Amarcord La Putena (ITA)

It's nice to have a local beer retailer that has a wide selection, but what's really great is a changing selection. I visit to my local shop (Beers of the World) every 3-4 weeks or so, but am still amazed at how many beers they have which weren't there before. Some of these may be seasonal brews which I don't remember from last year. Some may be beers that have been available to you, but I'm just seeing now. Still, I could keep myself busy just trying stuff that's new to me.

One new-to-me breweries is Italy's Amarcord, named after Fellini's film. This is wine country of course, and Italian beer doesn't receive much respect. But Amarcord is ambitious. It looks like they have four beers, the biggest being a brown ale at 10%. La Putena (not sure what this means...whore? Isn't that puttana?) is at 6.5% and is a rossa doppio malto (double red malt). It's sold in a fabulous 500 ml bottle, with a flip top cap and image of tarted up lady on the label. The color is mahogany, but I couldn't get much of a head. In fact, it turns out to be quite low in carbonation, which I like but others may have issues with.

This isn't an American-style red or amber ale, replete with hops. Instead, it's mostly sweet in an earthy way, mildly of cherries. But I wouldn't call it cloying. It's very easy-drinking, if not too much so. I would gladly slurp these down ... except it runs over $6 a bottle! La Putena a nice beer, but really not worth that price. Possibly it's a better value in a country with a decent currency.

I do think this is better than given credit for at both Beer Advocate and ratebeer. The former has it listed as a Vienna Lager (?!), which is a sure way to screw up the ratings.