Moo-Duck Brewing Company - The Beer Thrillers

Fall Beers

AmyMWolfe — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 13:35:31 +0000

Javahead Stout by Troegs Independent Brewing on Halloween night

All the flavors of fall – Let’s do this!

Those cold nights and warm days are here. Leaves are changing colors, and I couldn’t be happier. It’s time to dig into the flavors of the fall and taste all the deliciousness. I love making big pots of stews in the fall. A fan favorite is Chili! You normally can find some chili cook off events. Here is the beer that would pair well the best. And we are first going to talk about some spicy chili. The kind that burns a bit. It is going to pair well with stouts, porters, and amber ales. It’s the perfect time of year for this.

Its Stout Season Now

I’m a sucker for an amber ale but I just had the most amazing stout. There have been 2 times recently we have gotten to taste the Mari by Ever Grain Brewing Company. It comes in at a whopping 14.6% ABV according to Untapped. It has a 4.26 overall rating and it is described as “a rich and decadent stout aged in a variety of bourbon barrels for over 16 months. We then conditioned it with behemoth amounts of coconut, cocoa nibs, vanilla and for a little added joy, toasted almonds.” The balance of flavors would be crazy but they would complement each other beautifully.

(Check out Amy’s article about Winter Beers.)

Our flight of beers at Bald Birds Brewing

Pulled Pork and Beer at Bald Birds Brewing

Then if you prefer your chili on the milder side, you want to go with a more mild beer; something like a cream ale, amber lager, or honey beer. We most recently had the “Kenya Dig it” from Bald Birds Brewing. (Kenya Dig it was a coffee cream ale we got a full pint of, along with Ben’s flight. On Ben’s flight we had two delicious stouts – Birds Reserve and Grand Bald Eagle.) It paired so nicely with the delicious pulled pork over fries when we visited last month.

But this will similarly go with another meaty dish. If the focus is on the beef instead of the spice this will be a dream combo! Kenya Dig It is a coffee cream ale, always an interesting combination. The Untappd description for it is: “Our second collaboration with Valerio Coffee Roasters, we chose a smooth, refreshing Cream Ale as a launchpad for their light-roast Kenya AA coffee. Expect the familiar crushable Cream Ale crispness, with a mellow aroma and extra kick from the coffee.” The coffee cream ale has a 3.78 Untappd rating and is 5% ABV.

There is also the Dig It cream ale by Bald Birds Brewing as well.

Dig it is described as Light, mellow, and smooth, our cream ale is superbly refreshing. Brewed with American 2 row Barley, American ale yeast, and hops from the Pacific Northwest, Dig it! Is the perfect anytime beverage. According to Untapped it is a 4.5% ABV and has a low overall rating of 3.13.

These fall days remind me of my grandma’s homemade chicken corn soup. I mean the kind with the homemade rivals. I’ve tried to duplicate it, she did it perfectly. Also, lots of places, especially churches, have the good homemade chicken corn soup. Make sure to take some home to pair it with an Amber ale or an IPA.

So like I said, I am a sucker for an amber ale. I can’t resist the 409 by Moo Duck Brewery. This brew is a nice smooth amber that compliments the flavors of a chicken corn soup perfectly. It might feel a bit heavy if you are enjoying a chicken corn soup with those homemade rivals. It’s the homemade rivals I can’t duplicate from my grandma’s recipe. The 409 is described on Untapped as “A tribute to the famous PSU football coach and his 409 victories. Featuring victory malt, the bready malt character is blended nicely with just the right amount of hops.” 409 is at a manageable 5.5% ABV.

Now onto my favorite; pumpkin roll. I’ve loved pumpkin roll since a friend’s mom used to bake pumpkin logs every Thanksgiving and Christmas. I really miss those pumpkin rolls. I missed them so much I found an older woman to bakes them out of her home. She also wins me over with chocolate PB rolls, red velvet rolls and fruited ones too. But I love sticking to a classic pumpkin roll. We picked up a Fiddlehead Imperial IPA when we were traveling through Ithaca NY at a gas station. This reminded us of the tall boys we see back home from Troegs and Voodoo Ranger.

