Here we are in high summer. Probably many of you have passed one of the last few days organizing or participating in the inevitable summer BBQ, where a considerable problem is finding the right beer to match pork chops, sausages and vegetables. Fortunately, a few weeks ago appeared an interesting post on the site Beeriety, from which I drew inspiration for today’s article: they talk about 5 BBQ suitable beer styles, today I want to introduce 5 Italian beers suited for a BBQ with friends .
Jul
27
'10Five Italian beers for a barbecue
Jun
4
'10On industrial hitting restaurants…
A few days ago Beverfood published the news Menabrea which has officially launched two new beers, expressly designed to hit top restaurants. They actually belong to a brand new Top Restaurant line, named 3,5° (a light golden lager) and 7,5° (a red bock) after their ABV. The company of Biella is striding to match their brand to refined cuisine, in the wake of other industrial brewers that already tried to walk the same path in the past. I must recall that Menabrea is industrial to all intents, although often mistakenly considered a craft brewer from beer newbies.
May
28
'10What about collaborative beer?
Adam Avery and Vinnie Cilurzo are two of the major American brewers, respectively founders of Avery Brewing and Russian River. When the two met several years ago, they found out that both were brewing a beer named Salvation. It wasn’t a pleasant surprise, because the issue could raise a long dispute over rights owning and stuff like that. The two decided to avoid any legal trouble finding an unusual solution: blend the beers, call it Collaboration Not Litigation and sell it. Although it was somewhat risky, the beer meet successfully with the consumers’ favour, transforming it into an unprecedented business deal. It was 2004 and the collaborations between brewers fashion had officially begun.
May
10
'10For a definition of craft beer – part two
A couple of weeks ago we raise on these pages the issue of the definition of craft beer. As expected, the comments were not long in coming and a heated debate begun, looking for an effective and comprehensive definition of what “craft” is. Although some aspects considered crucial by all (or almost all) were established, the discussion remained far from arrange a definitive verdict. Not that I expected the opposite: the post was only a way to nourish the discussion, hoping that it might be useful for its participants.
May
6
'10Of breweries and their local
Maybe you know, or maybe not, but I still write it. Danes are enthusiast, because this week finally opened the first Mikkeller Bar in Copenhagen. As you can imagine, this is a premises owned by the Danish brewer, which will offer house beers both on tap (15-way system) and bottled. Will also host many productions from America and the rest of Europe, among which is easy to imagine the Italian Revelation Cat (Alex Liberati, the founder and brewer, and Mikkel, are great friends). Besides being a new address to be reported in the Danish capital, the Mikkeller Bar also offers the opportunity to reflect on the new trend of pubs owned by brewers.
Mar
30
'10For a definition of craft beer – part one
In over two years of life of the Italian version of this blog I’ve been tempted several times to tackle the problem of the definition of “craft beer”. So far I have always given up, because it is a complicated issue, for which there are widely differing views. It’s always been a question that sooner or later I wanted to analyze and remained there in that limbo where potential posts wait to become proper articles. A thread appeared last week on it.hobby.birra prompted me to transfer the debate on these pages too. Today is the first in a series of posts in this sense. Personally I have my idea of “craft beer”, which I hope to deepen with your contributions.
Mar
18
'10In the U.S. craft beer keeps growing, but someone is not happy…
Last week the Brewers Association has published economic data relating to the craft beer sector in the United States. Once again, in spite of the international economic situation, the segment shows an enviable health, testified by impressive numbers. One data above all: compared to 2008, the craft beer market grew by 7.2% in volume and 10.3% in dollars, surprising even the most optimistic analysts.
Mar
11
'10New useless anti-alcohol campaigns…
From time to time I’m obliged to update you on the new neo-prohibitionist measures so common in these days. Often these measures are barely sensible (and sometimes beyond reason), aiming to demonize alcohol without any distinction, lumping wine, beer, spirits and alcolpops together. These relate mainly to Anglo-Saxon countries, but, as we have seen in the past, Italy is not exempt from such procedures.
Jan
14
'10On the concept of “Gateway Beer”
Before the recent holidays, my attention was caught by an interesting article published on blogs Top Fermented, in which the author reflects on the concept of Gateway Beer. This term refers to an ideal beer, able to take a drinker through the boundary line between the world of industrial lager and the more exciting craft beer one. According to this theory, a particular beer would mark the experience of every beer lover: after years of drinking only industrial beer, we would suddenly come across an unusual production, which would have opened the doors of the craft beer world. It’s a common path to almost all the beer lovers, but the question is: is there really a Gateway Beer?
Dec
9
'09Beer and innovation: a ticklish subject
Last week the most important beer blogs around the world dealt with a very interesting topic: innovation in beer. The subject has been raised by Ron Pattison on his Shut up about Barclay Perkins, where he hurled himself towards the concept of innovation connected to beers. These are some passages from his post:
I’ll be honest with you. I don’t want innovative beer. I want tasty, refreshing beer. Beer I want to drink more than a mouthful of. Beer that’s a joy to drink rather than an exercise in endurance. I don’t want to think “what a clever brewer, how ever did he come up with adding a slight apricot flavour to a Pale Ale?”. […]I want something to drink, something that lifts my spirits and makes my heart soar. And, in sufficient quantities, will get me pissed. It’s really not complicated.
