The first brewery of our DC trip was none other than Americas oldest, and the world famous Yuengling Brewery in Pottsville, PA. Now we’ve done many a tour but this was the by far the most impressive brewery tour we’ve ever gone on; even beating FX Matt. If you’re a fan of history and beer, and preferably Yuengling beer, this is a must stop on your list. We’ve all had the beer, so lets skip to the brewery highlights.
- They have a massive beer cave. Which is also, quite literally, a manmade, hand pickaxed cave. This is because they were not allowed to dynamite as Yuengling had a history catching on fire and burning down.
- During prohibition, they continued to produce smaller amounts of their porter which could be acquired with a prescription for “medical purposes.”
- Despite having a production cycle of 30 +/- days, cases of Yuengling lager were delivered to the White House on Repeal Day. Happy miracle, amirite?
- Our tour guide, Debbie, was a blast. Super knowledgeable about the history, brewing process, and the future of Yuengling.
Now I know Yuengling gets a lot of “macro-crap” comments, so let me be very clear. It was a great tour. And I will drink Yuengling over an average, generic beer any day; micro or macro. Yuengling Brewery gets a four and a quarter Pottsville potholes out of five.
One brewery down, and it’s quickly approaching 11:30, time for lunch. In between Yuengling and Troegs is Lebanon, PA and home to Snitz Creek brew pub. Meter parking right out front, and free lot parking on the side, only after 4pm. Why do I bring up parking? Because pretty much all street parking and the massive lots in town require town parking permits. Good luck. Snitz creek has the feel of being a very “locals” oriented restaurant with great food and an average wheelhouse of beer. We got the grilled mac and cheese sandwich, a bacon jammer burger and two orders of sweet potato fries. For the record, one order of sweet potato fries is plenty to split between two people. Even when one person in that relationship, not naming any names, tends to eat her own meal then steal portions of my meal. (editors not- I do no such thing!) The best beer on tap? By far the Opera Fudge Stout, which is literally fudge in a liquid bubbly form. Unfortunately, our time at Snitz was short since we have to keep moving but I’d imagine this locals hangout gets pretty lively at night. If you’re passing through, you won’t be disappointed with this small detour, especially if you need some amazing food.
Long story short, Snitz has great food with average beers. With that said, if you need a bite to eat and a cold beer, this makes a great stop. Snitz gets 3 municipal parking spaces out of 5.
You can’t pass through PA without stopping at Troegs. Nestled a few miles down the road from Hersey Park, Troegs Brewery offers a plethora of high ABV pallet crusher beers. Through the massive double doors, past the gift shop and into the main foyer is the heart of any party. Massive communal tables, and private seating full of 1pm drunks ravaging apps and pounding beers on a Friday. No really, this place was a zoo. Again, if it wasn’t a timing concern, I would have loved to stay at the brewery for more than 30 minutes and sample everything fresh or partake in the tour, which is a drinking tour.
Our small flight of 3 consisted of Mad Elf 2014, Nugget Nectar and Impending Descent. All top notch brews. Mad Elf 2014 > Mad Elf 2015, and there is nothing quite like fresh Nugget Nectar. The Impending Descent was warm and toasty, but not nearly as full bodied as Mad Elf or as crisp and refreshing as Nugget Nectar. Also check out the gift shop for “upcycled” mechanic clothing. Kyle and Nate got awesome presents!!! Sorry everyone else, couldn’t find your names. #sadface
Now for a fun story: Melissa is so beautiful, she caused a guy in the store to drop (and absolutely destroy) a case of beer and two growlers just by walking into the store. Yep, Melissa walks in, dude turns around after paying for all this lovely booze, and as his jaw drops so does the all his lovely Nugget Nectar. I can only imagine that he forgot what he was carrying and instinctively reached to brush his hair back to try and look his best. Fail, bro, fail
It goes without saying, Troegs is a must stop. It gets a perfect 5 Mad Elf creatures out of 5.
Lancaster Brewing Company of Lancaster, PA although we visited the Harrisburg location. There is really only one thing that needs to be said here: Get the flight. Why? Normally I’d say surprise, but I really need to share the wonderful deal. For a whopping $15 (USD, not Pounds Sterling) you get 60 ounces of beer. This was a must share since we still had many breweries to go. In full disclosure, there was a lot of filler on this flight, but the best beers by far were the IPA’s, Double Chocolate and Espresso. So grab a pint if you don’t want to do the full flight.
There was no beer in the Lancaster flight that was worth making a detour for, but if you’re in the area and want to consume the largest flight we’ve ever seen; check out Lancaster. Lancaster Brewing receives a 3 Imperial pints out of 5.
