Italy: Beer Country (the book)

I visited Rome last winter, and really saw no evidence of a craft beer community. Every drink i saw was Peroni, Amstel, and Heineken. I didn't really search for italian craft beer though. Was too busy drinking wine haha.

 

Can't think of any Italian beer I've ever had.

 

I was in germany before that experiencing amazing beers. When i got to italy after that, I wasn't even thinking about beer. I know, it's crazy. If I had liked sours back then like i do now, I definitely would have searched for the belgian greats like cantillon, tilquin, and drie fonteinen.

 

Bir & Fud and Open Baladin are musts when traveling to Rome.

 

in 2014, i made a more concerted effort to try some italian craft. i've had a couple of birrificio del ducato, barley, Birra del borgo and LoverBeer offerings. They make some good sours. del ducato nero is a nice chili spiced imperial stout. i usually stear clear or the hoppier stuff because it can be hard to tell how old these are.

 

I have to second Ma Che. That place is amazing with a really nice selection including some crazy whales and a deep lambic cellar. Open Baladin is also a really great bar that has the biggest selection of Italian craft I've ever seen in one place.

 

I love Italian craft beer and usually try every new offering that is available in my area. Thankfully, there is a great variety of them in the Philly/South Jersey area bottle shops. There's also some cool Italian restaurants that are constantly bringing in ones I've never heard of but as mentioned above, I try to stay away from the hoppier stuff because of freshness issues.

 

oops, you're right the verdi not nero. that's a great stout and i like the bottle shape too.

 

The Italian Craft brands available in the U.S. all tend to retail at the high-end of the spectrum and so for the most part I shy away from them.

On the other hand, when I see my next, big pay rise, I might try them again!

 

If I see the book I will give it a read. A friend of mine, @BeerBoy used to judge competitions over that way, so no doubt he has tried a few of those Italian Craft beers.

Cheers!

 

The stuff I've seen in bottle shops has been pretentiously overpriced. Can't say I'm excited about Italian craft beer scene.