Once upon a time, getting a beer in Italy that wasn't crap commercial lager meant getting a crap commercial "doppio malto" that added some caramel and maybe 1% ABV to their standard product. The alternative splurge, was finding a bar that served some pedestrian Belgian blonde, like Grimbergen.
Green River, though, is the hugest slam dunk triumph of craft brewing brilliance - - it is hard to imagine such a bold, amazing tap line up in this country. I stopped by other places in town and the more adventurous beer bars tend to have the typical "we are expanding our palate" approach - - they got a hefe, they got an amber, a pale ale, they may even have a stout (shrieks from the audience).
But Green River has a bitchin' line up representing a full range of styles, from a low-abv "salty ale" (a Gose?), to a fab imperial IPA, and three with ABV over 10%. This is not a cautious, milquetoast approach to "an introduction" to craft beers - - it is a slam down seizing it by the jugular. And most of this big-time line-up of taps are Italian! It is not soaking in atmosphere, this place, it is soaking in first-class suds.
Totally, totally, the bomb for beer in Bologna. read more