Craft beer in Italy
IP cellars are perfect for ensuring the fermentation process and preserving your best craft beers.
Craft beer production
Craft beer in Italy is produced by independent breweries that use high-quality ingredients with traditional production techniques. It is distinguished from industrial beers by the use of high-quality, zero-mile ingredients and traditional production methods that highlight its unique and distinctive flavors.
Unlike industrial – commercial beer that has a less refined taste, craft beer has a unique taste that distinguishes it; this is thanks to the use of superior quality malts, hops and yeasts and the lack of additives. Micro breweries are freer to experiment with local ingredients or in some cases with new ingredients and methods, offering a wide range of unique styles and flavors.
In addition to experimenting with ingredients, they also experiment with fermentation techniques.
There are three main types of fermentation used for beer:
- low fermentation
- high fermentation
- spontaneous fermentation
These three different types of fermentation give rise to three different flavors of beer. The production of craft beer in Italy began in the 1980s, even though beer has much older origins, but it was only in the early 1990s that some independent Italian breweries began to experiment with new styles and new production techniques.
The Definition of Craft Beer
The growing demand from consumers and the increase in producers have highlighted the need for a law that regulates the product but above all protects its production method.
Law 154/2016 thus comes into force, which clarifies the term in detail in Article 35: “Craft beer is defined as beer produced by small independent breweries and not subjected, during the production phase, to pasteurization and microfiltration processes. (…) A small independent brewery is defined as a brewery that is legally and economically independent from any other brewery, that uses facilities that are physically separate from those of any other brewery, that does not operate under a license to use the intellectual property rights of others and whose annual production does not exceed 200,000 hectoliters, including in this quantity the quantities of beer produced on behalf of third parties”.
Craft beer culture today in Italy
Today in Italy, craft beer has become part of the food culture and the food and wine heritage of our country, influencing the brewing industry and, in some cases, replacing the wine culture.
This is reflected in the emergence of numerous dedicated events such as beer festivals, events for its tasting that are highly appreciated by both a young and older audience, but also training courses on its production, with a focus on the knowledge and use of local products.
In addition to the emergence of events dedicated to the presentation and tasting of the product, different styles of craft beers produced in Italy have spread, such as dark beer, pale beer, high-fermentation beer or beer with fruit. This is thanks to the greater awareness and use of local products, such as Italian hops and malts, which influence the taste and aroma of craft beers in Italy, and those who produce craft beer are aware of this.
Conclusioni
The history of craft beer production in Italy is quite recent and it is very important to protect local products for its progress for the food culture and the food and wine heritage of the country.
At IP we are committed to the study and research of cellars for conservation that allow a better yield of the product over time, studying local products and their characteristics for better conservation.
Our cellars are ideal for ensuring the fermentation process and for preserving your best craft beers!
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