Annville Beer - The Beer Thrillers https://thebeerthrillers.com Central PA beer enthusiasts and beer bloggers. Homebrewers, brewery workers, and all around beer lovers. Thu, 01 May 2025 19:33:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 https://i0.wp.com/thebeerthrillers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/cropped-The-Beer-Thrillers-December-2022-Logo.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 Annville Beer - The Beer Thrillers https://thebeerthrillers.com 32 32 187558884 Beer Review: Chewbacca (Rotunda Brewing Company) https://thebeerthrillers.com/2025/04/29/beer-review-chewbacca-rotunda-brewing-company/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=beer-review-chewbacca-rotunda-brewing-company Wed, 30 Apr 2025 02:45:07 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=16296 Beer Review: Chewbacca by Rotunda Brewing Company

I first had this beer back in October of 2019. (Which feels like ancient history.) And I remember wanting to write a review of it even back then for the site…. and for some reason I never did. Not sure why exactly. Maybe I just didn’t get around to it or something, but I even kept my photo of the beer on my desktop screen this whole time. Ironically, I recently had it again, so what better opportunity to revisit the beer for my second beer review release for Andor: Season 2. Last week I reviewed – Admiral (J Henry Barrel Aged Grand Stout) by Delta Beer Lab – and so this week, we’ll taking a look at a much closer brewery – Rotunda Brewing Company with their Imperial Black IPA (or Imperial Cascadian IPA). This is one of my favorite styles of beer, I love Black IPAs, and Double Black IPAs are event better.

But before we dive in, I want everyone to please take a look at our stream / podcast / video we made on YouTube. It stars myself, Drew of Knights of Nostalgia, and Tim (Aglets). You can view it here:

In the video we cover the first three episodes of Andor. So please be sure to check it out!

And now, onto the review!

Chewbacca by Rotunda Brewing Company (at the Rising Sun in 2019)

The Beer Review: Chewbacca by Rotunda Brewing Company

Beer: Chewbacca
Brewery: Rotunda Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Black IPA / Double Black IPA
ABV: 8%
IBU: N / A
Untappd Description: (Blank)

 

Let’s check out this Wookie beast (not to be confused with the Wookie Monster by Fourscore). Will someone get this Walking Carpet out of my way so I can type!

Appearance

Chewbacca pours a deep, opaque brown-almost bordering on black-with a creamy, tan head that lingers like a loyal Wookiee companion. The lacing is impressive, clinging to the glass with each sip, leaving behind a trail reminiscent of hyperspace streaks.

Aroma

Right out of the gate, there’s a punch of roasted malt-think dark chocolate and fresh-brewed coffee-balanced by a piney, resinous hop profile. There’s a subtle undercurrent of caramel and a hint of citrus, like orange peel, that peeks through as it warms. The aroma is bold and inviting, promising complexity.

Chewbacca by Rotunda Brewing Company

Taste

The first sip delivers a satisfying interplay between roasted malt bitterness and assertive hop character. Notes of espresso and bittersweet cocoa dominate up front, quickly joined by pine, grapefruit, and a touch of earthy spice. The Black IPA style shines here: the hops never overwhelm the malt backbone, instead weaving together in a harmonious, chewy mouthfeel. The 9.2% ABV is well-hidden, but there’s a gentle warmth in the finish that lets you know this is a beer worthy of a Wookiee.

Mouthfeel

Medium to full-bodied, with a creamy carbonation that lifts the flavors without feeling heavy. The finish is dry, with lingering roast and a pleasant, resinous bitterness that invites another sip.

Overall Impressions

Chewbacca is a robust, well-executed Black IPA that balances dark roast and hop bite with finesse. It’s a bold tribute to its namesake-complex, powerful, and just a little wild. Whether you’re a Star Wars fan or simply a lover of big, hoppy dark ales, this is a beer that deserves a spot in your cantina. Untappd’s 3.8/5 rating feels right, but I’d nudge it a bit higher for the sheer fun and craftsmanship.

Wrap Up

My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 3.8 (out of nearly 1000 ratings) (as of 4.25.25)

May the hops be with you-always.

