At the end of the 90’s a new concept of beer was conceived and developed in Italy: craft beer. Let’s discover together what its characteristics are and why it has become a constant presence in pizzerias and restaurants.
Craft Beer: it is a difficult binomial as it combines the idea of a widely consumed beverage, known all over the world, with the adjective identifying a precise and careful operational process. This trend has become in a few years an authentic lifestyle, even though Italy is not a Country with deep roots in the world of beer.
The exponential increase on the market of unpasteurized beer produced by independent breweries led to the creation of new types of consumers, who are attracted and intrigued by the evolution that this food has known over the last 20 years; this has also been possible thanks to the diversification of the offer, which has been enriched with new and fascinating products.
Craft beer is defined as beer produced according to some important parameters: it must not be subjected to microfiltration, it must not be pasteurized and it must be produced by an independent brewery which does not exceed 200,000 hectoliters per year.
This not according to the writer, but according to the law, which regulated this commodity category in 2016 with the issuing of a Decree (DDL S 1328-B, articles 35 and 36) defining the classification of this product and the hop supply chain. It is an important step that occurs in the midst of the rising of new consumption trends.
Today, therefore, we are facing two interesting and significant changes: on one side the consumer, who does not limit himself anymore to order a light beer; on the other side the manager – of bars, restaurants, wine bars and pizzerias -, who understood that the offer is not limited anymore to the four universally recognized draught beers of industrial world.
The menu and the wine list are increasingly accompanied by the proposal of strictly craft and Italian beers, in keg or bottle.
If in restaurants the presence of “craft” beer represents an innovation, which accompanies and sometimes replaces a glass of wine, in pizzerias it becomes synonymous of refinement. For the trend followers, the carbonated and iced pint is replaced by a glass of foamy beer served at the recommended temperature. And, of course, in combination with the dishes.
The evolved consumer looks for scents, flavors and new sensations. He loves combinations, compares styles and takes the time to “enjoy” his own interpretation.
They are the ones who dream, memorize, travel, discover and taste. They interact with producers, ask for information, attend tastings and visit production companies in order to enrich their personal background with important notions but also to know the dynamics of production and the attention they need. The company visit represents the highest level of involvement, a strong bond that is not easy to break.
In short, what was considered a low alcohol “drink” just few years ago, it is nowadays a real icon of good food and refinement.
The great evolution initially affected the HORECA sector – the sector involving business activities based on hotels, restaurants and/or cafés –, especially restaurants and pizzerias. Precisely here, the concept of beer evolved and outlined a new consumption profile. Pizzerias certainly led the way, thanks also to the exploit of the pizza world in the last 10 years, but the way was already wide open. Offering a good selection of craft beers, bistros – hybrid formulas combining pizzerias, pubs and cocktail bars – have become a real trend when eating away from home, proposing selected and refined menus, moderately accessible prices and a formula of democratic haute cuisine in clear contrast to cheap street food.
Characterized for decades by a balance that today finds new ideas and new rules, it is definitely the binomial pizza and beer, however, which has undergone a considerable turnabout.
Today pizza is the result of careful research, it has an identity, it is iconic, but in a different way compared to the past; it is an instrument of communication, it is a trend. Beer is now refined and proposed with care. It is no longer the result of a hasty tapping without foam, iced and with little glory, but an important combination.
So, honor to Italy that exported pizza all over the world and imported the beer tradition that, for many aspects, is equivalent today to the century-old tradition of wine in our Country. Prosit!
