(Italian grape ales at Oenobeers Liberati; photos care of the brewery)

People everywhere tend to think about beer in diametrical opposition to wine. Wine is perceived as a classy drink that goes with food while beer is the blue-collar draught. This assumption persists, too: she wants wine, he wants beer. Wine and olive oil in the Latin South vs. beer and butter in the Germanic North. It’s not an exaggeration to say that our beverage choices can be rife with socio-economic, gender, and ethnic concerns.

This hasn’t always been the case, and doesn’t have to be so today. The 2,700-year-old tomb said to be of King Midas, discovered in central Turkey, revealed traces of a fermented beverage made with malt, grapes and honey. This has been re-created as The Midas Touch by Dogfish Head Brewery in the US. Furthermore, wine grapes are also grown, and high-quality wine made, in brewing areas such as Bavaria and the Czech Republic. And the top alcoholic beverage consumed per capita in Spain is not their fine Rioja wine, but cerveza–by more than a two-to-one margin! Even in wine-snobby countries like the US and Japan, the distinction is starting to fall apart as people encounter complex, high-quality, elegant beers that are more suited to consumption as an aperitif or with a fine meal than as a pint in a pub.

Apart from re-creation of classical drinks a la Midas Touch, there has long been a spattering of craft beer using grapes. Have you tried Cantillon’s Vigneronne or Saint Lamvinus, both lambics aged on grapes? How about sour beers with grapes made by innovative brewers like Firestone Walker, Cascade, and Jester King in the United States?

From Italy, however, there is a newer movement that uses whole grapes in the fermentation process, rather than simply aging sour beers on fruit or just adding grape juice. They specifically use wine grapes or grape must in an attempt to give a more vinous character to the beer. These have been described as both “Italian Grape Ales (IGA)” and “Oenobeers,” and their influence is spreading outside of Italy.

Early IGAs included both barrel-fermented, sour varieties as well as non-sour beers. Regarding each, it is LoverBeer that first comes to mind, with their BeerBera, fermented in oak vats with wild yeast from the added grapes, and D’uvaBeer, fermented in steel with grape must and beer yeast. Another pioneer was Birrificio Barley on the island of Sardinia, which uses cooked or fresh grape must of several different varietals in its BB line of non-sour beers. Many other Italian craft brewers have produced similar IGAs.

As these beers have had a strong influence on the Italian craft beer scene, the Beer Judge Certification Program is now suggesting that Italian Grape Ale be added as a new official style, in which “grapes or grape must (sometimes extensively boiled before use) can be used at different stages: boil, primary/secondary fermentation, or aging.” They define the “Overall Impression” of IGAs as: “a sometimes refreshing, sometimes more complex Italian ale characterized by different varieties of grapes.” Beyond that, there is much variation. One main point is that “aromatic characteristics of a particular grape have to be noticeable but should not overpower the other aromas.”

Alex Liberati, who has many friends in the Japanese beer scene, recently relocated from Rome to Denver to create Oenobeers Liberati, possibly the world’s first oenobeer-only brewery. Using wine grapes from the US, Italy, and other locations, Liberati crafts a broad palate of fascinating beers. Most impressive were Oximonstrum, a 17.25% barley wine with Italian Nebbiolo and Barbera grapes that is oxygenated to achieve a rich, port-like profile; Furore, a 13% abv New England Oeno-IIPA with 49% Malbec grapes that achieves a fruity, hoppy complexity that no milkshake IPA could ever match; and Sogni D’Oro, a strong Belgian golden ale with American Gewürztraminer and Marsanne grapes that tasted much like an aged hoppy tripel, with notes of honey, strawberry, and grape. Liberati is certainly pushing the envelope on grape ales but without anything gimmicky resulting. His beers are elegant and sophisticated, and pair well with his fine Italian cuisine.

IGAs are still quite unknown in Japan. Possibly the only beer so far that completely fits the style description is Oyamada Berries by Minoh Brewing. This golden beer used two types of wine grapes from the Domaine Oyamada winery in the fermenter, and it was fermented solely by the wild yeast on the grapes. The rich malt was quite nicely balanced by grape flavors and citrus notes from its Motueka hops. It will be released again this fall. There are other beers that could almost, if not quite, fit into the style. Y. Market Brewing has previously brewed two grape ales with fresh juice from Izutsu Winery. Izutsu Grape Field used juice from Niagara grapes, added to the wort after boiling, whereas Yashiori IPA used juice from their Concord grapes. Both had rich wine-like characters verging on IGAs. Songbird Beer’s Fuji is a sour ale in which the wild yeast for fermentation comes from the pomace of Saito Vineyards’ Yama Sauvignon grapes. Minoh’s Cabernale has long used Cabernet Sauvignon juice. With growing knowledge of oenobeers around the world, we can only imagine that more attempts will be made here in the near future.

One disclaimer also needs to be made. Also recently popular, particularly in the USA, are all drinks rosé. From rosé wine, to rosé spiked seltzers, to rosé beers, the color has come back from the dead and is now incredibly hip. Some of these are proper oenobeers made with whole grapes, but most are simply beers colored pink with hibiscus, raspberries, grape juice, or whatever. Keep this in mind when sampling.

(Oenobeers Liberati’s brewery; photo care of the brewery)

All Beer Styles articles are written by Mark Meli, author of Craft Beer in Japan.

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.