L’Olmaia La 5

Brewed by L’Olmaia
Style: Belgian Ale
Sant’Albino - Montepulciano, Siena, Italy

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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UPDATED: SEP 8, 2012 bottle-conditioned 750ml. hazed golden wheat body with a fine white head and lasting retention. very much nailing the Belgian farmhouse yeast character in the nose: all around seems quite soft and delicate but very well integrated: lemon oil and pith, soap, banana, peach skin esters, moderate peppercorn spice with a creamed wheat and uncooked dough yeast note that seems to be the one component that’s a little too present. the aroma hops seem similar to those in the Thiriez Blonde and De Ranke XX (though I haven’t had a bottle of that this year, it’s sitting in the fridge): musty, a bit goaty, sharply green, and almost smelling like the skunk of ultraviolet light contamination, but not quite. deliciously dry with a medium body and soft and creamy natural carbonation; takes an acidic turn across the middle with crystalline sugar, must, white pepper and Belgian pale malt toast. lush carbonation releases the acids and esters well to wash the palate in the finish. a small bit of banana gum, cucumber and dishsoap foam make an appearance, and there’s a growing raw vegetable greenness and astringency late across the tongue and into the finish which suggest stronger bittering hops than is needed, but that’s a minor complaint; it’s enjoyably hoppy and soft enough texture-wise that it works. I can easily drop out of critic mode and sit back with this glass and fall in love.

@Mondial de la Bière 2010, Strasbourg - slightly hazy dark golden colour; some fresh hoppiness, medium-bodied, fairly bitter and with a long lingering flowery hoppy presence - subtle and with lot of class

La birra dell’equilibrio, belgian ale più morbida e con luppoli a quintali, buonissima da bere e ribere in quantità

On tap at Bir & fud. Cloudy golden, creamy head. Grassy hop aroma and flavours with some fruity hoppiness as well. Quite bitter.Solid stuff, like a low alcohol Hommelbier.

chiara buona schiuma piuttosto persitente note luppolate leggero agrumatoun po di erbaceo in bocca leggero malto non molto corpo ben amara decisa

UPDATED: MAR 10, 2012 23rd April 2010. Bottle at the Rake (Cellar job courtesy of Rich - cheers mate!). Hazy light gold beer with a few floating bits! Light dry palate. Lagerish malt with an odd but not unpleasant cucumber and lychee taste. Finishes dry and crisp. Original rating 2.8.

31st October 2011
On tap at Open Baladin.
Hazy gold beer, little white head. Softish semi dry palate. Fine carbonation. Creamy malt supports nice fresh orangey hops. Marmalade bitterness. Sweetish finish with stinging carbonation. Nice to taste some hops in Italy!

11/04/2013 La Tana (tap). Pesca giallona, appena torbida, schiuma leggera bianca e morbida. Al naso leggero metallico che pian piano svanisce, lieviti, sentori fruttati, pesca e scorza d’arancia, luppolo. In bocca ha una buona struttura, una blond belga un po’ atipica, attacco di malto e finale amaro e secco senza eccessi, molto gradevole. Facile da bere ma appagante.

My Bottom Line:
Citrusy hop aromatics delve into sturdy herbal bitterness while comfy cereals provide sustainment for this very clean and molto-drinkable Golden Ale.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A sheet of foam covers the hazy blonde.
-I was told that brewer had changed the recipe this spring, for the better. Whatever he did, he did well!
-The soft effervescence and svelte body increase drinkability.
-The hop bitterness is surprisingly lengthy for this type of brew.

From the bottle at the Mondial de la Bière.

Draught Good dense, nitrogen-like head over luminous yellow-orange beer. Hoppy nose, with some honey present, sweet pilsner- and other light malts. Excellent, fruity, flowery fresh hops flavour. Faint citrus touches and ending on a reminiscence of sweet malts. Aptly light, but slightly overcarbonated (I’m not very fond of nitrogen dispense). Interesting light, very drinkable beer.

Bottle. Poured hazy golden color with an average to large frothy white head that mostly lasted with good lacing. Moderate to heavy fruit, citrus hop and yeast aroma. Medium body with a smooth texture and soft carbonation. Medium to heavy bittersweet flavor with a medium bittersweet finish of moderate duration. I would recommend this to a friend.