Chewbacca by Rotunda Brewing Company (RBC) (photo courtesy of Rotunda Brewing Company)

I’m gonna have to check the archives of the site here, or on my computer, to see if I have any notes or anything from the initial first time I drank the beer, if maybe I started a review and then sadly – for whatever reason – never got around to finishing it. Maybe I was waiting for the right chance to post it, and never found it. Who knows, there’s over 70+ articles in my “draft” folder here on the site, some day I’ll get around to posting them…. unfortunately that day is not today though. But be sure to come back to the site, who knows, maybe it’ll be tomorrow…..

And check back next Tuesday for another (hopefully) Star Wars themed beer release. Over the weekened is May the Fourth Be With You, so once again, hopefully I’ll be able to grab some of the RAR Star Wars themed beers and will be able to review them weekly!

Cheers all and thank you for reading!

Chewbacca at Rotunda Brewery

All of Our Nerd Content

Here’s all of our nerd content, served up best in one single place. Enjoy!

I know ya’ll here for the nerd reviews. So check out our other nerd reviews below:

Star Wars:

Futurama

Lord of the Rings:

Magic the Gathering:

Heroes of Barcadia:

Zelda:

Rick and Morty:

Space Balls:

Game of Thrones:

The Simpsons:

Back to the Future:

Scrooged:

Groundhog Day:

A Christmas Story:

The Peanuts:

Pro Wrestling:

Soccer:

World Cup:

Phillies:

Philadelphia Eagles:

Matrix:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

Mario:

HP Lovecraft / Cthulhu:

Seinfeld:

The Muppets:

Other:

Thank You For Reading

If you like this article, please check out our other many articles, including news, beer reviews, travelogues, maps, and much much more. We greatly appreciate everyone visiting the site!

Cheers.

Thanks again for reading everyone. Take some time to check out the site, we greatly appreciate it. We have affiliates and sponsors with Pretzels.com and Beer Drop.com, which can save you money on their products if you are interested. Check out our articles on them. Make sure to check out our beer reviews, brewery reviews, Amy’s weekly column, book reviews, hike reviews, and so much more.

As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us – page, and we’ll get right back to you! You can also reach out to us at our direct e-mail address: thebeerthrillers@gmail.com

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

We are working on a massive project here at The Beer Thrillers. We are creating a map of all of the breweries across the United States. State by state we are adding maps of all of the different states with every brewery in each state. (We will eventually get to the US Territories, as well as the Canadian Provinces, and possibly more countries; as well as doing some fun maps like a map of all the breweries we’ve been to, and other fun maps.) You can find the brewery maps here:

We are also working on a project of creating printable and downloadable PDFs and resources to be able to check and keep track of all of the breweries you’ve been to. So stay tuned for that project once we are finished with the Brewery Maps of the US States.

You can check out our different directories here: Beer ReviewsHike ReviewsBook ReviewsBrewery News, Brewery OpeningsBrewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – FacebookFacebook GroupTwitterInstagramYouTube, and Influence. As well as our brand new Tumblr page. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We are also now on BlueSky as well, so make sure to check us out there also. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

You can now find us on our Discord Server here: The Beer Thrillers (Discord Server). We’ve also joined LinkTree to keep track of all of our social media pages, as well as hot new articles we’ve written.

The Beer Thrillers on LinkTree can be found here: The Beer Thrillers LinkTree.

We have partnered with an affiliateship with Beer Drop.com. You can check out that partnership and receive great discounts, coupons, and more here: Beer Drop. Going here and logging in and ordering will help you receive your discounts and coupons as well as help support our page. Thank you for helping to support The Beer Thrillers and to help us maintain the site and blog and to keep it running.

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 #5 on FeedSpot’s “Top 100 Beer Blogs” and #9 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. (As of April 2025.) 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!

You can also check out our partnership and affiliation with Pretzels.com, where ordering pretzels and using our affiliate code – AFFILIATE CODE IS THEBEERTHRILLERS20 – will help you get wonderful pretzels and help us maintain and keep this blog running. Thank you!

