Starting anew by threes

After leaving a career with a multinational pharmaceutical company, Paola Sorrentino, a Neapolitan native who has made Bari her home, embraced the world of brewing and is now the owner of the Birrificio Bari brewery. And she has done this by threes.  The first three are: her degree in biology, her work experience with a prestigious multinational pharmaceutical company and her training at the University of Perugia’s Center for Excellence in Beer Research (CERB).

Her decision to “drop everything” and start anew was the result of a slump in the pharmaceutical sector, some three years ago, which made her future at the multinational somewhat precarious. Her new adventure in the world of beer began in 2015.

Her brewery is situated inside the Fiera del Levante trade fair grounds in Bari and occupies an area of some 600 square meters. The space hosts an area for production, one for tasting and sales, a biergarten and a zone for educational activities.

Her training in Perugia and subsequent apprenticeship at the BirrApulia brewery, alongside the German Master brewer Oliver Harbeck, together with her degree in biology were the three pillars on which she developed her Birrificio Bari project, one in which an artisanal production approach combines with the tales, ingredients and cultural symbols of the southern Puglia region’s capital.

This all led to the 1087 line, one composed of three brews dedicated to Bari’s patron saint, San Nicola (Saint Nicholas): a Lager, a Bohemian Pilsner and a Coffee Stout made in collaboration with the city’s historic roaster SAICAF. She has also developed a three-beer autobiographical line called Mollotutto (I’m dropping everything): La Bionda, an American Pale Ale; La Rossa, a Doppel Bock; and an “experiment in a bottle” made in collaboration with  Cantine Botromagno, a winery in Gravina di Puglia, and named Della Vigna (From the Vine). This is a Barley Wine that ages in barrels that were previously used for aging Pier delle Vigna, the estate’s showcase wine.

The style of Paola Sorrentino’s brews is gluttonous, with a pleasing balance in the dosage between sweet and bitter together with an aromatic richness, as epitomized by La Rossa which we review here. This is a beer with an independent character, both carefree and intellectual at the same time.

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