EP-335 Alessandra Agrestini of The Italian Grape Ale Beer Challenge
As far as we can tell, many of the earliest beers ever made were actually beer-wine hybrids, brewed out of both grain and fruit. Fast-forward 10,000 years or so, and beers made with grapes are once again in fashion. Sometimes called \u201cOenobeers,\u201d after oenology, the science of winemaking, Grape Beers or Grape Ales are becoming more popular in a lot of beer regions, especially in Italy and other wine-loving countries.
In this episode, I\u2019m talking to Alessandra Agrestini, the president of the jury at a new tasting competition, the Italian Grape Ale Beer Challenge, which took place near the end of 2021 in Turin, Italy. (Full disclosure: I served as one of the competition\u2019s international judges.) Alessandra has been active in beer judging and beer education in Italy for quite a while \u2014\xa0she and I first met at the Birra dell\u2019Anno beer competition some 10 years ago.\xa0
In our conversation, we discuss beer-wine hybrids, the current Italian beer scene, and beer travel, as well as beer education, food and beer pairings, and Italian Pilsner. We also touch on the notion of styles, and wonder if it\u2019s right to call all modern beer-wine hybrids \u201cItalian\u201d Grape Ales, regardless of where they are made. There is some justification for that claim: Italy probably produces more Grape Ales than any other country. The competition\u2019s website has a map showing more than 220 Grape Ales from over 130 breweries in Italy. However, Italy wasn\u2019t the first country to create modern beer-wine hybrids. Not all Grape Ales in Italy are produced in the same way, and there are wide variations in strength, color, flavor, aroma, acidity, and sweetness, which makes it hard to argue for Italian Grape Ale as a style unto itself.\xa0
If you\u2019re interested in learning more, check out the website ItalianGrapeAle.org. The competition is open to entries from around the world, so if brewers you know make a great Grape Ale, Grape Lager, Oenobeer, or some other beer-wine hybrid, tell \u2019em to send it in this fall. And after this interview finishes, stick around for an update with the names of the competition winners.