Menabrea

Giuseppe Menabrea and Antonio Messaggi established the brewery in Biella, and five generations of family management have followed: Franco Thedy, a descendant of the founding family, currently serves as chief executive. In 1991 the brewery joined Gruppo Birra Forst, a larger Italian brewing group, though the founding family retained operational leadership. The brewery draws on Alpine water sourced from the Biella mountains as a central ingredient across its production, a point the brand identifies as fundamental to the character of its beers.

Menabrea entered the alcohol-free category in 2019 with the launch of an AF lager, brewed using the same traditional bottom-fermented process as its full-strength beers before the alcohol is removed, bringing its brewing heritage within reach of sober-curious drinkers. Bottom fermentation, where yeast works at cooler temperatures and settles at the base of the vessel, is the standard method for producing lager, and Menabrea's AF product follows the same production path as its core range before the dealcoholisation step. The alcohol-free lineup is a single focused product, sitting within a wider portfolio of premium Italian lagers distributed across 36 countries.

The beer is available through specialist alcohol-free retailers and sits at the premium end of the AF lager market.