The best italian beers Italy is known worldwide for its good food and local wines, but certainly not for the beer. With regards to the beer there is a tradition less important than most of the countries of northern Europe. This is probably due to historical reasons: in the course of centuries, beer has always been considered a “second class” drink in Italy mostly used where it was not possible to produce wine (e.g. due to the excessive cold).

A legacy of this bias is still evident today: there are people willing to spend too much money to buy a bottle of good wine, but the same could never happen for a bottle of good beer!

Despite the Italian culture has always been focused on wine, recently things are changing: the beer market is growing very quickly and higher than any other country in the world. New places are opening , new types of beer start to be produced and now there truly are many places where you can drink good beer at reasonable prices.

Here you preset a brief description of the main Italian breweries and their products, and then some tips about places where to drink good beers in Rome

Italian breweries

The most famous Italian beer, both in Italy and abroad, is certainly Peroni, which was founded in 1846 in Vigevano, a small town in the province of Pavia, in Lombardy, but in 1872 moved its headquarters in Rome.

Peroni Beer is the most sold in Italy, while Peroni Nastro Azzurro is the most famous Italian beer abroad.

Peroni also produces a range of high quality beers named “Grand Reserve”, in two variants, “clear” and “red”. In particular, the “Peroni Gran Riserva” clear (much more common than red) is a good stout style “bock” taste not particularly complex but very determined.

If you want to try the whole range of choice Peroni, you should go to the historic “Peroni Brewery” located on Via San Marcello in Rome 19 (a few steps from Piazza Venezia), unlike what the name says, this place is essentially a restaurant, which was the first local Peroni opened in Rome. The food is unique, with a strong influence from northern Italy (ie, more than pasta and pizza, you’ll find sausages and sauerkraut) and also, if you order the right dish, it will also be delivered with a small “show” performed by the waiters: – ). It is open every day except Sunday and it is better to go there early as there is always a long line (you cannot book).

Other beers that have a different name, but always belong to Peroni are Raffo, Wuhrer, SAB Miller.

Another beer very common in Italy is the Moretti, founded in 1859 in Udine (Friuli-Venezia Giulia), but acquired by Heineken in 1996.

The flagship product is the same name, “Moretti beer,” which is a light beer, simple and devoid of character. Other products in the Moretti are the “Golden Mustache” and “bock bock”, but the product of higher quality is definitely the “Red”, a dark bock beer type “doppel bock” of great complexity, with a “caramello” taste.

A further Italian brewery’s definitely worth to mention is the G. Menabrea, originally from Biella (Piemonte), founded in 1846. All the beers produced by this brewery are of high quality, so much that the beers have won numerous prestigious international awards. The first international prize was awarded in 1924 with the gold medal at Brussels, the last one was the gold medal at the World Beer Championships in Chicago, IL (Illinois) in 2005. The main products today are the beers of the 150th anniversary, type “blonde”, “amber” and “strong”.

Other beers quite common are the Forst, founded in 1857 just in a town called Forst (“forest” in German) in the province of Bolzano, Castle and Beer, a brewery in the province of Udine Friuli much more modern than the others (founded in 1997 ).

Besides these common and “commercial brewers “, numerous micro-breweries are now spreading seeking to make the beer themselves. These micro-producers make high quality beers, inspired by the great producers of northern Europe (Germany, Belgium and England), mixing various techniques and getting beers of high character and complexity.

Where to drink the beer in Rome
As already mentioned, the” beer culture” is not dominant in Italy, but it is spreading very quickly, so if you want to drink quality beer, you can find many suitable places, even though you often have to look a bit for them

In Rome, for instance, there are many pubs selling beer. It is truly not difficult to find a good place where to drink an high quality beer in Rome. One of the best place is the “MaCheSieteVenutiAfa?” a pub behind Piazza Trilussa (exactly in Via Benedetta 25). At first glance it might seem like a pub for football fans, but it is a veritable temple of beer: the managers travel to Europe in search of micro-production of high quality you can find in their pub.

If you want more information on where to go to drink beer, we recommend to take a look at the link on leondirectory.com/rome-travel-articles/52-rome-pubs-beers.html ” Where to drink good beer in Rome” that contains lots of information and reviews of pubs in Rome.