Italy is the new Belgium
We’ve been saying this for awhile now—since our Baladin dinner last year—and now the San Francisco Chronicle is weighing in on the scene. In our humble opinion, the Italian brews are the most experimental right now. While the US has already established itself since craft beer returned in the late 80s, Italy is still finding its way and exploring creatively while not getting caught-up in standard beer styles.

Like Italian cooking, creative brewing in Italy is largely driven by the wealth of local ingredients; hops and barley aren’t grown much there, but plenty of fruits, herbs and nuts are finding their way into the brewing vat. Some are even used as bittering agents, assisting or sometimes in lieu of hops. For example, the Piccolo Birrificio Seson uses chinotto, a small citrus fruit; Birrificio del Ducato’s Nuova Mattina includes bitterroot, chamomile and green pepper. Invoking Mediterranean rather than strictly Italian ingredients, Baladin uses unmalted kamut, an ancient relative of durum wheat, as well as myrrh in its beer Nora, which it describes as an Egyptian spiced ale.

The only that really hurts is the wallet, because the Italian beers are pricey. The statement “beer, unlike wine, is taxed, and on production, not sale” makes us wonder if that is partly to blame.

Epicureans tackle beer
Christopher Matthews of Epicurious.com, wrote an article about the best beers for summer. Yup, it pretty much the standard thing, a starter-read. We’re not sure why folks always assume “lighter” beers are good for summer. There’s nothing stopping us from savoring a really cold Storm King when it’s 85° outside.

Next in Sierra Nevada Harvest series
Sierra Nevada is producing the next in the Harvest series with hops grown on the Chico Estate in California. “They grow the hops themselves, pick them, and put them directly into the beer, still bursting with the signature flavors that have put Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. on the map. Hops this fresh can be found nowhere else.” And Rogue’s doing the same thing.