New handpump at De Cervesia, Lucca

Lucca lies about 12 miles north east of Pisa in Tuscany.

Piazza dell'Anfiteatro, Lucca

I blogged about De Cervesia, Lucca after previous visits in January 2014.

De Cervesia Tap Room, Lucca (Photo: Richard Lock)

In June 2015, I booked a room in a B&B in Via Anfiteatro, near to Piazza dell'Anfiteatro and only a short walk away from the De Cervesia Tap Room at Via Michele Rosi 20. The tap room is situated in a traffic free area opposite Ciclo Divino (wine bar) and customers from both establishments can take their drinks outside where there are benches and wide pavements.

Matteo behind the bar at De Cervesia Tap Room

 Revisiting De Cervesia tap room / beer bar with friends in June 2015, it was great to see Matteo behind the bar which now has a raised Angram handpump.

Matteo demonstrated how the housing for the handpump could be opened to provide easy access for maintenance (see adjacent photo).

'Blackout' stout from Birrificio Rurale, based in Desio, north of Milan, was an appropriate beer to serve through the handpump as it could be served less chilled and without gas pressure.







It was nice to be able to give Matteo the issue of  Ullage (Mar/Apr 2014), which included my article about De Cervesia and Orzo Bruno (Pisa), published following my previous visits.

There were three beers served through fonts from KeyKegs. The first beer we tried was Eva, a Pilsner from Birrificio Brùton, based at San Cassiano di Moriano, in the valley of the river Serchio, about 5 miles north of Lucca. This was a refreshing way to start the evening and it was soon time for a glass of Terzo Miglio, an American Pale Ale from Birrificio Rurale that would prove to be my favourite beer of the evening. 

Cheers Matteo! from Richard, Tim (with Ullage), Roger and Derek

A big change at De Cervesia since my last visits was expansion from the corner unit into the adjacent shop unit. This provides extra indoor space for customers and space for a cold room where bottles and KeyKegs are stored.

Cold room door on left in extra room (Photo: Richard Lock)

Kyle, on holiday from USA, asked Matteo for a beer suggestion and returned from the cold room with a bottle of Zona Cesarini from Birrificio Toccalmatto based near Parma. 

Kyle & Matteo in the cold room (Photo via Kyle Dean Reinford)

Matteo explained that Renato Cesarini played football for Juventus and was renowned for scoring in the last minutes of the game so that Zona Cesarini was another way of saying 'at the last minute'. 

Matteo said Japanese (Sorachi Ace) hops were added at the last minute to this beer and this explains both the name and the inspiration for the label art.

The third beer we tried was Jale, a 5.6% ABV ESB style beer brewed by Brewfist Italian Ales based in Codogno, near Piacenza and Cremona. This was full flavoured and a darker colour than our two previous beers.

Some of the beers we had been drinking were in Brewfist glasses labelled with their slogan 'More beer More people' (NB Not 'Mare beer Mare peaple'). Several customers asked for bottles of Brewfist Spaceman IPA (7% ABV) during our stay.

Matteo's brother, Michael, on a stint behind the bar

Matteo is an AC/DC fan and so are some of his customers. Matteo kindly put on some music by St Paul and the Broken Bones when I requested a change from his favourite music.

Derek, Roger and Richard - De Cervesia

By now we had all enjoyed a few beers at De Cervesia and as now food is served we asked Matteo for a Pizza restaurant recommendation. He suggested Tre Merli in Via Anfiteatro but when we got there it was 'fully booked' so it was back to Mara Meo in Piazza San Francesco for a late pizza.

As well as the beer bar / tap room, there is also a De Cervesia beer shop, open during the daytime at Via Fillungo, 92 (Closed Mondays).

Map shows position of De Cervesia beer shop (west) and tap room (east )

De Cervesia Taproom, Via Michele Rosi 20, Lucca.
Open: Tue-Sun 19:00 - 22:00
Website: http://www.decervesia.it

New handpump at Orzo Bruno, Pisa.

I blogged about beer from Bientina at Orzo Bruno, Pisa, after my first visit to the beer bar in January 2014. All the beer for Orzo Bruno is brewed by Birrificio Artigiano di Bientina at nearby Bientina.







It was interesting to see a new Angram handpump on the bar when I revisited Orzo Bruno on Sunday 28 June & Wednesday 1 July, 2015.

Angram handpump and Livio serving at the bar

Valdera Rossa

Valdera Rossa is an Irish style red ale with plenty of malt character. By serving the beer from a handpump it is less gassy and chilled as appropriate for appreciating this style of ale.

Another innovation was the seasonal beer, Juni, a beer with Juniper flavouring that could be 'intensified' with an extra drop of juniper essence from a bottle on the bar.                                            
                                                                                                           

Juniper essence can be added to Juni

Unlike my January 2014 visit when it was raining and cool, in June / July 2015 it was hot, the front windows were open onto the street and customers were dressed accordingly.

