Beer tours in le Marche: La Castellana
Beer tours in Le Marche is an excellent way to discover both small villages and taste some peculiar and delicious drinks! Le Marche Region has quite a variety of breweries and they even made a beer itinerary!
Today we will discover one of Italy’s smallest brewery? how small? Well, only one way to find it out…visit it!
From Pesaro, where I live, it takes around 1 hour by car to reach the foot of Mount Catria and arrive to the small town of Serra Sant’Abbondio, and to La Castellana brewery.
We were greeted by Jacopo one of the two owners. The other one, Ludovico, is not here at the moment “he is busy being the major!” Jacopo tells us.
Mayor and Beer Maker, that’s awesome!
The history behind the brewery:
As our beer tour continues, our host tells us their story. Indeed i find it as simple as fascinating!. Jacopo and Ludovico love their village and where looking on a way to merge their passion for beers with their love for the territory. After much brainstorming the idea of a Brewery started to become stronger and stronger. One day they finally agreed on creating La Castellana after finding few bottles from an historical Italian brewery, which they interpreted as a sign from the destiny.
The best part of the beer tour: inside the brewery
Literally built from the apartment of Ludovico’s late uncle and producing around 12 thousands liters of beers per year, this pocket size brewery ain’t no joke. Don’t let the size fool you! this is no newbie stuff, they produce quality booze!
We are even allowed to taste their grains in their various degree of toasting. Sure I didn’t expect to eat beer, but is was a welcomed experience!
Jacopo explain us all the different process and materials used to create their beers, which proudly specifies are Agricultural. This appellation means that, the beers are made with at least 51% of materials produced by the brewery itself. The beers aren’t filtered nor pasteurized thus maintaining all their original flavors.
For la Castellana there is another little surprise. The water used comes directly from the Mountain! This is what is called Terroir!
The best part of a beer tour: tasting the beers
La Castellana produces 5 different types of beers each for every historical castle in Serra Sant’Abbondio. We have Leccia the light and zesty, Sanpietro the orange and coriander scented Blanche. Sant’Honda, the red ale with notes of honey and caramel. The Poggetto a coffe and licorice scented porter brown and Petrara an IPA for your hipster friend!
What an amazing discovery, and let me tell you, we didn’t want to go back home empty handed, we bought a full case of 8 beers, and with that treasure we thanked Jacopo for his hospitality promising to be back for a refill of the golden nectar!
curious to see them? have a look at the video below!
After the beer tour: what to see nearby?
The brewery is located in Serra Sant’Abbondio, a small medieval villages worth a quick visit. The perfect time to enjoy visiting the village is around the weekend before 16th September. Why this peculiar date? Well, its because of the Palio del Castello, a renaissance fair that takes place around that time.
This historical event evokes a significant moment in the past of Serra Sant’Abbondio: the construction by the military architect Francesco di Giorgio Martini of the fortress of Sant’Habundi (1476-1486).
If you visit that time, the whole village exudes happiness and history! In the evenings one’s can enjoy a succession of theatrical performances, parades, music, street theater, juggling, fireworks and much more. Meanwhile at the local restaurants it is possible to taste typical dishes.
The culminating point of the event is the dispute of the Palio, with the engaging and exciting Goose Race which takes place on Sunday afternoon: each castle competes with its own ocari and its own white breed geese, in the center of the town.
The celebrations end on September 16 with the Sant’Abbondio fair (in the morning) and with the Dinner of Peace which closes the hostilities related to the dispute of the Palio.
Thatsmarche