the new offering from 32 VIA DEI BIRRAI is the “half liter,” 100% Italian
The offering from 32 Via dei Birrai, the Venetian brewery that plays its cards on the winning combination of artisanal product quality and an industrial approach that ensures perfect control of production processes, is growing steadily. The novelty of this late summer is the debut of a new format, entirely unprecedented for 32: the half liter, reserved only for Ambita, a pride for the company in Pederobba (Treviso): a clear single-hop beer, the symbol of Italian craftsmanship in the world because it is made exclusively with national ingredients.
Brewer’s Gold hops are indeed grown on the hills adjacent to the brewery, in Monfumo; as for the other types, the purest water comes from the Schievenin spring, in the homonymous valley in the municipality of Quero Vas, about twenty minutes by car, “it passes through the network for initial quality assurance, then we subject it to further checks and modify and calibrate it according to the type of beer, because even water is not always the same…”.
The malt is also of Italian barley, grown in the provinces of Venice and Treviso. Not by chance, among the colorful labels that characterize the eight types of beer signed by 32 Via dei Birrai, Ambita boasts the most colorful of all: green, white, and red, of course.
The debut with the “half-liter” of Ambita alone indicates what is at the same time a different intention and the confirmation of a fundamental choice. A different intention because, with the new format, 32 Via dei Birrai is targeting another specific but not negligible market segment, that of consumers who want to “drink Italian” even for lunch: “This way, we will cover the segment of individuals who want a beer that is not too demanding in terms of quantity or organoleptic characteristics to accompany their quick midday meal, especially thinking of the many foreigners who want to sip a tricolored beer when they are in our country,” a market of its kind, especially in tourist areas.
Green light to the new format, therefore, but only in this specific case: for the rest, 32 Via dei Birrai confirms its fundamental choice and adopts a standard of 75 cl, for an important reason: “We take the same beer, taste it from a 33 cl bottle, a 66 cl bottle, a 75 cl bottle, and on tap: the taste changes completely, the customer doesn’t know why, but we do. It’s the format. Since we want to stand out and are known for consistency, we made a decisive choice,” explain the founders of 32, Loreno Michielin, Fabiano Toffoli, and Alessandro Zilli.
A 75 cl bottle, therefore, which presupposes the use of a glass, “we have always preached it: to fully enjoy a beer, you open the bottle, take a glass, let it foam, etc. So no can or 33 cl bottle, even if the distributors ask for them. We provide a method, the 75 cl goes into the glass, so it also adds elegance.” The same can be found in the other format, introduced more recently, the 1.5-liter magnum, to make beer a gift item.
32 VIA DEI BIRRAI is the company created in 2006 in Pederobba (Treviso) by three friends who, at the bar, wanted to change the world of Italian microbreweries, often characterized by inconsistent quality in their productions.
The Venetians Fabiano Toffoli (born in 1973, now a master brewer), Loreno Michielin (born in 1968, sales director), and Alessandro Zilli (born in 1971, research and development manager) imposed their standard: now 32 is one of the most consolidated, dynamic, and innovative realities in the sector in our country.
It’s a brewery that remains small in terms of numbers – seven employees plus the founders, 350 thousand bottles a year – and therefore can guarantee artisanal attention, a product care that the big ones just can’t afford; but at the same time, it stands out for an industrial approach in production criteria, “a good brewery must provide a standard, a consistency of quality. The taste and persistence must always be the same over time, otherwise the consumer is disappointed.”
THE BEERS – 32 Via dei Birrai produces eight different types of beers, each characterized by a specific color on the iconic label. Audace is a totally organic double malt blonde that has won numerous awards, from second place in the Best Bio Beer 2022 to gold at the World Beer Awards 2018.
Nebra is a sweet amber with hints of elderflower, gold medalist at the World Beer Awards 2019. And then there are more unique sips for demanding palates, such as Atra, a soft brown, Admiral, a double malt red, Tre+due, a lightly spiced white with hints of coriander and bitter orange peel, and Nectar, a brown beer with chestnut honey from Grappa, produced only for Christmas. And then there’s Ambita, a clear single-hop beer, 100% Italian because it’s made exclusively with local ingredients.
CERTIFICATIONS – 32 Via dei Birrai boasts a long list of certifications. It is, for example, the first in Italy certified by Slow Brewing, a German certifying body that independently selects breweries united by a passion for high quality, “they chose us because we are consistent,” for the use of precious raw materials and very strict microbiological parameters.
It has the ISO 9001 label from DNV, which ensures the high quality of the company’s processes in every sector, guaranteeing the relevance of the method to trace every operation.
Furthermore, the NO GMO certification guarantees the total absence of GMO contamination in raw materials, starting with the highest quality hops, thanks to which 32 Via dei Birrai in 2013 became the first non-Belgian brewery to be awarded the prestigious Houblon Belge recognition.
Dolomiti Energia also guarantees that the company is 100% clean energy, the entire production chain is based on eco-friendly principles, only certified energy from renewable sources is used, and packaging is always recyclable. The Itpi label (Istituto Tutela Produttori Italiani) clarifies that the production is completely made in Italy, guaranteeing superior and controlled quality.”
