10 Nov Birra Baladin: La Storia
Baladin’s story begins in the village of Piozzo south of Turin in Langhe, Piedmont.
It is in this village where owner Teo Musso began developing beer from his childhood home in the 1980s.
On 78 acres of land, he produces his own ingredients relying on the sun for energy.
Many visits to Flanders and years of development of brewing the beers of Baladin create the high-quality products currently marketed by him.
Godfather of Baladin: Teo Musso
Teo Musso grew up in Piozzo, in a wine family.
Multiple conflicts caused him to often resent his parents.
From home, his father wanted Teo to drink the homemade wine.
His passion for beer was quickly born.
From his homemade brewery in his childhood home, he grew his passion for beer.
From an insane brewery in Piedmont and dozens of Baladin pubs to a Baladin hotel.
Unique beers
Baladin’ s beers are unique because they are not filtered, not pasteurized and refermented in the bottle.
This is the reason the beer evolves slowly, creating a natural variation in flavor.
To ensure the quality of the beers, a relatively long process is required.
Most beers take three months to make: one month of preparation, one month of re-fermentation and one month of stabilization.
Teo sees beer as a craft product that is preferably combined with food. Baladin has more than 30 varieties of beer, almost all of which have their own story and were created from Teo Musso’s desire to continue to experiment and inspire.
For example, Isaac (son) and Nora (then wife) are named after Teo Musso’s loved ones, Nazionale and L’IPPA are produced from 100% Italian ingredients.
Birra Baladin Leön was originally intended as a Christmas beer (named Noël), but due to its success, the product became available year-round.
In addition, Birra Baladin produces beers in tribute, as well as appropriate to seasons and holidays: Baladin Rock’n’Roll as a tribute to the old rock’n’roll scene, Baladin Zucca (pumpkin beer) for Halloween and Baladin Noël especially for Christmas.
Teo Musso, owner of the Baladin brewery in Piozzo among his beer barrels
Birra Baladin Xyauyù
Birra Baladin’s Xyauyù series are true craft beers, born from Teo Musso’s desire to keep experimenting with an important element in beer: oxidation.
Normally one of the typical defects of beer, but Teo Musso wanted to turn this into a quality.
It is a living high-fermentation beer that, after being exposed to the air of the Langhe, becomes a new and unique product.
Because of this exposure, the beer has no head.
Over the years, the Xyauyù family has continued to expand through experimentation: Barrel, aged in rum barrels, Fumè, aged in Scotch whisky barrels, Kentucky, with the infusion of strong Italian cigar and Kioke, aged in traditional Japanese barrels that were used to ferment soy sauce.
Also produced were beers aged in wine barrels previously used for red and white wines of outstanding quality.
The experimentation never stops.
Baladin Xyauyú Oro
Everything began in 2004 from Teo Musso’s desire to experiment with one of the typical drawbacks of beer oxidation.
This he wanted to turn into a strength.
Long years of experimentation and testing followed, culminating in a unique barley wine: Xyauyù.
It is a live high-fermentation beer that, after being exposed to air, becomes a new and unique product.
The name comes from the innocent imagination of Wayan, Teo’s second child, who was three at the time, and the name of her imaginary daughter: Xyauyù. The Baladin Xyauyú Oro was the first of the family of this barley wine.
After 3-4 weeks of fermentation, green beer is centrifuged and transferred to a maturation tank.
Here the beer rests for 6 to 18 months, after which it is transferred to oak barrels.
After a variable barrel aging period (12 to 24 months), different barrels are blended.
After several quality controls, the beers are packaged and stored at room temperature for several months.
After a final quality control, the beer may be released to the market.
This process is repeated for each Xyauyù beer, in which they differ from each other by the use of barrels and the maturation period.
Beer-food: Chocolate – from dark chocolate bars to lava chocolate cakes, or soft chocolate puddings, nougat, pastries.
Baladin Xyauyú Barrel
The idea of aging Xyauyù in rum barrels first emerged in 2012.
