Review of The Original Seefurth Family Mamma Mia Pizza Beer
Posted By Ken Sunday, 02 March 2008 16:27
This special beer is getting a more expanded review than other beers on our site for a few reasons. Pizza Beer was discovered by me via our MySpace page when I added them to our friends list. I went to their website to check out what Pizza Beer was all about, and was surprised to find that it claimed to taste like eating a piece of Pizza, having hints of oregano, basil, garlic, and tomato.
How can a beer taste like pizza and be drinkable? I wondered.
I contacted the creators of Pizza Beer, Tom and Athena Seefurth of Illinois, to discuss the possibility of getting some Pizza Beer to try for review on our website. They responded to tell me that they were working out the final details with a brewing company to start making Pizza Beer for distribution, and that they would keep in touch, which over the past month and a half we still email back and forth. These are a couple of really great people to deal with, by the way. Very friendly and very helpful with any information we need.
My interests really peaked when I was notified that there was a video on their website showing the first batch being made. I watched the video to see what made this beer special, and how exactly they got the beer to taste like pizza. I was really shocked when they actually threw in real tomatoes, garlic, basil, and oregano (and pieces of real pizza) into the mash. All these flavors worked in with the mash, then got filtered out in the latter process of the beer making.
Over the course of the month since my initial contact with the Seefurths, I was finally told of a place in the Chicago area that sold and could ship me some Pizza Beer. I gave them a call this past week and ordered a 4-pack. I received it the next day, having it shipped to work so I wouldn’t have to try to be home to meet the delivery guy.
And for anyone curious, yes, I am 28 years old, so I am well into the legal arena of being able to order and drink beer.
I ended up trying this beer with some co-workers, because they were so interested in it when I showed it to them that we decided to take 10 minutes out of the work day on Friday and try a bottle of it. Now, we at Drinker’s World do not condone getting paid at work to partake in drinking of alcoholic beverages, so don’t try to blame us if you try drinking at work and get fired.
So here we are with the official Drinker’s World review of The Original Seefurth Family Mamma Mia Pizza Beer!
Ken's Review
Taste: A This is the area that would ultimately make or break this beer. After all, a beer that supposedly tastes like pizza is where you have to find whether you like or dislike the product. I first took in the aroma of Pizza Beer before trying it. You could definitely get a sense from the smell of pizza or Italian cooking. It was amazing to smell a beer and have it bring about the smell of an old Italian restaurant.
When you take a drink of this beer for the first time, it comes over your tongue with a gentle beer taste, then turns into a medley of its main ingredients: oregano, basil, garlic, and tomato, and really gives you that sense that you just at a piece of pizza or pasta. The taste you get is by no means dominating, but comes in at just the right level for enjoyment. After the first couple of drinks of Pizza Beer I could see what was so special about it, and why the Seefurths put so much effort into getting this to market. It is totally unlike what you would expect it to be in taste.
Packaging: A The packaging of this bottle is simple, but works well. Dark bottle (always scores points with me). The top band reads "Beer So Good It Deserves a Wine Glass", on top of the Italian colors of red, white, and green. This is so true; it really does deserve to be in something above just a pint glass, as you will find when you taste it. The main label reads "Original Seefurth Family" (in green)/Mamma Mia!/Pizza Beer (in red). A sketch of Tom and Athena holding wine glasses is pictured, with their signatures. I like the packaging of this, because it would be so easy to have images of pizza all over the bottle. This packaging doesn't really try to do anything for the beer, which in my opinion is smart because the beer does all the talking for itself.
Value: A Value on Pizza Beer cannot be complained about. For around $1.99 to $2.50 each you can get a 16oz. bottle, a step up from usually 12oz. bottles for most beers. Beer is sold outside of a restaurant/bar location in 4-packs that range in the vicinity of $10-$12, which is well worth it for the uniqueness and quality taste of this beer. For being a specialized beer, Pizza Beer could have easily been marketed for a higher price, and I think it's great that the Seefurths are making sure that everyone can affordably taste their beer.
Drunkeness: B This is one of the rare occasions where drunkeness is not really even something we should consider. The beer comes in at 4.7%, which is a little lower than most beers, but is a good thing as this is truly an accompaniment beer to have with foods such as pastas and...what else...pizza! I personally wouldn't recommend it as a pound-em-to-get-plastered beer by any means.
Overall: A I was absolutely amazed at how smooth and non-dominating the taste of Pizza Beer was, and loved every minute of trying it. I definitely recommend finding a location that you can pick some of this up at, or order it for shipment as I did (samswine.com; phone ordering easiest way). Even if you are not a fan of beer, or you do not think that this sounds at all appealing, please take my advice and order some. I'm sure that you will be just as surprised as I was how truly remarkable this beer is in taste. I am looking forward to even trying cooking with it, as recipes are on their website as well. All around great beer, and one that is sure to set some precendents for beers to come.