Wellington Fine Italian Style Pilsner (5.5%)
To begin with, the issue at play here is whether or not ‘Italian style pilsner’ is, in fact, a legitimate beer style. Pose the question to any number of beer rating sites or beer competitions and the answer will be an emphatic “Yes!” Ask the man credited with the creation of the style, as I did a couple of years ago, and his response will be a bit different.
The brewery almost everyone agrees originated the Italian pilsner is Birrificio Italiano, and the man behind that brewery is Agostino Arioli. I met up with Agostino in Prague at the European Brewery Convention in 2023 and asked him point blank if he thought his beer, Tipopils, did in fact start a new style.
(I should note here and now that I am a great fan of Tipopils and have been since the first time I tasted it many years ago. If you can’t make it to the brewery in the Milanese suburbs, by far the best place to enjoy it on tap is at the Birrificio Italiano Milano beside the train station in central Milan.)
To say he equivocated is to say the least. Arioli noted that his idea to dry-hop his pilsner with noble hops was definitely unusual at the time, but agreed with me that the notion he was the first to do it seemed perhaps a bit far-fetched (even if his brewery’s website insists he was.). What he did say for the record is that if the Italian style pilsner does represent a legitimate style – and again, he was reluctant to suggest that it definitively does – it should be dry-hopped with only traditional Old World hop varieties, including the so-called ‘noble’ hop varieties Hallertau Mittelfrüh, Saaz, Spalt, and Tettnang.
Which brings us to the Wellington Brewery interpretation, which the brewery’s website informs me employs “loads” of Hallertau Mittelfrüh and Saphir hops in the dry-hop. The Hallertau is, of course, quite old and very traditional, whereas Saphir, while German in origin, is relatively new, dating only from the early 2000s.
Light gold and reassuringly bright in appearance, the Wellington beer does have a most attractive aroma, although perhaps a bit reticent for a dry-hopped lager. There is some woody spice, likely from the Hallertau, and also a hint of sweet lemon, no doubt courtesy of the Saphir. All in all, it is an enticing perfume.
The flavour is, I think, a bit more problematic in that while it begins with a retro-olfactory spiciness, the mid-palate brings forward quite a bit of citrus alongside the spice, creating a flavour perhaps well-suited to North American IPA drinkers raised on citrusy Cascade and Centennial hops, but a bit sharp and out-of-character for someone seeking a beer crafted in the image of Tipopols. The finish calms down quite a bit and offers far more crisp and lightly spicy malt than it does that somewhat jarring citrus.
In the end, how one rates this beer depends, I think, upon whether or not the Italian pilsner is a true beer style. If it is, and this is meant to be in that style, then it falls short of the mark, I think principally due to the Saphir content. On the other hand, if it’s more a general concept than a proper beer style, then this is a terrific summer quaffer that offers great refreshment and fine value in its 568 ml ‘stovepipe’ can format.
81 ($3.95/568 ml)