The Passo Tonale Froggy Hops Hunt

Would there really be a valid blog-post in a trip to the Italian Alps with a snowboard?
No brewpubs, craft bars, or tap rooms...
But I'd discovered good beer in ski resorts before, and was hopeful to find something interesting on our visit to Passo Tonale, in the province of Brescia.
And it gives me an excuse to post some pictures of snowy mountains, with Forst delivery trucks in front of them.

Our first stop in the resort was the Magic Pub (Via Circonvallazione 4, Passo Tonale) - almost certainly not a 'proper' pub; possibly with no actual magical properties either.

The house beer at the Magic Pub was 'Menabrea Bionda', a bog-standard, super pale lager, which went down well as the first beer in the mountains, but which became increasingly dull on repeated visits.

You could venture onto German brews just next door at Redival, a modern bar and self-service restaurant looking out onto the slopes at the bottom of the Valena chairlift.

Hoffbrauhaus Traunstein at Redival 

Redival (Via Nazionale, 5, Passo Tonale) 

This place had a suntrap terrace, with a handy view of the snow-park, meaning I could sit there and plan fantastic routes over the jumps and obstacles, before deciding to lounge in the sun a little longer instead of landing on my bum and hurting myself...as usual.

Beers came from Hoffbrauhaus Traunstein of Bavaria, with Helles, Kellerbier, Dunkel and Weissbier available.  Good head on the Dunkel...

So, no craft beer so far...

But Untappd user Barry M was nearby, and he'd found something a bit more exciting - the "best I've had in resort", he claimed.
No location mentioned, so I took this as a challenge to find the 'Froggy Hops IPA' myself.

Passo Tonale was not looking a likely destination for craft beer bottles, so I extended my search to neighbouring Ponte di Legno. This is linked with pistes leading down the valley to take you there and a smart gondola to whisk you back again later.

Making my way across to Temu, the most westerly point on the piste map, I called in to Rifugio Roccolo Ventura, where, lo-and-behold, there was a fridge full of interesting looking bottled beers.

Rifuggio Roccolo Ventura - great terrace; great beer fridge! 

These came primarily from three breweries: Ballanders, Agricola and Melchiori, with a range of several styles from each. 
I sat happily in the sunshine on the terrace with 'Weissbier' brewed by Birrificio Agricola Pagus from Rogno in the Province of Bergamo.
 

Right in the centre of the Ponte di Legno mountain was Rifuggio Capanna Valbione, where we stopped for a superb lunchtime pizza. Happily the Balanders' Birrificio Camuno beers, brewed in Lomardia, were available here. Out of a few options, I tried the 'Monega' English-style porter, which was absolutely lovely. 

Back into Passo Tonale we'd spotted somewhere that described itself as a Birrarea - I was pessimistic, but figured it was worth calling into.

El Bait (Via Circonvallazione, 17/B, Passo Tonale - web)
Okay, a reasonable line-up here, with Pilsner Urquell dominating the place on numerous decorations and retro advertising. The Czech beer was available at the bar, alongside Gambrinus, Forst and Weihenstephaner.
As well as the regular pils from Forst, there was also the 6.5% Dopplebock 'Sixtus', which was my pick of the bunch.
A nice, rustic, homely kinda place - El Bait proved to be worth the visit.

But still no 'Froggy Hops'.
Damn you, Barry M, where did you find it?
I resorted to analysing his picture and trying to match it with any of the bars and restaurants on the piste map, and La Tana Dell'Orso came up a positive hit!

La Tana Dell-Orso - the Bear's Lair - was a stylish, modern restaurant and bar in an unlikely location which I'd imagine many holiday-making skiers don't pass.

Froggy Hops Search a Success! 

So, was it worth searching the whole resort for 'Froggy Hops IPA'?

It was full of tropical fruits, with just the right level of hoppy bitterness, a sturdy 3.5 stars if I was going to score it out of 5.  Not necessarily any better than the other bottled beers I'd found in resort, as all had been good.
But I did get a complimentary bowl of crisps at the Bear's Lair.  Which was nice.

Normal folks, of course, will just enjoy a week on the slopes in glorious sunshine, rather than prance around looking for Italian craft ales.
But who wants to be normal folk?