Every so often I’ll peruse the aisles of the Hershey Public Library and pick things almost at random. Career books, management books, leadership style books, they all fit into this category; where every so often I’ll pick one up and read it, see what I could possibly learn from it, and see if it could help me in my career(s) or life in general. And thus, how I got reading Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath.

Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath

GoodReads Book Blurb

This is the back of the book blurb based on GoodReads:

**Once you have purchased this ebook, the unique access code will be sent to the email address you have registered with Kindle.**DO YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO WHAT YOU DO BEST EVERY DAY?Chances are, you don’t. All too often, our natural talents go untapped. From the cradle to the cubicle, we devote more time to fixing our shortcomings than to developing our strengths.To help people uncover their talents, Gallup introduced the first version of its online assessment, StrengthsFinder, in the 2001 management book Now, Discover Your Strengths. The book spent more than five years on the bestseller lists and ignited a global conversation, while StrengthsFinder helped millions to discover their top five talents.In its latest national bestseller, StrengthsFinder 2.0, Gallup unveils the new and improved version of its popular assessment, language of 34 themes, and much more (see below for details). While you can read this book in one sitting, you’ll use it as a reference for decades.Loaded with hundreds of strategies for applying your strengths, this new book and accompanying website will change the way you look at yourself — and the world around you — forever.AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY IN THE NEW & UPGRADED EDITION OF STRENGTHSFINDER 2.0(using the unique access code included with each book)* A new and upgraded edition of the StrengthsFinder assessment* A personalized Strengths Discovery and Action-Planning Guide for applying your strengths in the next week, month, and year* A more customized version of your top five theme report* 50 Ideas for Action (10 strategies for building on each of your top five themes)* The more user-friendly StrengthsFinder 2.0 companion website, with a strengths community area, library of downloadable discussion guides and activities, a strengths screensaver, and a program for creating display cards of your top five themes

–Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath (GoodReads)

My Book Review

There’s a certain kind of book you don’t really read so much as you experience, and StrengthsFinder 2.0 very much lives in that space. It’s less a traditional self-help book and more a personality diagnostic with a spiral-bound instruction manual attached. You crack it open, take the assessment, get your Top 5 strengths, and then… well, then it’s sort of up to you what happens next.

At its core, StrengthsFinder 2.0 is built on a solid and refreshing premise: stop obsessing over your weaknesses and start developing what you’re already good at. That alone puts it ahead of a lot of grindset, “fix everything that’s wrong with you” literature. The book argues—convincingly—that most people plateau not because they lack self-awareness, but because they’re investing energy in areas where they’ll never be great. Fair point.

The real star of the show, though, is the assessment itself. It’s quick, intuitive, and oddly revealing in the way personality tests often are—enough specificity to feel personal, enough vagueness to apply broadly. When you read your results, there’s that familiar mix of “Oh wow, that’s me” and “Sure, I guess that fits.” It’s accurate enough to spark reflection, which is ultimately the point.

Where StrengthsFinder 2.0 stumbles is in what comes after. The book is extremely light on actionable depth. Once you’ve read about your Top 5 strengths, you may find yourself flipping pages thinking, Is that it? The descriptions are clean, corporate-friendly, and clearly designed for HR departments and team-building workshops. That’s not inherently bad—but it does mean the book feels more like a workplace tool than a personal roadmap.

There’s also the subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) sense that this book works best if your life problems can be solved with better communication, productivity, or leadership alignment. If you’re looking for something more existential, messy, or human—something that grapples with doubt, burnout, or meaning—this probably won’t scratch that itch.

That said, StrengthsFinder 2.0 does what it promises. It’s efficient, polished, and accessible. It won’t change your life, but it might help you reframe how you see yourself at work—or at least give you a cleaner vocabulary for explaining why you operate the way you do. Think of it less like a deep, barrel-aged stout and more like a dependable, middle-of-the-road pale ale. Drinkable, useful, but not something you’ll be talking about months later.

Final Verdict:
StrengthsFinder 2.0 is a solid tool with a limited shelf life. Worth reading (and taking) once, especially if you enjoy personality frameworks or work in a team-heavy environment. Just don’t expect it to deliver profound transformation.

My Rating: *** out of 5 on GoodReads
On LibraryThing – *** out of 5 as well
Global Average Rating is 3.93 out of 5 on GoodReads (as of 2.4.26).

