Tall cool ones: Home brews and boutique beers flourish in Italy

Did you know that beer was first produced in Italy in 1846?

Beer production in Italy first began with Jean Joseph Menabrea who built the first brewery in Biella in the Italian Alps. Menabrea is still brewed today featuring Bionda and Amber. Throughout the 20^th century Italy has produced many beers such as Peroni, Birra Moretti and Forst. Beer in Italy reached its peak with its production of 156,00 hectoliters (4 million gallons) in 1925. However, in 1927 the government raised the tax for beer and consumption plummeted.

After World War II the annual beer production rose to its previous level of 156,00 hectoliters (4 million gallons). Throughout the 1960s production continued to rise along with the increase in pizzerias and in 1983 it reached 454,250 hectoliters (12 million gallons.) During this time the per-capita consumption rose from 28 liters (7 gallons) to 35 liters (10 gallons).

Unlike microbrewing in the U.S., which began in 1977 with New Albion Brewery in Calif., craft brews first appeared in the peninsula in 1996 with the enactment of the new law to allow for private home brewing.

The legislation subdivided the beer in the following categories:

1. birra doppio (double malt) beyond 14.5 grade

2. birra speciale (special) beyond 12.5 grade

3. birra leggera (light) between 5-10.5 grade

4. birra analcolica (non-alcoholic) between 3-8 grade

The early Italian brew masters used nontraditional ingredients like farro, ginger, chestnuts and beans. In the early 2000s this Italian version of microbrews became popular in the United States and scored high on apps like RateBeer, Untapped and BeerAdvocate.

In 1996 Agostino Arioli opened the first microbrew in Lurago Marinone near Lake Como with his private label Birrificio Italiano. Initially, Arioli used his degree in agriculture to expand his horizon and find his vision. Later he was selected as an intern at the Von Wunster Brewery in Lombardia and began to homebrew in 1985. He found inspiration from traveling abroad to Vancouver and throughout Germany and discovered that beer was just not for the beach.

His first beer Tipopils was rated on Beer Advocate at 90. Arioli remains steadfast to the standard of a true microbrewer. He has set his annual production to no more than 7,000 hectoliters (184,920 gallons) compared to Heineken’s annual output of 242 million hectoliters (over 6 billion gallons).

Birrificio Italiano offers beers for diverse tastes and seasons: Bibock for the Spring, Yule
(Winter Lager) for the cold season, Finisterrae (Italian White Beer) for a hot summer day and Asteroid 56013 (West Coast IPA) as a homage to where it all began. Agostino Arioli ’s describes his passion this way:

“La passione è nata in modo semplice, da bevitore. Giravo con gli amici cercando nuovi posti per bere una birra che non avevamo mai provato, o ritornavamo dove c’era della birra che ci piacesse.”

(The passion was born in a simple way, as a drinker. I went around with friends looking for new places to drink a beer that we never tried before, or went back to the beer we liked.)

Author’s note always ask for beer alla spina. (on tap).

Adesso lo sa.