Birra Del Vecchio Calabrese
Prodel S.r.l

Birra Del Vecchio CalabreseBirra Del Vecchio Calabrese
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From:
Prodel S.r.l
 
Italy
Style:
German Pilsner
ABV:
4.7%
Score:
83
Avg:
3.43 | pDev: 34.99%
Reviews:
10
Ratings:
11
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Dec 02, 2011
Added:
May 21, 2004
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
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Ratings by LucaBrasi:
Photo of LucaBrasi
Reviewed by LucaBrasi from New York

3.08/5  rDev -10.2%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
Picked this one up buy one get one free, not a bad score. Well anyhow this one pours a light golden color and forms a small head that will disappear rather quickly but not completely. Got a very faint smell of hops. The taste is light, lightly carbonated and has a light flavor of spices. The mouthfeel is kind of watery. The drinkability is good light and smooth can be quite refreshing on a hot day.
Aug 30, 2005
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 1 by rab53 from Washington

Dec 02, 2011
Photo of Sammy
Reviewed by Sammy from Canada (ON)

3.18/5  rDev -7.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Bought on an B.A.'s recommendation as a good pilsner. Small head, neutral odour, initial moderate malt, light easy mouthfeel, lagerish metallic mid-sip, moderate bitter finish. I will try this again some hot summer night, particular since novices about me liked it.
Jul 23, 2006
Photo of CRJMellor
Reviewed by CRJMellor from Arkansas

3.97/5  rDev +15.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
gift from trbeer

Poured a hyper clear dark gold and copper color with a bright, densely packed white head.
Aroma of crisp malt and what bread with a touch of corn nachos was my initital take. Some spicy, earthy hop tones appeared as it warmed just a tad.
Flavor was crisp, clean light pale malt with some grainy notes and a almost sweet, light oily herbal hop essence. Nicely balanced flavors.
Mouthfeel was clean, crisp and very refreshing. Well balanced transfer of a relatively light malt profile to a relatively light hop bitter profile. Sid not over do it on the bittering, which is generally the flaw of this category in my opinion.
Drinkability was very good. Extremely refreshing and enjoyable, good as a thirst quencher. Worth finding.
Apr 20, 2006
Photo of putnam
Reviewed by putnam from Michigan

5/5  rDev +45.8%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
I only re-review beer when I think the first try was really wrong in some way. For maybe the 10th or 20th time I must redo one now.

There is simply no better light, 100% malt pilsner-style beer for sale in this jurisdiction. I doubt if there is one that exceeds this in quality anywhere in the country. I assumed even the rare and personally sentimental choice of Rothaus Pils would outclass this. In fact it was the reverse.

My standard for the style is many pints of Budvar consumed in Germany and the Czech Republic in the early 90s. That beer still lives in my memory as the nuttiest, crispest, purest expression of the style. This is #2.

More recently I've been obsessed with the various lager's of the Bamberg brewery known as Mahr's. However, nothing they make has the balance of richness and clean lightness this beer has (though I must wait for confirmation as I will likely drink Mahr's Leicht for the second time ever later this week). A comparison with Victory's Prima Pils exposed that undisputably excellent beer as a confection of quick, turbo yeast-fermented malt and hops overreach.

What's more, the sample I am drinking now was brewed and bottled well over a year ago and stored in less than ideal conditions. What other light lager could withstand such a torture test and still be drinkable, let alone be the BEST of its class?

I have consumed cases of this beer. Strangers who encounter it for the first time spontanaeoulsy pull me aside and ask where its from, why it's so good. I tell them I don't know. I never assumed the water in Calabria was anything special, though maybe it is. Maybe that's why this pils is so complete. Or maybe its due to homespun Italian taste values: a tacky, ugly label and ambrosia inside the brown glass.

Here was my initial review. It accompanied a "score" of 4.7 as I couldn't quite believe what I was tasting:

___

Purchased from the floor of a beer store, I wondered the following: 1) would this obscure Italian lager be fresh? 2) is this some kind of tourist-brand - overpriced like wines from Provence or coffee from Hawaii? In fact, there was nothing to fear.
On the back label it reads: "Browed [sic] with natural. Ingredient (malt, hop)"
The uncapped bottle burst to life with dense, pungent aromas of cut grass and golden cereals. The color was minila folder-yellow/tan and the head was soapy.
A fruity, rich entry of subtle, bready flavors resolved into a tangy, bitter and long finish. The flavors included notes of overripe lemon. What astonished me was the voluptuous, creamy texture, supported by unobtrusive mousse, and how it was structured with noble mineral elements. Then it eased into caky, bitter hop extracts to power the very long finish. This is a world-class, natural-tasting Pils. Fans of this category must seek it out (my sample was obtained at Poughkeepsie's Half Time.)
By way of comparison, A Gaffel Koelsch served after this beer just could not measure up for style, character or richness.

