Hop Summer Fest, the festival dedicated to craft beer is back

The festival dedicated to craft beer returns to Livorno, the first and only born in the city. The Hop Summer Fest presents its sixth edition, which will take place from Friday, May 23 to Sunday, May 25 inside and outside the Bad Elf pub, on the Scali delle Ancore, along the Medici canals with a view of the Fortezza Vecchia and the sunset, in the setting of the old La Venezia district of Livorno.

The cuisine of the Bad Elf will have a dedicated menu with snacks and international dishes with table service, ranging from British, German, to Tex-Mex specialties. Every evening there will be guests from the world of beer and food, with meetings and workshops.

Also this year the Hop Summer Fest will use special eco-friendly reusable glasses with a structure similar to glass. The event, with free access, will start every evening from 6 pm. The participating Breweries for the sixth edition are: Mostodolce Brewery (Vaiano, Prato), La Buttiga Brewery (Piacenza), Degged Brewery (Livorno), Birrante Brewery (Uliveto Terme – PI), Toptà Brewery (Montecarlo – LU), Rethia Brewery (Vallelaghi – TN), De Halve Maan (Bruges, Belgium), Hope Beer (Dublin, Ireland), Spessart Brauerei (Spessart, Franconia, Germany).

The program of events that will liven up the three-day event in the heart of La Venezia is as follows: Friday, May 23, at 8 pm (free participation) appointment with “Meet the brewer”, meeting with Wim De Jongh, one of the founders of Hope Beer brewery in Dublin; followed by a dj set with Rey DJ. On Saturday 24th, always at 8 pm, “Meet the Brewer”, free participation meeting with Roland Dutoit, Export manager of the Belgian brewery De Halve Maan and Oliver Heitjans, general manager of the Spessart Brewery, Franconia, Germany. Following, from 9.30 pm to 11 pm, we will be accompanied by Manuel Bellucci, after the success of Robetta Party, with Interviews and Winning Understanding, as well as the dj set by Stefano.

On Sunday, May 25th, we will start at 5.30 pm with AperiBeer and Dj set by Rey DJ, then at 6.30 pm the Masterclass (3 Finger food paired with 3 beers) will start: we will play to match 3 craft beers with 3 finger food created by the Chef of the Bad Elf Pub Virginia Sardi. Each with a different theme and pairing technique, to enhance the beer and food at best. Conducting the Masterclass will be Renato Nesi (teacher, consultant, responsible for Unionbirrai Beer Taster Tuscany, beer judge) with finger food prepared by Virginia Sardi (cook and food blogger, alias Virgy’s Kitchen). Participation in the Masterclass costs 8 euros and reservation is required.
The third and final day of Hop Summer Fest 2025 will continue as follows: at 8 pm “Meet the brewer”, meeting with Roland Dutoit, Export manager of the Belgian brewery De Halve Maan (free participation); from 9.30 pm to 11 pm again in the company of Manuel Bellucci, after the success of Robetta Party, with Interviews and Winning Understanding; and from 9 pm the dj set with Stefano and Edoardo Gailli.