The market for microbrewers is expanding rapidly in Corsica. Around fifteen companies are listed in the region for small productions. These entrepreneurs who are passionate about hops are now looking to unite.
This Sunday, June 2, 2024, in Patrimonio, around ten of them will mark the creation of a federation of Corsican beers. With the objective of creating a sector of excellence, obtaining a label and developing a malt house on the island.
Behind this initiative, Sylvain Martinez-Ciccolini, who offers Bocca beer in Cozzano, Charles-Antoine Cesari, founder of Filitosa beer and Pierre-François Maestracci, boss of the Ribella brewery: “We are mandated founders, explain Sylvain Martinez-Ciccolini and Charles-Antoine Cesari. We didn’t invent anything. We just wanted to formalize things in order to exist on paper.”
However, the project goes a little further than a simple formality. “This association is, at this stage, essential so that Corsican beer is organized into a sector, and so that we, brewers, can all together determine which paths we want to take, confides Charles-Antoine Cesari. We want to promote Corsican beer on the national and international scene, thanks to its singularity, its identity, and its specific markers. Namely, environmentally friendly production, which wisely exploits local biodiversity, while preserving it and enhancing it. This is why we want to develop a malt house in Corsica.”
“We want to create, in cooperation with farmers, a barley and hops sector”
Most brewers are forced to buy malt on the continent. Malting involves germinating a cereal, mainly barley and wheat. It then involves drying it quickly to prepare the starch contained in the grain to be broken down during the making of beer: “Recent research has demonstrated that there is a hop endemic to Corsica, adds Sylvain Martinez-Ciccolini. Farmers make it on the island. There are different interested investors. A malt house costs around two million euros. We want to create, in cooperation with farmers, a barley and hops sector. The Chamber of Agriculture supports us. We aim to obtain a label in the short term and a protected geographical indication (PGI) in the medium term.”
The federation must also make it possible to collectively weigh in on the institutions: “The brewing industry is relatively young. Coming together is a sign of maturity. We have all the elements to make this product a new marker of tCorsican environment: pure water (80% of the product), land suitable for growing cereals and hops as well as a temperate climate favorable to the development of these crops.” The brewers also want to organize a Corsican beer festival in 2025 to act as a showcase for the federation.
