Peroni Brewery, founded as the Birra Peroni Brewery in 1846 by the Peroni family in Vigevano, Italy. In 1864 Giovanni Peroni moved the brewery to Rome, where it soon began to prosper. The first advertising for Peroni beer appeared in 1910 and helped popularize the brand. By the 1960s, Peroni beer was widely available throughout Italy and began wider distribution to become a truly international brand by the 1990s. Peroni was purchased by South African Breweries in 2005 and began an international relaunch focused on their premium brand, Nastro Azzuro, a lager beer with a fuller flavor than the beer simply named Peroni. Peroni have built their brand around the Italian sense of style, and this approach has brought the beer to more than 50 countries around the world in five continents. The Daily Telegraph (UK) included Peroni, along with Gucci and Ferrari, among the top Italian icons. The original and most widely known brand in Italy is Peroni Beer, at 4.7% alcohol by volume (ABV). From its early days, Peroni was considered refreshing and well made compared with other Italian-brewed beers. The beer is made in the modern “international lager” style and contains corn grits as well as malt. The second largest brand is Nastro Azzurro, meaning “Blue Ribbon” in Italian. Nastro Azzuro is a premium lager at 5.1% ABV launched in 1963. It also contains corn grits but shows more malt character. The strongest beer made by the brewery is Peroni Gran Riserva, at 6.6% ABV.
