Italian Lager

The Homebrew Forum

Help Support The Homebrew Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Feb 16, 2015
Messages
2,011
Reaction score
1,414
Location
Northumberland
Saw a few mentions of Italian lager on here which I hadn't thought of as a 'thing' (even though I drink it 🤔) so I've done some digging. It doesn't appear to be a recognised style (at least in the 2023 style guidelines) but doing some googling it seems that it is a dry hopped lager referred to as tipopils (like a pils).

I've read some articles which include recipes. Looks like Peroni is the biggest/best known/most popular (not one I drink) and their website says one of the reasons it is so good is the quality of the maize which is not in any recipe I've seen.

I'd be keen to know people's experiences of brewing one, anyone use maize ? (I have some which I bought and didn't use).
 
There is a difference between an Italian Lager, such as Peroni, Moretti etc. and Italian Pils, which is typified by Birrificio Italiano Tipopils.

Italian Lagers would like come under Pale International Lager so may use non-malted barley adjuncts.

Italian Pils are essentially a dry-hopped German Pilsner (there's much more to them, but at a basic level that's a decent summation).
 
Last edited:
There is a difference betweens an Italian Lager, such as Peroni, Moretti etc. and Italian Pils, which is typified by Birrificio Italiano Tipopils.

Italian Lagers would like come under Pale International Lager so may use non-malted barley adjuncts.

Italian Pils are essentially a dry-hopped German Pilsner (there's much more to them, but at a basic level that's a decent summation).

I was about to type out similar, but this sums up the distinction perfectly.
 
Saw a few mentions of Italian lager on here which I hadn't thought of as a 'thing' (even though I drink it 🤔) so I've done some digging. It doesn't appear to be a recognised style (at least in the 2023 style guidelines) but doing some googling it seems that it is a dry hopped lager referred to as tipopils (like a pils).

I've read some articles which include recipes. Looks like Peroni is the biggest/best known/most popular (not one I drink) and their website says one of the reasons it is so good is the quality of the maize which is not in any recipe I've seen.

I'd be keen to know people's experiences of brewing one, anyone use maize ? (I have some which I bought and didn't use).
I shouldn't bother too much with style guidelines. It's a guide to judging beer competitions in the U.S. and it really has nothing to do with the dynamic nature of the European (inc British) brewing tradition.
I wouldn't count Peroni as an example of what we're looking at here, but here's a start : There’s More to Italian Pilsners Than Dry-Hopping — Beervana
Alworth publishes a full recipe in his book "Secrets of the Master Brewers". I'll put up it you haven't access to it.
 
I shouldn't bother too much with style guidelines. It's a guide to judging beer competitions in the U.S. and it really has nothing to do with the dynamic nature of the European (inc British) brewing tradition.
I wouldn't count Peroni as an example of what we're looking at here, but here's a start : There’s More to Italian Pilsners Than Dry-Hopping — Beervana
Alworth publishes a full recipe in his book "Secrets of the Master Brewers". I'll put up it you haven't access to it.
I'd seen that page when I was googling. I don't have "secrets", worth buying ?
 
If you'd like to try some British-brewed versions (Tipopils seems to come in and out of availability), some examples are:

Duration Cuttin' Grass
Thornbridge Salice
Burning Sky Luppoleto (I found this a bit too aggressively dry-hopped)
Deya Italian Pils (not had this, but has ok reviews).
 
If you'd like to try some British-brewed versions (Tipopils seems to come in and out of availability), some examples are:

Duration Cuttin' Grass
Thornbridge Salice
Burning Sky Luppoleto (I found this a bit too aggressively dry-hopped)
Deya Italian Pils (not had this, but has ok reviews).

Siren used to do one too, but they've rebranded it.
 
I had a go at a pilsner recently using Italian made AEB yeast (Fermolager) , hopped only in the boil with trad. German hops, and it turned out suspiciously like Birra Moretti.
Get-er Brewed sell AEB yeasts.....
 

Latest posts

Back
Top