IGA Italian Grape Ale The Best Bottles for Summer Dinners
Summer brings long dinners, outdoor tables, and the desire to drink something different. The IGA — Italian Grape Ale are the perfect answer: craft beers born from the meeting of brewing tradition and the world of wine, with complex aromatic profiles, natural freshness, and a versatility at the table that few beers can boast. Here are the best to bring to the table this summer.
1. Vineyard – Birra Gaia (IGA with Barbera del Piemonte)
Every year, at harvest time, Birra Gaia transforms 500 liters of the best must from Piedmontese Barbera grapes into this sparkling rosé IGA. Notes of gooseberry, wild berries, and peach, with a slight acidity that makes it perfect to accompany appetizers, charcuterie and cheese boards, or a Barbera risotto. It also exists in Metodo Classico version, sparkling in Franciacorta.
Price: €14.10 — limited availability, annual production.
2. Anime – Birrificio Mezzopasso (IGA with Trebbiano d'Abruzzo)
A rare elegant IGA signed by Birrificio Mezzopasso, in limited edition. The Trebbiano d'Abruzzo grapes bring a floral and fruity bouquet — white fruit, flowers, honeyed notes — with fine acidity and a long finish. To be served at 10–12°C in a wine glass, it is perfect with fresh cheeses, shellfish, and carpaccios: the ideal companion for a light and refined summer dinner.
Price: €9.70
3. Phigata – Malaspina Brewing (IGA with Ligurian Pigato)
Liguria in a glass: Malaspina Brewing uses Pigato — an indigenous grape of the Riviera di Ponente — to create an IGA with a straw color and greenish reflections and a savory, mineral, and floral profile. White peach, wildflowers, aromatic herbs. On the palate it is fresh and balanced, with a minerality that distinguishes it from any other beer. Perfect pairing: grilled fish, fried fish, summer aperitifs.
Price: €7.50
4. Skin Contact – Cyclic Beer Farm (Sour with Ull de Llebre)
Technically a Sour with Ull de Llebre pomace (the Catalan Tempranillo), Skin Contact by Cyclic Beer Farm is one of the most fascinating beers in Europe. It is born from the blend of a Sour macerated on the skins and a Saison with mixed fermentation in barrel: the result is complex, tannic, with red fruit notes and a surprising drinkability. Perfect to close an important dinner, with aged cheeses or red fruit desserts.
Price: €18.90
5. Box the Three IGAs by Birra Gaia
If you want to discover the world of IGA all at once — or are looking for an original gift idea for a beer and wine enthusiast — this box curated by Maltese is the right choice. Three Italian Grape Ales by Birra Gaia, different styles, all made with artisanal grapes. Perfect for a summer dinner with friends or as a gift to bring to the table.
Price: €42.30 — Maltese exclusive.
→ Buy the Three IGA Box by Birra Gaia
Why are IGAs perfect for summer dinners?
Italian Grape Ales have everything you need at the summer table: freshness, aromatic complexity, natural acidity that cleanses the palate, and pairing versatility that makes them suitable from appetizer to dessert. They are glass beers, to be sipped slowly, to be shared. And above all, they are Italian — an expression of territories, grape varieties, and traditions you won’t find in any other brewing style in the world.
