Valle del Bidente gets its name from the river that goes through an area of sand, forests and wonderful scenery, not as famous as the Valmarecchia (excellently painted by Leonardo da Vinci) but extremely magic thanks to its tiny villages and small roads that bring people until pristine mountains like Monte Falco and Monte Fumaiolo, in the deep heart of one of the most underrated regions of Italy: La Romagna.
This incipit could resemble a summary of a famous travel guide, and it can easily be, especially after I visited it a couple of times during my bikepacking trips.
The history
But let's start from the name: as you can all see every time you visit a place in the region, Romagnoli are solidly glued to their traditions (Federico Fellini says it all), so when the three founders decided to establish a craft brewery, they wanted to have the Mazapegul – their traditional troll – in their logo and name.
Everything started in a small brewery, where Gianluigi, Daniel and Mattia brought to life their love for craft beers and the product of their land. After some time, the family pub became tight for the number of people coming to enjoy progressive brews and cultural events. So everything moved to a bigger location, where the pub became bigger and where from the same dining room the customers now can enjoy the view of the brewery where all the magic happens.
The place
I visited exactly this new location, where the vibes of a traditional pub completely match the taste of the craft beer.
Every corner looks like coming directly from the British 70s counterculture with edgy photos, an old JukeBox, and a peculiar colour pallet. The drafting area, on the other side, is minimalistic, modern and shiny, with a long line of taps that pours tasty beers every afternoon of the year. Exactly from that space, you can see the production line where the drinks are prepared with passion and professionalism: tanks, fermentors and an Emma canning line make all the magic production concrete to the eyes of the visitors.
The Brewery Foundation
The whole project of Mazapegul is based on three pillars: quality, culture and sustainability.
Quality is the foundation of everything coming out of the brewery: beer, food, events, photos, design, everything is created with deep attention to detail and nothing is left behind.
Culture is also breathable in any corner: reading events, book presentations, and artistic vernissages often occur at the brewpub. But also the aesthetics of the cans and the inspiration of the beer styles and their names are solidly linked to history and culture.
And, finally, sustainability was a big commitment for the Mazapegul team:
- A solar system that finds space on the brewery's roof and gives electricity to the whole production
- A CO2 recovery system, that stores the CO2 produced during the fermentation and helps in all the phases of production and canning
- And NOMOQ's digitally printed cans, which are totally recyclable and also cut weight for transport and storage.
Mazapegul: another Valle del Bidente highlight
Visiting Mazapegul is a treat, because of the wonderful people working around the project, the incredible values always present in any corner of the experience, and because of the tasty beer always poured fresh in the taproom.
Valle del Bidente has another highlight to visit, with or without a bike, even if you know what I would suggest you do.