If you would like to reach out to us for product reviews, beer reviews, press release writing, and other media – please contact us at thebeerthrillers@gmail.com. Thank you.

(Thank you for reading. The opinions, thoughts, and expressions of each article posted on The Beer Thrillers represents the author of the content and only themselves. It does not express the opinions, beliefs, or ideas held by The Beer Thrillers or any company in which the author themselves work for. Each piece of written content is written by the creator(s) listed in the authorial section on each article unless otherwise noted. Their opinions, comments, and words on screen do not represent any company in which they work for and / or are affiliated with or any non – profits that they contribute to. Thank you.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Howling Henry’s Not Looking to Finish Out the Year https://thebeerthrillers.com/2023/09/11/howling-henrys-not-looking-to-finish-out-the-year/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=howling-henrys-not-looking-to-finish-out-the-year Mon, 11 Sep 2023 20:55:00 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=12409 2023 Might Be the End for Howling Henry’s Brewery

It is looking like 2023 might be claiming another brewery. Sadly, in a recent post in a Facebook beer group asking about Howling Henry’s Brewery – the owner responded saying that they will not be getting a new taproom and that they will likely be done by the end of 2023.

The question posed in the group was: “Does anyone know if Howling Henry’s is open in any capacity?

The owner of Howling Henry’s Brewing LLC – Greg Schertzer responded: “Unfortunately, I don’t have plans to be open past this year. I do not have a tap room at the Klick Lewis Arena anymore. I have cases available for delivery, but I have no plans to open a new taproom.

Howling Henry’s Brewing LLC

Howling Henry’s Brewing LLC originally started in Hummelstown, brewing from the old Theo’s warehouse at the corner of 2nd Street and Duke Street. They sold kegs and bottles to various local bars and restaurants and distributors.

One of his earliest beers was – BOPA – Basil Onion Pale Ale.

They then opened a tap room location on 2nd Street in Hummelstown – 35 East Second Street, Hummelstown PA, 17036.

Brewery Opening – Howling Henry’s Brewery in Hummelstown. The Hummelstown taproom was opened in October of 2020 – amidst the pandemic – and about the same week as the Rubber Soul Brewpub opening (also in Hummelstown).

Around early June 2022, Howling Henry’s moved to the Klick Lewis Arena in Annville. Its a part of the sports complex in the Annville – Palmyra area called “In the Net”. At one time there was a building in the complex that housed Snitz Creek Brewery’s (original) second location. The tap room location for Howling Henry’s was in the hockey arena, and overlook area.

Closing Down

Greg Schertzer announcing Howling Henry’s taproom will not be returning.

It would seem in the last few months Howling Henry’s Brewing LLC has lost their location at the Klick Lewis Arena and are no longer there.

This was their second tap room – after the one in Hummelstown closed.

As he said in the Facebook beer group’s post – he doesn’t have any plans to stay open past this year (2023). He also states that he has no plans on re – opening any tap rooms or having a new tap room going forward. He does state that he has cases available for delivery.

Which sounds like he is completely shutting down Howling Henry’s Brewing LLC and closing shop, and will no longer be brewing.

Howling Henry’s has been a staple at Hummelstown events like the Winter Fling for several years now (probably dating back to 2017 or 2018), as well as some local brew fests like the Mount Hope Renaissance Faire brew fest held yearly in Manheim. They also went to a few other brew fests in the area (I believe the Lititz Brew Fest, the Auto Ales at the AACA Museum, the Fort Hunter Dauphin County / Harrisburg brew fest, and the PA Flavor event at the Harrisburg Farm Show complex). It is a shame to see a community friendly brewery – business – close its doors, and its a shame to see any person’s dream project come to an end.

We would like to wish the best for Greg, and everyone else involved with Howling Henry’s Brewing LLC. We hope its not the end of the road, but understand that sometimes it is. We wish the best to all involved going forward.

For More Information on Howling Henry’s Brewing LLC

For more information on Howling Henry’s Brewing LLC, you can check out our past articles:

Fro more information on Howling Henry’s Brewing LLC – the following comes from Untappd.