Thanks to all the staff at Orzo Bruno for chatting with me and serving me with beer and food. A special thank you to Miki on Sunday and Livio on Wednesday who were running the bar. It was also nice to chat with Dave & Jackie, visiting from Yorkshire, on the Wednesday.

Miki with Yeti and Wombat fonts

The beer is very good value at Orzo Bruno. 0.3 litre costs 3 euro, 0.5 litre costs 4 euro (Prices in June 2015). There is a choice of glass styles, 'pint' or tall tankard.

Orzo Bruno opens at 7pm. There is some free food on paper plates on the bar at opening time. Meals can also be ordered from the bar and are reasonably priced.

Orzo Bruno,
Via Case Dipinte n. 6/8,
Pisa 56100
The Orzo Bruno website (Italian only) http://www.orzobruno.it/

La Torre del Luppolo, Pisa. Beer shop/bar

There are now at least two good beer bars to visit in Pisa!
La Torre del Luppolo is situated at Via Renato Fucini 13, within a few minutes walk of Orzo Bruno. This is on the 'Leaning Tower' side of the river Arno - cross the river on Ponte di Mezzo if you are approaching from Pisa Centrale railway station in the south.

View looking south from the north bank of the river Arno with Ponte di Mezzo on the right

La Torre del Luppolo only has a small frontage but you can't miss the sign above the entrance.

Via Renato Fucini 13

The five beer taps are positioned just inside the door, near the front window.

Just above and to the right of the beer taps, a flat screen monitor gives details of the draught beers (Birra alla Spina) - Beer, Brewery, Country, Style, ABV, Colour and Description.

On my visit on a Wednesday evening (1 July 2015), Alessandro Tomeo was behind the bar. He had just changed over a keg for one of the beer taps and generously offered everyone in the bar a sample of the new beer.

Alessandro Tomeo behind the bar

On the opposite wall from the bar space are wooden cubes and tall fridges holding bottles of beer for sale to drink at the bar or to take away.

I had a look around at the wide variety of beers on offer which included a good variety from the United Kingdom including St Peter's Brewery, Black Isle Brewing Co and Moor Beer Co.. There were also beers from Italy, Belgium, Denmark, Germany and USA.

The narrow wooden bar is just deep enough for a beer mat and so there is just enough space to rest a glass or bottle of beer on it. Towards the back of the beer shop are more shelves of beer, and other items for sale including T-shirts, glasses and books.

Before leaving I enjoyed a (plastic) glass of Bianca wheat beer from  Birrificio Brùton, based at San Cassiano di Moriano, in the valley of the river Serchio, just north of nearby Lucca. The recipe for Bianca includes local Garfagnana spelt wheat. 

Ciao Alessandro!


www.latorredelluppolo.it

Via Renato Fucini 13, 56127 Pisa, Italy.

Opening Hours (July 2015) Mon - Wed: 18:00-24:00; Thu - Sun: 18:00-01:00

Wadworth brewery tour, Devizes, Wiltshire, UK

Wadworth (Northgate) brewery, Devizes

The Wadworth brewery tours at 11am and 2pm from Monday to Saturday are interesting and good value.
Book ahead to assure a place on the tour that starts from the visitor centre of the historic Northgate brewery in Devizes, built in 1885 after the original brewery, dating from 1875, became inadequate. If the tours are fully booked or at an inconvenient time it is still possible to make a free visit to the visitors centre, which is open from 10am until 5pm.

Visitor centre with introductory displays and merchandise

Talitha conducted the tour I was booked on with visitors from USA, France and the UK donning orange high visibility jackets at the outset. Her wide knowledge of the brewery and her friendly and natural approach made the 75 minute tour interesting and the time passed quickly.

Talitha (right) stands next to the old Customs office

After climbing the first of several flights of stairs we reached the floor with an old Customs office (last used in 1994) and brewers offices, where we had the chance to taste some malted barley and smell some hop pellets.

The two Mash Tuns were located on the highest level that we would climb to. The oldest one dates from 1885 and together they can hold 300 barrels.

Old copper with steam coil visible

The old open topped copper is used every September, early in the hop picking season when Malt & Hops is brewed as this relies on the addition of hop flowers rather than hop pellets. It is also used occasionally at other times of the year. It was originally heated by fire but in 1938 a steam coil was added to provide an alternative heat source. A hood was added in the 1960's to funnel the steam out of the building. The historic copper is one of five in the country and can hold 25000 litres of wort from the mash tuns.

Foil packs of hops stacked next to the Hopback.

Fresh hops can be added when the hopped wort reaches the Hopback.This vessel needs to be manually cleaned out after every use.

New brew house with holding vessel on left and new 'copper' on right.

