Birrificio San Michele (brewery)

San Michele Brewery was born in October 2010 from the passion of its founder, Bruno Gentile, for craft beer, the live and raw kind. The beer that was once drunk and that, for business reasons, has undergone many transformations that have almost entirely changed its original organoleptic characteristics.

Bruno's discovery of craft beer goes back many years through some trips to northern Europe, where this tradition has always been present. In those days, in an Italy dominated by industrial beers, craft beer was practically unknown.Bruno thus began to study, investigate and experiment with what an old master brewer had told him about the secrets of this wonderful food.

Thus was born the Birrificio San Michele , located in an ancient building from 1860 embraced by Mount Pirchiriano, at the foot of the Sacra di San Michele. A habitat that by its nature and purity makes it possible to obtain a beer of excellence that exalts the senses. A craft beer without filtering and without pasteurization, which uses environmentally sustainable and natural raw materials, mountain water, quality products and in part the direct production, absolutely organic, of the basic barley and hops.

Adjacent to St. Michael's Brewery awaits the brewpub, a restaurant where you can taste delicious meat, fish, first and second courses, pizzas, the amazing burgers strictly made of Piedmontese fassona and homemade desserts. Here every week the kitchen is transformed into a real Taste Workshop: to find out what's new and what's on the menu, follow the brewery via its Facebook page.

BEERS

The reasons for the success of San Michele beers are in everything that surrounds them: the streets of an ancient village, the woods of the Susa Valley, the water that springs from the mountains. They are in the care and attention that are put into each bottle and that guarantee a product of excellence that has many stories to tell: stories of taste, of unique places, of unmistakable smells.

Just as music combines notes and pauses to create its symphony, so was born the brewery, which chose to name each of its beers after the protagonist of a musical or literary work. We present them to you one by one:

AIDA (Smoked). Alcohol 5.2% vol, an aftertaste given by the smoking of malts on beech wood, from which the exotic allure and primordial call of the dark skin of the ill-fated princess shines through. Served at 8-10 degrees, it enhances the enveloping flavor as if to reproduce the sumptuous glory of the famous triumphal march.

BUTTERFLY (Kölsch). Slightly fruity craft beer, in which a bitter note is perceived, giving a perfect sensory balance. A delicate blonde, like Puccini's sensitive and dreamy Madama Butterfly, with a light yellow color and a low alcohol content suitable for all occasions (5% vol).

CARMEN (Pale Ale). An American pale ale in perfect harmony between sweet and bitter, like the passionate cigar maker of the same name. High body and alcohol content and the irresistible cocktail of fruit and spice make this craft red ale as sensual and twisting as Bizet's Gypsy. What is striking about Carmen, San Michele's red, is the perfect balance of taste, neither sweet nor bitter, masterfully blending the two opposite sensations (6.2 percent vol). Carmen also bewitched the jury of the 'Beer of the Year' competition, taking third place in 2011.

DESDEMONA (Stout). Craft beer with a distinct roasted malt flavor that evokes hints of coffee, characterized by a fine, creamy foam. Dark color, alcohol 5% vol.

LADY MACHBETH (I.P.A.). Its pleasant, assertive bitterness and abundant hopping make it particularly enticing. An ambitious IPA like the protagonist of the Shakesperian tragedy, it delivers a pleasant thirst-quenching sensation.

LUCIA di Lammermoore (Bitter). San Michele's British homebrew, Lucia, represents the best traditional brassicas from across the Channel, interpreting the classic English style of beer in an Italian key, characterized by a lingering bitterness and spicy, fruity flavors, much like Donizzetti in his opera the atmospheres of Highland legends (5% vol).

MANON (Blanche).A blanche-style craft beer with aggrumate notes tending toward orange and hints of coriander, giving it a freshness and lightness reminiscent of the carefree Manon to whom this beer is dedicated. All its delicacy (5.4% vol) is found on the palate.

NORMA (alle Castagne). Full-bodied, strong-tasting chestnut craft beer with a pronounced roasted malt aroma that well describes the resolute character of Bellini's priestess from the opera of the same name. On the finish, the chestnuts lend an unexpected delicate aftertaste. Awarded first place beer of the year 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015. Italy's most awarded chestnut beer, deep red color and 6.8 percent alcohol by volume.

SEMIRAMIDE (Barley Wine). A complex beer with fruity notes of raisin, strawberry and a great intensity of flavors that make it suitable for great occasions. This craft beer for structure and refinement is dedicated to Rossini's legendary Assyro-Babylonian queen (10.5 percent vol).

TOSCA (Pilsner). Bitter Pilsner, like Puccini's dramatic opera, in which hop selection imparts a lingering bitter taste. In this craft beer, inspired by the typical Czechoslovakian style, the "grassy" taste and aroma of Saaz hops prevails. Golden yellow color, alcohol 5% vol.

TRAVIATA (Miele). Honeyed blond craft beer that manages to harmonize sweet and bitter. The honey gives floral scents in which the balsamic note of linden and the ethereal scent of Violetta, like the elusive and suave protagonist of Verdi's opera, stand out (6.2% vol).

TURANDOT (Abbey).A bewitching dark that conceals sensual hints of caramel, licorice, chocolate and a hint of coffee. Multiple aromas harken back to the fairy-tale and enigmatic character of Puccini's Persian princess, all encapsulated in a kick-ass dark abbey craft beer. Dark color, alcohol 8.5% vol.

VALCHIRIA (Weizen).Weizen craft beer with a fruity bouquet and a subtly tart flavor in which banana and clove aromas predominate. Natural veiling due to the presence of grain imparts a straw-yellow hue that together with the impressive foam are reminiscent of the golden locks of Valkyries (5% vol).