut character is nice. It is drinkable, sure. But for an anniversary edition brew, I am not blown away.

Serving type: bottle

12-30-2007 21:49:17 | More by RblWthACoz

BeardedBoffin

Minnesota

3.5/5  rDev +14%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

The beer pours a clear copper color with a little dish water head. The detected aroma is exclusively from the toasted malts. Light to medium bodied on the palate. The flavor is grainy, husky, bready a little caramel sweetness. This is all balanced with some spice in the finish. Drinkable and pleasant, not to bad.

Serving type: bottle

10-05-2008 22:55:52 | More by BeardedBoffin

Phatz

Pennsylvania

3.4/5  rDev +10.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Menabrea 150° Anniversario Ambrata is a simple Amber Lager. It is one that your macro-drinking friends will enjoy and yet will hold up the BA’s minimum standards as well. I am not saying this beer is exception but it is more than adequate. I first became acquainted with it during the World Cup, (while cheering for Italy) but a friend of mine has been drinking it for years.

Appearance: Pours a clear amber color with a huge white head. Spotted lacing on the glass.

Smell: Malty and sweet in the nose. A bit dextrinous and remote suggestions of a fruity character with very light scent of hops.

Taste: This is a very easy drinking approachable beer that is “cool” as an imported beer. It is in the league with Yuengling Lager in that is thinned out and bit macro-ish but still above average. Ther eis a nice taste of amber caramel malts, a bit of corn then the fruity semi dextrin, artificial sugar / fruity flavor; followed by a bittering hop attribute. The floral hops are especially prevalent in the finish and the best part of the beer is the bitter aftertaste.

Mouthfeel: This is a small beer by American standards but the mouthfeel is not completely limp. It has a solidish malt backbone supported by some nice carbonation.

Drinkability: The feature of the beer is its sessionability. I had 6ers of this at several World Cup parties and it always went over very well with the crowd and the environment. The focus was on the game and drinking and the beer was a tasty side note. If you are looking for a beer to really sit down and critique this may not be the right choice.

Hope this is helpful.
Cheers!

Serving type: bottle

07-28-2006 04:48:30 | More by Phatz

jdhilt

New Hampshire

3.38/5  rDev +10.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a four finger cream head that fades quickly to a thin layer, leaving some lace. Clear amber color. Good carbonation and light-medium bodied. Malty nose. Flavor is sweetish caramel, don't get the metallic that some raters have noted. $1.99 for a 330ml bottle from Manchester Wine and Liquors Manchester, CT.

Serving type: bottle

09-05-2008 22:30:36 | More by jdhilt

tencents

Maryland

3.33/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A-
Brownish amber but almost a gray brown. Not overly attractive for a beer. Had a nice white head tho.
S-
Sweet, malty.
T-
Caught me a bit off guard. Usually associate Italy with blonde lagers, but this one was maltier and even sweet. A comfortable pleasant beer.
M-
Nothing special but not bad.
O-
Easy to drink, enjoyable. In a blind taaste test I would have guessed an Austrian Märzen.

Serving type: bottle

04-27-2012 22:34:43 | More by tencents

Nerudamann

Arizona

3.3/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Poured from a bottle into a pint glass.

Look – dark red color, clear, with about two and a half fingers’ worth of light tan colored foam that dissipates somewhat quickly.

Smell – faintly malty in aroma, not much noticeable other than that.

Taste – much like the smell. I can taste a maltiness. It’s a little musky in its quality, and not much change throughout the taste.

Mouthfeel – pretty well balanced, not leaning more toward wateriness or creaminess.

Overall – not a bad brew, but not very interesting either.

Serving type: bottle

10-30-2011 17:45:23 | More by Nerudamann

Parrotbeak

Minnesota

3.25/5  rDev +5.9%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

Light amber with a thin white head that fades immediately, leaving some thin patches. Not much lacing.
Smell is plenty of caramelly, slightly roasted malts. Brown sugar and toffee as well.
Taste is more lightly roasted malts with a caramel aspect. Touch of hops. Brown sugar. Strange, stale nutty aspect on the finish.
Mouthfeel is flat, watery, and thin. Lacking in carbonation. Light body.
Drinkability is fair. The smell is good, but the beer goes downhill from there. Mouthfeel is definitely the worst aspect, and it detracts from the drinkability.

