In 2015, the Beer Judge Certification Program guidelines were updated to include a brand-new category: Italian Grape Ale.  With its relatively young beer movement, Italy had long stood apart from Germany, Belgium, the Czech Republic, and other European neighbors, in that it was not widely recognized for having a native beer style. But here was a distinct candidate.

Defined by the guidelines as “a communion between beer and wine,” Italian Grape Ale had come about thanks to “the large local availability of different varieties of grapes across the country,” as the BJCP write-up noted.