The sweetness of the pumpkin roll will balance well with the hoppiness of the Fiddlehead. It is a sneaky 9% ABV but wonderful to relax with any sweet desert at the end of your day.

There are so many more fall flavors to talk about, but I’ll end here, what are you favorites?

The first Mad Elf of the season with Grandma SueAnn

Drink More Beer
- Amy

Amy’s Column Series

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12 Pennsylvania Breweries Collaborate on Buckeye Tears

B. Kline — Sat, 30 Sep 2023 06:32:04 +0000

12 Pennsylvania Breweries Collaborate on Buckeye Tears

Twelve different breweries from Pennsylvania are collaborating on a beer together – called “Buckeye Tears” – to be released ahead of the Ohio State vs. Penn State showdown on October 21st, 2023.

Here are the 12 breweries that will serve “Buckeye Tears”:

Acrospire Brewing — Glenshaw
Antifragile Brewing — State College
Blondes and Brewnettes — West Grove
Cellar Works — Sarver
Grist House — Pittsburgh
Hidden Stories Brewing — Millerstown
Locust Lane Craft Brewery — Malvern
Mechanistic Brewing — Clarion
Michaux Brewing — Waynesboro
Moo-Duck Brewing — Elizabethtown
Rough Edges Brewing — Waynesboro
ShuBrew — Zelienople

PSU Alumni

All twelve breweries are owned, or have a head brewer, or are represented in their business by a PSU (Penn State University) alumni. There are several more across the state, but these are the twelve that worked on the beer.

Buckeye Tears

Buckeye Tears is a 4.09%* ABV Cold IPA and will feature a cartoon of a crying Brutus Buckeye mascot. (If the legal department doesn’t hit them with a cease and decease.) The 409 obviously in reference to Joe Paterno’s “win” record (which has since been altered, vacated, and / or adjusted by the NCAA due to the fall out of the Sandusky Scandal).

The beer has been picked up with lots of mainstream news from the east coast sources, as well as national news sources such as Sports Illustrated.

The following is some clips from different website news sources:

While Pennsylvania residents will be able to drink a beverage named Buckeye Tears, it’s been awhile since the Nittany Lions themselves have tasted any. Ohio State hasn’t lost to Penn State since 2016 and has won 10 of its last 11 matchups against the Nittany Lions.

Penn State hasn’t beaten OSU in Columbus, where this year’s game will be played, in more than a decade. 2011 was the last time the Nittany Lions earned a road win in Columbus.
Twelve Pennsylvania Breweries Owned by Penn State Grads Selling a Beer Named “Buckeye Tears” Ahead of Ohio State vs. Penn State Game – Eleven Warriors

The 4.09% alcohol IPA will feature a cartoon of a crying Brutus Buckeye mascot.

In the press release, Breweries in PA said, “Obviously no harm is meant, we just think ‘Buckeye Tears’ is the perfect name for a beer that will honor Penn State heading to the National Championship in 2023! No one in Ohio wants to see that.”
Pennsylvania Breweries Troll Ohio State With ‘Buckeye Tears’ Beer – Sports Illustrated

State College brewery Antifragile Brewing is a part of the alumni creation team, along with Acrospire Brewing, Blondes and Brewnettes, Cellar Works, Grist House, Hidden Stories Brewing, Locust Lane Craft Brewery, Mechanist Brewing, Michaux Brewing, Moo-Duck Brewing, Rough Edges Brewing, and ShuBrew.
Twelve Penn State Alumni-Owned Breweries To Launch ‘Buckeye Tears’ Beer – Onward State

So if Ohio State mops the floor with Penn State on Oct. 21 in Columbus, the Nittany Lion faithful can blame that line in the release.

It’s not known if the “tears” are supposed to be in reference to Ohio State losing to Michigan for a second consecutive time last season, their last-second loss to Georgia in the College Football Playoff or head coach Ryan Day’s toughness rant directed at Lou Holtz last week.

