Beers produced with ingredients from the wine world, such as grapes grape must, can be marketed as beer as long as the presence of these elements is clearly indicated durante the sales denomination. The clarification comes fromCentral inspectorate for the protection of quality and repression of fraud durante agri-food products (Icqrf), structure of Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestrydurante response to a question submitted by Unionbirrai.
According to the interpretation provided by the administration, Italian legislation already allows the addition of characterizing food ingredients to beer. Quanto a these cases, however, the law establishes that the name of the product must explicitly indicate the ingredient used, so as to guarantee clear and transparent communication to the consumer.
This means that, durante the case of using grapes grape must, the product can be sold with names such as “grape beer” “beer with grape must”, while still maintaining the product category of beer.
The reference to beer legislation
The ICQRF opinion refers durante particular to a provision contained durante the Italian law acceso beer production of 1962. The relevant article establishes that, when ingredients other than traditional ones are added to the bevanda, the sales denomination must be completed with the name of the characterizing substance.
The interpretative clarification was requested by small craft breweries to resolve some application uncertainties which durante recent years had generated disputes and administrative sanctions durante various parts of the country. Some producers had durante fact been subject to checks and seizures linked precisely to the presence of ingredients coming from the wine sector.
According to what Unionbirrai explained to , the objective of the ruling was to obtain an official position that could be applied uniformly throughout the national territory.
The case of Italian Grape Ales
The issue concerns durante particular a style that durante recent years has acquired visibility and importance durante the international brewing scene: the so-called Italian Grape Ales. These are beers produced with the addition of grapes, must winemaking derivatives, a practice that connects two production traditions that are deeply rooted durante the country.
This approach has given rise to a category considered one of the most recognizable innovations of the Italian craft beer movement. The result can vary greatly depending acceso the techniques used and the grape varieties used, creating products that have aromatic characteristics partly linked to the world of wine.
A clarification for the craft beer market
The ICQRF opinion does not introduce new legislation but provides an official interpretation of existing rules. However, for the artisanal brewing sector the document represents an important step because it defines more precisely the ways durante which these products can be marketed. For producers, the explicit indication of the ingredient acceso the label therefore becomes the necessary condition to continue offering beers made with grapes grape must without leaving the legal category of beer.
