Thursday, February 4, 2010

Pedavena Beer, Poli Grappa, and Prosecco Tour

Dennis was so nice and sent me out on a trip with some of the MOS Bunco Spouses on a Beer, Grappa, and Prosecco tour. It was a nice day filled with laughter and rain...and some snow. The first place we stopped was the Pedavena Brewery. It was started by 3 brothers from Austria before WWI and is the only brewery left in the local area......unless you like Moretti. Entrance to the brewery, the perfect day for the tour. Where the process starts. The oats, yeast, and water combine here and sit for days until the brewmeister gives it the go ahead to move on to the next step.
The different beers Pedavena makes. Everything is still original. From the ceiling the water is poured in and sits in four vats for the fermentation process. I like this view from the rim of the vat


The levers that control the different ingredients Down comes the beer into these tubes after the fermentation process. Out comes the beer. The brewmeister was helping the birthday boy; he was given the first glass to taste. Mr. McCall could not wait for his turn. What a good beer! The beer is a very special beer, it has a longer fermentation process, and tasted great. All of the empty bottles and beer ready to go for shipping. All of these kegs were full of the different beers they brew.
The brothers that started the brewery.
Onto the Poli Grappa Museum and tasting. Grappa is made only in the town of Bassano del grappa. It is made from the skins of the grapes by cooking them then allowing them to ferment for month at the least to many years. The bottles both large and small are the different kinds of Grappa they have produced over the years. The owner is the 4th generation to be apart of the grappa making process.I tried the raspberry and chocolate flavored grappa. Both were good, but the chocolate was thick enough that it could be used to top ice cream! YUM!Yes, those are the glasses that you drink it from.
This is their collection of the little bottles that they used to make. The beginning step in making grappa....after collecting and squeezing the grapes of course.



A chair to sit on and sip on some chocolate grappa.


Looking out from the Bassano del Grappa bridge.Me
The view of the bridge.
I love the feeling of this photo. As for the prosecco portion of the tour, well I just was not feeling up to taking pictures. It was a long day and I had enough after the grappa part of the tour and was ready to call it a night :) Prosecco is made in a specific part of Italy just like real champagna only comes from Champagna France. Many only have had the dry prosecco, but there are a few good sweet ones out there as well.
Salute`