When we moved to Italy, we were convinced it was all about wine. We were completely wrong. Discovering that Friuli has a living, rooted craft beer scene with an identity all its own was one of the best surprises since we settled here. Pordenone, in particular, caught us off guard: it’s not Udine, it’s not Trieste, but it holds its own, and it does it well.
If you want to explore the history, styles and breweries of the region, we’ve put it all together in our dedicated article: Friuli and craft beer: history, styles and breweries to know.
- Why craft beer in Pordenone is worth your time
- The craft breweries near Pordenone you shouldn't miss
- Where to drink craft beer in Pordenone: bars with a tap list that's always changing
- What to order: the beers that tell the story of the Pordenone area
- How to plan a craft beer tour around Pordenone
- Worth the stop, really
Why craft beer in Pordenone is worth your time
Pordenone doesn’t shout. Its craft beer scene is compact, informal, and tied to the land. Breweries making interesting beers, bars serving them with care, and zero snobbery. For anyone new to craft beer, the difference from industrial lager comes down to small-batch production, carefully selected ingredients, and no mass pasteurization. We go into more detail in our article Craft beer vs industrial beer: what really changes in the glass. The result is beer that genuinely varies from one brewery to the next, and that tells you something about who made it and where.
What makes this region especially interesting is the connection to local ingredients. Breweries like Birra di Naon work exclusively with Friulian raw materials: barley, hops, water. That gives the local beers a character that’s hard to replicate elsewhere, and a good reason to order them over something more familiar.
The craft breweries near Pordenone you shouldn’t miss
Birra di Naon: the most representative of the area
Birra di Naon is based in Porcia, just a few minutes from Pordenone, and has a recognizable identity: only Friulian ingredients, from field to fermentation tank. The range covers the full spectrum, ideal for anyone exploring craft beer for the first time.
The Rorai Blanc is a witbier, meaning a light, slightly spiced wheat beer. The Solitary Beach is a Session IPA at 4.2%: hoppy but light, easy to drink even if you’re not used to bitter beers. The Ambria is an amber ale with more toasted malts that bring sweet notes without going overboard on bitterness. The Blecs is the dark beer in the lineup: round, full-bodied, for anyone ready to explore something more structured. The Coglians 5 is the house IPA, bold and hoppy.
And then there’s the Juga 0911, a Cold IPA, meaning a newer style that combines the clean fermentation of a lager with the intense hops of an IPA. There’s a lovely story behind this beer: it was born for a wedding. Two loyal brewery regulars, Cecilia and Mirko, decided to give their guests a beer created especially for the occasion, designed and brewed together with the Naon team. The name comes from Sanskrit: Juga means union. We happened to be there that day, not for the wedding, but visiting with two dear friends who had come from Switzerland to see us. A coincidence that made us want to try it immediately.
When we’re there with friends, we usually end up drinking Thelma & Louise, Solitary Beach and Coglians 5. The Thelma & Louise is a 4% Gose, a German-style beer that’s lightly salty and slightly tart: light, refreshing, and perfect in summer. That said, if sour flavors aren’t your thing, this one’s not for you.
For everything else about the venue, see the Naon Beer Pub section below: that’s where it’s really worth going.
Birra Galassia and the beer garden in the city
Birra Galassia is based in Pordenone and started as a beer firm in 2015, becoming a fully operational brewery with its own equipment in 2021. The lineup follows a space theme: Big Bang Pils, Nova (a Session IPA, meaning a hoppy beer with lower alcohol), Planet, and the Galassia itself, a Saison IPA at 8%. There’s also the Pink Moon, a hibiscus witbier, and the Maan, a Belgian Stout with dark, round notes.
The beer garden is an open-air space directly at the brewery, and one of the main reasons to visit Galassia. The vibe feels more like a real brewery than a generic pub: you sit outside, order directly from the producer, and almost always find a food truck parked on site with a different food theme each time. Check their social media for opening hours before heading over, as the outdoor space can vary.
Cooper’s Praforte: brewpub with a kitchen
Cooper’s Praforte is located in Usago di Travesio and is a brewpub, meaning it brews and serves its own beer on the same premises, with a full kitchen. You sit down, eat, and drink what they make. The grilled chicken and gourmet burgers are two good reasons to stay at the table longer than planned.
Valscura: beers born in the hills
The craft brewery Valscura is in Sarone di Caneva and has a lineup worth exploring. Our favourite is the Liquentia: a pale beer brewed with the finest spring barley, Pils style, clean and well-balanced. For us it’s one of the best craft pilsners we’ve tried in Italy. There’s also una IPA with herbal and resinous notes for anyone looking for something more bitter and characterful.
If you go, If you go, don’t skip the local board: regional cheeses and cured meats that are worth the visit on their own.