Other Book Reviews

• Book Review: The Greatest Beer Run Ever (John Chick Donohue and J.T. Molloy)

• Book Review: Subpar Parks: America’s Most Extraordinary National Parks and Their Least Impressed Visitors (Amber Share)

• Book Review: Courage is Calling (Ryan Holiday)

• Book Review: The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity (Carlo M. Cipolla)

• Book Review: Brewed in Japan (Jeffrey Alexander)

• Book Review: The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life (Armand M. Nicholi Jr.)

• Book Review: Family Reins (Billy Busch)

• Book Review: The Last Days of the Dinosaurs: An Asteroid, Extinction, and the Beginning of Our World (Riley Black)

• Book Review: The Wit and Humor of Oscar Wilde (Oscar Wilde)

• Book Review: Create Dangerously (Albert Camus)
• Book Review: The Road (Cormac McCarthy)
• Book Review: The Donnie Darko Book (Richard Kelly)
• Book Review: How to Rule the World: A Handbook for the Aspiring Dictator (André de Guillaume)
• Book Review: Here is New York (E.B. White)
• Book Review: Uncle John’s Beer Topia
• Book Review: I Drink For a Reason (David Cross)
• Book Review: Something Wicked This Way Comes (Ray Bradbury)
• Book Review: Siddhartha’s Brain: Unlocking the Ancient Science of Enlightenment (James Kingsland)
• Book Review: Atomic Habits (James Clear) 
• Book Review: A Significant Life (Todd May)

Just yesterday we reported on Idiom Brewing in Frederick, MD shutting down, and now we have news that The Brewer’s Art has abruptly shut down in the outskirts of Baltimore, MD (“technically considered Mt. Vernon”).  Located at 1106 N Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21201, yet another brewery closing in 2026, and another in Maryland, and still also another that Amy and I had visited.

The Brewer’s Art bar (photo courtesy of The Brewer’s Art website’s gallery)

Abrupt Closure

If you’ve ever ducked down the stairs into The Brewer’s Art’s basement bar — that low-ceilinged space where the wood got a little sticky by last call and the taps were always ready for another round — this one might sting a bit. After three decades in Baltimore’s Mount Vernon neighborhood, The Brewer’s Art has quietly closed its doors for good.

Opened back in 1996, it was more than just a brewpub. Upstairs, you’d flirt with a pint of Resurrection or Beazly between bites of duck-fat rosemary fries; downstairs, regulars found their corners and their folks. It was the sort of place you didn’t just go to drink — you went to belong

But earlier this week, staff got word in a way very few of us would have guessed: a text. Owner Volker Stewart told employees the business couldn’t continue — finances had taken a turn, strains that had been growing worse in recent months finally left them without a path forward. The doors were to stay closed, and payroll stopped with the last shift.

That abruptness has left a lot of folks reeling — not just the 20 or so people who worked there, but the community that somehow folded this spot into its own story. On Mount Vernon sidewalks and online forums alike, you see those memories surface: first legal pints, Friday night happy hours, quiet conversations over a hazy flight. Some are holding onto the hope the beer might live on somewhere else; others are just mourning the loss of a place that felt like home.

What happens next — whether the recipes get poured again under a new roof, or whether Resurrection quietly becomes a memory in fridges and growlers across town — isn’t yet clear. But for now, The Brewer’s Art is a name you’ll only bring up in stories and inside jokes and toasts.

Cheers to the years it was.

For More Information on The Brewer’s Art

The following comes via Untappd.

(Note: It is already listed as out of business, so the stats for number of unique beers has been removed.)

The Brewer’s Art is a brew pub located in Baltimore, MD. With (blanked out) unique beers and over 101,000 ratings, with a unique average rating of 3.64 globally (as of 2.2.26). Their Untappd description reads: House brewed beers and innovative cuisine in a 1901 mansion.

You can follow them at these social media platforms:

• The Brewer’s Art – Official Website
• The Brewer’s Art – Facebook
• The Brewer’s Art – Instagram
• The Brewer’s Art – Twitter
• The Brewer’s Art – Untappd

Their Facebook was last updated on January 29th, with no word of the closure (updated – as of 2.3.26, their Facebook page still hasn’t been updated).

Sources

• Brewer’s Association of Maryland
• The Banner
• CityBiz
• Reddit – Brewer’s Art Closing
• WMAR2 News

Idiom’s Final Days
(photo supplied by Idiom Brewing Company’s Facebook page)

Well, unfortunately, another favorite brewery (favorite of mine anyway) is closing. We previously wrote about Idiom here – Idiom Brewing’s Owner is Stepping Down – Michael Clements Bids Farewell to Idiom Brewing – but now it looks like its completely official and the count down to the final days are on. Seems like more and more of the favorite breweries my ex-girlfriend and I loved to visit are closing up shop. (Alementary, Big Bottom Brewing, Rocket Frog, Tattered Flag, Mellow Mink, Cox, etc.) But I suppose its like they say, all good things must come to an end.

