Also in Salento there’s beer: tasting our craft productions of great quality
It might sound strange to some, above all to central European readers, maybe, but we too, right here in Salento make and love craft beer. Don’t believe us? Allow us show you.
In recent years the fashion of drinking beer has become widespread even in southern Italy, which has traditionally and culturally always focused on wine production. In the wake of this new trend, lots of often very young entrepreneurs, have decided to try their hand at brewing, selecting the hops, the various beer types – golden, blond, red – and trying to create new, delicious flavours to appeal to the greatest numbers of beer enthusiasts and lovers of good food.
Walk around any of our villages, from Lecce to Leuca, and it’s not uncommon to come across breweries offering a wide variety of brands and types, so you’ll soon find your favorite. Drink it perhaps accompanied by a good puccia – a traditional Salento flatbread snack – or some delicious ‘ciceri e tria’ – pasta with chickpeas, rather than the usual pizza.
Events around beer are multiplying in number – festivals wholly dedicated to this sparkling drink. When the weather gets really hot, what could be better than sipping an ice-cold beer in a historic town centre, maybe while listening to good music?
The Birra & Friends festival in Lecce, the Beer & Sound Festival in Leverano (on from 1-7 August, 35 minutes’ drive from Gallipoli) are two good ones but definitely not the only beer events, as you’ll often find brewery stands at specialist food festivals too, and at cultural events – the many occasions when local people get together to enjoy the Salento summer.
To compete against the mainstream beer brands found everywhere, you’ll see that Salento’s craft beer makers have focused on quality, both regarding the selection of raw materials and on attention to detail. There are lots of producers in the Salento region who have done the local beer making sector proud. The most well-known and widely-available craft beers are probably those made by the B94 brewery in Copertino – such as ‘November Ray’ and ‘Della Cava’ but sometimes preferences vary from district to district, and town and town. So in Otranto, for example, you might find that people love ‘Terrona’ beer produced in Corigliano d’Otranto, but in Gallipoli it would be ‘Birrozza’ made in Leverano using 0-km Senatore Cappelli wheat.
Of the young companies that have really made leaps and bounds as regards quality we really should mention, for sheer drinking pleasure, ‘Birra Salento’. Again, their beer is produced in Leverano, already considered Salento’s beer capital. Their “Pizzica”, “Taranta” and “Beggia” beers have already won over many hearts and tastebuds.
We’re sure you’ll agree when you taste the freshness of one of our beers, that they make the ideal accompaniment to any dish of our local cuisine. Mostly light, lively, with a fruity aftertaste, Salento beers are joyful and welcoming, like our people. Discover all this and more when you stay with us at the Hotel Palazzo del Corso and enjoy all we have on offer in our restaurant, the DolceVita.
