Five iconic Italian beers
And what you need to know before you drink them!
Although Italy is first and foremost a wine producing (and drinking) nation, beer is increasingly popular, in particular mass-produced pale lagers, which are the traditional accompaniment to pizza.
Craft beers (or birra artiginale) are also increasingly popular, but today’s focus is the mass-market lager variety.
In fact, Italy has a long history of brewing. The ancient Phoenicians traded in beer, the Ancient Romans mastered the art of brewing, and renaissance princes distributed free beer at their lavish wedding ceremonies.
Today, Italians prefer a fairly robust, chilled pale lager or pilsner-style beer, typically brewed at around 5% percent - the discerning Italian drinker favours quality and strength over quantity.
Beer is generally served in a continental style goblet or chalice, and you can ask for a small (200ml) — birra piccola, medium (400ml) — birra media, or large (1l) — un grande.
You are probably already familiar with the iconic Italian beers listed below, but hopefully reading about them will quench your thirst until you can get your hands on one.
Peroni
The Peroni brewery was founded in 1846 by Francesco Peroni in Vigevano, a small town near Milan. Originally produced in the then Kingdom of Savoy for the local market, in 1864 the young Francesco moved to Rome, capital of the newly unified Italian state, to start production in a second, larger and more technologically advanced factory
Peroni was one of the stars of the Italian economic boom at the end of the 1950s and early 1960s. The popularity of the brand multiplied during this period thanks to legendary poster and TV campaigns that had the “blonde Peroni” as the protagonist and German actress Solvi Stubing the alluring face of the brand.
Peroni is the Peroni company’s original brand, and it remains the best selling beer in Italy. It is 4.7% abv and made with barley malt, maize, hop pellets and hop extract.
The London-based brewing giant SABMiller took over Peroni in 2003 and it was bought from SABMiller by the Japanese brewing giant Asahi in February 2016.
Peroni is probably best known for its pale lager, Nastro Azzurro (see below).
Nastro Azzuro (Peroni)
Nastro Azzurro was launched by Peroni in 1963. The name means “Blue Ribbon”, in honor of the unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner which crossed the Atlantic Ocean with the highest speed, won in 1933 by the Italian ocean liner SS Rex.
Nastro Azzuro is a 5.1% alcohol by volume pale lager and is the Peroni Brewery’s premium lager brand. It is produced using Nostrano dell’Isola maize, from the fertile plains of Lombardy, producing a fresh, crisp, clean beer.
Nastro Azzurro has also sponsored teams in Grand Prix motorcycle racing, including the Aprilia team of Valentino Rossi. Popular all over the world, Nastro Azzuro is a global style icon.
Peroni products are brewed and bottled in Rome, Bari and Padua.
Ichnusa
This popular Sardinian-made beer is brewed in Assemini, a town near the Sardinian capital Cagliari. Founded by local entrepreneur Amsicora Capra, who specialized in the production and export of wine, following a crisis affecting wine production in Sardinia in 1911, he diversified into beer.
Its name comes from the Greek word for Sardinia: Ichnôussa. Birra Ichnusa is a lager (5.0% ABV) with a hoppy taste.
Sold in a stubby little brown bottle dominated by the Sardinian flag known as I Quattro Mori, which features the four heads that represent Moorish kings defeated in combat by the Crown of Aragon, and the cross of Saint George.
Ichnusa embraces the identity of the Sardinian people, one reason for its success and dominance on island, which propelled it to international prominence.
Founded in 1912, Birra Ichnusa is now owned by Heineken International.
Menabrea
Located in Biella, to the west of the Milan, the Menabrea brewery was founded in 1846 by Mr. Welf di Gressoney and the brothers Antonio and Gian Battista Caraccio. In 1854, the brewery was rented to Giuseppe Menabrea and Antonio Zimmermann, who bought it in 1864. Following Zimmermann’s departure, it was Giuseppe Menabrea who established “G. Menabrea and sons” on 6 July 1872, giving rise to Menabrea’s claim to be the oldest active brewery in Italy.
In 1900 a coat of arms was introduced, depicting two rampant and bearded lions, a barrel containing the “tools of the trade”, a ladle for tasting, a shovel for mixing and a sieve. The design remains an intrinsic part of Menabrea’s branding to this day.
Although Menabrea beer is now distributed through the Forst company, it retains its strong historical identity and roots in Biella. Production continues near the waters of the Biella Alps, with hops imported from Hallertau in Bavaria. The company is run by Franco Thedy, a descendent of the company’s founders.
Moretti
Luigi Moretti was born in Udine, a small city in north eastern Italy, in 1822 into a family of grain, food and spirit merchants. He began working for the family business and noticed the rising demand for beer, fuelled largely by the presence in the area of the thirsty soldiers of the Hapsburg Empire. Sensing an opportunity to cash in, Luigi decided to go into production himself. The “Luigi Moretti Brewery and Ice Factory” was inaugurated in 1859 and the first bottles of beer went on sale the following year.
As for the striking figure on the label, in 1942 Commendatore Lao Menazzi Moretti, who had married Luigia Moretti in 1932 and had taken on the Moretti family name and business, encountered a distinguished looking gentleman sitting at a table in the historic Boschetti trattoria. The gentleman in question was both elderly and modern, elegant in a dark green suit, refined but relaxed, wearing a large hat and a massive moustache. His face seemed to tell a thousand stories. Moretti asked permission to photograph him in exchange for a reward of the gentleman’s choice. “Che al mi dedi di bevi, mi baste” — said the man in the local Friulian dialect. “Give me a drink, that’s enough for me”. The photo was subsequently incorporated into the famous poster by the artist Franca Segala and the image of a moustached gentleman remains the central element of Moretti’s branding to this day.
The Moretti family owned the brewery and business until 1989, when it was sold to a consortium. In 1996 it was taken over by the Dutch firm Heineken. Production of Birra Moretti takes place at various Heineken group plants around Italy, including at Assemini, Comun Nuovo, Massafra, and Pollein.
In 2015, Heineken launched a variety of new Birra Moretti products including radlers and beers dedicated to the culinary traditions of various Italian regions, including Sicily and Tuscany.
Drinkers in the UK might be slightly disappointed to learn that their Moretti is brewed in Edinburgh by Heineken.
Nonetheless, a classic pale lager, light and easy going, bitter with a subtle but spicy hoppy taste.
