Una Berra, Per Favore.

I can't help it. I know I'm in Italy and should be drinking wine but I like beer. Beer, Beer, Beer. I'll blame my senior year of college when I actually discovered what GOOD beer was.

Peroni, Moretti, and Nastro Azzurro (literal translation: "Blue Ribbon") are the most common beers that I've seen here in Rome. They are all pale ales and drinking them is having me break my usual rule of "If you can see through it, don't drink it."

Friday, my friend Stephanie and her husband discovered a magical land of beers in Trastevere called "Ma che siete venuti a fà"
which means, "But what have you come here to do?" (A little sarcastic joke, get it?) This small beer tavern had a ton of beers domestic, imported, on tap and bottled from pale ales to creamy stouts. I got a warm, fuzzy feeling being in this cosy bar and I don't think it was because of the fact that my first beer was a triple fermented German beer with 8.2% alcohol. (The only problem that I had with it was that it was served in a plastic cup.) Stephanie's husband, Dave, got a beer that was literally smoked called, "Affumicator." You take a whiff of this beer and it SMELLS like a tray of meat and cheese. Then, you taste this beer and it TASTES like a tray of meat and cheese. It was UNBELIEVABLE!

There was a soccer game playing and the place was packed. We sat downstairs in a catacomb-like room at small wooden tables. I sat directly under the TV and had the view of everyone watching the game. Like in the States, you pay a little more for a good beer but it beats the hell out of the disgusting overpriced liquor drink you'd be getting at the Drunkin' Ship or Sloppy Sam's in Campo di Fiori. The second beer I got was from Dogfish and 2 thumbs up to them for this sweet, ruby little beauty! A fruited belgian aroma, filled with a smooth malted flavor. It certainly fulfills it's promise of giving you a sense of purpose.Apart from the beer, I think my favorite thing about this bar, besides of course the company I was with, was the wall decorations of the pictures of people who had been to the bar before. Except the phtographs had some funny additions!I later found out this bar is currently rated the Number 1 Best Beer Bar 2010 on RateBeer.com!