Differences

For all of the similarities, however, there are some things that Italians brewers do very differently from the Japanese.

Experience

Almost all Italian craft brewers started out as home brewers, fell in love with the brewing process and the resulting beers, and went on to start their own breweries. In Japan, home brewing is still technically illegal, and most brewers learned to brew after being hired to do so.

Independence

Most breweries in Japan were started by parent companies: tourist agencies, sake brewers, or restaurants. Only recently have fully independent breweries begun to surge in number. In Italy, however, most craft breweries were started by home brewers.

Passion

Since most Japanese breweries were started by companies, the usual goal is money. Italian brewers, on the other hand, will talk on and on about their passion for beer.

Cuisine

While both countries have wonderful food cultures that influence their tastes in brewing, Italian brewers have been more concerned with creating beers that go well with Italian cuisine. In Italy, it was generally thought that only wine can go with an Italian dinner. This has been a barrier that Italian craft brewers have fought to break down, more so than in Japan (so many Italian beers come in large, fancy bottles so they will look as classy on the table as a bottle of wine!). People in Japan feel free to say “toriaezu biiru” (Just give me a beer) in even the finest Japanese restaurants, but when they do so, it’s not craft beer that they will get.

Italian Uniqueness

Below, I enumerate three aspects of the best Italian craft beer that I think make it unique and important in the beer world. There are now thousands of beers being made in Italy each year, and of course the majority of those are the regular pale ales, IPAs, stouts, pilsners and wheat beers which can be found in just about any craft beer scene. However, here are things that Italian brewers are doing differently, resulting in very memorable beers.

“Slow Beer”

Even more than in Japan, Italian craft breweries seem concerned with producing “local” products that reflect the traditions and produce of the area where they are made. Successful attempts at this are recognized widely among Italian craft beer lovers as products which represent their national brewing scene. This is seen in the “Birra Slow” category in the Slow Food organization’s Guide to Italian Beers 2015, denominating “beer that, in addition to being of excellent sensory value, is able to excite because it tells the story of a territory, a brewery, and a brewer.” One will not find this category in German, English, Belgian, American, or Japanese beer writing. Forty Four such beers are listed in the guide, several of which are imported into Japan.

This is an emphasis on terroir more pronounced than usual in the craft beer world. Italian brewers are creating a tradition of using special local ingredients as a main focus of their brewing. This is also happening to some extent in Japan, but I think Italian brewers are better at it. In Japan, a beer which includes sansho pepper or green tea is generally seen as a cultural expression that must be tried, not a beer to drink regularly. With some notable exceptions, there is a gimmicky aspect to such beers in Japan, one that many Italian Slow Beers have somehow managed to shed. Beers made with chestnuts, alternative grains, or local fruits make up some of the most popular and also the most highly regarded beers in Italy.

A few of the more extreme of these Slow Beers include Baladin Nora (using ginger and myrrh), Del Borgo Genziana (an ale with gentian roots or rindō), L’Olmaia Karkade (including roselle, a kind of African hibiscus), and Amiata Crocus (containing saffron).

One reason why so many of these ingredients work so well could be the tendency to use them in Belgian or wild-yeast beers. These yeasts often blend well with such additives in a way that the cleaner British or American yeasts, which are primarily used in such beers in Japan, might not. After all, the Belgians are the traditional masters of fruit and spice beers, aren’t they? It is important to approach these types of beer with an open mind, as they can be surprising and bend our ideas of what beer is. Overall, though, my experience with “Slow Beers” has been one of excitement rather than disappointment.

This article was published in Japan Beer Times # () and is among the limited content available online. Order your copy through our online shop or download the digital version from the iTunes store to access the full contents of this issue.