- 74 exhibitors (40% international) and more than 900 visitors
- 33 highly technical conference speeches
- 4 tasting areas
- First edition of the Best Craft Beer Label Contest
- Final Stage of the Italian Championship of Doemens Beer Sommeliers
74 suppliers of raw materials, tecnologies, packaging and marketing from 12 countries (2017: 54 from 9 countries) and more than 900 visitors (2017: 670) reached MiCo Lab Fiera Milano Congressi in the very central City Life area of the city, one of the most important Italian meeting point of the craft beer movement. The second edition of the only B2B event in Italy fully dedicated to craft beer offered all attendees a meeting and exchange platform with experts and colleagues on the latest developments and future trends. Exhibiting companies have been satisfied with the visitor quality – breweries, beer firms and brew pubs – and with the exclusively B2B format of the event, that differs from the countless beer festivals, and gives space to business meetings and professional education.
Besides visiting the exhibiting companies, visitors filled the two conference rooms attending with enthusiasm the 33 highly technical speeches that ranged from main fermentation to contract bottling, from labelling and transparency to non-alcoholic beers up to the 2018 Report of the Craft Beer Observatory ObiArt. Contents have been provided by the two research institutes, partners of the exhibition, Doemens and VLB Berlin, by the branch association Unionbirrai, by leader companies and Italian and international reknown representatives of the craft beer world who shared their experiences with the attending colleagues.
The four Taste it! Areas were fully booked as well. They represented a pleasant stop between a meeting in the exhibition area and a conference. Tasting sessions have been guided by Doemens Beer Sommeliers (some of them belonging to the association Le Donne della Birra – Beer Women) and Beer Tasters of the Italian Association of Independent Brewers Unionbirrai. Each session focused on a specific beer style (pils, sour beer, IGA & IPA) and on themes like Cereals and Wheat, Low Fermentation and the evolution of various styles.
Last but not least, CRAFT BEER ITALY 2019 hosted the first edition of the Best Craft Beer Label Contest as well as the final stage of the Italian Championship of Beer Sommeliers Doemens.
The Best Craft Beer Label Prize, launched by NürnbergMesse Italia Srl and sponsored by TIC TAC STAMPA, was awarded to the three best craft beer labels basing on their graphics, most eco-friendly materials and wealth and clarity of information. The brewery Birrificio Vetra with its Vetra Pils gained the first place, Tangie by Ritual Lab the second place and Tiramisù and Barrel #2 of the brewery Birrificio Lambrate equally gained the third place. The people’s choice award #LabelBeer went to the Apulian beer firm Skipa Bread Beer with its label L’Originale. The sponsor TIC TAC STAMPA, digital print leading italian company that strongly believes in craft breweries and has therefore adopted some specific materials for their labels, offered important discounts to both winners and partecipants.
The Italian Championship of Doemens Beer Sommeliers was won by Giovanna Merloni, brewmaster of IBEER, who defeated the other five candidates in presenting a beer in front of the jury. Besides becoming Italian Champion, Giovanna will represent Italy at the World Championship of Doemens Beer Sommeliers. At the second place another woman, Ingrid Facchinelli from Bozen, while Daniele Vivan, agent of Birra Ingross, gained the third place.
Once again, the organizer NürnbergMesse Italia prepared this edition in close cooperation with the two partners Doemens & VLB Berlin, the branch association Unionbirrai as well as MoBI, Movimento Birra (Beer Movement), who dedicated for the very first time a free forum to the homebrewing world, cradle of many brewers of tomorrow.
