Meaningful Wine...and now beer.

Today we bring you something unique - our first import of beer from Birrificio della Granda, in Piedmont, which is available now. We are their sole US importer.

Importing beer has never been on our radar, although we do like it. Most we enjoy are no frills, classic examples.

When in Piedmont last December, our close friend Renato from Bricco Ernesto introduced us to his brother in law Fabio who brews beer for Granda. Upon visiting, we found surprising depth (for such loud, yet still stunning packaging) and knew that it could add something legitimate to a crowded local category.

An observation we have of craft beer today is that with market saturation comes many skin-deep versions of successful trends - depth becomes harder to recognize as average quality decreases, and ingredient quality also reflects a greater degree of standardization.

In contrast, owner Ivano describes their work as farming in addition to brewing - they grow nearly all of their own ingredients, with the quality of raw materials being revelatory for what’s in the glass.

Although the brewery is small, their equipment is impressive and high-tech (which matters for beer, unlike with wine). We once heard that brewing beer is akin to baking in the sense that ingredient quality, equipment, consistency and process are everything. Indeed, they have control over every facet of production and have the right raw materials. They also do not pasteurize.

To do this properly, we import in can because it is truly airtight, whereas bottle caps let some air in. Cans also fully protect from light damage. With delicate beer like this, we import with the same temp control that we do for wine.

These are proper, classy beers of very high quality, modest alcohol levels, and some of the best and most striking beer packaging we’ve ever seen.