When in Rome...

When you think of drinking in Italy, your mind naturally goes to wine. Rightfully so. The Tuscan Region is famous for their classic Chianti wines and Venice is home to the sparkling wine, prosecco. But hidden away in the alleyways of Rome there is a developing taste for craft beer.

For our honeymoon, my wife and I booked a two week trip to Italy. We began and ended our journey in Rome with stops in Florence, Venice, and Naples/Sorrento. In preparation for the trip, we researched the culture with an emphasis placed on food and drink. We went to some authentic Italian restaurants around the Twin Cities and sampled pasta dishes and wine by the quartino, but I felt pretty limited on the variety of Italian beer. You can readily find the watery Peroni at an Olive Garden and it is really disappointing that this is what has become the model of what Italian beer is. The reality is that there are a few really great breweries making some quality beer and introducing the country to the world of craft beer.

Two of the front-runners in the Italian craft beer movement are Birra del Borgo and Birra Baladin. The two have been brewing since the 1990's and in 2009 they collaborated to open a brewpub in the center of Rome called Open Baladin. I first heard about this place while watching the travel show "Chug with Zane Lamprey" and I immediately marked it down on our honeymoon itinerary. This is a must stop oasis for any craft beer lover in the wine soaked country of Italy. They have 40 beers on tap from all over Europe, including a few cask beers. Most of them are produced by the two founding breweries, but they also feature some smaller breweries like the stout from Free Lions which I sampled. I am disappointed that I didn't get to try their barley wine, Xyauyù, which has won several awards, so somebody bring back a bottle if you go. The back wall is a treasure trove of bottled beer which you can purchase to take back to your hotel. For you home brewers, Birra Baladin has a line of open source beers with recipes posted on their website for you to try on your own. If you're in need of some grub, they also have an excellent menu highlighted by some gourmet burgers.

The bar at Open Baladin. Source

Switching gears to the craft cocktail scene, across the river from Open Baladin was a trendy bar called Freni e Frizioni, meaning "brake and clutch," paying homage to the auto shop that previously occupied the space. It is a hot bed of hipsters, but the cocktails that they mix are worth a visit. One of the great things about the drinking culture in Italy is the aperitivo. At most bars, with the purchase of a drink you are given free access to their buffet of snacks. I wouldn't recommend filling your plate to the brim three or four times and thus attracting judgmental stares, but definitely help yourself to some cheese and salad. Freni e Frizioni also has a great patio for you to sip your drink and soak up the Roman evening atmosphere. The signature drink is the negroni, which is a spritzer with a aperol base. They also have two house beers, a blonde and a red ale, called Piston.

Some things are certain in life; death, taxes, and the proliferation of the Irish pub. Every single city that we visited, we easily spotted the orange, white, and green flags waving above the door of another Irish pub. In Rome it was Trinity College, Florence was Goose Pub, Venice was Devil's Forest Pub, and in Sorrento it was Chaplin's Bar. My wife and I met, had our first date, and got engaged in Irish pubs, so it was nice to have a familiar night spot to go get a pint of the black stuff.

Live folk music at the Goose Pub in Florence

Don't be confused, I definitely had my fair share and probably a few other people's fair share of wine. We went on a wine tour while in Florence, so I was able to visit two Tuscan vineyards. We generally ordered a bottle of wine with every meal and would bar hop at night having a glass of wine with aperitivo at each stop. While some were certainly better than others, I never had a bad glass of wine. However, wine is not all Italy has to offer. It makes sense that in a climate so suitable for growing grapes that they wouldn't feel the need to expand their palate, but the American craft beer movement is spreading and globally people are waking up to the hops revolution.

An aperitivo bar in Venice called Osteria I Rusteghi

Cin cin!