Given the sudden outbreak of tales about Italian beer (see below) and the reality I should save something interesting for a couple of print assignments I’m going to write a lot less here than I planned for Italian Beer Part II.
Instead I’ll steal an idea from this wine blog, which reviews wines using a single picture instead of traditional tasting notes. The new wave of Italian beers can’t be represented by a single image, but I’m suggesting this is a start:
The photo was taken at Pompeii. I didn’t choose it because it expresses something “classic,” but because of the balance and texture it shows. Those components are essential in any beer we might call exceptional. One complaint about the big hoppy beers that emerged in the United States and now the sometimes offbeat beers of Italy is that the colors sure are bright but they often clash.
Not every Italian brewer has it figured out, but there are enough to set a good example for the others.
Here’s one example. KeTo RePorter from Birra del Borgo, located about 70 kilometers east of Rome. The beer is a rich porter spiced with tobacco leaves (added during the final two minutes of the boil). Several other Birra del Borgo beers are available in the United States, however this one has had a little trouble getting label approval . . .
Anyway, perhaps we should considered the power of persuasion, but KeTo seem to have a little pipe tobacco sweetness in the aroma and flavor and surprising spicy notes that set it apart from other porters. You may or may not like this, you may or may not think it is worth the price, but Italian small-batch brewers must ask more for their beers (they are spending 40 to 50 percent more than large brewers for ingredients) so they better be offering something different.
That’s the easy part. Balance and texture are the things not even a volcano eruption can destroy.
Further reading
As noted last week, Evan Rail’s New York Times article nicely captures what is happening in the north and the beer/food connection in Italy. And Charlie Papazian, one the heals of Salone del Gusto in Turin, offered a whole series of posts on Italian beers. (Start here.)
Since like Papazian I noted that finding craft beer in Italy is still a challenge in some areas, such as Florence and Venice, I must agree that sometimes you have to work to find these beers. However, after I wrote that post I learned that 300 bar/pubs in Rome serve craft beer and that a growing number of bars, led by the pioneering Ma Che Siete Venuti A Fa’, specialize in flavorful beer.
Also, I have to correct Papazian when he writes, “Are any beers being exported to places like the USA? Very, very few.” If you live in the right parts of the United States it is easier to find a range of Italian small-batch beers than in most cities in Italy. Importer B. United International has a dozen Italian beers in its portfolio, listed here.
New Beer Distributors in NYC has a fine selection of Italian beers.
A problem with Italy is that small scale food, be it cheese, wine, beer or whatever, tend to be distributed in the region and sold directly from the producer or through small shops and restaurants. I go to (Northern) Italy fairly often, and I have to e-mail the breweries to find what I want.
The best bet is to visit specialist beer stores. I’ve found them in Parma, Milan and Bologna and I know of one in Rome, but I’m sure there are others. Google and babelfish are good tools.
(More on the Italian beer scene on my blog)
Now whether you can actually afford to buy any of the Italian imports is another story…How are the local prices for craft beer in Italy?
Knut,
Not sure what you have for Rome, but these two are good stores:
Off License, via Veio 4
Bir&Fud Bottega, via Luca Valerio 41 (Bir&Fud being the restaurant that specializes in Italian craft beers)
I should have mentioned that we saw a few places in Parma (and a cafe with Schneider Weiss on tap). The places that I was surprised hadn’t caught up were Florence and Venice.
Andy – A fair point. As I wrote, Italian small brewers are paying a chunk more for ingredients (they have just formed a buying co-op), and distribution costs are also high. It costs Birra del Borgo more to get its beer into Rome (70 km) than to ship it north. And once you get any size at all you have to have a full- or part-time person to deal with Italian bureaucracy.
That said, we saw 33cl bottles for 2.80E to 3.50E in stores (compared to a little more than 2E for Orval). Panil Barrique Sour is 5E for a 75cl at the brewery and most the Birra de Borgo beers are 5E at the brewery, around 6-7E in bottle shops and of course more in pubs.
I filed away my receipt from Birrificio Troll and am feeling lazy so I’m rounding a bit on this part. There you can order different sizes (and those may also vary based on the strength of the beer). What would be comparably to a pint (so 14-16 ounces of an average beer, 10-12 of a strong one; and they have strong ones) about 4E. Of course the Troll eases you pain with great food, some of it prepared with beer, that seems awfully cheap.
I could go on, but will simply add not cheap in Italy, but nearly what they are going for in the US. The strengthening of the dollar may help a bit.
I found it to be somewhat difficult tracking down good beer in Venice, and between sightseeing, eating amazing food, and taking it all in, scouring the city for craft beer kind of took a backseat. While the beer I’ve tried from Italian microbrewers that’s been shipped to the US has been for the most part excellent, the prices keep me cautious, especially as of late.
I’ve been telling you all about this stuff for almost two years!
Jeff – If I hadn’t already written too much about Italy I would have added a post about how you are a god at Ma Che Siete Venuti A Fa’.
While I was there so was a couple from the UK, repeat customers who first came because they read what you wrote in What’s Brewing.
That announcement was followed by Manuele praising you, telling stories and eventually swearing me to secrecy.
This is a great post. After spending the last 2 vacations in England and Germany, I am not as excited about Italy’s beer selection. This is exactly what I needed. Thank you. Great blog.
I guess I must have lucked out getting a Demon Hunter from Birrificio Montegioco (www.birrificiomontegioco.com) at Bottleworks (www.bottleworks.com) on a visit to Seattle. B. United International is the import agent for this beer. People might be able to narrow the search by checking out their wholesaler locations: http://www.bunitedint.com/services/accounts/location/overview.php.