Another light is dimming in the Mid-Atlantic craft beer landscape.

Idiom Brewing Co. has announced it will permanently close its doors on February 15, 2026, bringing an end to a seven-year run in downtown Frederick, Maryland. The news was shared directly by owner and head brewer Mike Clements in a heartfelt message posted to the brewery’s Facebook page — the kind of post that has become far too familiar in recent years.

Idiom opened with a simple but powerful mission: craft great beer and even better conversation. For seven years, they did exactly that, becoming a fixture in Frederick’s brewing identity and a gathering place for locals and visitors alike.

But as Clements noted, the brewing industry is currently facing what many have described as a “perfect storm.” Rising ingredient costs, increased competition, shifting consumer habits, distribution challenges, and overall economic pressure have pushed even well-loved, well-run breweries to the brink. Idiom, despite best efforts to weather those forces, has reached the end of its road.

Located at 340 E Patrick St #104, Frederick, MD 21701 , be sure to stop in before they close.

A Community-Focused Farewell

Rather than quietly fading out, Idiom is choosing to go the way it came in — surrounded by friends.

The brewery will remain open through February 15, 2026, giving the community time to say goodbye, share stories, and help kick the remaining kegs. It’s a gesture that feels very on-brand for Idiom: transparent, communal, and rooted in gratitude rather than bitterness.

In his message, Clements made a point to center the people who made Idiom what it was:

• The staff, past and present, described as “the soul of Idiom”

• The guests, who brought their milestones, weekends, and lives into the taproom

• Frederick itself, whose brewing legacy Idiom proudly became part of

That sense of mutual ownership — where a brewery belongs as much to its patrons as its founders — is something you can’t manufacture. It has to be earned, pint by pint.

Visit Idiom Before They Close (photo courtesy of Idiom Brewing)

Another Data Point in a Troubling Trend

Idiom’s closure isn’t happening in isolation.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen an accelerating number of brewery closures across the country — including highly regarded, award-winning, and community-supported operations. This isn’t a story about bad beer or bad intentions. It’s a story about margins getting thinner, risks getting higher, and sustainability becoming harder to achieve in a market that once felt endlessly expandable.

Frederick, long celebrated as one of Maryland’s strongest beer towns, now joins a growing list of cities forced to reckon with what “craft beer maturity” really looks like. Not every brewery that deserves to survive will.

And that’s the part that hurts the most.

Final Pints, Final Thanks

If you’ve ever spent an afternoon at Idiom — laughing with friends, meeting strangers, celebrating something big or hiding from something heavy — the next few weeks matter.

Show up.
Tip well.
Thank the staff.
Raise a glass.

Because while the doors may be closing, the impact Idiom Brewing Co. had on Frederick’s beer scene — and on the people who passed through its taproom — won’t disappear with the last pour.

From all of us at The Beer Thrillers, we wish Mike, the Idiom team, and everyone connected to the brewery nothing but the best in whatever comes next.

Announcement

It is with an incredibly heavy heart that we announce Idiom Brewing Co. will be closing its doors for good.

Seven years ago, we opened with a simple mission: to craft great beer and even better conversation. Since then, you’ve shared your milestones, your weekends, and your lives with us. But as many of you know, the brewing industry has faced a “perfect storm” lately, and despite our best efforts to weather it, we’ve reached the end of our road.

We want to go out the way we came in, surrounded by friends. We’ll be open through 2/15/2026, and we’d love to see you one last time. Come help us kick the kegs, share a story, and say goodbye to the taproom we’ve called home.

To our staff, past and present: You are and have been the soul of Idiom. Thank you for every pint poured and every smile shared. To our friends and guests: Thank you for making us a part of your lives and the Frederick brewing legacy.

Please come out during our final weeks to show your support to the staff members you have gotten to know and love over the years.

It’s been an honor and a privilege.

Mike Clements

Owner / Head Brewer

– Idiom Brewing Company (Facebook Post)

What if your next pint could do more than just taste great — what if it protected you from disease? That’s the bold idea behind a controversial experiment from virologist Chris Buck, who literally brewed a beer that may act as a vaccine.

Chris Buck drinking his vaccine brew. (Photo credit: ScienceNews)

From Lab Coat to Home Brew

Chris Buck isn’t your typical home brewer — he’s a virologist at the National Cancer Institute, known for discovering several human polyomaviruses, a family of viruses linked to cancers and serious infections in people with weakened immune systems.