Howling Henry’s Brewing LLC is a nano brewery from Hummelstown, PA. It has 18 unique beers and just over 5,500 ratings, with a global average rating of 3.27 (as of 9.11.23). The Untappd description reads: Howling Henry’s Brewery is crafting beer without rules, which causes our beers to be an nontraditional representations of their contemporaneity styles. Are you ready for a different take on traditional beer styles, then you should give Howling Henry’s a try? Our beers are not filtered, so we can offer as much flavor as possible. The taproom is now open in Hummelstown; check my website out for details.

You can find them on the following social media pages:

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:

Thank You For Reading

If you like this article, please check out our other many articles, including news, beer reviews, travelogues, maps, and much much more. We greatly appreciate everyone visiting the site!

Cheers.

Thanks again for reading everyone. Take some time to check out the site, we greatly appreciate it. We have affiliates and sponsors with Pretzels.com and Beer Drop.com, which can save you money on their products if you are interested. Check out our articles on them. Make sure to check out our beer reviews, brewery reviews, Amy’s weekly column, book reviews, hike reviews, and so much more.

As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us – page, and we’ll get right back to you! You can also reach out to us at our direct e-mail address: thebeerthrillers@gmail.com

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

We are working on a massive project here at The Beer Thrillers. We are creating a map of all of the breweries across the United States. State by state we are adding maps of all of the different states with every brewery in each state. (We will eventually get to the US Territories, as well as the Canadian Provinces, and possibly more countries; as well as doing some fun maps like a map of all the breweries we’ve been to, and other fun maps.) You can find the brewery maps here:

We are also working on a project of creating printable and downloadable PDFs and resources to be able to check and keep track of all of the breweries you’ve been to. So stay tuned for that project once we are finished with the Brewery Maps of the US States.

You can check out our different directories here: Beer ReviewsHike ReviewsBook ReviewsBrewery News, Brewery OpeningsBrewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – FacebookFacebook GroupTwitterInstagramYouTube, and Influence. As well as our brand new Tumblr page. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

You can now find us on our Discord Server here: The Beer Thrillers (Discord Server). We’ve also joined LinkTree to keep track of all of our social media pages, as well as hot new articles we’ve written.

The Beer Thrillers on LinkTree can be found here: The Beer Thrillers LinkTree.

We have partnered with an affiliateship with Beer Drop.com. You can check out that partnership and receive great discounts, coupons, and more here: Beer Drop. Going here and logging in and ordering will help you receive your discounts and coupons as well as help support our page. Thank you for helping to support The Beer Thrillers and to help us maintain the site and blog and to keep it running.

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!

You can also check out our partnership and affiliation with Pretzels.com, where ordering pretzels and using our affiliate code – AFFILIATE CODE IS THEBEERTHRILLERS20 – will help you get wonderful pretzels and help us maintain and keep this blog running. Thank you!

If you would like to reach out to us for product reviews, beer reviews, press release writing, and other media – please contact us at thebeerthrillers@gmail.com. Thank you.

If you would like to help keep the blog running soundly and smoothly, you may donate to us to help us keep the costs of the blog to a minimum. We greatly appreciate it. Thank you. (Clicking this link will take you to the page to make a donation. Thank you very much for helping us stay afloat!)

(Thank you for reading. The opinions, thoughts, and expressions of each article posted on The Beer Thrillers represents the author of the content and only themselves. It does not express the opinions, beliefs, or ideas held by The Beer Thrillers or any company in which the author themselves work for. Each piece of written content is written by the creator(s) listed in the authorial section on each article unless otherwise noted. Their opinions, comments, and words on screen do not represent any company in which they work for and / or are affiliated with or any non – profits that they contribute to. Thank you.)

