Verona

[Trappist]

Hi guys,
We're off to Verona and lake Garda,
See you again in a week time.......
I'll take pictures and report back over here.
Ciao.....
Filip

[Trappist]

Hi,
The pictures are ready, and can be seen on my YouTube page, or simply just over here.

The report doesn't contain any comments, but that'll be fixed when the BBB report is ready.
Actually, this movie is the complete image of what we've done that 1 week in Veneto region.
Stay tuned for the report folks.....
Cheers,
Filip

[Trappist]

Hi,
Time for Part I of the beery report region lake Garda and Verona.
A one week of Holiday during the "Crocus Holiday period" as we say over here in Flanders (Belgium).
We were there exactly from Friday 17 till Friday 24 February 2023.



The first beers we had were actually savored at the Airport of Charleroi!
ABInBev beers they are, but nothing wrong with the flavors though
The croissants were sooooo crispy and fluffy...



The Ryanair flight came at 77 Euro for two people back and forth.
The car was rented for one week at 82 Euro. That's a new Fiat 500 hybrid. What a joy to ride with that small car.

Yes, it was a quite cheap Holiday concerning the transport, but also when having food, drinks, etc..

The hotel we booked was done with 2 strategic reasons.
First: Not too expensive  (we paid 514 Euro for one week, incl. excellent breakfast)
Second: The location needed to be very handy. We opted to choose a hotel that is located inbetween lake Garda and the city of Verona.
A 10 minutes drive to Verona, and about 20 minutes to lake Garda, without taking the toll highway to be precise.

This report only enlightens some beery side of that region.
We did much more, and also went to restaurants, and had alot of local delicious wines as well.
After all, we are at the Valpolicella wine region. Jeez, that Amarone wine was such a delight.
If you want to see the whole story, incl. all the pictures without beer, you can watch the movie on YouTube.
You'll see that we've done much more than exploring beer.

Time for beer..............

Osteria sugli Scavi
Piazza Ferdinando di Savoia, 10, 37019 Peschiera del Garda
https://osteriasugliscavi.com/



Normally, we would not have tried this place, but a beer commercial outside on the street revealed they had some American beers !!
We choose two excellent IPA's at around €6.00 each. The food came at no charge 
They didn't have that many beers, about 25 something, incl. around 10 from the US, but they also offered alot of quality wines.
So, later on, when evening started, we went inside and had a wonderful wine and food experience. See the movie.
This place is highly recommended by yours truely   

Let us head towards Verona's better beer bar 

Santa Maria Craft Pub
Via Santa Maria in Chiavica, 6, 37121 Verona
https://www.santamariacraftpub.com/



ALOT of beers from tap! and a 60 something beers from can too that were exposed inside a fridge in the back at the bar.
There was no paper menu, as we needed to scan the QR code. This only showed up the beers from tap.
There was also a big chalkboard on the wall with the beers from tap, but this was located outside our eye sight.
For the beers from can, you needed to ask the bartender for more info.





But we went for tapped beer instead.
Left: STYLES - SIMO'N TRIPEL - 8,3 vol% (https://birrificiostyles.beer/) €6.50 for a big pint.
Right (for Katrien): SANTA MARIA - JOHNNY DORELLI DDH IPA - 7,0 vol% (https://www.masoalto.com/) €6.00 for a big pint.
Both are great beers, but I personally favored the triple!! This was such a great hoppy, but also sweet triple.
A second order from both beers was ofcourse a very normal outcome   
It is much possible that this place is the best beer bar in Verona 

Stay tuned for Part II....

Cheers,
Filip

[John B]

Nice report Filip, full of tempting looking food. 

I'm amazed at how cheap your flights and car rental was. Really some great deals there.

Thank you for your report, I'm looking forward to Part II.

Cheers! - John

[Trappist]

I'm amazed at how cheap your flights and car rental was. Really some great deals there.

Hi John,
Yes, that was really a lucky shot.
At the airport of Charleroi, they also installed a new parking lot (P4), which is also 30 Euro less expensive as we paid last time at P2.
That's 61 Euro for one week, which is quite a good price too.
Cheers,
Filip

[Trappist]

Hi,
Here is Part II
We visited lake Garda on many occasions.
For example that lovely village called Bardolino, located on the edge of the lake middle east side.
No beer pubs, but finding a beer is not a problem at all.

We choose this outer terrace for late afternoon relaxation moments.
Cafe' Italia - P. Zza P. Amedeo 2 - 37011 Bardolino



This place is famous for their wide variety of huge Spritz cocktails. Nearly everybody was sipping on a Spritz.
But not for us though, as we went for an Italian beer.
Peroni Gran Riserva Rossa - 5.2 vol%, brewed at Birra Peroni Industriale (Asahi)
This is a Vienna style amber lager.
A crystal clear beer with a nice head and a wonderful orange color!
Drinks very smooth and so clean too. That's a half litre of Italian industrial beer at great flavors.



