A healthy contingent of Italian craft brews headed this way in December.

Last week I began the task of collating the many pre-orders and gearing up for December, when NABC's annual offering of Saturnalia Winter Solstice selections go on tap. A healthy number of Italian craft beers, which we've considered randomly in this space during the past year or more, have been intended for the holiday period.

Coincidentally, the Sunday edition of the New York Times offers a travel page consideration of the burgeoning Italian microbrewing scene. Thanks to Matthew and Jeff for pointing me to it.

Savoring Italy, One Beer at a Time, by Evan Rail.

“Italian brewers have done a wonderful job of making it clear that they are the same sort of artisans as chefs and others involved in food,” said Stan Hieronymus, the author of “Brew Like a Monk,” who is making his own trip to the region this fall. “That makes a trip to Italy to find more of these beers and to experience them, along with local cuisine, particularly appealing.”

Stan says it all, and if you examine the innovative ingredients being used by these Italian microbreweries, the food pairing possibilities seem limitless. In no particular order, here's the list of Italian beers ordered for Saturnalia.

1 20L Shangrila Shangrila (8.5% abv)
1 20L Birra di Natale Birra di Natale (8.5% abv)
1 20L Krampus Krampus (8% abv)
1 20L Chiostro Chiostro (5%)
1 20L Verdi Imperial Stout (7.5% abv)
1 30L Nora Nora (6.8% abv)
1 20L Malthus Birolla Malthus Birolla (6.5% abv)

And, here's the link to the Italian craft beer promotion we staged earlier in 2008:

Week of July 21, 2008: Carobs, Chestnuts, Chinotto & Chamomile: Italian Microbrewed Specialties.