Despite the bold troll, Ohio State has the upper hand in the series, with an all-time 23-14 record against Penn State to hold over the Nittany Lions’ heads. Last season, the Buckeyes ran away with the lead against Penn State in the fourth quarter, going on to win 44-31. Penn State hasn’t beaten Ohio State since 2016 and hasn’t won at The Shoe since 2011.
Penn State alumni-owned breweries troll Ohio State with ‘Buckeye Tears’ drink – Fox Sports

Penn State fans loved it while Buckeyes fans pointed out that they could be in trouble with Ohio State’s licensing department:

“Okay I was going to say maybe we shouldn’t be calling it buckeye tears because they routinely beat us but I think every single one of their fans that have ever existed has commented on this so maybe it’s true,” one Nittany Lions fan replied.

“Have you heard of Ohio State’s Trademark and Licensing Services? You will,” a Buckeyes fan warned with a laughing emoji.

“Penn State is 5-18 against Ohio State this century lmao,” a third said.

It’ll be pretty hard for Penn State fans to enjoy that beer if they get trounced by Ohio State. But if they get the win, it’ll be a whole lot sweeter.
Penn State Alumni Brewery Releasing ‘Buckeye Tears’ Beer – The Spun

Rivalry? What is Ohio State vs. Penn State’s Win-Loss Record?

Ohio State vs. Penn State Win – Loss Record

Ohio State has won six straight against Penn State.

The Buckeyes’ win streak against Penn State started in 2017 with a 39-38 win in Columbus.

Ohio State’s last loss to Penn State came in a 24-21 loss to the Nittany Lions in State College during the 2016 season.

Ohio State has not lost a game against Penn State in Columbus since 2011.
PSU fans release ‘Buckeye Tears’ beer ahead of Ohio State vs. Penn State game – The Columbus Dispatch

In an annual rivalry that always brings intensity to the field, there is now an added element off the field that likely will be a fan favorite for Penn State alums heading into their Week 8 contest against Ohio State.
Pennsylvania Breweries Troll Ohio State With ‘Buckeye Tears’ Beer – WATE State

Despite the bold troll, Ohio State has the upper hand in the series, with an all-time 23-14 record against Penn State to hold over the Nittany Lions’ heads. Last season, the Buckeyes ran away with the lead against Penn State in the fourth quarter, going on to win 44-31. Penn State hasn’t beaten Ohio State since 2016 and hasn’t won at The Shoe since 2011.

Both teams have been firing on all cylinders offensively this season, as they each enter Week 5 top three in the Big Ten in total yards and points per game; Penn State is averaging 449.8 total yards (second in Big Ten) and 40.5 points (first), while Ohio State is averaging 447.5 total yards (third) and 34.5 points (third) per game.

Both teams are also finding success with first-year quarterbacks. Drew Allar (Penn State) has thrown for 903 yards, eight touchdowns and zero interceptions, while completing 67.2% of his passes; Kyle McCord (Ohio State) has thrown for 1,055 yards and six touchdowns, while helping lead Ohio State on a game-winning touchdown drive in the final seconds on the road against then-No. 9 Notre Dame last week.
Penn State alumni-owned breweries troll Ohio State with ‘Buckeye Tears’ drink – Fox Sports

Penn State vs. Ohio State Win – Loss Record

Barstool Sports took exception to the selling of the beer in the first place, with biting commentary:

I mean I understand that involving Ohio State in ANYTHING will drive interactions, clicks, viewers, purchases, etc etc etc etc, but at the end of the day, you can’t straight up lie to people. You can’t stick Brutus the Buckeye on the can of your beer, absolutely sobbing, insinuating that you have beaten us more than once in the last decade. Then again, I guess it’s possible that these “Buckeye Tears” are tears of joy….? That would make more sense. Because excluding the most narrow and ridiculous 24-21 victory (at Penn State, night game, 107000 people, in which they outscored us 17-0 in the 4th culminating in a blocked FG return) back in 2016, I literally cannot remember a world where Ohio State wasn’t curb-stomping this mediocre program.
Not Sure How Penn State Breweries Can Legally Sell “Buckeye Tears” Beer When Ohio State Has Won 10 Of The Last 11 Meetings – Barstool Sports

No Such Thing as Bad Publicity

As you can see, there’s no such thing as “bad publicity” for marketing purposes. Though, to be honest, I question this from the breweries perspectives. I understand the collective group that is helping them get this made, but the individual breweries, I don’t fully get. Maybe they are getting a little bit of national, or regional exposure from this momentarily, but most of the news sources are just covering the trolling done by BiPA.

