Description
Lupo Pils is a premium Italo Pils using Italian Eraclea Pilsner malt, and hopped with Saphir and Perle. An enhanced noble German hop aroma permeates as the style’s pioneer, Agostino Arioli, intended. Fresh grass, herbal and spicy notes all give the beer that pleasing noble hop impression and the small Saphir dry hop (1.4g/L) conjures up citrus-sweet ripe tangerines. A crisp, hoppy and hugely refreshing lager for the Spring and Summer to come.
5%
330ml bottle
Contains barley. Vegan.
Dookit say “”Taking a leaf out of other small brewery’s books I decided to make the most of the long and cold Glaswegian winter and brew a speciality lager. The freezing cold brewery and quieter sales months means there are no issues holding up a beer in tank and lagering it for as long as possible. For four weeks this special Italo Pils remained in the conditioning tank at temperatures close to zero degrees celsius.
”An Italo Pils is always a style that has intrigued me and one I’ve enjoyed several iterations of. Partizan brewed a quality one a few years back and Luppoleto Pils from Burning Sky is a firm favourite. The style may be a lesser known sub category of the world famous Pilsner lager but this does not detract from its unique and bold character. All that refreshingly dry crispness you want from a Pils is there but with an added conspicuous noble hop presence in both smell and taste. What’s not to like? The difficulty from a brewers perspective of attaining that freshly picked hop sensation and the satisfaction of drinking such an enjoyable hoppy lager are reasons enough for brewing it and promote the brilliance of the Italo Pils. And you can certainly find this in Lupo Pils: a generous plant-like greeness permeates, a dominant grassiness develops with a hint of peppery spice. All this mingled with a vibrant citrus-sweet tangerine flavour. Cat Tams, the artist behind the lush artwork on the label, captures the taste, drinking experience and style perfectly.
”There’s a lot of fun reading out there around the history of the style and what it has grown to be. (There’s even a festival in the US dedicated to the style!). I love the fact that the founding father of the style was taken back, like I’m sure many of us have, when drinking a Jever and dedicated so much of his brewing career to emulate and enhance such an experience. It certainly was worthy work and I followed a lot of his processes like fermenting at higher temperatures, a double dry hop (one at the high krausen and another cold one in CT) and kept the dry hop to a modest level (1.42g/L across the brew). I wasn’t too keen on taking the pH to such a low level though. I worry it would negatively affect the body of the beer.
”Although the original Italian Pilsner Lager, Tipo Pils, utilises Saphir like I did it doesn’t emphasise it’s citrus-sweet tangerine flavour as much as I’d like it too. Luppoleto Pils from Burning Sky on the otherhand does and so the name for Dookit’s Italo Pils sits astride the two great iterations borrowing the best bits from both. ‘Lupo’, meaning wolf in Italian, is not only reminiscent of both beer names but it strongly suggests how important the lupulin will play in the beer. Also, as styles go, the Italo Pils definitely gives off a lone wolf vibe!
”When it came to specific recipe choices I wanted all the noble characteristics you get from German hops with a popping citrus fruit aroma and taste. This is why I used Perle for earlier flavour additions and Saphir for the late and dry hop additions. I wanted the highest quality ingredients to ensure a premium lager standard was met: the hops were all from a fresh 2023 crop and bought from a trusted supplier with high processing and packaging standards. The Eraclea Pilsner Malt, an Adriatic Coastal barley, is of a very high standard too. It acts as the perfect base for crisp pilsners while offering an aromatic and slight honey-sweet profile. I enhanced the sweetness with a touch of melanoidin malt (1% of the grist) to balance the bitterness and plant-like flavours.
“All these decisions along with a careful and patient lagering process assures high quality. The proof is in the pudding: the beer has all the refined and crisp refreshment of a classic German Pils (Jever and Rothaus Pils comes to mind) but with that added fresh hop bite. This is the beer to grab after a long day at work, while you’re cooking and disentangling from the day. And definitely one to enjoy when signs of Spring are in the air.”