Skank Bloc Bologna

England 2 v Switzerland 0

Tuesday 8 September 2015

EURO 2016 Qualification

Twitter @ball_sup

Bologna Beer Wrap-Up

So, in this lovely World I inhabit, the pre-match drink was in Bologna Airport. On the haul back to Heathrow. Fair play. Do you hear me? Fair play. There are five Italian Craft Beers in bottles in the Airside cafe.

I've gone Birrificio Beltaine. From Granaglione in Bologna province. Lugh Culprum from a bottle at 5.6%. Clearly & gloriously opaquely unfiltered. Maybe some wheat in the malt. Golden towards amber in the glass. Nicely & maybe naturally carbonated. The head stayed the distance. Bitter orange. But gentle & pleasant. A little bittering.

The earlier drinks on this Bologna leg of the San Marino trip included BrewDog Bologna. I'm an Equity Punk. OK place. Seemed a bit off the beaten track. The Bar staff were great. Friendly & welcoming. Of course, the left hand bit of the blackboard was stuffed with the usual in-house BrewDog products. I was disappointed, but not surprised, to see lots of UK, Danish & American stuff on the right. That's the market. But, I need Italian Craft. There was one. A sour wheat affair, which I didn't fancy.

So. Bottles. Only 4 of those to choose from. I've done;

Birrificio Lambrate, Ligera at 5%. A nice go at an American Pale style. Lots of citrus & tropical fruits going on.
Birrificio Lambrate, Sant Ambroeus at 7%. A nice go at a strong golden ale.
Corte Pilone, Tafat at 5%. Seemed to be billed as IPA. But, this came up much more like a traditional English bitter. Malty. Malty. Not over sweet, but little in the hops/bitter department.

Next up Baladin. An unusual outlet this. In a sort of cut through covered market between two pedestrianised streets. There are kiosks on either side. Food, delis, cakes, ice cream. And a very small fronted Baladin with 6 keg taps. There is sort of a cellar bar with some seats. We could see down into it. But during the day, it seemed essentially roped off. There seemed barely room for the barmaid to turn round behind the jump. And, you take your chances on the variety of chairs & stools serving this high end Food Court.

That wouldn't be to everyone's taste. But, there is a good beer offering.

Baladin, Watoto on keg at 7%. Very smokey, almost meaty on the nose. Intoxicating. Turns to powerful red fruit. With a hint of maybe even cranberry sweetness. The smoke tastes powerful in the first mouthfuls. But, gets gentler as you become more accustomed to it further down the glass. It's got more sweetness than bitter. But, it all feels well balanced. Just the brown side of black. At that abv, you wouldn't have many. But that's a great beer.

Baladin, Brune on keg at 4.6%. Pleasant but odd beer that. Innocuous. It looks very much like a stout. Dark, lovely latte head. But, not much in the aroma. And the first taste puts you in mind of a modern British craft stout. But, when analysed. There is nothing much to it at all. Fairly thin. Some gentle caramel develops. A hint of bitterness. Nothing wrong with it. Just a touch bland.

The Game

He's had a mare. The guy who organises the bending & jumping. Fabian Delph has gone in the fetlock after what seemed like one second. Surely they'll not give him a Cap for that. Maybe they need some bigger cones to jump over/through/round. Each player has 6 personal coaches & dieticians. Yet, hamstrings still go.

Correctly, all about the Rooney Record tonight. I'll sort of get my wish. We may get more competitive games once the UEFA Nations League kicks in. Maybe that'll mean "fewer free goals". And maybe Rooney's record will stand for a long long time. Anyway. He's done the hard yards. The net has bulged. Salute.

I enjoyed Harry Kane's cameo as well. He took his chance.

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