All of the press release junkets and news sites pretty much read the same. (Links to numerous news sites at the end of this article.) Nearly word for word identical in each article, and only one article directly mentioned the name of the breweries involved. But, all of the articles mentioned that its trolling, and instigating, and quoted BiPA.

I don’t think there will be any harm that will come to the breweries involved, but I don’t think they’ll get the attention that is due them for their work on this beer. People will go out and buy the beer from them, no doubt, and it’ll sell out – guarantee it – but that’ll be the end of it on their level. However, this did get the BiPA group and page some national exposure, some notoriety, and for websites, trolling isn’t viewed as a negative, and with tons of backlinks, now they’ll continue to garner more and more clicks and views. For them, this was all brilliant. They’ve already cultivated a bit of a trolling nature and profile in some ways, so this just further adds to it. What this does for the breweries is just provide them a guaranteed sell out beer. Hopefully the attention is longer and more long – lasting than I imagine here, but I am not so sure. Time will tell.

Time will also tell if this beer will “age well” come October 21st, when they play against Ohio State.

News Sources

Involved Breweries

Brewery	City	Availability
Acrospire Brewing	Glenshaw	Cans Only
Antifragile Brewing	State College	Cans & Draft
Blondes and Brewnettes	West Grove	Cans & Draft
Cellar Works	Sarver	Cans Only
Grist House	Pittsburgh	Draft Only
Hidden Stories Brewing	Millerstown	Cans & Draft
Locust Lane Craft Brewery	Malvern	Cans Only
Mechanistic Brewing	Clarion	Cans & Draft
Moo – Duck Brewery	Elizbethtown	Cans & Draft
Michaux Brewing	Waynesboro	Cans & Draft
Rough Edges Brewing	Waynesboro	Cans Only
ShuBrew	Zelienople	Cans & Draft

Brewery News

Interested in finding out about many other brewery openings, new locations, closings, movings, and in general brewery news? You can check out our links below:

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MAPS OF BREWERIES

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The Beer Thrillers are a blog that prides itself on writing beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, news (especially local to the Central PA brewery scene), as well as covering other topics of our interests – such as hiking, literature and books, board games, and video games which we sometimes stream with our friends over at Knights of Nostalgia. We are currently listed as #7 on FeedSpot’s “Top 100 Beer Blogs” and #8 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. (As of January 2023.) Thank you for reading our site today, please subscribe, follow, and bookmark. Please reach out to us if you are interested in working together. If you would like to donate to the blog you can here: Donate to The Beer Thrillers. Thank you!

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End of the Year – 2019

BKline — Tue, 31 Dec 2019 14:46:39 +0000

(Just a quick note, late addition on this, this is going to be a two-part article. First part a look-back at The Beer Thrillers articles of 2019, and the second part about our top beers, top breweries, and other happenings of 2019 for myself personally and the blog, and some of our friends in general. So make sure to check out both parts.)

So its the end of the year… end of decade even…. and thus its time to reflect back on where we came from, how we got to where we are, and where we are going. Humanity, since the inception of time, and creating of calendars and years and New Years Eves and New Years Days have always taken the last few days of each year to look back on their year, their life, and reflected, and thought about how they could better themselves, come up with “resolutions” for the upcoming year, and join in with friends and families as they ring in the new year. “New Year New You.”

We here at The Beer Thrillers are going to do something …. similar. Not fully introspective though, because we don’t take ourselves that seriously. But just a fun look back at the year that was 2019. I can’t speak for my co-writers, but I can say for me, personally, 2019 had its fair share of ups, downs, in-betweens, lefts, rights, diagonals, crosses, bounces, turns, jukes, and jives. But I’m still here and better for it all. But I’m not going to go on and on too much about myself personally.

Rather, I’m going to write about how the blog has done, where we started from, where we’re headed, etc. And yea, I’ll probably get a little personal. But nothing deep or philosophical or introspective. More along the lines of what were some of the best beers, breweries, or events I’ve done of the year. So don’t worry, the blog will uphold the Seinfeld idea of “Nobody learns, nobody grows, nobody hugs”.