 

 

 

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Drunk Phils Fans and Rotunda Brewing Company Team Up With ‘Jam The Batter’ Collaboration https://thebeerthrillers.com/2022/05/17/drunk-phils-fans-and-rotunda-brewing-company-team-up-with-jam-the-batter-collaboration/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=drunk-phils-fans-and-rotunda-brewing-company-team-up-with-jam-the-batter-collaboration Tue, 17 May 2022 13:08:06 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=9267
Jam the Batter (sWheat Tart) – A collaboration between Rotunda Brewing Company and Drunk Phils Fans

Drunk Phils Fans and Rotunda Brewing Company Teaming Up

As an avid Philadelphia Phillies fan (god have mercy upon my soul), I’ve always followed various Philly related blogs and pages (like Crossing Broad, Drunk Phils Fans, etc, etc.), and obviously I’m quite an avid drinker and beer fan as well (shocker right?!?) so I immediately jumped when I saw Drunk Phils Fans was teaming up with a beer – and with local favorites Rotunda Brewing Company of all breweries. Such a perfect fit!

So I immediately reached out to Drunk Phils Fans to get the low-down on their page, the beer, and everything else.

The Drunk Phils Fan

You will most likely know Drunk Phils Fans from their Facebook page: Drunk Phils Fans. They currently have 24, 977 likes and 26, 588 followers. So needless to say they have been around and garner quite a bit of attention. You can follow their website here: Drunk Phils Fans .com.

So I asked them some questions about how they started up, what they are, what they are up to, and how their beer collaboration with Rotunda Brewing Company came to be.

(For brevity’s sake, I will have The Beer Thrillers abbreviated to ‘TBT’ and Drunk Phils Fans abbreviated to ‘DPF’ after the first usage.)

The Beer Thrillers: How did you start the Drunk Phils Fans page? (How long ago, when/where/how, etc.) How has it evolved since then?
Drunk Phils Fans: This all started as a blog, which was named the same and first post was in 2010. I then started a FB group in 2010 and then switched over to a page once the group hit 1000 followers. The idea for the blog was to highlight some past Phillies season and players (mostly “forgotten” players, as well at to talk about prior and upcoming games. The FB page was always intended to be some of the talk and chatter you may hear at the local pub from intense Phillies fans. On Point, sometime irreverent analysis of the front office, games, players, opponents, etc

Rob G is an original member that is still providing content. The page evolved by adding in some talented authors: Chris D, who does all of the meme work and we added Waz, Al, Russell, Sean and Ashley as people providing content and helping to manage the page. I can’t point to a single element of how or when the page became more popular, but I constantly hear that people go to our page because of great content and valid observations/talking points about the team. Some of our posts did go “viral” with over a million views, but the growth was organic by building the audience through content.

TBT: How did this beer idea come up? Did you reach out to Rotunda Brewing? Did they reach out to you? What interested you in this beer and this brewery?
DPF: It has always been a dream of mine to have a beer that I created or somehow named/linked with me. I figured once the page got a large enough audience, it would be more enticing for a brewery to collaborate with us.

My wife and I went to Hershey this winter for a weekend getaway and toured some of the Hershey area breweries. Rotunda was on my list for two reasons: 1. A DPF fan, Brent, is a manager at Rotunda and offered a brewery tour for me and an insight on their process and facilities and 2. Rotunda has a GREAT lineup of different styles of beers, all highly rated and respected on Untappd, so I knew I had to try them. With Brent being a big DPF fan and me being a fan of Rotunda, I think it was a good match and I do not remember who “made the first move” while talking collaboration. To me it seemed mutually advantageous.

TBT: Stevie Glick absolutely nailed it with the logo. Just want to throw that out there right now, he does their artwork for them, and is absolutely phenomenal.

TBT: Did you have any input on the beer; style, ingredients, recipe, etc? Did you help them brew it?
DPF: We did have input on style. I am not a particular fan of IPA, so I did not want this beer to be of that style. I am a huge fan of darker beers and stouts, but wanted a beer for the summertime. So we collaborated with the sWheat line that Rotunda is well known for and created a fruited sour at 5.9%. We did send Rotunda about 30 name ideas for the beer, of which “Jam the Batter” won because of the double entendre of jam in the baseball sense and the fruit we are adding to the beer often seen as a jam. I did not physically help with the brewing process, mostly because of proximity to Rotunda from my home in Philly. However, it is something I would like to be involved with in the next go round!

