Panil Divina – Barrel-aged version

6.5% ABV
Purchased at Pangaea Bottle Shoppe ($20.49/25.4 oz. bottle) and poured into flute glasses.

This “Spontaneously Fermented Italian Ale” pours a honeyed gold with a large and extremely fluffy white head, and an angrily agitated body similar to champagne.  The enticing but not overpowering nose is a farmhouse morning of lemons, grapefruits, and dry grass.  Panil Divina smells like fresh country air and tastes like fresh farm produce – it offers a refreshing lemon taste on first swallow, with grapefruit and tangerine on the retreat.  Bitter melon, sour grapes, and barnyard funk flavors emerge in the satisfying aftertaste of this beer, which was fermented in open air with several yeasts and aged in French Oak.   It’s not as dry as you would expect, and is surprisingly balanced and thirst-quenching for such a high-maintenance brew.

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