DEMONSTRATIVE VISIT AND PRACTICAL TECHNICAL SEMINAR BE^2R PROJECT

On May 20th at 10:30 AM, a demonstrative visit of the facilities for craft beer production planned within the BE^2R project - "from field to glass" will take place at OFFICINE BIRRAI (Via G. D’Annunzio, 52 – Lecce). The BE^2R project is funded under the PSR Puglia 2014-2020 - SM 16.2 "Support for pilot projects and the development of new products, practices, processes, and technologies," for an amount of €392,419.28.

The day will include a tour of the facilities, a practical technical seminar titled "Craft Beer: from production (with a demonstrative brew) to tasting" led by Prof. Antonietta Baiano (Technical Scientific Manager of the project, from the Department of Agricultural, Food, Natural Resources and Engineering Sciences (DAFNE) at the University of Foggia) and Mr. Francesco Maruccia (Master Brewer). It will continue with the sensory analysis of the prototype beer obtained through the scale-up trials envisaged by the project, and finally, the participation of attendees in the final stages of the demonstrative brew.

The project aims to promote the development of Puglia's agricultural beer production by seizing the growth opportunities present in this market. The work being carried out involves creating a protocol for the production of agricultural beer with a strong territorial identity, using traditional Puglian cereals and, for example, locally grown hops and self-produced yeasts on the farm, with processes suitable for niche productions of high quality.

In Puglia, there are over 40 craft breweries and approximately 25 beer firms, making it one of the most flourishing regions in Italy for beer production. Regional breweries draw inspiration from internationally recognized styles, but reinterpret them in a personalized way by increasingly skilled master brewers. As a result, they perceive the need to rely on raw materials destined for mass production or, alternatively, niche raw materials generally only available from foreign suppliers as a limiting factor.

In this context, several producers have initiated a new trend, aiming to give their craft beers a territorial imprint by adding minor ingredients (in terms of quantity), such as, for example, oranges from Gargano or aromatic herbs typically used in regional cuisine. In this trend, members of the Operating Group (G.O.) believe that the quality leap capable of consecrating Puglian production could be achieved by creating beers whose characteristics reflect the geographical environment and its intrinsic natural and human factors, as the raw materials are predominantly obtained from specific areas of the region.

This implies that, in addition to water, which is also the predominant ingredient strongly influencing the sensory quality of beer, it is advisable to use other ingredients that may be typical of the territory (as in the case of cereals traditionally grown locally), not native to the territory but obtained by adapting cultivation to the specific pedoclimatic environment (in the case of hops), or generally purchased in standardized form but possible to self-produce on the farm (like yeasts).

The BE^2R project partnership is working systematically at all levels of the production chain: from the recovery of ancient cereal varieties to the development of malt and agricultural beer production protocols, to the recovery of by-products. The production protocols will be developed by the research institutions involved, both concerning field activities and transformation processes. Adaptation and testing will be carried out by the involved agricultural companies and the agricultural brewery, and consequently, the developed protocols will be immediately operational in the companies willing to adopt them.

The BE^2R Operating Group is composed of important representatives: from the Brewery sector (Birra Salento Società semplice agricola, as lead partner; Officine Birrai; Soc. Coop. Agricola Valle Verde; Solimando Giuseppe; Birra Salento Srl); from the Research world (University of Foggia, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics Analysis: National Research Council); from consulting companies that have been promoting and evaluating innovations in the agri-food sector for years (Aretè Srl, Cassandro Srl); from Dare Puglia (Agri-food Technological District) and CIA Puglia.