TBT: What are some of your favorite breweries? Favorite beers? Go to beers? Preferences when it comes to alcohol in general?
DPF: Fave Breweries: I will do a top 5 in the Philly area no particular order. Rotunda, Imprint, Human Robot, Troegs, and 2SP.

Fave Beers: This answer could be really long, so I will try and give the Cliff Notes. If I go to a corner bar that does not have craft beers, I will have Miller High Life, In the summer, I am a huge Hefeweizen fan. My fave is Weihenstephaner. In the Winter, especially leading up to Christmas, I look forward to the Troeg’s Mad Elf release. Otherwise, I spend a lot of the winter trying different dark beers (Stouts and Lagers). I have recently gotten into Rum and Bourbon Barrel Aged Stouts even more and will always try them when available. I am also a Union season ticket holder and recently really liked 2SP’s Delco Lager. Supremely drinkable with a lower ABV.

TBT: Any other big plans with the page? Any other beer related collaborations in the works / in the future or anything you are interested in trying or wanting to do?
DPF: We are currently having a beer release party at Rotunda on May 21st at their Annville location from 1-4. We are also having some Phillies Watch Parties at local bars: May 25th at Jerzees Glenside and June 26 at Nick’s Roast Beef Cottman along with a special guests, Corner Sports Podcast where I will be in the show with them live on-site 1-3, followed by the Phillies game at 4. We would also like to do these watch parties at interested breweries in the near future. As far as the future of the page, we hope everyone loves our Rotunda collaboration and would love to collaborate with them or another Philly / Montco / Bucks brewery for a playoff beer for the Phils! I’d like to be more hand on to learn the process and work that goes into each step. I guess the big dreams would be a brewery of our own at some point. I dreamed of having a beer and that came true, so who knows!

sWheat Tart Series

Rotunda Brewing Company has been well known for their sWheat Tart series for a while. (We’ve even covered a few various sWheat Tarts here on the blog for beer reviews. You can read them here: Juicy Fruit sWheat Tart – Beer Review and Mango Guyabano sWheat Tart – Beer Review.) It is possibly their most popular line of beers, and they have done just about every imaginable flavor profile and combination with them. Definitely be on the lookout for this series whenever you see them in cans or whenever you visit either of their brewery locations in person (the Annville Brewery or the Hershey brewpub.)

Rotunda Brewing Company Tailgate

On May 21st (2022), the Rotunda Brewing Company is hosting a Tailgate party to celebrate the release of ‘Jam the Batter’. From their Facebook page:

“We’re releasing a collaboration beer with our friends at, Drunk Phils Fans and throwing a kick ass tailgate at our Annville location, this Saturday from 1-4 pm! Wear your best philly gear and drink some of our new Jam The Batter sWheat Tart, loaded with thick mango, pineapple & strawberry puree! More details to come! Drunk Phils Fans Rotunda Restaurant & Brewery

Rotunda Brewing Company (Facebook)

It looks to be a fun time, and I might be able to squeeze it into my busy schedule and stop out for a bit. Hope I get to see some of you out there. And we can all root on the Phillies and drink some delicious beers.

Philadelphia Phillies

I would be amiss to make this article, and not mention the Phillies even a little bit. They are currently sitting at 17 – 18 and 5.5 games behind in the NL East. Its a long season, and the Mets are looking tough this year, but we also all know how the Mets are…. so hopefully late season Phils can kick it into overdrive. Looks like we are coming out of a current slump and are starting to hit stride. (And my dad recently put down a 100$ wager at Hollywood Casino that the Phils will win the division, so for his sake, lets go Phils!).

The bats are finally starting to warm up with what we all thought they should be. Defense will be a struggle all season. And hopefully by trade deadline we can shore up the pitching staff and make this team a true contender. Long overdue for another deep playoff run and hopeful World Series.

More Information and Links

For more information about the event and beer release, you can check out the various sites:

Thanks For Reading

The May 21st date might just be as busy as the May 14th date was for me. First off, its my daughter’s 13th birthday. (So, preemptive and early Happy Birthday to Lilyana Rose.) Also, its the day of the Imprint “Haze” brewfest, as well as the Drunk Phils Fans and Rotunda Brewing Company’s beer tailgate. As well as a host of other personal stuff for me and other staff members here at The Beer Thrillers.