Scratch 375 – CocoNator by Troegs Independent Craft Brewery

I started this blog back on May 17th, 2019. (This year!) It was a Thursday, my girls (my daughters) were at school, I was bored, and trying to figure out what I’m doing / was doing. I needed something for my days off while the kids were at school, something that was fun, something I was passionate about, something that let me feel like I was being creative, using my talents, and something I knew about. I’ve been reading blogs, and news sites, and all kinds of things about beer for so long, and I have a lot of experience drinking… …and writing… that I figured why not combine the two? I was feeling like I was in a rut, my job is the same its been for the past seven years, I wasn’t doing anything outright ‘creative’ and needed an outlet for it, and we are in a review culture. I do all kinds of reviews all the time, in small nondescript and unimportant ways. Like reading books when I’m finished, I write up a review of them when I check them off on GoodReads. Same with Untappd, when I drink a beer, I write up a small (Tweet size) review of it. I also felt, I was in a unique spot to start this up. I was getting to a spot where I knew enough people “on the inside” or “in the business”, and I was also doing stuff beyond just being a consumer; like home brewing, growing hops, helping can at Tattered Flag, being engaged in conversations with home brewers and professional brewers a lot, that I felt like I could provide some interesting conversations and articles to the world.

Mainly…. I was looking to not be bored, and to do something I love doing – writing and drinking beer.

So I started the blog up on May 17th, 2019. Basically having no clue what I was doing. I started up using WordPress and here we are. Its still WordPress, albeit the ‘weaker’ version (fingers crossed come sometime the new year, I switch over to the more advanced version, where I have more control over the site and the appearance). I did a little bit of research, chose a name – which to be frankly speaking – the name “The Beer Thrillers” just popped up to me. Nothing too deep or crazy or interesting behind it. I was honestly conjuring up the idea that it would be me, and a few of my friends writing, thus the “Thrillers” and not “Thriller”. I thought me, Drew, Dan maybe, and a few others would all writing all kinds of blog posts and contributing. Maybe some of the insiders in the business I know too… …while this hasn’t happened exactly; I have enlisted friends and other writers over the year to help out. (More on that as I get to their participation.)

Outside of creating the home page and starting up the site, my very first article on the blog was a beer review of Troegs’ Scratch 375 – The CocoNator. As far as first time articles go, I have no problems with it. Counting the writing of my colleagues and fellow contributors and cowriters to the blog, we’re now up to 130 blog posts (this being #131). I definitely think I’ve come a long way from that first blog. But I also like to think I laid the foundation there. I set up a system for how the beer reviews (I do) are written, presented, and I hope they are written in a fun, interesting, educational, and most importantly entertaining way.

Boulangerie Stout – Imperial Churro by Tattered Flag and Wolf Brewing Co.

When I started this in May, I had just gotten a couple of cans from my shift manager at work – Jordan and used them a the base for my first few beer reviews. The CocoNator was quickly followed by two South County beer reviews – Painting with Light (May 19th) and Sundrifter (May 30th). Also during this time, from my recent volunteer work helping can at Tattered Flag I worked with and gotten quite a few of their cans (hard work and sweat at their brewery resulted in many cans of whatever beer was being canned that day, as well as lots of other cans they still had from past canning runs). Two of these resulted in the beer reviews of Boulangerie Stout – Imperial Churro (May 22nd) which was a collaboration between Derek Wolf of Wolf Brewing Co. and Tattered Flag and You Hoppin’ On Me? (May 24th).

Canning Day at Tattered Flag

I was trying to write fast, furiously, and get some articles out there as a starting blog, I knew content was going to be the main driving force (and still is). Quality content even better. Hopefully I provided the quality content. I guess thats all up to you guys to decide, but I like to think I did (or at least, like I said, hope I did). As you can see from my picture of the Imperial Churro; often times in the background or foreground or beside the beers you’ll see some of the recent books I’m reading, as well as my dog Leela – especially if I’m drinking at home where she typically has to get her nose into the business of all involved. On May 27th, I conducted a bit of a science experiment when I found an old (over a year old) Black and Blue Tastee from The Veil. I had gotten a four pack from one of my favorite bartenders – Chris – who had traveled down and muled some back up. I wrapped up May, my first month of writing for the blog, with my first beer review from a bar – Warwick Hotel – on May 31st with a beer review of Cinnamon Toast Crunch by Collusion Tap Works.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch by Collusion Tap Works

