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In the last post we gather the information about new Italian beers but today we’re going to take a look at new breweries. We can’t but start from Mukkeller (website), a company of Porto Sant ‘Elpidio (FM), which immediately found itself floodlit. The reason is clear: their name “reminds” the Danish Mikkeller, one of the hottest producers around the European scene. The analogy seems intentional and it’s difficult to think otherwise: it’s a marketing operation beyond the boundaries of common sense. Any explanation about the origin of the name puzzles anyhow.

The truth is that as far as I know this is a very promising brewery. I’ve heard unanimous and enthusiastic opinions on their Pils, and some say that their Bitter is very good too. The only problem then would be that name: Mikkel (founder of Mikkeller) already contacted them asking for explanations which he accepted without further development. But no assurance Mikkel will behave like this in the future as well… No doubt this is a sword of Damocles that could be counterproductive in the long run, though at the moment that name give brewery the hype. We’ll see, in the meantime I will try something – but only because someone trustworthy told me they’re good, mind you …

In Battipaglia, near Salerno, recently opened the B1080 brewery (website). It’s actually a beer firm, not owning a plant but brewing its beers in other breweries. This habit is getting popular in Italy and it’s already widespread in many European countries (Belgium in particular).

The beers currently brewed are two. The first is the Old Castle, a Belgian Strong Dark Ale made with four different kind of malt. It has a high but not disturbing alcoholic content and the aroma and flavour are characterized by the presence of roasted malts. The second beer is called St. Mary, a top fermented light coloured Ale brewed with Cascade hops, one of America’s most renowned quality. Here’s how it is described by the brewer:

Its taste is strong and complex, with fruity notes of Cascade. From the great family of the malts we have chosen two main types: the Pils base malt and a caramel malt, the Cara-hell.

Talking about breweries with similar names we move to Aosta where recently opened the B63 brewery, inaugurated last November 27. In fact, some bureaucratic hitches have delayed the actual opening of the premises (the B63 is a brewpub).

From an article appeared in AostaSera, we find that “63″ is the year of birth of the two partners: the brewer Antonio Pistilli and Paola Paroncini. The beers are inspired by the German brewing culture: they brew what the article defines a lager (presumably a Helles), an “amber” (which could be a Dunkel) and a Dunkelweizen (which in summer will be replaced by a regular Weizen).

We learn from Birrazen that last Saturday the Birrificio Sant’Andrea (BSA) opened in Vercelli, introducing itself with the slogan “beer to the people.” I think we must keep an eye on it, because they start off with the right foot, as for the beautiful website that – hallelujah – is behind the times, unlike those of many other Italian breweries, or for their announcements , playing on strong concepts, with which the brewery will have to cope in the future: revolution, quality and innovation. From this point of view they remind me of Bad Attitude , perhaps the only Italian brewer (actually Swiss), which implemented the dictates of modern marketing, especially that based on the web.

The BSA is brewing two beers: the Bionda del Leone a dry and clean taste Pils and La Rossa del Gallo, a 6.9% ABV and 40 IBU Bitter. The brewer says he wants to brew beer for the people … but the prices will be popular? We’ll see.

Let’s conclude with some brief reports. In San Pellegrino Terme (BG) Via Priula Brewery has recently opened. Their beers have already appeared and been appreciated in some manifestation in the Northern Italy. Same goes for the brewery Endorama of Grassobbio, near Bergamo as well. Basing on the first impressions it looks like they’ll both hold the spotlight in the future, so if you want to know more read the post Alessio Leone wrote about them (in Italian).

I received reports of two new micros that are going to open in Brescia and surroundings. The first is the brewery F.lli Trami located in Capriano del Colle, which currently produces a light Pils (Persek) and a Bock (Gran Risa). The second is called Birrificio Bresciano Montenetto and is located in Brescia. They currently brew a fresh and drinkable Pils (Lapy) and an “Italian Red Ale” (Maddalena), inspired by the “old Italian red”, whatever they are.