I would like to say thanks to the Drunk Phils Fans for letting me reach out to them and talking to them and exchanging e-mails. I can’t wait to try their beer. They are great people over there (and at Rotunda as well), so its looking to be a great thing all the ways around.

As always, I do greatly appreciate you all reading this. Let me know your thoughts, opinions, and ideas. Comments, suggestions, and otherwise. Always love to hear from my readers! Either by comment here on the blog, or through e-mail or our contact page. Let us know your thoughts!

Cheers all! And lets go Phillies!

-B. Kline

As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us – page, and we’ll get right back to you! You can also reach out to us at our direct e-mail address: thebeerthrillers@gmail.com

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – FacebookFacebook GroupTwitterInstagramYouTube, and Influence. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

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Brewery Opening: Rotunda Brew Pub https://thebeerthrillers.com/2019/10/18/brewery-opening-rotunda-brew-pub/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=brewery-opening-rotunda-brew-pub Fri, 18 Oct 2019 12:54:46 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=938
The Rebranding of Irv’s Pub to Rotunda Brew Pub

Technically speaking, this isn’t a “brewery opening”, but it is a rebranding. Formerly (as of tomorrow officially, as of a week ago “Facebook official”) Irv’s Pub will now be a brew pub and a full legitimate second location for Rotunda Brewing Company and will be rebranded as Rotunda Brew Pub.

The Rotunda family has owned the Batdorf Restaurant, Rotunda Brewing Company, and Irv’s Pub. The Batdorf and the bottle shop next door slowly became Batdorf Restaurant and Rotunda Brewing Company over the past few years as the brewery took off and went from being a home brewery (basically) to a much larger system now. And now with the growing success of the brewery they have decided to rename Irv’s Pub and rebrand it as a Brew Pub, giving them a second location.

Which now means they’ll have a brewery / restaurant in Annville Pennsylvania and a Brew Pub / restaurant in Hershey Pennsylvania. The Batdorf and Rotunda Brewing location can be found at: 245 W. Main Street Annville, PA. Former Irv’s Pub and now Rotunda Brew Pub can be found at: 814 E. Chocolate Avenue, Hershey PA. Both locations are verified locations on Untappd. Rotunda Brew Pub: Rotunda Brew Pub on Untappd. The Batdorf Restaurant: Batdorf Restaurant on Untappd.

The new sign at Rotunda Brew Pub, lit up at night.

Irv’s Pub has been a staple of the Hershey night life for quite a few years now, with some of the most wonderful and delicious upscale meals found in the area. They also have had one of the best bars in the Hershey area as well, with a wonderful selection of craft beers, as well as wines and spirits. And over the recent years with the growing success of Rotunda Brewing Company more and more of the taplist has been dedicated to Rotunda’s own beers (to no one’s disappointment).

They currently have 17 taps at their bar, and offer a very wide selection in liquors, spirits, and wines. They are known for many varieties of cocktails as well especially with themes about the Hershey area. They also often sell cans of the latest Rotunda Beer as well as have a crowler machine on hand to crank out some crowlers of the local beer. They have from time to time even done specialty deals with regards to the crowler machine, making the Rotunda Brewing beer even cheaper and in larger quantities (if that’s not a win-win I don’t know what is).

Former Irv’s Pub logo

Located on East Chocolate Avenue, leaving Hershey just before reaching Palmdale and into Palmyra Irv’s Pub is a beautiful building. It is kind of across from the ‘What If?’ Hershey restaurant / event building. They have a tremendous kitchen that has been highly celebrated for some of their delicious and wonderful meals; especially their dinners and some of their specialty multi-course meals and events.

Old Irv’s Pub Sign

But this is all the past now, starting tomorrow – October 19th, 2019 (Saturday), the old Irv’s Pub is gone and in its place will be the Rotunda Brew Pub. A second location for Rotunda Brewing Company. And they are throwing a big event to kick it off right!

