Red and blondes: the Liberty ladies that live in Valganna

Amazingly, in this story of blond and dark, and huge vats of hops for baking and brewing, is not just the taste of beer, but the place where it is produced. It stands out that someone like Flavio Boero, quality manager of the Poretti – Carlsberg plant based in Induno Olona, who practically lives in the factory, says this axiom: "The Liberty is a nice and charming style, but possesses unique characteristics that I am interested in: it generates spaces that seem made on purpose to make beer. "

Large volumes and angular measurements only at first sight; rigid and square walls: all this before being a residence, is a factory.

Indeed, "the" factory of the beer for excellence made in Varese, that a few days ago thirty people, thanks to the idea of the valganna.info website, had the opportunity to visit the factory on a gloomy day, which could not be better to keep down the smell of hops in fermentation.

A strong aroma that many, unsuspecting smell while passing with a car on certain days the first stretch of Valganna, just before the caves, still below the Varese hamlet of Bregazzana.

And here in this almost wild valley, without too much noise and crystal-clear water that flows from the Olona, is the alcoholic mixture discovered by the ancient Egyptians, and now, thankfully, still alive: beer.

An infinite stack of wooden supports, boxes, that form the backdrop to the old chimney, the only example of industrial architecture, that dominates the plant of Induno Olona ( because everything else is functional). Then, through a corridor made of memories in the form of photographic prints, you arrive at the bottling plant where the factory chain ( it is Saturday ) remains still like a mosaic of small green mouths waiting to be filled.

"Here we make an all-Italian beer that is sold as different brands” says Boero (represented in the picture , in a moment of relax during the tasting after the tour) -. “The latest is the ‘seven hops’, a seasonal and high quality beer , that we launched at the end of September. The entire Induno production is shipped to Settala warehouses : from there they reach all continents”.  But who uncork bottles or cans of beer made with the water from Varese? "Italians drink it, of course, but our beer is appreciated by the refined palates of British, American and Belgian people, not only our fellow expatriates or second generations, but also local lovers of the taste of Italian beer."

The heart of the company lies in one of the elegant grey and yellow high-rise buildings, guarded by stone faces that from high observe those who enter. Old copper vats for cooking cereals, and paintings on the walls: here, once upon a time, the roasting, that preceded – and precedes – the fermentation, was done. Today copper is replaced with steel. The seasons, which once dictated the timing of beer production, are superseded by a production cycle that still has to do with natural ingredients, but allows a production during the whole year.

Then you get to the "Fountain of the ill" one of the two branches of the Olona, which serves as a main ingredient for beer: the plant was built just above a stretch of the river. Only the production areas, confirms Boero, are still the same, in many cases, that were made a century ago, large buildings and thick walls, which still preserve the tradition of beer made in Varese. Behind the buildings erected by the architect Ulisse Stacchini, just where the first stretch of the Olona enters the company, another surprise, revealed by the organiser of this visit, Paolo Ricciardi: here, the tram of Valganna passed, and stopped in these parts to allow travellers heading to Switzerland to take a sip … of the good one (even zero % alcohol).