May finished, and my first month done; even if I had only started late in the month on the 17th, I felt accomplished with the blog. I published 9 total blog pages; which included the home-page, the author-bio page, the contact page, and other necessary background pages. Word was slowly trickling out about the blog, I was up to 59 visitors and 121 views. Not a bad first month – especially considering it was basically just two weeks (the 17th through the 31st). Lets say I was “pleased as punch” with the start of the blog. June was looking bright!

June started with a beer review from the Bissell Brothers Brewing Company – Baby Genius on June 3rd. Followed up by a bottle of LazerSnake by Three Floyds on June 9th.

Baby Genius by Bissell Brothers

On June 13th, I did my first multiple beer review, and my first beer flight review – from Troegs Independent Craft Brewing – of course. What other place would I do my first beer flight review? Troegs was basically my initiation into the craft beer scene when I was ….cough turning 21…. and was the start of my craft beer love. Troegs is still a wonderful brewery, a fantastic venue there in Hershey, and overall holds a definite soft spot in my craft beer loving heart.

A flight of beers from Troegs Brewery

June 14th ended up being my first “double blog post” day. Earlier in the day I had stopped in at Tattered Flag to pick up a four-pack, had a beer, and when home, wrote a review, and later that night, with my daughters, I stopped in at Boneshire Brew Works, had a beer, and did a review before bed. At Tattered Flag I had the Abra Collabra beer, and at Boneshire I had the Sunburst beer. A week later I did my first brewery review, when I took my oldest daughter to Gettysburg for the day to visit the battlefields and monuments. Before visiting the sites, we stopped for lunch at the Battlefield Brew Works. A day later I was back at Warwick for another beer and review – Manayunk’s King Crunch.

An interior picture of the Battlefield Brew Works brewery.

Around this time, looking to expand, I enlisted the help of a buddy and fellow craft beer aficionado and enthusiast, and Boneshire lover – Josh Doncevic. We had a few talks at Boneshire Brew Works, and we chatted on the Central PA Whalerz group, and discussed this and that and everything beer related, and I thought he’d be a perfect fit for the blog – and he is and still has been. And on June 27th, he took his plunge into the world of blogging with his first beer review Northmont by Yellow Bridge.

Northmont by Yellow Bridge, J. Doncevic’s first beer review here on The Beer Thrillers.

A flurry of beer reviews followed – Should Have Put Him in Custardy, a beer flight from Hershey Biergarten, helped close out June and start July with Josh’s review of Ectogasm. June saw the blog grow by massive leaps and bounds, we went from 59 visitors in May to 848 visitors in June with 1100 some views. July was looking to be a great month for The Beer Thrillers, and it certainly delivered some amazing beer reviews! Pink Guava, Inexplicably Juicy, Miami Vice, Old 51, Dillston, Saison and Hurry up and Wait, a beer flight from Tony’s travels up north at the Black Gryphon, Wolf Prints, and Mango Guyabano sWheat Tart.

On July 19th we launched our Twitter page. Which just a few days ago, we hit our 100th follower! (Time for me to plug in here and suggest everyone head over there briefly to follow us, then come back here.) On July 23rd we also started our Instagram page. I will be the first to admit that we don’t do as much with Instagram, primarily because I don’t know enough about it yet. Looking to learn more about it in 2020 and get that page going a lot more.

July continued with some more beer reviews like Enigma, Green Zebra and Next Coast, Good Walk Spoiled, another beer flight from Troegs, and Road Less Traveled. I ended the month by discussing my upcoming road trip with my daughters.

July also saw some fun and interesting events I got to do for the first time. I lost my Ffej of July cherry, getting to make it out to possibly the biggest, baddest, most sickest birthday bash / lawn party ever. Me and Drew also attended the Moo-Funk Home Brew event as well. July was certainly a fun month, but August was looking to be even better.