A new, fuel efficient, brew house with vessels manufactured by Steinecker is now used for most of the brewing. In this set up a Whirlpool (partly visible in lower right corner of photo above) replaces the Hopback of the Victorian brew house and has the advantage of being self-cleaning.

The cooper's shop provided a chance to view oak casks in various stages of completion and the tools used by the cooper. Less than 3% of Wadworth beer is now served from oak casks but these are still supplied to certain pubs so a master cooper, Alastair Simms, can be called on to produce new casks and maintain the old ones.

Yeast overflowing from a fermentation vessel

It was fascinating to see the fermentation vessels where the yeast was working and causing the top surface to move around with surplus foaming yeast sliding over the top leading edge of the deep rectangular vessel to be collected on the floor below. The surplus yeast is killed off and can then be supplied as a foodstuff for pigs.

Talitha led us out from the brewery and across Northgate Street to visit the sign workshop. Here we could see the artists at work painting pub signs and notices.

Max the shire horse - keen for a minty treat!

Monty and Max, the shire horses, are stabled in an adjacent building and we stopped to greet them. Talitha gave the horses a minty treat and Monty entertained us by insisting on more by kicking on his stable door!

Wadworth drays

We passed the drays that Monty and Max haul around the pubs of Devizes, on our way back to the visitor centre where we handed in our high visibility jackets. This was not the end of the tour as we now had an opportunity to sample beers from Wadworth brewery.

Talitha described the beers available from the Mezzanine bar inside the visitor centre - Ipanema, 6X, Bishop's Tipple, Swordfish and Horizon. Soft drinks are also available for younger visitors. Tour visitors were given a half hour to sample as many beers as we liked, served in one third pint glasses. It was a hot day so I started with Horizon, a refreshing beer brewed with pale ale malt and Styrian Goldings, Fuggles and Cascade hops. My second beer was Ipanema, the seasonal beer for the 2014 World Cup that is brewed with four malts and includes American hops. There was also time for a third of a pint of 6X, first brewed in 1923 and now brewed at 4.1% ABV.
It was now time for me to catch the 49 bus to Swindon, via Avebury. Devizes does not have a railway station but is also served by direct buses from Bath and Trowbridge.

Click on Link for more details of the Wadworth brewery tour.

Two beer bars in Valencia

I can recommend a visit to Valencia, on the Spanish Mediterranean coast, that was founded by the Romans in 138 BC. We found that May, before the main tourist season, was a good month to visit with fine warm weather. The airport is well connected to the city by Metro Valencia. It is a cycling friendly city with plenty of cycle paths including one in the old river bed that has been converted to a linear park since the river was re-routed.

Valencia - Central market - inaugurated in 1928

The historic centre has many interesting buildings including some in modernist style like the central market. It is separated from the beach by a large residential / commercial area so it is worth getting to know the metro, bus and cycling options for travel around the city.

Horchata (Orxata in Valencian) is a sweet, creamy, drink made from chufas (tiger nuts) that is a nourishing and refreshing drink available from vendors at the beach and specialist cafes.
Ratebeer proved useful for identifying two beer bars to visit during our visit.

1. Birra & Blues (Sunday)

On a Sunday, Meg and I joined the throng of visitors walking along the beachside promenade separated from the sea by a long sandy beach.

We passed a shop called Ale-Hop but discovered that it sells colourful clothes, hats and espadrilles but no beer!

Horchata and chufas (tiger nuts)

A cool drink of horchata, from a mobile stall was a refreshing way to break the long walk to the Birra & Blues brewpub situated at 34 Avenue Mare Nostrum (Alboraya).

Birra & Blues

Spaghetti & Blues

Birra & Blues is immediately behind its sister establishment, Spaghetti & Blues, which overlooks the promenade and the beach beyond at Playa de la Patacona.

Although there was no brewing on a Sunday, the brewing vessels are visible behind the bar. The clips for the six fonts showed that three different draught beers were available - Tostada, Doble Malta and Rubia.

The server kindly poured taster glasses of each draught beer and I chose the Rubia (blonde) for a refreshing lunchtime beer in the shaded surroundings of the smart bar with views of the sky and attractive shrubs.

The view from a table in the courtyard

The beer list and a glass of Rubia on a table in the courtyard

The Rubia cost 5 euros for a 500ml glass. Bottles were also available (3 euros for 330 ml or 6 euros for 750ml). The beer came with quite a big head and was very effervescent in the glass.

Before leaving we ordered two 330 ml bottles, from the fridge, of beers that were not available on draught, to drink on another occasion.

John Lee Blues

The John Lee Blues (red ale) named after John Lee Hooker was drunk on a four hour train trip from Valencia (Sant Isidre) to Cuenca.

