| “Beer is the international
language,” said a smiling Sergio Ormea in halting English.
He is the master brewer at the Birrificio Grado Plato
brewpub in Chieri, a small town outside of Torino (Turin), in
northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Aside from his native
Italian, he is fluent in French. But I’m basically monolingual,
aside from “Un poquito Español.”
Fortunately, we did not have to struggle to talk about his beers
for long.
His colleague, Enrique Jiménez, a Spaniard who speaks
fluent English as well as Italian, returned to the table to
serve as interpreter. Jiménez is an assistant manager
of La Piazza dei Mestieri, a compound/trade school in Torino
for disadvantaged teens who are taught crafts and skills —
one of which is brewing beer. Ormea is the brewing instructor
at the school’s tiny brewery. The three of us, along
with my sweetheart, Danise, were at a quiet table in the Piazza’s
pub, sampling Ormea’s beers. It was the school’s
New Year’s Eve party on a cold and snow-flurrying night.
Plates of antipasto were delivered to the table by a Cuban
waiter, Felipe (who used to live — and surf —
in Southern California!), as we sampled two draughts: Manet,
a refreshing, 5% abv kölsch style that is curiously unfiltered;
and Renoir, a quite good ESB at about 5.5% that nicely shows
off its Maris Otter and crystal malt profile. These beers
were brewed and kegged or bottled by students under Ormea’s
tutelage.
| Like all Italian craft breweries, Birrificio Torino
does not pasteurize its products. To ensure freshness,
there are no plans to make the beer available outside
of the general area. |
Grado Plato birra was also on our tasting list, as the brewmaster
poured draughts of Sveva, a 4.5% hoppy, dry lager made with
Hallertauer hops; Spoon River, a well-balanced U.S.-style
red ale made with Amarillo and Cascade hops; Sticher, a hoppy
alt-style brew inspired by Düsseldorf brewery Uerige’s
Sticke alt; and Kukumerla, a sweet, 10% birra di Natale (Christmas
beer) made with a Belgian yeast. But that wasn’t all.
From bottles we had more uniquely Italian beers: Strada S.
Felice, an 8% beer made with chestnuts; and the famed 7% Chocarrubica,
brewed with carob from Sicily and cocoa beans from Venezuela.
These two Grado Plato brews are available in the U.S., thanks
to importer B. United International.
At the stroke of midnight, fireworks went off out in the
streets while the (non–beer geek) partygoers danced
to the “Macarena,” disco hits and “The Chicken
Dance” (sung in Italian) spun by the pub’s DJ.
But we got a tour of the school’s brewery area, including
new fermenters and a kegging and bottling operation. After
a final toast and some panna cotta cake for dessert, we wished
our hosts a Buon Anno Nuovo and extended grazie
mille (a thousand thanks). And Jiménez was kind
enough to drop us at our hotel en route home.
New Year, New Beer
Later, the morning of New Year’s Day, we awoke in Torino
just about the time California was popping the cork to welcome
in ’09. It was overcast and bitter cold, with temperatures
just above freezing, but given that it was our penultimate
day in Italy, we bundled up and went out for some sightseeing.
After wandering around Torino’s two main squares and
visiting the Royal Palace and some other (mostly closed) sites,
we were surprised to find that the Museo Nazionale del Cinema
was actually open into the evening on January 1. We visited
this amazing, multilevel, interactive Disneyland of the Movies
and stayed until it closed at 8:00 p.m. — and no, not
just for the warmth.
Then it was time to visit the last brewpub of our trip, Birrificio
Torino, which Google Maps on my iPhone showed to
be only a 14-minute walk away. We braved the cold and arrived
without incident — or frostbite.
A large converted space (formerly a bakery) in an otherwise
commercial/industrial section, the birrificio had a cozy,
publike feel, even though there were only a few parties drinking
and having dinner. The beers are Italian takes on German and
English beer styles. There were three main draught beers that
evening: Clara (a nicely balanced helles at 4.8% abv), Rufus
(a mildly malty 6.8% reddish bock) and Torino (a malty blonde
bock with earthy notes at 6.9%). A 7.4% seasonal, Birra di
Natale, in the winter warmer style, was unfortunately tapped
out.
Manager Stefano Pombia, who fortunately spoke English, was
working that night and, after chatting about the beers, took
us on a tour of the eight-year-old facility. After hearing
me express my disappointment that I hadn’t gotten to
taste the winter warmer, he went into the cold room and emerged
with a bottled version of the otherwise unavailable Birra
di Natale as a gift for us to take. Grazie!
Pombia explained that, like all Italian craft breweries,
Birrificio Torino does not pasteurize its products and, to
ensure freshness, there are no plans to make the beer available
outside of the general area. We promised to keep the bottle
cold and drink it soon. We bid him arrivederci and,
by the time our taxi arrived around 11:00 p.m., the place
was packed — and hopping.
Birrificio Grado Plato
Viale Fasano 36/bis
10023 Chieri, Italy
+39 011 947 3236
gradoplato.it
La Piazza dei Mestieri
Via Durandi 13
10121 Torino, Italy
+39 011 197 09642
piazzalive.it
Birrificio Torino
Via Parma 30
10152 Torino, Italy
+39 011 287 6562
birrificiotorino.com |
