Ichnusa is Sardinia in lager form. Crisp, sunny, slightly rustic and usually best consumed somewhere warm with salty food and absolutely no urgent responsibilities afterwards.

The brewery dates back to 1912 and takes its name from the ancient Greek word for Sardinia, which already tells you how closely tied the whole thing is to the island itself. Even though Heineken owns the brand nowadays, Ichnusa still feels very local in identity. In Sardinia it’s less “beer brand” and more unofficial regional symbol.

The core lager is straightforward in the best possible way. Light malt, gentle bitterness, crisp finish, ridiculously easy to drink cold. Nothing complicated happening, but that’s sort of the point. It’s built for beaches, seafood, grilled meat and sitting outside for much longer than originally intended.

The unfiltered version has become especially popular recently and brings a bit more body and bready character while still keeping that clean refreshing Sardinian style underneath. Slightly hazy, softer texture, more flavour, still disappears frighteningly quickly.

Part of Ichnusa’s charm is that it doesn’t try too hard. No craft beer jargon, no triple dry-hopped nonsense, no pretending lager needs reinventing every six months. Just very solid Italian beer with loads of local pride attached to it.

Basically the sort of thing that tastes significantly better once there’s sunshine involved.