Craft Beer on the Rise in Italy

Craft beer is becoming more of a presence in Italy, where traditionally, beer is a second class citizen compared to wine. A new scene of brewers are taking beer making to a new level by using complex mixtures of ingrediants and skillful attention to detail. These upgraded craft beers are becoming more like fine wines, and even the oversized bottles are being carefully designed with a sharp, stylish look.

The New York Times reports:

A cold beer might seem like a strange pairing for traditional Italian cuisine, especially in the heart of wine-loving Piedmont, but the entire meal that night was based on local brews, and the sommelier himself was Teo Musso, a brewmaster with near-rock-star status in the Italian culinary scene. Through his artful small brewery, Le Baladin, Mr. Musso has helped bridge the worlds of craft beer and fine dining, ensuring that fine beers have a large presence in Eataly, Turin’s high-end supermarket, and founding his own beer-themed restaurant and hotel, Casa Baladin, where my wife and I stayed one night this spring.

“I want people to think of my beer as something that belongs on a table in a good restaurant,” Mr. Musso said. “I do not want them to think of it as something from the pub.”

New York Times: “Savoring Italy, One Beer at a Time”