Tuesday, December 11, 2018
The Undefinable Brewery Liberati
To be sure, Liberati Osteria & Oenobeers is not the place where you should plan to go if you want to kick back for a few typical beers with friends. No, it is somewhere you will need to set aside time to discern and discuss the beers in front of you, because each is a thought-provoking experience.
Opened on Oct. 29, it is the first exclusively oenobeer brewery - one that crafts all of its beers with some percentage of wine grapes - anywhere in the world. Italian native Alex Liberati chose Denver to be the home of this grand experiment after 11 years of operating Rome's most daring brewery and beer bar and then deciding it was too difficult to continue to run a business there.
The menu offers up roughly a dozen beers, though Liberati has tap space to grow that to 42 eventually. But even at this early "small" number of creations, the daring jumps off the menu - and is amped up even further when you dive into a sampler.
Some of the oenobeers, to be sure, are more intriguing than mind-blowing. Parvus Titan, a petite farmhouse ale brewed with East Kent Goldings hops and 20 percent Viongnier grapes, comes in at just 3.7 percent ABV and has a crisp-lager feel, but the grapes give it an intriguing flavor that makes you realize there is something more here, even if it's undefinable. Liberati (pictured below), a man who is looking to make a truly great small beer, calls this his favorite offering.
But then you start to work through the hoppy selections and realize that something is very different. The Nomen Omen IIPA with 20 percent Marsanne grapes takes on an oaky, almost vegetal flavor. The I-3PO Triple IPA with 25 percent Gewürztraminer grapes sends the hops to the background and covers up the 12.8 percent alcohol volume completely, making the grapes the stars of the show. These are not India pale ales for hopheads looking to get their lupulin fix; these are experiments that redefine the IPA in eye-opening ways.
Where Liberati really shines, though, is when the grapes become a near majority of the fermentables and the beer is transformed into something that seems a whole new beverage type. In Medio Stat Virtus, a Belgian golden ale made with 48 percent Chardonnay grapes, manages to blend the sweetness of its beer style with the strong dryness of its fruit, allowing you to sense both styles of drinks coming together in a strong and passionate way. And when you linger over the Recioto Denveris, a 12.8 percent ABV dark-as-night imperial stout made with 23 percent Petit Verdot grapes, you shock yourself that a beer so thick and viscous also can be so drinkable.
One theme is that the beers, which are served with charcuterie plates or pasta dishes, are uniformly dangerous - beers that carry a big impact without a big hit of booze, much like a fine Italian wine. The other is that nothing on the menu tastes like what you are expecting, even when you're going in with an open mind and not knowing what the hell to expect.
Liberati is a sensory trip, a flavorful experiment, a true effort in redefining beer. The truth is, I don't know what I'll think the second and third times I return, when the offerings will be less surprising but no less expertly made. But I know I'm going back, because uniqueness like this needs to be rewarded.
To be sure, Liberati Osteria & Oenobeers is not the place where you should plan to go if you want to kick back for a few typical beers with friends. No, it is somewhere you will need to set aside time to discern and discuss the beers in front of you, because each is a thought-provoking experience.
Opened on Oct. 29, it is the first exclusively oenobeer brewery - one that crafts all of its beers with some percentage of wine grapes - anywhere in the world. Italian native Alex Liberati chose Denver to be the home of this grand experiment after 11 years of operating Rome's most daring brewery and beer bar and then deciding it was too difficult to continue to run a business there.
The menu offers up roughly a dozen beers, though Liberati has tap space to grow that to 42 eventually. But even at this early "small" number of creations, the daring jumps off the menu - and is amped up even further when you dive into a sampler.
Some of the oenobeers, to be sure, are more intriguing than mind-blowing. Parvus Titan, a petite farmhouse ale brewed with East Kent Goldings hops and 20 percent Viongnier grapes, comes in at just 3.7 percent ABV and has a crisp-lager feel, but the grapes give it an intriguing flavor that makes you realize there is something more here, even if it's undefinable. Liberati (pictured below), a man who is looking to make a truly great small beer, calls this his favorite offering.
But then you start to work through the hoppy selections and realize that something is very different. The Nomen Omen IIPA with 20 percent Marsanne grapes takes on an oaky, almost vegetal flavor. The I-3PO Triple IPA with 25 percent Gewürztraminer grapes sends the hops to the background and covers up the 12.8 percent alcohol volume completely, making the grapes the stars of the show. These are not India pale ales for hopheads looking to get their lupulin fix; these are experiments that redefine the IPA in eye-opening ways.
Where Liberati really shines, though, is when the grapes become a near majority of the fermentables and the beer is transformed into something that seems a whole new beverage type. In Medio Stat Virtus, a Belgian golden ale made with 48 percent Chardonnay grapes, manages to blend the sweetness of its beer style with the strong dryness of its fruit, allowing you to sense both styles of drinks coming together in a strong and passionate way. And when you linger over the Recioto Denveris, a 12.8 percent ABV dark-as-night imperial stout made with 23 percent Petit Verdot grapes, you shock yourself that a beer so thick and viscous also can be so drinkable.
One theme is that the beers, which are served with charcuterie plates or pasta dishes, are uniformly dangerous - beers that carry a big impact without a big hit of booze, much like a fine Italian wine. The other is that nothing on the menu tastes like what you are expecting, even when you're going in with an open mind and not knowing what the hell to expect.
Liberati is a sensory trip, a flavorful experiment, a true effort in redefining beer. The truth is, I don't know what I'll think the second and third times I return, when the offerings will be less surprising but no less expertly made. But I know I'm going back, because uniqueness like this needs to be rewarded.
Labels: farmhouse ales, IPA, Liberati Osteria & Oenobeers, New Colorado breweries, oenobeers
