Red Bank Bars | Top NJ Microbrewery

A Look at Italian Beer from Red Bank Microbrewery Basil T’s

With 24 years creating delicious homemade Italian meals and 14 years brewing some of the finest hand-crafted ales, Basil T’s Brewery and Italian Grill is one of the best restaurants and bars Red Bank has to offer.

Gretchen Schmidhausler, the critically-acclaimed masterbrewer of the Red Bank microbrewery, has had a hand in the latter process since she joined Basil T’s in 1999.

Gretchen is serious about her beer. Evident enough in the award-winning selection at Basil T’s, further proof lies in her scholarly approach to the topic. She studies the subject closely and travels to breweries far and wide to learn more about her passion.

Gretchen shares the growing popularity of Italian beers and details of her trip to visit a special friend of the Basil T’s brewery:

We all know about Italy and wine. But, Italy and…beer? Yes, Italian beers are gaining popularity with the younger set as well as traveling Europeans and American tourists. You may be familiar with the large brewers of “traditional” lighter-bodied Italian lagers – such as Peroni and Moretti. In recent years, Italy has become caught up in the microbrew revolution with smaller breweries producing stouts, classic pale ales, herb-infused beers and other more unconventional styles.

Brooklyn Brewery was recently the venue for a gathering of an international cadre of professional brewers, among them several Italian craft brewers. We had a chance to taste many, many beers and compare them to our own craftbrews. It makes sense that many of these breweries are located in the northern part of Italy, close to the beer-loving countries of Belgium, Germany and Austria. Less usual, though growing in number, are craft breweries in southern Italy. One of these is Birrificio Cunegonda in Calabria, run by our friends Francesco “Frank” Barritta and his brother Pasquale who hail from the small town of Spilinga. The brothers brew a light-bodied ale in the American tradition. Some of you might remember we did a pilot brew of that beer here at Basil’s a few years ago and called it Primo Amore.

It was seven years ago that the Barrittas came in and introduced themselves to owner Vic Rallo. They wanted to learn to brew, so Vic asked me to give them a call. They’ve been honorary “Friends of the Brewery” ever since, providing physical labor in exchange for technical brewing knowledge and hands on experience, and becoming good friends in the process. Frank spends his winters in New Jersey so you may have seen him helping me out in the brewery when he’s around. Three years ago, my husband and I had the opportunity to visit the Barrittas at their brewery while on our honeymoon. The next time we go, I hope I’ll have more time to brew with them!

Make Basil T’s your next choice for a bar in Red Bank and taste the award-winning beer, learn about the process that goes into making it and become a friend one of the finest microbreweries in New Jersey.