Serving type: bottle

07-07-2010 03:26:01 | More by Parrotbeak

tonton

Hong Kong

3.23/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

Dark brown 33cl bottle with gorgeous gold artwork, gold capped. Paid HK$20 (US$2.50) at the large local Wellcome supermarket. Also available at large boutique supermarkets in town. Not available at smaller local supermarkets or convenience stores.

Poured into a 33cl Stella glass.

Poured a beautiful medium dark amber on the tilt with no head, 1" attractive off white head appeared only after a vigorous center pour.

Smell: Brief lager skunk which quickly disappeared, never to be smelled or tasted again. Mild wheat, honey and malt.

Taste: This is a lager? I guess I'm not familiar with the Vienna style. Nice clean malt, wheat and honey, much like the nose but stronger. Some hops, I guess. Not much yeast note, which is probably why I liked it. Some yeast in the aftertaste.

Mouth: Smooth and light. Light carbonation. Didn't care for the head texture.

Overall: Pleasantly surprised. Easy to drink, good flavor and good balance, beautiful presentation. 3.5/5

Hope this is okay, first review, novice who just discovered real beer tasting at 40.

Serving type: bottle

03-10-2013 05:23:29 | More by tonton

smakawhat

Maryland

3.15/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Poured from the bottle into a Stella Artois glass given at the restaurant.

The first thing I notice on this beer is the huge amount of carbonation coming from the body after a nice gold pour out of the bottle. This beer on pour makes a very big head that I must admit looks pretty nice. The head is off white with simple pin sized bubbles. Body is a simple clear amber color and the head has good staying power.

The bouquet on this is fairly small. This is oddly very dry and a small malt sensation. There is some standard bready like yeast with this also, but there really isn't much here.

Taste is about what it smells like which makes for some uninspiring beer. Small malt, perhaps some banana, and just a real strange dank dank yeast feeling.

This beer really reminds me of a slightly stronger Yuengling which isn't saying much overall. You could do worse, but I would have to say I wouldn't want to have this again really if I had a choice.

Serving type: bottle

04-03-2011 00:38:44 | More by smakawhat

beerking1

Virginia

3.13/5  rDev +2%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours medium amber with a nice head that lingers well, leaving some lacing. Slight haze. Aroma is pretty strong malt and honey, somewhat reminiscent of a marzen. bare hints of hops. Tastes pretty fresh for a "retired" beer. Again, sweet honey-malt characters up front, but not as strong as the aroma. Hops in the background, faint but noticeable. Much better than the original Menabrea, and something I will look for next time I am in Italy. As long as I am somewhere with other choices, I will probably not seek this one out.

Serving type: bottle

12-20-2007 19:04:24 | More by beerking1

Flounder57

Massachusetts

3.13/5  rDev +2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Picked this up a Central Bottles in Cambridge a few weeks back since I have never seen the beer before. Here goes. 11.2 oz bottle was poured into a tulip glass.

Appearance: The beer poured a minimal head that has reduced quickly to a thin layer. Clarity is great in this orange red beer with signs of carbonation coming up through the center of the glass.

Smell: malty, bready, grainy, honey, and some fruitiness to it.

Taste: Same above, but it reminds me of typical Euriopean skunky tasting beer even though this beer is good for two more months.

Mouthfeel: This beer is somewhat harsh up front, but then smooth afterwards. Very strange. Light to medium bodied. Medium carbonation. Having a hard time forcing this one down.

Overall: Great wines come from Italy, but they might want to focus on their beers in their future. Might have to stick to Morretti's. This one reminds me of European lagers I have had over the years.

Serving type: bottle

02-12-2012 07:50:19 | More by Flounder57

Sigmund

Norway

3.1/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

330 ml bottle, now available in Norway (Vinmonopolet). Amber colour, large white head. Moderate malty aroma with notes of toffee and some fruity hops. Flavour is moderately malty with some caramel and tolerable hops, but this is really not much more than "average" beer. Some metallic notes in the aftertaste.

Serving type: bottle

09-06-2005 12:14:55 | More by Sigmund

tmoneyba

Ohio

3.1/5  rDev +1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Bottle from Party Source, KY.

Poured cleacopper color with a moderate frothy white head that mostly lasting with fair lacing. Medium sweet malty aroma. Medium body with soft carbonation. Medium bittersweet flavor with a moderate sweet finish of moderate duration.

