Kuaska’s review

Not strictly a ‘Franconian Rauchbier’, Ghisa is still very interesting and original. It partners smoked cheeses and salted meats very well but I suggest it with smoked fish (kippered North Sea herrings).

 

Appearance is impressive, that of a ‘monk’s habit’, with ebony reflections, and the head is thick with ‘cappuccino’ color notes

Nose of roasted coffee and smoked cheese.

Taste appears after the ‘shock’ of the smoke, a pleasant melted liquorice dominates, leaving a small space for light ‘boiled plums’ notes.

Aftertaste reveals in succession a wide variety of dried fruit: carob, hazelnut, nut and cassia. A lovely bitterness stays for a long time in the end of the tongue to constrast very well with dried fruit dominating notes.

Isn’t that a kind of metal?

The traffic warden, a typical Milanese character, was at the beginning of the 20th century affectionately called ‘el ghisa’ (the iron). The name comes from the shape and appearance of the hat worn with the first warden’s uniform of 1860, which resembled the metal chimney of a make of German stove sold at that time in Milan.