This huge platter came at no charge.
Knowing the beer came at €6.00 makes it all together a very affordable order.



This beer isn't bad at all. Reminds me of a Belgian Palm beer. In other words, a Special Belge.
But ofcourse I would always prefer a much stronger, denser beer.
Actually quite rare that I order a 5.2 vol% beer these days.

The next beery place was a true joy !! We stayed there till very late hours!

OVERTIME DRINK & BEER
VIA PASTRENGO 17 - 37012 Bussolengo (VR)
https://overtime-drink-beer.business.site/



This place looks very inviting. The picture was taken when we left at (very) late hours.
You can see the bar on the right side, and the tasting room on the left side. You can also sit at the bar.
We spend our evening at the tasting room.
Be aware of the stairs when leaving



Once settled, we had a great view towards the bar.



The tap selections shows two beers from Germany on the left side, and three beers from England on the right side.
I choose the Italian Saison there in the middle, and Katrien went for the English IPA.



There is also the possibility to scan the QR code for the beer and food menu.
The beers section shows only the tap list though.



Left: Canediguerra Saison - 6.4 vol%
Brewed at Microbrewery Canediguerra - Via del Prato 11, Alessandria, Piemonte.
https://www.canediguerra.com/en/home/

Right: Abbeydale Voyager IPA #13 - Centennial, Citra, Mosaic - 5.6 vol%
Brewed at Microbrewery Abbeydale - Unit 8 Aizlewood Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S8 0YX, England
https://www.abbeydalebrewery.co.uk/

Both beers were very tasty. This Italian Saison was quite a satisfaction, and really leaning towards this Belgian style!
American citric hops all the way for the Voyager beer! And both were such a fresh experiences too. VERY nice!!



There is also the bottle and cans beer fridge.
They mainly came at €6.00, except for the expensive quality beers at the upper drawer, incl. two Belgian beauties.



This bottle of Italian white Custoza wine was actually our second order! Great price too (€12.00), great flavors, and such a nice big bowl of ice cubes.
Note that all the food that you see in the pictures were actually at NO charge!!
This is quite amazing !! La Dolce Vita in Bella Italia

The next day, we headed to brewery Mastino for having some beers at their tasting room... A recommendation from Daniele 



But see, this place was closed although it should have been open that time, according my research on Google.
It seems the beer happening that took place at Rimini that time was the cause for that.
Really too bad.
We could have a glance from outside through the windows, and this place really looks very amazing.
All those bottles exposed at the beer shop. Big bar too, and a huge tasting room attached. That'll be for a next time.....

Last place .....

Bar Nautica
Piazzale Marra, 18, 37017 Lazise VR
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bar-Nautica-Lazise/350522992357014





Their beer menu was a surprise!
So much American beers, and also a nice section of Belgian beers.
But to my upper surprise some beers from Amburon are mentioned.
Amburon? But that one doesn't exist anymore, no? Defunct this means (I think).
But still...... there is that working Italian website: https://amburon.it/
The back labels of the beers are all in Italian language, so this makes me even more puzzling 







Amburon Ambrée - 6.3 vol%
Pours somewhat hazy with a nice frothy head.
The color is dark amber.
The best before is 5 May 2023 which gave a tasty beer without that crispy freshness.
Still very drinkable, but on that edge. I would certainly not age it further.
This bottle came at €10.00 and the three snacks (green olives, chips, cheese crackers) came at no charge.

Time for the second order....



Saison de Silly from Brasserie de Silly (€10.00)
A dark farmhouse ale at 5.0 vol%.
The three snacks were again offered for free.

But we even went for more food......



A spicy pizzaetta with xtreme spicy sausages. I LOVED this so much.



Katrien went for their freshly made delicious piadina. That's about €5.00 each.





Don't think we are drunkards with seeing this picture 
Actually, the Campari Spritz was offered to us at no charge by the friendly guy there on the left side!
What a nice gesture, and at the end we even got the lemoncella at no charge too from the house.

Italy, the country of friendlyness, hospitality, and that true joy of Burgundian lifestyle.
No wonder that Italy is one of our most preferred countries to visit. So highly recommended...

Ciao...... Grazie Mille !!!!

[John B]

Wonderful report Filip! I love seeing these not well known (to most people) gems that you discover and document so that we can enjoy those places too. I'll most certainly be looking through this Verona report again. Thank you!

Cheers! - John

[Trappist]

I love seeing these not well known (to most people) gems that you discover..

Yes John,
And those not well known gems are always the best ones.
No tourists (except for us ofcourse) which gives you that amazing local feeling. That is what it's all about 
Cheers,
Filip

[Jay]

What a fantastic report Filip and such amazing hospitality (all those free snacks) it makes for special memories.

Cheers
Jay