I started off with these because to show where the craft beer in Italy is going you first have to see where Italian beer has been. Peroni and Moretti are the beers that your average Italian restaurant or pizza joint in the United States will have if they want to have a beer variety without taking any risks.

Peroni is brewed by Birra Peroni Industriale S.p.A. and Moretti or offically known as Birra Moretti is brewed by Birra Moretti owned by Heineken. They both fit into the BJCP Premium American Lager category.

The first thing I noticed about Peroni golden-yellow, very light color and highly carbonated. Next was a hop aroma with apparent light damage from green bottle. It was a musky skunked character and I took a bottle halfway back on the shelf when purchasing to try to avoid any potential light damage. The flavor was a light slightly sweet, grainy character left the palette very cleanly. A slight bitterness but it did not dominate the beer. Other than the skunking it was a clean beer and light on the palette but not much else there.

The Birra Moretti was also highly carbonated but had a golden yellow a bit darker in color. The beer had less aroma, ever so slight hop character, but not nearly as present as the skunk aroma in Peroni. I didn't have a side by side tasting but it seemed slightly heavier gravity than the Peroni. This one did have a slight lingering aftertaste perhaps from adjuncts being used in the beer. There was also a lingering carbonic bite on the underside of the tongue.

Overall if I had to pick one over the other unskunked I'd rather have the Peroni over the Moretti, with the skunking I'd take Moretti. Ultimately I'd rather have something more interesting entirely which is what I shall be enjoying next.