Eight Sicilian breweries, a shared recipe and a common goal: to celebrate thirty years of Italian craft beer. The collective brew of “Buona questa Birra!” (This Beer Is Good!), the national project promoted byUnionbirrai, the trade association of small independent craft breweries, took place at the Yblon brewery in Ragusa to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the Italian brewing movement.
The event brought together skills and expertise from different parts of Sicily, resulting in the joint production of the celebratory Italian Pils. From the early hours of the morning, with the start of the brew at 8.30 a.m., the Ragusa brewery became the hub of a collaboration between small producers that resulted in the production of 1,000 litres of craft beer, now destined for the subsequent fermentation and maturation stages.
Eight breweries took part, from seven Sicilian provinces: Yblon from Ragusa, Ballarak from Palermo, Birra dei Vespri from Altavilla Milicia (Palermo), Alveria from Canicattini Bagni (Syracuse), 24 Baroni from Nicosia (Enna), La Compagnia del Fermento from Mascalucia (Catania), Epica from Sinagra (Messina) and Terre a Sud Estfrom Niscemi (Caltanissetta).
“When this beer is ready, we would like those who taste it not to stop at the first sip, but to be curious to find out who is behind it,” says Marco Gianino, brewer and founding partner of the Yblon brewery in Ragusa. Eight Sicilian breweries shared a recipe, their expertise and their passion for this craft to celebrate thirty years of Italian craft beer. “Buona questa Birra!” also aims to encourage consumers to get to know the small producers in the region better, to discover how craft beer is made and to appreciate the variety and quality that independent producers can offer. Because behind every beer there are people, production choices and stories that deserve to be known”.
This initiative is part of a sector that has reached a significant economic scale. According to the latest figures from Unionbirrai, Italian craft beer production reached around 720,000 hectolitres in 2023, accounting for4.2% of national beer production. The sector comprises nearly 940 small independent breweries, spread across the entire country. These figures illustrate the journey of the Italian craft beer movement from 1996 to the present day and give added significance to initiatives such as the one in Sicily, where collaboration between producers becomes a practical means of promoting skills, regional identities and brewing culture.
The Ragusa event is part of the national “Buona questa Birra!” (This Beer Is Good!) initiative, which has already involved over 100 independent breweries across Italy, challenged to brew a beer according to a common recipe, while allowing each producer the opportunity to express their own flair and expertise.
The star of the show is Italian Pils, one of the iconic styles of Italian brewing creativity – a bottom-fermented beer characterised by balance, freshness and an aromatic profile enhanced by the use of hops. This choice pays tribute to the ability of Italian brewers to reinterpret international traditions and develop their own distinctive brewing identity.
