Italian Restaurant Beer

I was recently at an Italian restaurant in Chester, and noticed Peroni Grand Riserva on the menu. It would appear that most of the mid-level Italian restaurants (Pizza Express, Zizzis, etc) are now offering Grand Riserva along side the usual Peroni Nastro Azzurro. This is a good thing, and people need to start choosing it over Nastro, so they don’t snatch it away again.

Grand Riserva was introduced in 1996 to celebrate the 150^th anniversary of Peroni. It’s brewed from Pilsner malts and Saaz hops, and provides a hefty 6.6% ABV.

It’s golden in colour with a slight reddish tint, and a creamy white head. The aroma is hoppy with a sweet caramel maltiness coming through. The flavours have sweet biscuity malts at the front, with a subtle nuttiness; a hoppy finish, providing a dry and bitter sting.

Maybe Peroni Grand Riserva isn’t the best way to start a blog about beer but it’s underrated and deserves the airtime.

Anyway, I will be comparing Imperial IPAs pretty soon…well as soon as my Beers of Europe and BeerMerchants orders are delivered. Is there a British Imperial IPA that can offer competition to the overwhelming choice of quality provided by America? Maybe just...