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Troubles ahead for Heineken because of Birra Messina

Yes I know, speaking of multinationals is not the reason this site was born and in general is not a very exciting activity. But is the same economic sector nevertheless, and often these updates allow us to understand how the whole industry is evolving, which also includes craft brews. And I would say that in this case there are many clues, so that my four short news reports today are particularly interesting.

So let’s take a look at those news:

• As reported by the Corriere del Mezzogiorno, about a year ago Confconsumatori lodged a petition about the exploitation of the name Birra Messina, one of the most popular “local beer” brands in Italy. The reason is that the brand has long passed under the control of Heineken, which has shifted production at its plant at Massafra, in Puglia. The Antitrust Authority has upheld the appeal of the Consumers Association, confirming that the name Birra Messina, the Triscele symbol and the words “old recipe” and “since 1923″ are misleading messages, affecting the consumers. As a result, Heineken will have 6 months to change the labels, showing very clearly that the plant is in Massafra and not in Messina.
• 

  The new Forst's brewhouse

  The Forst is perhaps the most “traditional” among the Italian industrial breweries. Since the beginning of July the plant is enhanced with a new, giant lauter tun, weighting over 21 tons. Given its size, was dispatched from Bürgstadt (Bavaria) to Italy in 4 separate parts. The journey was not that easy, concluded with the temporary closure of the road to Lagundo due to the width of the vat. Once welded together, the four parts together will have a diameter of 8 meters. Ah, Forst has also recently launched its new website.

• A recent search conducted by Makno for Assobirra shows that beer consumption is growing in our country. At the restaurant beer has become the favorite compared to wine (20.6% vs. 18%, although I imagine the category also includes pizzerias and other special types of premises). In general is increasingly popular among Italians and the daily and home consumption has doubled. In general it also seems that consumer awareness is increasing too: the head, for example, is now considered important for 3 out of 4 drinkers, which shows a reversal of one of the Italian clichés about beer. For details visit the Assobirra web-site.
• Finally, is bouncing on a number of mainstream agencies the news that the number of women in beer tasting jobs is growing, thanks to their natural predisposition towards olfactory sensations. Be careful though, because they’re speaking of quality control in large companies, where females seem more skilled than their male colleagues in seeking out beer faults. To make it clear the breweries cited are SABMiller, Carlsberg and the aforementioned Forst.