Libera

THE ASSOCIATION RELAY, ESTABLISHED IN APRIL 2013, IS A THIRD SECTOR ENTITY. IMMEDIATELY, BY SHARING THE VALUES AND PRINCIPLES CONTAINED IN THE STATUTE, THE RESEARCH STARTED. ON THE BRASSICOLA CHAIN AND THE PRODUCTION OF ARTISANAL BEER. The founding value of La Staffetta Associazione is undoubtedly represented by the challenge that three graduates, “products of the university public education system”, have undertaken to develop their own strength and put to use the many years spent acquiring much more theoretical than applied notions. Self-realization, in the case of La Staffetta, means pursuing one's aptitudes, abilities, interests to make them a source of sustenance in life and therefore work.

VAPORI DI BIRRA IS THE FIRST BREWERY IN THE WORLD THAT PRODUCES ARTISANAL BEER USING THE GEOTHERMAL STEAM AS A PRIMARY SOURCE OF ENERGY. It was born in the heart of Tuscany, in Sasso Pisano, in an area known for boraciferous fumes - high pressure and temperature steam emissions that come out from cracks in the ground or from artificial perforations - exploited to produce geothermal energy. Thanks to the peculiarity of the territory, we decided to use this resource to give life to a project that combined the passion for beer, nutraceuticals and the short supply chain with that for sustainability, creating a quality product that did not impact on the environment.

LIBERA IS THE FRUIT OF A MASTER THESIS RESEARCH PROJECT BY DR. ANDREA MARIANELLI FOCUSED ON REDUCING THE CONCENTRATION OF GLUTEN, BUT WITHOUT REDUCING THE QUALITY OF THE PRODUCT. The choice of the enzyme to be used was decisive, as it allowed us to stay below the legal limit imposed by Reg. (EU) 828/2014, or below 20 ppm. Finally, we focused on determining the antioxidant activity of organic hops in the finished beer. This has shown that new studies on our part will be needed to increase Libera's antioxidant power. On the environmental front, the beer was made using the geothermal energy of the Vapori di Birra brewery.

FAIRMENTI - WHEN BEER IS PRODUCED IN PRISON In Volterra, the training project begins. Beer is being prepared. Nothing special, were it not for the people and places that frame this story: five inmates, who are learning to brew beer inside the Volterra prison. The brewing process takes place inside the Volterra Prison and involves five people, four inmates and a girl who has already served her sentence. The teaching began in May 2019 and saw, in the month of September, the culmination of the training project in the cooking of craft beer, lasting eight hours from the grinding phase to the subsequent mashing phase, then boiling and the subsequent inoculation of the yeast that will ferment for others. 15 days. “The importance of making beer in prison by inmates is linked to the possibility of exploiting these skills in the world of work both during award leave and after the end of sentence”, comments Matteo Iannone of La Staffetta. It is a beer with a Tuscan supply chain, where the hops come from the Versil Green by Oligea farm, directed by Elena Giannini, vice president of Coldiretti Lucca, who has made available a selection of cultivars in synergy with La Staffetta.