Hey, can you discuss Japanese beer in an Italian beer thread!?! Well, since you started this thread I suppose you can do what you want! Salute!
Haha, fair call I was thinking more along the lines of parallel approaches — how different beer cultures borrow from food, agriculture, and local ingredients — but point taken. Back to Italy we go. Salute!
I was in the Dolomites last year and I'm guessing the lingering Germanic culture in the area helps, since the beer selection was pretty good in average restaurants. We found a brewpub brewing modern American and German style beers in Ortisei, and there were several beer bars in Cortina. Also the previous year while vacationing in Malta we took a day trip to Sicily, and were able to find a craft beer bar in Catania.
Sitting this early afternoon at Dock Street South, enjoying their Futuro Italian Pilsner alongside a classic margherita pizza — and it feels like the right setting to reflect on both the beer and the story behind the brewery. Futuro lands exactly where the Italian pilsner style shines: elegant bitterness, soft herbal-floral hop tone, lean malt structure, and a dry, refined finish. Paired with bright tomato, fresh basil, and creamy mozzarella, the whole experience feels composed rather than constructed — nothing fighting for attention, everything in balance. What makes the moment even more fitting is Dock Street’s heritage. The brewery traces back to Rosemarie Certo, a Sicilian-born co-founder whose family background in Mediterranean artisanal food and fermentation traditions helped shape Dock Street’s early identity. That old-world respect for ingredients and process still echoes in beers like Futuro today. A simple meal, a thoughtful beer, and a quiet nod to Italian craft philosophy — enjoyed in the middle of a Philadelphia afternoon. Salute!
Did you drink Dock Street beers at their first/original location (18th & Cherry St)? Nick Funnell was the head brewer then and he brewed some very good - excellent beers. Cheers!
I haven’t had the chance to visit or drink at the original 18th & Cherry location — a little before my time in the Philly beer scene — but I’ve heard many great things about those early Dock Street days. Sounds like a special era, especially with Nick Funnell at the helm. Cheers!
Those were the nascent days of craft brewing (referred to as microbrewing back then) in Philly. Good times! Cheers!
Here we go. Finally got to this little drop which is a Collab btwx local Falling Knife & Maplewood (Illinois...home of the Drinking Illini.) @Giovannilucano I realize you're a serious bev industry person. Much respect to you!! I would like to add this delicious beer to your thread as it has heart, mild complexity, more so simplistic and pure gains factors, and a simple yeasty pear drinkability. A respectable taste all together. No junk.
Tonightn I had a pint of Dewey Beer's Pizzetta, their Italian Style Pilsner. It was just okay - a bit too sweet for what I'd expect from the style. (At a music venue, hence the plastic cup)
Really appreciate the kind words, @LesDewitt4beer! Thank you for that. And I get why you’d want to share this here. That focus on restraint, clean fermentation, and drinkability over excess lines up closely with what draws me to Italian beer in the first place. I like seeing how those same ideas show up across different brewing cultures when the goal is balance rather than flash. Cheers, and thanks for adding it to the conversation.
Appreciate you sharing that, and the context helps. I tend to have a similar expectation with Italian-style Pilsners: lean, dry, and bitterness-forward, especially when served fresh. A touch of sweetness can definitely shift the balance away from what makes the style click for me. Still useful data points like this are exactly what I hoped people would bring to the thread. Cheers!
First sampled Dock Street at the 1991 GABF. Stoudt was there as well, with Carol Stoudt pouring her beer. I knew nothing about the Philly beer scene back then, so I was shocked by the quality of the beers I sampled. The Dock Street beers were easily among the best beers I tried at the fest. It was quite the revelation for me.
As I am still a somewhat spry 45 year old, abate with some major life changing injuries aside, I sadly am too young to have experienced Dock Street in the early 90's. In a short tenure with City Brew Tours Philly, I enjoyed going to Dock Street South as the highlight of any tour I participated in. So cheers to Dock Street!
Safe to say you never made it to Dock Street West (West Philly)? I always thought that was a cool location, an old firehouse. It was quite 'rustic' inside but I was OK with that. Dock Street has had a very 'interesting' history over the years. Their first beer was an Amber Ale contract brewed by FX Matt (circa 1985), then they opened their Center City (Logan Circle) brewpub around 1989 and they had a fairly long run but sold the business in 1998. Certo re-purchased the brand in 2002 and opened in the Firehouse in 2007 which then closed in 2022. The location branded as Dock Street South opened in 2019 and then they opened a taproom space in Fishtown in 2023. One thing you have to say for Dock Street is that as a business it is a survivor. What will we see for Dock Street in 2026 (and beyond)? Cheers to Dock Street Brewing!!
That’s a great rundown. Thanks for taking the time to lay all that out. I didn’t really get deep into craft beer until around 2007 to 2008, so a lot of Dock Street’s earlier chapters are something I’ve come to appreciate more in hindsight rather than having lived through firsthand. That’s part of what makes hearing the history from folks who were around for it especially interesting. No matter the era, it’s hard not to respect how Dock Street has adapted over time from the early days through the brewpub years the firehouse and into the more recent iterations. Survivor really does feel like the right word. I’m curious as well what the next phase looks like. It’s been interesting to watch the brand continue to evolve while still carrying that long Philly legacy. Cheers!
Let's keep our fingers crossed! These are challenging times to be in the beer industry so.... Cheers!
Yes, they are. @Bitterbill shared the news about Luminous Brewhouse in Sheridan, Wyoming closing. Oddly enough, my aunt had texted me about it just a week prior, knowing how much that brewery meant to me. I was involved there purely as a fan, volunteering, consulting when asked, helping teach the local brew club, and working with state breweries. Like many industries, brewing and serving attracts people who may see it as a transition, a job, or eventually a career. That is natural. But I still believe that when a brewery is built around a crew with deep skill, shared passion, and respect for the work, that collective effort is something that never lacks value, even when outcomes do not go as hoped. I do not pretend to have all the answers on what makes a brewery succeed. But I do believe that putting together the right team, people who truly understand and care about what they are building, is one of the most important foundations there is.
Even when there is an economic downturn like is happening right now in the brewing industry there will still be some 'winning' companies while others close. One of the often repeated corporate sayings is "people are our greatest asset" but even a business with great people (e.g., the team) will only succeed with wise decision making by ownership/management. You only have to look at what happened to the Eagles this year where despite having great people (players) they did not fully succeed because of sub-par leadership (including but not exclusively Kevin Patullo). To paraphrase Andy Reid after an Eagles loss: I have to do a better job to put my players in a position to succeed. Cheers!
