When judging Harvest Beers in Italy last year, I immersed myself in all things hops. Not literally, but knowledge-wise. I also tried Tipopils, the first-ever dry-hopped Pilsner, an iconic beer I had only heard about. Let’s just say it was a hop-loaded experience.

During a presentation by the European Beer Consumers’ Union (EBCU) last year, I found out that the Italian Pilsner called Tipopils is the brainchild of Agostino Arioli, founder of the brewery Birrificio Italiano. He brewed Tipopils back in 1996, which is also the symbolic birth date of Italian craft beer.

A few months later, in connection with a beer competition in Campogalliano, I had the chance to try Tipopils myself when the judges visited a bottle shop the evening before the competition – and wow, this beer didn’t disappoint. Italian Pilsner is an unfiltered, unpasteurised lager inspired by German and Czech Pilsners, gently dry-hopped with noble hops. Basically, it’s a sessionable yet elegant hop-forward lager, a beer that suits me perfectly.

Trying Tipopils was just one of many hop-related experiences in Italy as the main purpose of my visit was judging Harvest Beers, a competition dedicated to beers brewed with wet hops and fresh hops. To be frank, whilst I had seen these terms mentioned many times before, I wasn’t entirely sure what they actually meant.

Well, now I know. Wet hops is harvested and rushed to the brewery for immediate brewing, or at least within 24 hours. A hop farmer, who was also judging, told me that as soon as hops is harvested it starts to wilt, just like freshly mown grass – so the sooner you brew with wet hops, the better. Fresh hops, on the other hand, is harvested, dried and then used within a few weeks.

When judging Harvest Beers, we tried a range of beer styles, all with different intensity of grassy, herbal, citrussy, fruity and floral notes from the hops. A week later when winners were announced, I wasn’t surprised to hear that Birrificio Italiano had won gold for Tipopils Harvest in the wet hops category and silver for Extra Hop in the fresh hops category. What a fantastic brewery.

This month, I’m heading back to Italy to judge the 21st edition of Birra dell’Anno, a competition that showcases the best of Italian craft beer, and I can’t wait to try some more Italian Pilsners!

Malin Norman Booking.com

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