Brewer of the Year 2023: the winners

The fifteenth edition of the award organized by Fermento Birra which every year recognizes the best Italian beer producer of the past year, saw Enrico Ciani, brewer of the Birra dell'Eremo plants, located in Capodacqua, a hamlet of Assisi, crowned.

We are on the first slopes of Mount Subasio, where between history and spirituality, in 2012 the vocation for craft beer of Enrico Ciani and Geltrude Salvatori Franchi manifested itself, who supported her husband by taking care of the commercial side. Today the team has expanded compared to the beginning, the technological rate has grown, as have the dimensions which reach 4000 hectoliters with a 15 hectoliter cooking room. The range is wide, articulated, and includes almost all the main stylistic trends: from those belonging to traditional brewing schools, with more classifiable beers, up to creative products, made with unusual ingredients or with unconventional ferments, some of which are prepared in dedicated crops owned by the Umbrian brewery.

Over time, Enrico has proven to be an eclectic producer, curious and insatiable in seeking new inspirations: starting stylistically from England and Belgium with the first bottles such as the golden ale Nobile , the blanche Saggia or the tripel Fuoco, he then moved on with confidence towards the US latitudes where he created explosive and clear variations of IPA such as the tropical Tuca , very juicy NEIPA, or the very fragrant DDH Fiji and Yaki . A brewing journey continued in the German quadrant with drinking companions such as Zoe , pils, and Blaz , keller, and landed in the world of sours thanks above all to the aforementioned research on yeasts, which gave rise, for example, to Ma2, a gentle and captivating sour produced with the addition of passion fruit.

An award that certainly also recognized Enrico's work in the cellar, who over the years has created products that require passage in barrels and that do not even disdain grapes as an additional ingredient. Beers designed as two worlds that meet: this is how Genesi was born, produced with the champenoise method and Verdicchio grape must. An idea that has its roots in his past, when every Sunday before lunch he admired his father opening à la volley one of the countless self-produced samples of sparkling wine: in other words the "genesis" of his adventure as a brewer. Beers then flanked by other creations such as Selva and its sister Selva Sour, both made with 30% Sauvignon Blanc must, but the first fermented with a blend of saccharomyces usually used in wine and the second in barrel with a spontaneous method.

A humble, capable and silent brewer who by nature does not like the spotlight: but today is also a day of flashes, another important recognition must find a place on the Birra dell'Eremo bulletin board.

BREWER OF THE YEAR RANKING 2023

1st Enrico Ciani of the Birra dell'Eremo brewery in Assisi (PG) 2nd Marco Valeriani of the Alder brewery in Seregno (MB) 3rd Giovanni Faenza of the Ritual Lab brewery in Formello (RM) 4th Matteo Pomposini and Cecilia Scisciani of the MC77 brewery of Serrapetrona (MC) 5th Luca Dalla Torre of the Bondai brewery of Sutrio (UD) 6th Pietro di Pilato of the Brewfist brewery of Codogno (LO) 7th Emanuele Longo of the Birrificio Lariano of Sirone (LC) 8th Luigi Recchiuti of the Opperbacco brewery of Notaresco (TE) 9th Samuele Cesaroni of the Brasseria della Fonte brewery of Pienza (SI) 10th Conor Gallagher Deeks of the Hilltop brewery of Bassano Romano (VT) 11th Agostino Arioli of the Birrificio Italiano of Limido Comasco (CO) 12th Marco Raffaeli of the Mukkeller brewery of Porto Sant'Elpidio (FM) 13th Luca Tassinati of the Birrificio Liquida of Ostellato (FE) 14th Alessio Selvaggio of the Croce di Malto brewery of Trecate (NO) 15th Josif Vezzoli of the Birra Elvo brewery of Graglia (BI) 16th Mirko Giorgi from the Shire brewery in Pomezia (RM) 17th Flaviano Brandi from the Bibibir brewery in Castellalto (TE) 18th Fabio Brocca from the Lambrate brewery in Milan 19th Luigi D'Amelio from the Extraomnes brewery in Marnate (VA) 20th Vincenzo Follino of the Bonavena Brewing brewery in Faicchio (BN)

The best emerging award was raised by Mattia Bonardi of the Nama Brewing brewery in Treviglio, in the province of Bergamo. Mattia is certainly not a surprise for those who know the world of craft beer considering his past as a homebrewer followed by a long experience as a professional brewer in important realities on the foreign and local scene, especially the nine years spent in the brew room of the Milanese Lambrate.

In fact, however, we can only be at the helm of a brewery in 2022: Nama, artisanal in Japanese, produces beers that immediately found favor with the public and professionals, for their ability to amaze the sense of smell with clear aromas and at the same time for a well-calibrated taste balance, to guarantee maximum smoothness in direct comparison with the pint. The references on the menu are mainly traditional German lagers and American-inspired hoppy beers.

For example, from the house basket you can find the Nebula , a modern IPA characterized by strong hopping and the typical cloudiness of New England, the brilliant and decisive American IPA Liquid Sky , the thirst-quenching pilsner Tacheles , the malty doppelbock Frontiera or the powerful Imperial Stout Mr Loverman with added coffee. A brewery on the launch pad as attested by the hectoliters produced which have already reached 1000. Certainly a brewer and a brand that we will hear more about.

EMERGING BREWER RANKING

1st Mattia Bonardi from the Nama Brewing brewery in Treviglio (BG) 2nd Stefano Balestra from the Humus brewery in Ancarano (TE) 3rd Aris Di Marco from the Zona Mosto brewery in Rho (MI).