Als of Hampden and Pizza Boy Brewing Company of Enola PA is a combination brew-pizza-pub and beer store. So yes, you could literally spend all day there because it’s a carb lover’s paradise. This monstrous brewpub has a 100 tap system containing not just their own beer, but various local and national guests beers. Like I said, this could be an all-day affair. Unfortunately, beerventuring is short so we could only stay for two beers; bartenders choice. They recommended Citrus Flip IPA and Sunny Side Up – Little Amps Double Coffee stout. The bartenders agreed that those were their top two brews and quite frankly they were nothing less than amazing. To finish the order we went with a couple of slices of buffalo chicken pizza. Because who doesn’t love buff chick.
The combined brewery, pizza shop and beer store into one palace of awesome earns Als of Hampden a solid 90 taps out of 100.
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
– Excerpt from Abraham Lincolns Gettysburg Address
That’s right adventurers; we’ve finally made it to the historical Gettysburg, but first I’d like to share a post DC trip story. After arriving back in NJ, I had told (REDACTED) that we went to a brewery in Gettysburg that was in an old Confederate hospital, and I kid you not, her first response was, “Like the movie?” I died on the inside and played dumb. “You know, the place with that movie that was loosely based on some war in history. It had Tom Berenger in it.” Nope, never seen it. “You’re kidding, it’s like a famous movie.” Really, wonder why. What war was it? “I don’t know, like the civil war, or revolutionary war. I always get them confused.” Right, those two wars are super hard to keep straight…
Anyways, let’s get to Battlefield Brew Works & Spirits of Gettysburg Distillery. Right off the bat, you notice the distinct architecture of the building. It’s an old, large brick barn with an unusual pattern down the middle; and the hearses parked out front with the phrase “Spirits on Board” painted across the back. Well that’s morbid… Anyways, the brick barns interior is quite impressive but has this frustrating, old uneven wood flooring, but a very nicely done stone fire place. Over the fireplace is a plaque that mentions the building was once a Confederate field hospital. “Like the movie?!” Yes, like the movie. Did we mention a band was just setting up to jam out? “Like the movie?” No, not like the movie. They had an actual band there.
Beer. Chocolate Peanut Butter lager with caramel, Rum Barrel Aged Pumpkin, Barrel Aged Imperial Stout and the Fishing Church IPA. The IPA was your average IPA without much distinction. The peanut butter lager was a dark lager that had a strong caramel flavor but not much in the peanut butter department. The barrel aged beers were very potent, and not in a good way. My only guess is that these beers were literally introduced to the barrels while the rum was still inside. It was that strong of an alcohol flavor to the point you couldn’t enjoy the stout or the pumpkin flavor. I would be curious to know if these two brews bottled and stashed for a year or two would soften up the harsh burn they had produced. Our initial plan was to also sample the spirits, but after consuming that two 4 oz. barrel pours, we had our fill of high ABV.
While the use of a historic building and live music excites me like no other, I cannot whole heartedly recommend the beer. Battlefield Brew Works earns a disappointing 2 score and 5 years ago.
NEW STATE! We’ve officially left PA and headed straight to Frederick, Maryland and the home of Flying Dog Brewery. We had to motor though, as they close at 8 P.M. on Fridays. To which we say, “boooooo.” This brewery was well designed beertopia on the inside and very reminiscent of SwitchBacks setup; almost the exact same actually.
Lets talk beer: There was nothing we didn’t like. By far the Bloodline Blood Orange IPA was my favorite, followed closely by the Horn Dog Barley Wine, Barrel Aged Gonzo, and Tropical Bitch. As you guessed, Melissa was very partial to the Tropical Bitch and Gonzo. These brews were a power house of flavor and sadly we could only settle for 4 small tasters. Ideally this brewery would be open late at night and serve food. That’s how good this beer and atmosphere was. It was like Netflix and chill but replace Netflix with beer and chill with making great conversation with the bartenders and tipsy patrons.
I’d like to take this moment to say props to the Flying Dog bartenders. There is nothing more enjoyable than having a jolly bartender (or owner) that is passionate about their beers and take the time to explain what makes their beers stand out from the rest of the game. At Flying Dog there was no lack of enthusiasm. Followed closely by bartender and patron banter over which four brews were the best for Melissa and I to split. The diversity of the answers really reflects the fact that Flying Dog probably doesn’t make a bad beer.
Flying Dog Brewery earned itself a bitchin 4.75 out of 5. The early weekend hours are really the only buzzkill of this amazing brewery.
For many breweries a name is everything; it’s their whole identity summed up in a few methodically chosen words. It’s who they are and what they represent. It could be their past struggles or their future hopes and dreams. Many breweries spend countless hours developing the perfect combination of words to elicit a deep, prideful response from their patrons and from themselves. And then we have those guys at Olde Mother who said f*ck it.