Drinkable sweet brew.

Serving type: bottle

02-22-2009 01:07:48 | More by tmoneyba

nikosm

Greece

3.05/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bought in Athens on Oct 22,2008, in a busy liquer store, so it's still in production. Bottle exp.date 09.2009. Beautiful golden cap.

Caramel amber color, clear liked ice tea. Served in a lager glass, it poured a good head that didn't last much, to leave a small lacing.

The smell is malty, bready, some metalic. Not my favourite.
The taste is much like the smell but feels a little better. The carbonation is good and it lefts you with a nice feel on the tongue and the mouth.
You can drink this one very easily and I might say it's not bad afterall. Much much better than the lager version of Menabrea.

Serving type: bottle

10-22-2008 13:47:05 | More by nikosm

Paincane

Georgia

3.05/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A: Pours amber with large white foamy head and decent retention. Poued into pint glass.
S: Malt, hops, caramel
T: Caramel and malt
M: Moderately carbonated. Medium-bodied. Clean finish.
O: Drinkable and enjoyable. Style over substance as it looks better than it tastes. Still, I would have again.

Serving type: bottle

08-15-2011 00:07:13 | More by Paincane

donkeyrunner

Massachusetts

3/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A gift from my cousin.

Clear copper with a fingers width beige head. Lazy skim retention that doesn't stick anything to my glass.

Aroma is toasted malt and carob powder.

Taste is toast and bread crusty goodness marred by a medicinal, ointment hop character. Ick. Kinda tastes like almonds too.

It's a'ight.

Serving type: bottle

08-23-2011 00:31:57 | More by donkeyrunner

metter98

New York

3/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

A: The beer is clear light amber in color and has a slight amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a thin off white head that quickly died down, leaving lacing on the surface and down the sides of the glass.
S: Faint to light aromas of toasted malts are present in the nose.
T: The taste is similar to the smell and has flavors of toasted, bready and caramel malts along with bits of sweetness. Little if any bitterness is perceptible.
M: It feels light- to medium-bodied and rather smooth on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: The taste of this beer might seem to be a little bland but it is still easy to drink. Some hints of hop flavors might have made it a little more interesting.

Serving type: bottle

03-09-2013 00:29:50 | More by metter98

BEERchitect

Kentucky

2.95/5  rDev -3.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Listed as menabrea Amber, the beer seems to progress a bit beyond the standard Italian lager but struggles to reach mediocracy for a Vienna Lager.

The beer begins with a dull cola-rust color with some blond highlights and terse head formation and retention. No real lacing.

Aromas are very Pilsner-like with some modest caramel overtones. A mild floral hop scent decorates the beer along its edges but does little to improve the timid malt base.

Flavors are light, watered, and grainy. Again, stuck on the Pilsner side of things with a light cola-grainy-caramel taste, albeit weak. Hop flavor is not as prevailant in the taste as it was in the nose.

Light, ...er, weak in the body. Again giving a watered down cola character to the mouthfeel. Grainy astringent sharpness hits the back of the throat and interferres with a would-be clean crisp hop bitterness.

I'd consider this a below average Amber Lager. But as a Vienna Lager, it fails in maltiness, breadiness, richness, and depth. No where near the intended flavor descriptions.

Serving type: bottle

03-16-2009 16:20:04 | More by BEERchitect

joefinnigan15

2.95/5  rDev -3.9%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Appearance: (poured from a bottle into a glass) orange-red colour, one finger head

Smell: not much, a tiny bit of skunkiness

Taste/mouthfeel: nothing jumped out, a bit of bitterness but not too much, frothy feel, more on the wheaty side than fruity

Overall, nothing special, but fairly easy to drink. Forgettable but still enjoyable.

Serving type: bottle

05-25-2012 04:23:37 | More by joefinnigan15

Cyberkedi

Georgia

2.93/5  rDev -4.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours a nice clear darkish amber with a fairly thick ivory-tan head. Aroma is crisp, more fruity than malty, not strong but still appealing. Malty flavor is crisp and a little fruity, nothing special but enjoyable. This makes a good accompaniment to a meal rather than a stand-alone drink. Texture has average body and a decent amount of fizz. Overall, fair to middlin' and worth at least a try.

Serving type: bottle

11-29-2011 01:27:47 | More by Cyberkedi