Teo Musso contacted his friend Luca Gargano of Velier, who on one of his research trips in 2004 came across a rum distillery in Trinidad: the legendary Caroni.
One year earlier, the distillery had closed, but there was still a valuable stock of hundreds of barrels.
He decided to buy them and bring the precious contents to Europe.
The story of this beer begins with the empty Caroni barrels and the aromas of this beautiful distillate, with a maturation period of 12-60 months.
Beer Food: Dark chocolate (min. 80%), dry pastries, or to enjoy with a cigar (Baladin Tip: Criollo from Honduras or a Cuban petit coronas).
Baladin Xyauyú Fumé
In 2012, the maturation of Xyauyù reached a new level with the arrival of Scottish casks that were used to mature great Scotch whiskies.
A good friend of Theo’s has connections at Laphroaig.
This is where the barrels that the beer rests on come from.
The Xyauyù Fumè distinguishes itself by the presence of peaty notes coming from these whiskey barrels.
The Fumé has an aging period of 12-60 months.
Beer-food: Perfect as an ending to a meal, with dark chocolate or soft cigars.
Teo Musso with a Fumé in his hand, aged so in Scotch whisky casks from Laphroaig
Baladin Xyauyú Kentucky
“Meeting Giancarlo Guzzo gave me the opportunity to understand that tobacco is deeply rooted in the agricultural tradition of our land and soil.”
This is what Teo Musso said in 2005 when he had the inspiration to create one of the most extraordinary versions of Xyauyù: Xyauyù Kentucky, based on tobacco.
Until then, he had aged this oxidized beer in rum or whiskey barrels.
For this beer, Teo Musso wanted to return to the soul of a typical Italian product: tobacco.
The tobacco is added only after the initial maturation period of 6-18 months in an aging tank.
Then the beer is transferred to oak barrels, where the Italian tobacco leaves from Kentucky are added and the beer matures for 12-24 months.
Beer Food: Dark chocolate (min. 80%), pastries, Tuscan cigars.
Baladin Xyauyù Kioke
At the end of “Expo 2015,” Teo Musso receives as a gift Yasuo Yamamoto’s Kioke barrel, which is displayed in the Japanese pavilion.
In Japan, the tradition was for the fermentation of soy sauce to take place in Kioke barrels.
Kioke barrel production is disappearing in Japan and being replaced by stainless steel fermentation vessels.
To preserve the tradition, Yasuo Yamamoto, the last generation in a family of soy sauce producers, decided to use the barrels for other purposes.
Thus, he came up with the idea of aging an Xyauyù in this precious barrel called Kioke.
The Kioke barrel has an open top and is produced on Shodo Island.
Baladin Xyauyù Kioke was born from the combination of two craft traditions related to the art of fermentation.
Xyauyù, after fermentation and 18-month aging period, is aged in the open air in a new Kioke barrel (meaning: never before used for soybean fermentation).
The barrel imparts delicate resinous notes and a slightly acidic touch, for a unique aromatic profile.
Beer Food: Whipped cream pudding, pastries.
Birra Baladin Terre & Lune
Birra Baladin Terre 2010 is aged in used barrels of great Italian red wines.
To properly age the beers, a new cellar was created: Cantina Baladin.
In 2010, Teo Musso realized a project he had wanted to set up for a long time.
In his youth, Teo Musso opposed the wine culture within the family.
As a result, he opened the first local brewery in 1986.
In the years that followed, he wanted to do something to honor his family.
He developed a beer, with influences from the wine world.
This resulted in 2010 in the presentation of a new cellar, Cantina Baladin.
This one was dedicated to aging beers on wjin barrels (also known as the family’s former chicken coop and former brewery).
With his father in attendance, Teo Musso proudly presented the results of the Terre and Lune project: two beers aged in wooden barrels, which have previously aged fantastic Italian white and red wines. Beer-food Terre: creamy puddings, pastries, cannoli, dark chocolate, nuts. Beer-food Lune: Nuts, cakes and cookies, dark chocolate with more than 70% cocoa.
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