Valscura is open every day except Thursday, from 4:00pm to 8:30pm on week days and from 3:00pm to 8:30pm on Saturdays and Sundays. It’s outside the city centre, so you’ll probably need a car or a motorcycle.
La Birra di Meni: visit by appointment in Cavasso Nuovo
La Birra di Meni is in Cavasso Nuovo, with a shop open on Saturdays from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 6pm. Guided visits with tasting are booked directly at labirradimeni.it, and it’s the right place to understand how beer is made in a hands-on, family setting.
Where to drink craft beer in Pordenone: bars with a tap list that’s always changing
Urban Farmhouse: a different list every time
Urban Farmhouse s our go-to in the city centre, and we keep coming back. The main reason is simple: every time we walk in, the tap list is completely different. Ten taps of rotating Italian and European craft beers, paired with sandwiches and crostini made with local produce. The food is honest: local ingredients, nothing pretentious. The atmosphere is relaxed and welcoming, and the staff will guide you without making you feel like you’re being tested. It’s almost always busy, so booking ahead is a good idea if you want to eat.
Naon Beer Pub in Porcia: a vintage style taproom
The Naon Beer Pub is the natural extension of Birra di Naon, and one of the places we return to most often. The design is industrial with retro details, and the events calendar runs year-round with jazz nights, concerts, and guided tastings. A taproom is a bar attached directly to the brewery where you drink the beers fresh: the beer hasn’t travelled, it was made just behind that door, and you can taste the difference.
Open Monday from 3:30pm to 7:30pm, Tuesday and Wednesday from 10am to 12:30pm and 3:30pm to 11pm, Thursday to Saturday from 10am to 12:30pm and 3:30pm to midnight, Sunday from 5pm to 11pm. The kitchen opens every day at 5pm. Check the events calendar on their social media or at birradinaon.com before going: showing up on a live music night or a guided tasting makes the whole visit. It’s always a good idea to call and book a table before you go!
What to order: the beers that tell the story of the Pordenone area
If you’re not sure where to start, our suggestion is to try the Liquentia from Valscura: a clean, well-made craft pilsner, and a great way to understand what craft beer can do that industrial lager can’t. If you’re at Naon, the Rorai Blanc is another good starting point: light, gently spiced, and approachable.
From there, the Ambria from Naon shows what happens when malts get more careful attention. The Blecs is for anyone curious about dark beers who wants something round and full. For something hoppier and more bitter, the Coglians 5 from Naon and the IPAs from Galassia and Valscura are the right call. If you want to know how bitter a beer is before ordering, ask the bartender for the IBU: it’s the unit that measures bitterness, and anything around 40-50 is already a seriously hoppy beer.
Stouts are dark beers with coffee and chocolate notes and a round body: the Maan from Galassia is a good example of the style.
And if you’re in the mood for something different, ask about the Thelma & Louise from Naon in summer: a light, slightly salty, refreshing Gose. If sour is your thing, you won’t regret it.
We usually start with the lowest-alcohol beer on the list, often a Session IPA: it lets us taste more things through the evening without losing the thread. But that’s just how we do it. Everyone finds their own way, and that’s part of what makes craft beer worth exploring.
How to plan a craft beer tour around Pordenone
A typical Saturday could look like this: morning at the La Birra di Meni shop in Cavasso Nuovo. In the afternoon, if it’s summer, the beer garden at Galassia in Pordenone. In the evening, Naon Beer Pub in Porcia or Urban Farmhouse in the centre, depending on what you’re after: an authentic taproom or a bar with a tap list that’s never the same twice.
Cooper’s Praforte and Valscura are outside the centre and require a car, so they’re better planned as the main destination for a day of their own. Those who make the trip don’t usually regret it.
The area has other producers worth exploring too, and ones we’ve already mentioned: Luppolo Verde, Àgro, Borgo Decimo and Zago are names that come up often among locals who follow the craft beer scene. We’ve touched on them in our articles on craft beer in Italy and craft beer in Friuli, and we’ll be back with dedicated posts. And then there’s Agribirrificio Romano in Casarsa della Delizia: a farm stay and brewery that produces beer using their own house-made malt and locally sourced ingredients. A place with a character all its own.
Craft beer in Pordenone doesn’t happen by accident, but with a little planning the whole tour comes together well.
Worth the stop, really
When we moved to Italy, we didn’t expect to find a craft beer scene this rooted in Friuli. Pordenone was one of the first places that showed us we were wrong. The scene here is genuine, still growing, and the people behind it truly believe in what they’re doing. It’s worth discovering, one glass at a time. If you know a spot we haven’t covered yet, let us know: we’re always curious about what else is out there in this corner of Italy.
Cheers!