Home » DISCOVERING TURIN » Craft beer: where to taste it in Turin and its surroundings
17 Dicembre 2019
Craft beer: where to taste it in Turin and its surroundings
A short guide to find your way among historical pubs and new openings, not only in the city
Carlotta Bianchini (translation by Beatrice Coraglia)
In the last years there are more and more craft breweries
Over the past few decades we’ve come back to the production of top-fermented craft beer, as a reaction to the trend of the Fifties, when people drank mostly bottom-fermented “lager” beers.
When can we really call a beer “craft”? Italian law n. 154/2016 talks about it clearly: “You can talk about craft beer if it is produced by small independent breweries and if, during its production, it doesn’t undergo any pasteurization and microfiltration process”.
Why do we like it so much? Because, apart from regulations, craft beer is made of top-quality raw materials. Only four ingredients come into play: water, malt, yeast and hops. The secret hides in how to combine them to find the perfect balance, then adding spices and seasonings that allow a certain experimentation. Turin leaves a lot of space to this experimentation, because of its variety of offer that can satisfy everybody. Here it is a small selection of places where you can treat yourself to a good beer.
Starting from the centre of Turin, we can talk about the Open Baladin. This brewery of Piozzo (CN), has built a small empire, getting to export its product overseas. We know about it thanks to its pub in piazzale Valdo Fusi, in Turin, where they serve strong and flavoured beers, such as the one made of pumpkin, which is highly requested in the current season.
We can’t help but mention the Birrificio San Paolo: it is located in via Airasca 11, and it is much appreciated by those who like flavours such as coriander and sour orange.
In a slightly hidden area of the Campidoglio pedestrian zone (via Rocciamelone 12), we can find Dogana Torino. Although it doesn’t produce any craft beer, this place serves some very good ones, satisfying every customer. Rustic and comfortable, it is also a shop. It offers many beers from the Birrificio Sant’Andrea of Vercelli, which, from 2010, taps well-known products such as La Bionda del Leone and La Rossa del Gallo (british strong bitter beer), and many others of more recent experimentation.
Moving to the northern part of the city, we can find the Birrificio Torino. It was established in 2001 by a group of friends that shared a common dream, and it is located in via Parma 30. During the day it is open for production, while in the evenings it is open to people who, years ago, fell in love with “raw” beers with no preservatives, such as the Rufus, the Clara and the Drôla; they also guided tours and tastings.
The very-recently opened Edit, which is located in via Cigna 96, in the ex industrial area of Barriera di Milano, has already caught the attention of brewing-lovers, thanks to its 19 taps.
Tripel B (Best Belgian Beers), on the other side, is the one who brings to Turin the best belgian beer, and it is located at the Docks Dora, in via Valprato 68. It is a shop, more than a pub, where you can taste hundreds of different types of beer ang get to know a product that is still regarded as “niche”.
Last but not least, a suggestion for a night in the surroundings of Turin. The Birrificio Lungo Sorso in Mathi, in via Torino 17, serves very good beers made with fresh water from the Valli di Lanzo; it uses km 0 malts, spices, Fair Trade brown sugar and local honey.
In collaboration with Study in Torino
