Bologna Birra Crawl

Before moving to Bologna I lived in Denver, Colorado and I got spoiled. Colorado consistently tops the charts for the number of breweries and microbreweries per capita so checking out a new brewery was a pretty common activity.

In contrast, Italy is better known for its wine than its beer and most non-Italians aren’t able to name an Italian beer that isn’t Moretti or Peroni. Despite its reputation, there is actually a wide selection of different bars offering up craft beer from within the country and abroad. Here are some of my favorites:

Birra Cerqua: This tiny place is the only brewpub in Bologna. I’m partial to it since it reminds me of Denver with all the brewing vats behind the counter. Some of their beers even use local hops!

Il Cucchiaio D’Oro: Located in the heart of the university area, you’ll be sure to find at least a couple Johns Hopkins grad students here every Thursday, Friday, Saturday (really every) night. Plus, they offer a great deal of three beers for only €10.

Il Punto: Offering up eight beers on tap and almost 100 different bottles that are mostly Italian, Il Punto has a charmingly hipster vibe. I love its cafe-bar atmosphere that makes it equally acceptable to either settle down for a while with your laptop and espresso or enjoy a couple beers with friends.

Zapap: The local brewery opened a taproom on Via del Pratello a little over a year ago (and recently opened a second location near the university area). Along with its own brews, it serves up other craft beers and tasty, decently-priced pizza.

~~~Bonus! ~~~ Bar Senza Nome:  Although this bar doesn’t boast a particularly impressive selection of beer, it is still one of my favorite places to grab a drink. It’s entirely owned and operated by people that are deaf but don’t worry, they’re really good at reading lips. If you want to test out your sign language, be warned that ASL is completely different from LIS (Italian Sign Language).