Buck’s day job involves developing vaccines against these viruses, but he took things in an unexpected direction: using yeast engineered to produce viral proteins, he brewed a beer that delivered those proteins orally. Drink a pint, and your body might make antibodies against polyomaviruses — that’s the theory.

The DIY Vaccine Brew

Buck’s vaccine beer isn’t a government-sanctioned product — he brewed it in his kitchen and drank it himself as part of a self-experiment. After consuming multiple batches, including his brother and other family members, blood tests showed they produced antibodies against some types of the virus without apparent side effects.

To share his work, he posted the brewing method and results on open science platforms, though these findings haven’t been peer-reviewed — meaning the wider scientific community hasn’t yet vetted the data formally.

The Debate Around Vaccine Beer

Unsurprisingly, this brew has sparked lively debate:

Skeptics Raise Safety Flags:
Experts point out that Buck’s experiment involved only a few people — not the large, structured clinical trials typically required to prove whether a vaccine is safe and effective. That’s especially critical for vulnerable groups like organ transplant patients, who are at higher risk from polyomaviruses.

Concerns About Public Trust:
Some ethicists and scientists worry that releasing a vaccine-style beer outside rigorous studies could fuel misinformation or undermine confidence in proven vaccines.

A Different Perspective:
Other voices see promise in making vaccines more approachable. If people could brew or drink something familiar like beer to get immunity, it might reduce fear and barriers around vaccination — if it could ever be properly validated.

What’s Next?

Back at the NIH, Buck continues traditional research on an injectable polyomavirus vaccine. Meanwhile, his yeast-based approach remains unapproved by regulatory bodies like the FDA and outside established vaccine development pathways.

Buck argues that innovative methods are worth exploring — and that if people want to brew their own vaccine beer at home, that’s their choice. Whether beer as medicine becomes legend or just a curiosity, it’s already sparked a fascinating conversation at the intersection of brewing culture and cutting-edge science.

Sources and Citations

• ScienceNews: He made beer that’s also a vaccine. Now controversy is brewing
• Twitter: NEXTA

Follow The Beer Thrillers

For more updates on Pennsylvania brewery news, closures, openings, and expansions, follow The Beer Thrillers on social media and subscribe for the latest articles on the state’s ever-evolving craft beer scene.

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:

• MAPS OF BREWERIES

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 Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, 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 also now have a SLACK channel – which acts as a hybrid chat room, message board, Reddit style; workspace and posting area for us. You can hang out with us there and chat about all kinds of things – not just beer, but “off topic” things like movies, TV, books, podcasts, hiking, sports, and more! Join us at: The Beer Thrillers on SLACK.

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 May 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.)

Every beer lover knows there are year-round classics and then there are seasonal legends. In Mexico, there’s one beer that truly belongs to the holiday season—a dark, rich brew that locals look forward to all year: Noche Buena.

A Beer Wrapped in Tradition

Translated literally as “Good Night,” Noche Buena references Christmas Eve, the most celebrated night of the yuletide season in Mexico. While most commercial Mexican lagers are pale and light, this beer stands apart. A dark Bock-style seasonal, it only appears on shelves late each year, usually from October through December, making it one of the most anticipated beer releases of the year south of the border.

Unlike Mexico’s ubiquitous pale lagers, Noche Buena leans into something deeper and richer—a malty character with a smooth body and complex flavor profile that pairs beautifully with hearty winter and festive foods.

From House Brew to Holiday Favorite

The story of Noche Buena stretches back to the early 20th century. Brewed by Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma, a historic Mexican brewery now part of Heineken México, this beer was originally created as a special winter brew and has been produced as a holiday tradition for generations.

What makes it stand out is not just its seasonal scarcity, but the way it’s become culturally woven into the holiday calendar. For many Mexicans, opening a bottle of Noche Buena isn’t just having a beer—it’s a signal that the festive season has begun.

What to Expect in the Glass

Traditional Noche Buena pours a dark amber to deep reddish-brown, with aromas that evoke caramel, roasted malt, and gentle Christmas spices. On the palate, it carries a medium-to-full body with a balanced sweetness, light bitterness, and flavors that can include toasted malts, chocolate, and subtle fruit notes. Its alcohol content hovers around 5.9% ABV, giving it a warmth that suits cooler weather and festive gatherings.

This beer’s profile makes it a great companion to rich holiday fare—from spiced breads and roasted meats to darker desserts—but it’s also just as rewarding enjoyed slowly on its own as part of a seasonal beer tasting.

