Birra Amarcord, an independent, family-run brewery, was founded in Rimini in 1997 from a territory and in a territory: Romagna. The bond with this land has been our leitmotif since the brewery’s origins, along with a focus on ingredients and the environment, so much so that since January 2021, the brewery has achieved its "zero impact" objective in terms of energy.
We have our earth at heart.
Why "our land"? When we talk about the Earth, we are in fact, talking about a common good that needs to be preserved and handed down to future generations. That’s why we’ve chosen to brew a natural, genuine and wholesome product, favouring ingredients from sustainable Italian agriculture, and implementing strategies that are enabling us to have zero environmental impact every day.
To date, in fact, the Italian character of the ingredients we use for each of our beers amounts at least 89%, to even arrive at a completely controlled supply chain beer. It is precisely as a culmination of this process that Amarcord 100% ITALIANA was born. A beer that tells its origin already starting from its name!
With regard to our business choices relating to environmental protection and energy issues specifically, we’ve chosen to make another huge drive towards the completely sustainable production of our beers.
There are so many initiatives we have undertaken in support of the environment that we find particularly stimulating. To date, all the projects implemented have yielded great results that make us proud and encourages us even more to continue our energy-efficiency efforts in all areas of the brewery.
Since 2020, Birra Amarcord has only used electricity from certified renewable sources (covering 100% of the brewery’s needs); we purchase part of this energy and we produce the rest ourselves thanks to the photovoltaic system installed on the brewery’s roof in 2010.
This is a clear sign of our continued commitment to the environment, a message so strong that we have chosen to communicate it on our label.
As you are no doubt aware, a photovoltaic system is used to instantly produce electricity through solar energy, without using any type of fossil fuel.
Thanks to the photovoltaic system installed on the brewery roof since 2010, we avoid the emission into the atmosphere of more than 55 tonnes/CO2 per year and, again thanks to the photovoltaic system, we self-produce up to 20% of our daytime electricity needs.
In 2020, we estimated a saving of a further 650 tonnes/year thanks to supplies from certified partners, in addition to a saving of 55 tonnes of CO2/year from the photovoltaic system.
Carbon offsetting (or carbon credit or carbon offset as it is also known) means thinking about the ways we can redress the balance in favour of the planet.
Therefore, in keeping with this, one of the big news for Birra Amarcord in 2021 was the 100% certified offsetting of CO2 emitted due to the use of methane gas, which is used in the production process. Thanks to a recent supply agreement, Birra Amarcord purchases credits that are then spent to fund global reforestation and renewable energy development projects to offset CO2 emissions to the same extent as those generated by the brewery’s production.
Thanks to this agreement alone, we estimate we can offset 750 tonnes of CO2 in 2021 and 2022.
We have always had a thing for quality and sustainability. At this historic moment, we feel that this path can only be undertaken if we reclaim the origins of beer, which first and foremost begins life in a cultivated field. Therefore, by opting for ingredients from Italy, we’ve chosen to promote sustainable Italian agriculture.
As producers, we feel we have a huge responsibility towards the final consumer and the environment: we have a duty to bring a genuine and wholesome Italian product, created with love, passion and the best ingredients, into your home, to a pub bar or to a restaurant table
Water is the fundamental element of all beers, accounting for approximately 90-95% of the beer itself and the quality or type of water can determine the brewing style and/or the characteristics of the beer itself. This is why, historically, breweries were located near springs or aquifers, whereas today, water can be treated for production needs. However, having the possibility to work with water that is of excellent quality to begin with is undoubtedly an advantage, precisely because it avoids human intervention as much as possible.
For this reason, in 2009 we decided to move the brewery to the foot of Mount Nerone, in an unspoilt area rich in water, in search of pure spring water which would give us great flexibility in producing the different styles of beer we have created. Like it used to be, we chose the location of the brewery based on the quality and purity of the water.
It was not a particularly easy choice, but when we started brewing we were aware that making good beer is not easy at all!
Thanks to collaboration with the Cooperativa Luppoli Italiani (Italian Hop Cooperative), in 2018 we were able to start using for our beers a high percentage of Italian hops, in flower and in pellet, grown in the countryside near Ravenna (Emilia Romagna). This was the beginning of a production revolution for us: trying to produce a beer with the vast majority of primary ingredients grown in Italy.
This collaboration between us and the Cooperativa Luppoli Italiani that began in 2018 is a virtuous example of how a brewery and a farm, having established a relationship based on respect and trust, decide to collaborate on converting 5 hectares of cultivated fields into a hop garden. In fact, we saw the hop garden coming to life and supported the cooperative from the outset, before the hop garden had even been started.
Today, the largest hop garden in Romagna, and one of the largest in Italy, is located in Grattacoppa (RA). This is where the prized flowering hops used in our Amarcord, Bad Brewer and AMA beers come from.
Since 2020, we have been using barley malt from sustainable Italian agriculture and malted in Italy. Together with raw wheat and spelt, which have been exclusively Italian for many years, this recent supply agreement means that today, the Italian origin of the ingredients Amarcord uses for each of its beers is at least 89%, without significantly modifying any recipe.
This was another important step that fills us with pride and led us to the production of Amarcord 100% ITALIANA, from the plant to the pint!
These initiatives are in addition to the many choices we have made over the years, starting with major investments that are ensuring a more rational use of water resources. In addition to having halved use over the years, most of the water we do use - about 70% to 80% - is in any case, purified and subsequently returned to the environment.
In addition, the by-products of barley malting, such as so-called brewer's grains for example, are still rich in nutrients that are ideal for animals, and are therefore sent to a local livestock farm that incorporates them into the hay for their livestock.
In most cases, beers are fermented with top- or bottom-fermenting yeasts. The yeast grows during fermentation and excess yeast, which is no longer useful for beer, still contains numerous nutrients that are perfect as a supplement in feed for livestock on local farms.
Our packaging is not only beautiful, it is also designed in line with the many initiatives we have undertaken in support of the environment. For us, packaging must be functional, but also an element of communication, so all packaging becomes a means of telling our story.
Our commitment concerns not only what we write, but above all, the materials we use.
We only use FSC®-certified cardboard for our packaging; this is an international certification system that guarantees the raw material used to make a wood or paper product comes from forests where strict environmental, social and economic standards are met.
We’ve chosen brown glass for all our beers, which is the glass most commonly used by breweries because of its many advantages. In fact, this glass is the ideal choice for maintaining the freshness of drinks. It also protects the beer from light and preserves its organoleptic qualities.
In addition, brown glass bottles are environmentally-friendly as they are made of 100% recyclable glass.