Straub’s Brewery in St. Mary’s

August started off with a bang, I took my daughters up north PA to visit Elk Country, then we visited Straub Brewery, then we went to Kinzua Bridge and after that stopped at Logyard Brewery and next door to it was Twisted Vine Brewery. That was Day One. Day two saw us hitting the Pittsburgh area. First at dawn we hiked McConnell’s Creek, then went to ShuBrew before going into Pittsburgh proper and visit the city where we did a whole slew of things like see Fort Pitt, take the Duquesne Lift, check out medieval Catholic relics, stop by a Jewish synagogue, see the outfield wall still standing, and we also checked out a few breweries like Cinderlands Warehouse, The Church Brew Works, and we finished the day staying at a motel right next door to Yellow Bridge Brewing. Day Two was a lot busier than day one, but just a much fun.

The altar at Church Brew Works

Olde Bedford Brewing in Bedford PA

We didn’t slow down for Day Three. We had a whole host of driving to do on day three. We started at Bushy Run to watch the reenactment and check out the events, then went to the Alleghany Portage and Railroad Museum, and then went into Johnstown to see the Johnstown Flood Memorial and there we checked out the brewery Stone Bridge Brewing. From there we Staple Bend Tunnel Trail and then we stopped and paid our respects at the Flight 93 Memorial. On the way back home to the Hershey area we stopped at Olde Bedford Brewing.

Was a fun three days where we got to see lots of cool places, museums, memorials, monuments, and nine breweries to boot. Can’t beat that!

The beer reviews weren’t going to slow down in August either. Ghost in the Machine by Josh , a beer flight at Twisted Bine, Juicy Fruit sWheat Tart, and Caucus Race 6.0. Then shortly before my oldest daughter’s birthday I took her and my second oldest down to Antietam to see the battlefield there and on the way back home we stopped at Cushwa Brewing. Which I did a brewery review of.

Cushwa Brewing in Maryland

They have since moved out of that building but they are still close by to the location. August still had plenty more beer reviews for you guys starting with Harrishire, Kettle Sour Series – Raspberry, Ghost in the Machine by B. Kline, Good Vibrations, and then I did a dual beer review from two beers I had at a Harrisburg Senators game – a Pineapple Kolsch and a Dry Irish Stout, Reve Coffee Stout, Rye for an Eye (my birthday blog post and beer), and that closed out the month of August. As for events in August, me and my friend Ming went to the Lancaster Brewfest and afterwards went to Mad Chef Brewing (my first time there) which was an overall fun event.

Taco and a Beer – a fantastic birthday treat, even belatedly

Moving onto September started with my cashing in my birthday taco coupon at Newfangled Brew Works and had a really tasty Kettle Sour from them. In September I wrote a piece for Breweries in PA and also posted it on my blog – the version on the blog is found here: Breweries Around the Outskirts of Harrisburg (9.6.19). It has become one of the most popular pieces on our blog, and I believe it has done very well for the Breweries in PA crew as well. Beer reviews certainly didn’t slow down: a flight of Levante and Tattered Flag beers, a flight of Troegs beers, Fresh Fest and Trail Day Pale Ale, a flight of beers from Mount Gretna Brewery, and Spundae.

September also saw me do our first listicle articles. With two – one celebrating our oldest posts – and one celebrating our most viewed posts. Followed by, as always, more beer reviews – Key Lime Pie, They Burn Them All Away, AuZealand, a flight of Ever Grain beer, Vanilla Ice Cream Stout, and a Sour Blueberry wrapped up September.

October started off with a couple of Boneshire Brew Works beers – Tried and True (Mango) and Iscariot. I then got to attend Dr. Alison Feeney’s seminar and event at Mid-Town Scholar “For the Love of Beer“. Afterwards I went to The Millworks and had a flight. I did a book review of Dr. Alison Feeney’s book – For the Love of Beer. We finally joined Facebook on October 17th, you can find our Facebook page here. We are now up to 154 followers on Facebook, hoping to grow more! Did a beer review of Salted Caramel Moo-Hoo next.

