Even in Italy a culture of new beer is spreading, which focuses on the quality of the product, linked to the territory in which it is made. Craft breweries where to create and then resell open more and more often and I find them environments where you can re-evaluate a drink, which I considered only as an excellent combination with pizza and wurstel. Instead, beer has its own specific flavor, its own gradation, its own particular color, which makes it taste just as if it were a nice glass of doc wine. It is in this climate that the Craft Beer Week, 3 from March to 9 throughout Italy, a great party to taste Italian and foreign quality beers. The participating clubs will offer drinks promotions to their customers and the calendar of events is really rich and suitable for all types of admirers.
In Tuscany there are so many appointments and you are spoiled for choice. Starting from Firenze, the Beer House Club is the fulcrum of the Beer Festival: not far from Piazza Santa Croce, it is a less fashionable place than the nearby pubs, but for sure here you can always find excellent home made pints. It will start with a mega tasting on Monday 3 March, because all ten plugs of the room will be available: a real test of alcoholic resistance!
It continues on Thursday 6 March with a dinner with tasting and theatrical show, by a company of improvisational actors and Jacopo Lenci of the Bruton Brewery. Both events require reservations. A special guest will also be present the following evening, the 7 March, thanks also to his simultaneous participation in Pitti Immagine Taste: it will be the turn of Agostino Arioli of the Italian Brewery who will present his creations, accompanied by live music.
Moving on to DishesInstead, the big free event will be a public crush of Gose on Sunday 9 March at 10 in the morning in Piazza Mercatale, right in front of the BeerLab. The restaurant, under the ancient loggias, has recently opened, but has already become a meeting point for homebrewers in the area. Furthermore, all drinks will be discounted by 10% for the whole week.
Studying the calendar, there are also two other events not to be missed around Tuscany. The first is a Aulla, in the province of Massa Carrara, where it will be organized, 7 from March to 9, a dinner with the brewers at the La casina agritourism restaurant. In addition to a dinner with Tuscan flavors, it will be possible to taste the beers of the Garden Bar, which takes care of the initiative. There will be the brewers of the Birrificio del Golfo di La Spezia and the brand new Birra del Moro di Pontremoli. Reservation is mandatory.
Here we are at the last event, which in my opinion is also the most interesting for any beer enthusiast. The San Quirico Brewery, an excellence in Tuscan production, opens the doors of the beautiful medieval building, where it is based, for guided tours and tastings, for the whole week. In the same building, the pilgrims of the Via Francigena stopped to rest, while now the rest station has become an elegant place, where you can taste and buy Giulitta and Iris, made with raw materials from Val d 'Orcia. The cost is 5 € per person, upon reservation.
