Forza Azzurri Italian Export Lager

I haven't had a lot of Italian beers, but the last one I had was very good - Moretti La Rossa. I found this beer hiding in the back of the fridge, so I decided to try it tonight. I'm always a little suspicious of European Lagers in green bottles, but I needed to drink it at some point. This is Forza Azzurri from CASTELLO di UDINE Spa, in San Giorgio, Italy. It poured a deep gold color with a small white head. It looked pretty good - better than I expected. The first taste was a surprise - hey, this actually has some malt in it! It was sweeter than most lagers, and hop presence was pretty low, but it was pretty good! It went well with my chicken, and I enjoyed it just fine. A pleasant surprise - not your run-of-the-mill European lager.

Birra Moretti La Rosa Double Bock

Tonight, I tried my first beer from Birra Moretti, called La Rossa. This is an Italian Double Bock, or "doppio malto". This is a far cry from the usual pale lagers I have seen from Italy. As a double bock, it stands up well with the more well-known German Dopplebocks' which I enjoy tremendously. The Late Great Beer Expert Michael Jackson once posed the question "Could Moretti La Rossa be the ultimate pizza beer?" Unfortunately, I didn't have any pizza to test it with, but I think it could be in the running. It's got a lot of malt flavor and a suitably dry finish. I think it could stand up to pizza pretty well, even though it's not an IPA. It poured a deep copper color with a big but short-lived orange head. This was a very pleasant surprise, and may require additional sampling.