La Negra

The La Negra (pumpkin ale produced like a brown ale) was eventually drunk at Hostal Benamar in Madrid and proved spicy and full flavoured.
The terminus of the number 19 bus is nearby for a convenient journey back to the city.

2a. Ruzanuvol (closed on Sundays) + El Abrazo de la China

Later on Sunday we visited the Russafa / L'Eixample area which lies south of the city centre. 

 We discovered that Ruzanuvol is closed on Sunday and resolved to return the next day. 

A bottle of Alhambra Especial at nearby bar - El Abrazo de la China - eased the disappointment.

2b. Ruzanuvol (Monday) + Las Cervezas del Mercado

Number 40 bus from near our hotel took us past the impressive 'City of Arts and Sciences' site that includes the Science Museum Príncipe Felipe designed by Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava. 

Science Museum Principe Felipe (foreground) - viewed from the bus

We got off the bus before reaching the centre of the city at a stop on Avenue Regne de València in the Russafa neighbourhood, near Ruzanuvol Cerveceria Artesanal at Luís Santángel, 3.
We were the third customers to arrive, soon after 7pm opening time. Two fathers with young children were occupying the bar area so we found a table and sat on a bench with comfortable cushions made from recycled sacks of malt after consulting the blackboard and ordering our beers.

a caña from Birrificio Italiano

A great deal of care has gone into the furnishing and decoration of Ruzanuvol. The interior is light and pleasant with ingredients of beer illustrated on the walls and furniture made from pale wood. There are also tables on the pavement outside, where smoking is permitted.

This is a great bar for lovers of Italian beer as the draught beers were from Birrificio Italiano and Birrificio Lambrate. With a caña, a small glass of draught beer, costing 2 euros, this was a good opportunity to try several beers without spending too much. Tipopils, a blonde lager, from Birrificio Italiano was the obvious choice to start and deserves its reputation as a lager worth seeking out. (Tipopils is the house lager at the Finborough Arms, Earl's Court, London).

Free buffet with your beer from 7pm to 9pm

We had previously noticed the generous provision of a free buffet between the hours of 7pm and 9pm on the shutters when finding the pub closed on Sunday.

The bowls on the shelf under the blackboard listing the draught beers and their prices is where we were able to help ourselves to the 'Aperitivo Milanese' of crisps, olives, bread sticks and other snacks..
It was soon time to order another beer and a caña of Sant'Ambroeus from Birrificio Lambrate gave me a chance to taste a stronger Belgian style ale.

Giovanni with Ullage (West Berkshire CAMRA magazine)

When the first customers had left, I introduced myself to Giovanni and gave him a copy of Ullage, the West Berkshire CAMRA magazine. He kindly let me take a photo of him behind the bar to appear in a future edition of Ullage.

Birrificio Lambrate - Ligera

Giovanni explained that he used to live in Milan before opening Ruzanuvol in 2010. Birrificio Lambrate is based in Milan and Birrificio Italiano is based in Lurago Marinone, north of Milan. American Pale Ale is one of my favourite beer styles so it was time to spend 5 euros for a 'pint' (usually 500ml in Italy) of Ligera from Birrificio Lambrate. Giovanni let me take a look at his copy of the Birrificio Lambrate beer catalogue which included tasting notes and details of ingredients for their beers in English. Ligera is brewed with Pilsner, Munich, Caramunich and Carafa malts and Chinook, Cascade, Amarillo and Willamette hops.

Patatas bravas

We ordered some food from the 'Para Picar' blackboard including 'Bravas Bravissimas', roast potatoes served with tomato and creamy sauces on the side, costing 4.20 euros.
I had already sampled Meg's B.I. Weizen from Birrificio Italiano, a pale yellow wheat beer so ordered a caña of Bibock, the amber beer of Birrificio Italiano which has been produced since 1997. Between us we had now sampled all the draught beers so now it was time to find a bus to take us back to the hotel.

a last look at Ruzanuvol Cerveceria Artesanal - Hasta Luego!

Before leaving, Giovanni introduced me to Jordi, a new visitor from Cervezas Artesanas Sénia a microbrewery founded in 2010 in Alginet, about 20 km south of Valencia. It looks like a return visit to Valencia, incorporating an extra trip to visit Jordi at his brewing base, is going to be worthwhile. A blog post (in Spanish) from November 2010 by Lupuloadicto describes Cervesa Sènia and includes photos of the brewery and its founders - Cervesa La Sénia.

Las Cervezas del Mercado - inside Valencia central market

There were no bottles to take away from Ruzanuvol but an earlier visit to Las Cervezas del Mercado at Valencia's central market had realised a bottle of Au Yeah from Valencia brewery Tyris.

Tyris 'Au Yeah' occupies a seat on the train

This American pale ale style beer was also drunk the following day, on a four hour train trip from Valencia (Sant Isidre) to Cuenca and is recommended as my favourite bottled beer on this trip to Spain.