NOTE: I can find no evidence that this beer contains "adjunct". On the other hand, there is ample evidence that it is in fact an all malt recipe: 1) the back label -- see above. 2) the brewery's claim that it is from an 'old Pilsner recipe from the north.' 3) the fact that it tastes like an all malt beer. This would more properly have been added as a "Czech Pilsner" or, if you prefer, "Euro Lager."
Nov 06, 2005
Photo of granger10
Reviewed by granger10 from Wisconsin

3.39/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
I think the hype created by the Detroit BA's on this might be overstated but it surely is a solid beer. The pour is super light, too light in color for my liking with a rather small white head. Tons of bubbles rush to the top, looks almost like gingerale. Aroma is really herbal and somewhat sweet with cereal grain notes. The cereal sweetness follows into the flavor with floral notes and herbal hops mixing in quite nicely. A yeasty like dryness comes in the end and lingers in the finish. The body is rather thick compared to what I was expecting making this beer not quite a gulper. The finish is not real refreshing but it does leave me wanting just a bit more. Not the most complex or refreshing but an intriguing nice little beer here. However, I still might choose Peroni over this.

big ups to Craig for hooking me up with this interesting take on a pils
Mar 14, 2005
Photo of apintofknowledge
Reviewed by apintofknowledge from Connecticut

1.54/5  rDev -55.1%
look: 2 | smell: 3 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 1
This was included in a Beers of the World 8-pack I received for Christmas. No date on the bottle. It poured a straw, slightly golden color with a thin head that dissipated quickly. The aroma was both grassy and slightly spicy. The mouthfeel just wasn't agreeing with me... the carbonation felt like sandpaper on my tongue... tiny biting bubbles that were too harsh to be refreshing.

Now the taste was among the strangest I've ever had from a lager... a little watery and slightly malty at first, then a slight spicy hop taste, followed by what I can only describe as grass and broccoli. Sure there's plenty of unique extreme beers out there brewed with all sorts of fruits and vegetables, but from a lager who's only ingredients are malt, hops, yeast and water, the broccoli taste was both surprising and disturbing... and it just lingered in my mouth in the worst way.

An experience I don't plan on repeating...
Jan 19, 2005
Photo of ppoitras
Reviewed by ppoitras from Massachusetts

4.33/5  rDev +26.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
11.2oz bottle obtained via trade with CRJMellor. Thanks for the opportunity...

Poured into an imperial pint glass, formed a 5/8" of bright white head over the bright straw brew. Head dwindles, but holds its own, and lacing is superb for the style. Aroma is sweet pale malts, with crisp hops character. Taste is initially bitter, but tempered well by the pale malts. Mouthfeel is smooth, and drinkability is excellent. Give this unassumingly labelled brew a try, a worthy representative of the style.
Dec 12, 2004
Photo of inebrius
Reviewed by inebrius from Michigan

4.85/5  rDev +41.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
I'm surprised there is enough of this left to be exported out of Italy.

A varigated foam lives on top of this beer, it moves with the golden liquid underneath and forms furry patches of stark white as you drink. Bouquet is all oat cereal rings in almond rice milk adorned with miniature circus peanuts. When you speak of balanced, fermented beverages this one has to be held up there with the best. A mild and creamy sweetness flits directly into a running herbal, tinny vibe and your senses are awash in what beer is. I mean, christ this is a better pilsener than most I've had fresh in Germany. Next time it will be drunk from a Rothaus glass. This beer deserves it.

I looked down and it was gone and I honestly feel bad about it.
Aug 27, 2004
Photo of marburg
Reviewed by marburg from Michigan

4.21/5  rDev +22.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
Begrudgingly, I had to admit to Putnam that this wasn't an awful beer. While I can appreciate a decent pilsner, and while I have a bit of a disdain for overly dramatic hop bombs, I definitely appreciate a little something original and/or unique to my beers. And I was convinced I wouldn't find it here.

And I didn't.

But it was pretty good anyhow. Dark straw body and electric white head indicate this is for real -- nothing terribly watered down, especially considering what's claimed here as the style (Adjunct Lager, that is. Note that the bottle claims Pils.)

Banana bread and lemon grass aromas are gently covered by a generous helping of wet, bready malts. Notably present on the palate are bits of lemon reminiscent of Bohemia (another surpisingly good lager). Again, this is obviously not watered down. You can swish this beer around in your mouth and suck lots of hop oils and thick texture into the walls of your mouth. A tiny bit of something more notable in the nose and just a slightly sharper hop bitterness -- not more, just cleaner -- would put this one over the top. But hey, you can drink it by the gallons. Pure, simple lager bliss.
Jul 21, 2004
Photo of WesWes
Reviewed by WesWes from New York

3.15/5  rDev -8.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
The beer pours a pale gold color with a frothy white head that fades to lacing. The aroma is decent. It has a clean and refreshing pale malt scent with a dry yeast aroma. The taste is average. It is light, bitter, and quite skunky. It has a crisp finish. It goes down slow and has average mouthfeel. It is a medium bodied beer that drinks average. This looked like a cool choice at the beer store, but it was a real letdown.
May 21, 2004
Birra Del Vecchio Calabrese from Prodel S.r.l
Beer rating: 83 out of 100 with 11 ratings