Italian entrepreneur hones brewing craft with Sunderland’s Darwin and Brewlab

An Italian entrepreneur has come to Sunderland through a cross-border exchange programme to learn about brewing and launch his own beer.

Gianni Lombino is working with micro-brewery Darwin and training provider Brewlab to broaden his knowledge of the craft as he looks to one day establish his own beer venue in Sicily.

Gianni’s entrepreneurial journey started when he participated in the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs Programme, which gives those in the early stages of setting up a company the chance to spend time working at an established European business.

Sunderland’s North East Business and Innovation Centre (BIC), as a UK contact for people wishing to take part in the programme, matched Gianni with Darwin and Brewlab.

Gianni has worked with the two companies to develop his own beer, called Birra Brigante, and a number of Italian restaurants on Wearside have already placed orders.

Brewlab senior manager Daniel Vecsey said: “We were excited to get Gianni on board to help us design an Italian-style craft beer for many of the region’s Italian restaurant owners, who, I’m delighted to say, have already placed orders to have the beer in their restaurants.

“Part of Gianni’s tasks involves taking the beer to market so he invited some of the region’s restaurant owners to a blind taste-testing experience. It was a bit like the beer X-Factor!”

He continued: “The testers rated Gianni’s beer as their favourite ahead of major brands like Peroni and Moretti and the feedback we received allowed Gianni to perfect the recipe.

“The taste-testing experience also allowed the technical team at Brewlab to demonstrate our competence in training people on how to appreciate the different flavours and aromas of beer.”

Gianni commented: “I’ve always wanted to get involved in brewing and the Erasmus programme has allowed me to gain the marketing and technical skills I need to succeed in the brewing industry.

“I learned how to appreciate certain tastes and recognise different flavours, which is a really important part of brewing – if you don’t recognise the taste then you don’t really know what you’re creating.”