Their event listing on Facebook reads:
We’re very excited to announce we’re in the process of rebranding Irv’s Pub to Rotunda Brew Pub! For all our loyal Irv’s Pub customers, do not worry, we will still have the same great food and service, but with a little more emphasis on our brewery! For this great occasion we’re serving some of the most elite east coast breweries including: Dancing Gnome, Dewy Beer Company, Imprint and Burley Oak! Rotunda will also be releasing several beers that day exclusive to our Hershey location! We’ll have fresh Rotunda Brewing merchandise for sale AND we will be adding some new exciting beer inspired menu items too!

So in addition to 6 new Rotunda Brewing beers, there will also be beers from Dancing Gnome, Dewey Beer, Imprint, and Burley Oak, as well as collaborations with some of these breweries (and Aslin as well). These are some of the heavy hitters of the East Coast, with some of the best breweries from PA (Dancing Gnome, Imprint, Rotunda), MD (Burley Oak), DE (Dewey Beer), and VA (Aslin). This is fantastic news not just for craft beer fans, not just for Rotunda fans, but for these breweries themselves to get noticed in this area which is such a fantastic craft beer market.

The old Irv’s Pub bar area.

The event kicks off at 11AM and will run the rest of the day. They are also releasing a bunch of new merchandise, which can be found on the event page as well as both of their Facebook pages (Rotunda Brewing Company and Rotunda Brew Pub). There will be live music, tremendous food, awesome beers, and a fantastic atmosphere.

Three of the announced (of the six) Rotunda Brew Pub only beers will be snow cone variants. One of their popular series of beers. (Along with their sWheat Tart series, though no mention if any sWheat Tarts are planned for this release). As of writing, we don’t have any insider information on what the six beers will be other than what they’ve posted on their Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter feeds.

Their Rotunda Brewing location will be closed Saturday and only the Brew Pub will be open, so if you want can releases and want some fantastic Rotunda Beer you are going to have to come to the brew pub instead of their old location. (Don’t worry, this is just a one-time day-of closing of their old location. It’ll be back and ready to go after this event.)

New Rotunda Brew Pub signage.

Rotunda Brewing Company has been a growing success for the past few years, pumping out wonderful beer after wonderful beer and winning all kinds of awards, accolades, and tons of praise. They recently won the Kennett Square Brewfest Connoisseur beer award with their Peach Pie sWheat Tart at the brewfest. They are also one of the top 10 breweries of PA as ranked on Untappd, as detailed in this article from the Breweries in PA. They currently have 272 unique beers with a global rating of 3.98 (as of 10.18.19) on Untappd. Their page can be found here: Rotunda Brewing Company on Untappd. We have covered a few of their beers in beer reviews here on The Beer Thrillers, you can find them here:
* Mango Guyabano sWheat Tart: Rotunda’s Mango Guyabano sWheat Tart
* Juicy Fruit sWheat Tart: Rotunda’s Juicy Fruit sWheat Tart

I’m sure we’ll be reviewing plenty more of their beers in the future, so always be on the look out for that.

So make sure you stop in, it should be an absolutely fantastic time. Be on the look out, J. Doncevic as soon as the event kicks off (probably). I (B. Kline) will hopefully be making my appearance after I get out of work (8PM). So here’s to fingers crossed there’s still some good beers left! So save me some you savage animals!

Cheers, prost, and lets drink up celebrating the growth of a fantastic brewery! See you guys there, can’t wait to drink down some delicious RBC brews and hang with you guys!

The Great RBC Rebrand : 10.19.19

Can’t wait to see you all out there!

And as noted, we recently opened our Facebook page, so please make sure to check us out there: The Beer Thrillers on FaceBook.

Just want to give a final congratulations to our friends at Rotunda Brewing for their growth, and a nod to the many future beers we know we’ll be having at the brew pub. Thanks for reading everyone and make sure you check out the Rotunda Brew Pub and Rotunda Brewing Company, as well as our pages. Like, follow, and subscribe as always.

Remember folks – you only need 10% of your liver for it to regenerate (in time) so drink up!

-B. Kline

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