Beer 124: Pietra or Meh

Dear You in the Left Lane,

55 MPH is not an acceptable speed for the left lane.  Especially not the left lane on the Schuylkill Expressway at 7pm.  I should not be forced to pass you in the right lane at 70 MPH with all the other commuters.  A little advice -- we all want to pound the living crap out of you.  Move over.

A little warning -- we really want to pound the crap out of you after seeing the baby pink eyelashes on the headlights of your white Volkswagen Beetle.  Thank your lucky stars I didn’t stop my car and rip them off for the sake of humanity.

Love,
Me

***

Lucky for me tonight’s beer went a bit better than the drive home.  Tonight I’m drinking a Pietra from Corsica, France.  It is a Euro-dark lager made with sweet chestnut flour.  The chestnut flour isn’t intended to flavor strongly, but rather to give a nutty flavor to the malt during mashing.  I don’t quite get that…maybe you do.  Wouldn’t it flavor it either way?

You would think this was my 9th beer of the night
based on this photo.  

I had this Pietra on draught at Teresa’s Next Door.  It poured a deep honey color with a very thin head.  It had a sweet malt smell.  I thought it was well balanced - lots of hop bite during the finish.  My notes include “good” but I don’t remember anything particularly outstanding about Pietra.  It’s described on the brewery’s website as strong but delicate, soft with a touch of bitterness.  That pretty much sums it up in my book.

Cheers!