Midwest Coast Brewing

I was contacted back in September by Midwest Coast Brewing Company to do an advertisement article and announcement article about their brewery opening. And I think it turned out very well. This was the first time a brewery reached out to us and asked us to do a piece for them and I think it turned out very well. I did a bit of an interview with the owners / brewers, and talked about their brewery’s opening. This has led to Mellow Mink reaching out to us and inviting us to their place to check them out and do an article (January 2nd we’ll be doing that).

J. Doncevic did a review of Ekaunot by Barebottle. We then covered Rotunda Brewing Company’s rebranding of Irv’s Pub into Rotunda Brew Pub. Also did a news article on Pennsylvania breweries that won at the 2019 GABF. That was my first straight up news article for the blog.

More beer reviews: Athena, Sour Me Peach, Irish Table, Envie and Envie 4X, Yuengling’s Hershey’s Chocolate Porter, and to wrap up the beer reviews of October I did Fatum Series: Member Berries. We also covered Boneshire Brew Works’ 3rd Anniversary Celebration.

November was a crazy month for me. I challenged myself to doing 30 blog posts, one per day – MINIMUM, and I am proud to say I achieved that and met my goal. It was certainly daunting a task, but I did achieve it.

Here’s the list of my articles in November: Pumpkin Stout, St. Thomas, Walker Station Stout, a flight by ZeroDay, King Sue, Intergalactic Warrior, s’Mores LazaRIS, There’s Nuttin Butter Than a Nice Pair of Camo Pants, Secret Machine, Broken Heels, Animal Adjective, 556 Stout, Boat Drinks, a flight of Tattered Flag – Newfangled Brew Works – and Cox Brewing beers, Alpha Abstraction, Double IPA, Lager, Birra Di Levante, Tickle Parts – Passionfruit, a flight of beers from Appalachian Brewing Company, Default Brewing, Darwin’s Salted Forehead, Newfangled Pils, Gotta Get up to Get Down, Paradise Lost, Moon of Vega, Citraquench’l, Azathoth, a flight of Troegs including Mad Elf, and finally a review of Official BBQ and Burgers – Pizza Boy’s second location. WHEW! That was a lot to get out, you can read about it in the November Recap.

November also saw Default Brewing join us here at The Beer Thrillers. Headed by AJ Brechbiel, they are a group of home brewers who will be providing home brewing articles for the blog from time to time. They gave us a welcoming post in November: Cheers from Default Brewing.

I also started up a collaboration with Let Us Drink Beer blog. Where we would be guest writing and contributing to each other’s blogs occasionally. They are down south, and with us being here in PA, it seemed like it’d be a nice fit. Provide some information and beers and breweries that readers might not normally get to see. They posted their first article “Five Must See Breweries in Atlanta” in November.

Josh also wrote two beer reviews in November: Ghost 782 and Ghost 779.

December started off a little slower here for us, probably because I was a bit tired from November, or perhaps just because its the holiday season, I don’t know. But my first beer review was Ice Dreamz. I did a few more beer reviews in December – My Watch Has Ended, The Hog, Scrooge IPA, Sap, and Autumn.

Default Brewing gave us an introduction to their crew: “Meet The Crew at Default Brewing“.

I covered the guest blogging that was going on and Let Us Drink Beer gave us a review of Koki Bunni.

Finally, the last article posted in all of 2019 (outside of this one now) was a travelogue of me and Drew brewery hopping around Harrisburg. Starting at Boneshire Brew Works, and going to The Vegetable Hunter, The Millworks, The Sturges Speakeasy, and ZeroDay Brewing. Was a fun day jumping around from place to place.

Hopefully you enjoyed this look back on 2019 with The Beer Thrillers. The second part of this article will most likely be posted January 1st, possibly before work, possibly after work. I have to leave for work now, and work until (at least) 8PM, and will most likely be going right out to enjoying New Years Eve festivities with my daughters. Tomorrow I work 10-6, and afterwards will be doing a podcast with Esteban about LOST.

The second part of this series will cover top beers, top breweries, and other things about the year for The Beer Thrillers and myself. For example – podcasting.

So make sure you check out part two then as well!

As always, I hope you have a Happy New Year, enjoyed the blog, and continue to do so! Without you, we don’t need to write, so we hope you are having as much fun and entertainment with this as we are!

-B. Kline on behalf of The Beer Thrillers staff.

My hop arbor in the rain