Rome Brewing Company

Visited on December 27th while on vacation in Rome.

This ended up being one of the hardest pub runs I've every made, as you'll see below, and it ended up with mixed results.

My wife and I tried to get to RBC twice during the week, and it was closed both times. However, that could've been our fault since Italians tend to eat and go out later than we do. Not sure if RBC closed over the holiday period or hadn't opened for the day when we showed up during the early evening (5 pm once, nearly 7 pm another time). It's very easy to get to from the metro--just a couple stops past the stop for St. Peter's Basilica, but it feels like you are out of the touristy area when you're there, which I found interesting. Finally found it open showing up past 9 pm, though I was the only person in the bar at that time but it filled up quickly with Italians, which leads me to suspect it was my fault for showing up too early during the previous attempts. Check the time carefully before heading out to this one.

Walking in, RBC has a feel of a English bar, dark wood, no real bar, but a couple of small tall tables, and the rest was cozy booths that were almost nitches. More room upstairs, where the bathroom is. Seems like a friendly place, staff greeting many of the people walking in the door, and had a nice atmosphere, quiet for talking with a friend.

First pint was 5.80 Euro, which seemed a bit pricey to me, but it was an American styled pale ale, seemingly with cascade, so maybe that was it. The rest were cheaper, but I moved to half pints on a couple of them. Each beer review will be done separately, but the beer was real hit or miss. My first beer, the pale ale, was clearly the best, followed by the porter with a bit too much diacytal in it, and the remaining two were very much under par. The Red Ale seemed flawed, though the Strong Ale simply tasted like several versions of "doppio malto" I tasted in Italy (cheap, high alcohol, thin beer often seen passed from person to person for youths walking in a group or being drunk by homeless on the street), so it probably failed my expectations more for a Strong Ale than it would Italians.

Service was friendly, and prompt by European starndards, and the waitress handled the beer with care. Two other employees were sitting at the counter the entire time I drank, one seeming to be a manager type, and ignored me and my empty glass. So, evidently I could only be served by the one waitress. No idea why, and I didn't really ask, so again, maybe this is something I didn't understand about the culture/situation. I was very hungry, but didn't feel comfortable ordering, nore was I asked if I wanted food, so not even sure what they served, though what others were eating looked good. The manager type said thanks for coming and have a safe night in English on the way out, so that was nice.

An odd thing about the service was the pours. Glasses were clean and rewashed with a spray jet that seemed to be standard in beer bars. However, the waitress held the glass at nearly a 90 degree angle to the tap with the tap jammed into the side of the glass, tipping it upright at the last moment for a respectable head. Water was poorly drained before pouring on at least two of the beers.

The adventure actually started after I left the bar. When I got off the metro, as a matter of habit, I asked when the last train going the other way--my answer was I just got off the last train--at 9 pm. Evidently, it was closed for the night for maintenance, but the nice metro worker explained that I needed to take the MA1 bus back since it took the exact same route back to Termini station as the metro. I figured I might as well get beer out of the trip, drank my four beers, and headed to the bus stop about 10:30 or a bit before. I saw MA1 busses heading further out of town, none my direction, asked a random bus to help me, he put me off around the courner and said to take MA1 from that stop, which never came and bus after bus went by out of service (deposito). By this time it was after midnight and all the regular buses on the board stopped running, and a nice Italian man who spoke no English (and me even less Italian), told me to take the "cinco, cinco" or 55 nightbus to Termini. Which I did, and then took a 20 Euro cab to our hotel south of town because the other metro line had just closed at this time. I got home just after 1 a.m.

So, nearly five hours after I started and 40 Euros later, I had added four beers to my list. Tough night, but not altogether unsucessful. If you are in this area of Rome while travelling, it's a perfectly respectable beer stop but I wouldn't go out of your way as far as I did to get there.

If you are in Rome, a few stops to Rome Brewing Company is an absolute must. The address listed on the website is for the breweries sampling cafe. The brewery is actually located up the street. Ask at the sampling cafe if you would like to go visit Mr. Murphy at the brewery. It's a nice little setup and definately worth checking out.

The brewer is also a fellow beer advocate. His name is Michael Murphy. He's a great brewer and a fantastic guy. He showed my friend and I a great time. He's passionate about what he does and loves introducing new people to craft brewing. Why else would he start a brewery in Rome!?

Oh yeah and the beers rock to. Support this place.