The owner and head brewer of Olde Mother couldn’t give us a reason for the name. He just liked it and that’s the story he’s sticking to. The unusual name and word of mouth marketing seems to be doing them just fine since this place was packed. And I forgot to mention that Olde Mother isn’t even that old! That’s right, this brewery was actually the baby of our DC excursion; it opened on Halloween of 2015.
Lets talk beer: Choaklate Orange Stout and Headlights DIPA were phenomenal. The Choaklate Orange was a near perfect replica of those candy chocolate oranges my English next door neighbor used to give me around the holidays. It’s rare that I hate on a DIPA, so that obviously gets a strong “buy” rating from my half-trained, extremely biased pallet. Without fail, Melissa voted, and then subsequently hogged the Raspberry sour sample. Her response being “It’s raspberry, it’s sour, it’s clearly my team.”
In my opinion, the greatest part of beerventuring isn’t the beer. It’s the people we meet along the way and the stories they share. The owner of Olde Mother was in no short supply. So next time you stop by, ask him why he no longer attends EBF.
Olde Mother earns a satisfying 4.25 rowdy Model UN kids out of 5. (Oh EBF, you are a cruel mistress)
After a few great beers and stories from the brewers and owners at Olde Mother, we hailed our Uber for a lift to the next establishment, Brewers Alley; a place polar opposite of Olde Mother. I’d also like to take this time to thank all the Uber drivers out there. Without you guys, I would be unable to spend copious amounts of money on tiny flights of beer. You guys are the real heroes of beerventuring.
Right on the main strip in DT Frederick MD, Brewers Alley should have been called the mini-BAR Alley (CT jokes). This loud, lively bar and restaurant was jam packed with drunk coeds ready to bare it all… well, almost ready to bare it all. If Girls Gone Wild was still a thing the bus would have been parked out front of this out of control mob scene; it was that awesome.
Shots we’re flowing out of bottles faster than barrels full of people plunging down Niagara falls. This may have been our first beerventure that we accidentally stumbled into a night club, and I mention that only because we were given the bad news that Brewers Alley didn’t actually brew their beer on premise! It was contracted out to Monocacy Brewing Company just up the road. So not only is Brewers Alley not in an alley, but now it doesn’t even contain a brewer; we felt jipped. But it’s dinner time, they had their beers on draft as well as a few from Monocacy so we sampled up and ordered a fresh motz pizza and a side dish of mac and cheese (so predictable, I know). The food was excellent, but as usual we’re here for the beer (n’ rage at this place).
Mini-BAR Mainstreet had your average selection of beers: Kolsch, IPA, Nut Brown, Hefeweizen, etc. All of which were average. The one shining star we partook in was the Barrel-Aged Oatmeal Stout (JD barrels). That was exactly how a stout should be aged (looking at you Battlefield Brew Works). It was rich, creamy and stouty on the front end, mild burn on the back with a nose of JD. Nothing potent, just a really well balanced barrel aged beer.
The two Monocacy beers on tap were the Riot Rye Pale Ale and the H.L. Rex. Neither of which scored high marks on our Untappd feeds, so lets move on.
Brewers Alley after hours is a fun night spot, and apparently not a brewery. Their beers were standard, the food was excellent. Brewers Alley earns an average 2.5 shots of fireball out of 5.
Our last stop of the night, and walking distance to our hotel was Barley and Hops Grill & Microbrewery. Upon entering the brewpub, you notice a distinct “chain restaurant” feel. You know the feeling I’m talking about. We were surprised to learn that no, B&H was not a chain. That gave us high hopes for some unusual beers!
Sadly, we were disappointed; another wheelhouse selection. Which I get, you need to appeal to mass market if you’re going to make a brewpub work. Wake up America; get those craft taste buds started. The rest of us are tired of the average.
IPA, pale ale, stout, lager and a strong ale was on the menu. It’s our last brewery for the day and we’re within walking distance to the hotel, sure, one of everything please. Starting from weakest link to the strongest offering we had the lager, pale ale, stout, strong and IPA. Unless you’re Melissa, she voted (worst to best) IPA, pale, lager, stout, strong. Which brings us to another Melissa fact: Melissa isn’t a hophead. So now I know you’re wondering, how do I date an IPA hater you ask? Easy, I don’t have to share them. It’s a win/win really.
While I’d like to express some enjoyment over the Baron Von Milkhausen (Belgian Strong Ale) and the Francis Scott Key IPA, neither of those beers seemed to hit the spot. They were much better than the others in our flight, but there was nothing defining.
Barley and Hops Grill & Microbrewery earns an average 2.5 Belgian Barons out of 5.
