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Pietra Chestnut Lager

    Brewery: Brasserie Pietra
    Country: France
    Size: 33cl
    ABV: 6%
    Price: 33kr
    Systembolaget: 81545

    One of the things that I find so interesting about the beer scene is the variation of styles. Brewers are willing to put almost anything into their beers to push things forward in the industry and do something that no one has seen before. Just because it can be put into a beer though doesn’t mean it will produce a good end product. Never the less, when I find something I haven’t tried before, it always spikes my interest. As I was researching Mediterranean beers I came across this and I was instantly curious. An amber lager made with chestnut powder sounded fun, especially as it is brewed in Corsica where the chestnut is a very important part of life on the island. After I sampled this beer though, I wish I hadn’t found it.

    The colour was deep honey with a frothy white head that held nicely. It seemed to be quite low in carbonation, which surprised me because I expected it to have a bit more life to it. The classic lager aromas were all there. Cereal, malt and bread aromas were all present yet the chestnut smell that I was expecting was suspiciously absent. I really expected the chestnut aromas to be at the forefront of this beer as it is the whole point of the lager yet they were practically non-existent. The taste was, quite simply, nasty. There was some dark bread and sweet caramel malts in the initial taste on the tongue but this quickly led into one of the nastiest aftertastes I’ve ever tried in a beer. I have tried some bitter beers in my time but this was quite frankly disgusting. It almost had a slight soap quality to it. The aftertaste continue to roll around my mouth, almost assaulting the palate with its presence. It was so bad I almost contemplated taking it out of the beer tasting altogether, with the only thing that saving it being the food pairing I had with it. I paired some garlic baked mushrooms with the beer and it seemed to help reduce the hateful bitterness enough to be actually drinkable. The earth qualities of the mushroom worked very nicely with the malt character. On it’s own though, this beer was pretty foul.

    Would I recommend this beer? I think you can tell by my review already. This is not only the worst beer I had in the tasting, it may be one of the worst beers I’ve had in any tasting. If you have to drink it, please for the love of god drinking it with some food. Other than that, steer well clear.