Why It Only Comes Once a Year

Like many winter seasonal beers both in Europe and North America, Noche Buena carries a tradition that ties it to specific climatic and cultural rhythms. Bocks historically were brewed for cold weather harvest and celebration seasons, and Noche Buena continues that pattern by appearing only during winter.

Its limited availability—combined with genuine affection from drinkers—means many beer lovers treat its release like the arrival of holiday lights: it just wouldn’t feel like December in Mexico without it.

Whether you’re lucky enough to track down a bottle in Mexico or see special seasonal imports crop up in select markets, Noche Buena is a fascinating example of how beer and tradition can become inseparable.

Sources

Sources and citations:

• Wikipedia – Beer in Mexico
• Wikipedia – Noche Buena
• Mexico News Daily
• BeerAdvocate
• El Financiero
• BBC: Noche Buena: The Mexican beer you can only buy at Christmas

Follow The Beer Thrillers

For more updates on Pennsylvania brewery news, closures, openings, and expansions, follow The Beer Thrillers on social media and subscribe for the latest articles on the state’s ever-evolving craft beer scene.

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:

• MAPS OF BREWERIES

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 Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, 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 also now have a SLACK channel – which acts as a hybrid chat room, message board, Reddit style; workspace and posting area for us. You can hang out with us there and chat about all kinds of things – not just beer, but “off topic” things like movies, TV, books, podcasts, hiking, sports, and more! Join us at: The Beer Thrillers on SLACK.

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 May 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.)

In shocking news, just moments ago (at 8:00 PM), ZeroDay Brewing announced that they will be closing their taproom on 3rd street in Harrisburg, PA. Located at 925 N. 3rd Street, Harrisburg, PA, United States, Pennsylvania, they stated that the taproom will be closing, but their brewery production will continue, and they will still maintain their outposts at the Broad Street Market and MidTown Cinema.

ZeroDay’s Announcement – Moving Forward with Gratitude

The Announcement

Just moments ago, at 8:00 PM on December 3rd, 2025, ZeroDay Brewing posted the following on their social media accounts:

Zeroday Brewing Company has made the very difficult decision to close the Zeroday Taproom on 3rd Street. Our final day of service will be Sunday, December 28, 2025.

Our brewing facility remains fully operational, and our Outposts at the @broadstreetmarket and @midtowncinema will continue serving the craft beer you know and love.

We are incredibly grateful for the community that gathered in our Taproom, for the celebrations, collaborations, concerts, dinners, and conversations that made the space so special. Thank you to our extraordinary staff and to every guest who walked through our doors.

Zeroday began with a belief that everyone deserves a moment to pause and find their own “zeroday.” That belief continues. We look forward to welcoming you at the Broad Street Market, Midtown Cinema, and events around town — and to sharing more moments with you at the Taproom through December 28.

#zerodaybrewing #ZerodayTaproom #findyourzerøday #craftbeer #supportlocal

– ZeroDay Brewing Facebook Post

For More Information on ZeroDay Brewing

The following comes via Untappd.

• ZeroDay Brewing – Official Website
• ZeroDay Brewing – Facebook
• ZeroDay Brewing – Instagram
• ZeroDay Brewing – Untappd

So day two of found me waking up just outside of Washington PA and beginning my day with a trip to Oglebay park to hike the Driehorst Trail.

The route for Black Friday Trip Day 2, starting at Oglebay Park

As with the previous day’s route and itinerary – Black Friday Weekend Trip – be sure to take a look at our Instagram account, where it shows the beers and each of the places I visited.  (And while you’re there, be sure to follow us. We’d really appreciate it.)

Oglebay Park – Driehorst Trail

My first stop for the day took me just outside of Wheeling, West Virginia for a beautiful little hiking trail as part of the Oglebay Park. There I hiked the Driehorst Trail, as well as walked around the Falls Vista trail, the junction, and around the education center. Absolutely beautiful area and it looked like there was still so much more to see and do there especially for families with children.

Brewkeepers

My first brewery stop of the day was inside Wheeling, WV itself. In a quaint little area filled with antique markets and all kinds of things was a spot called Brewkeepers. People were watching the game on the TV at the bar and had it filled up, so I grabbed a Rauchbier – Scut Farkas – and sat in the back corner and read.

Wheeling Island Casino and Racetrack

On my way to get into Ohio, I crossed off Wheeling Island. Which is pretty much like what City Island is to Harrisburg. And with a casino there, I had to stop. As a former table games dealers any time I see a new casino, I always have to poke my nose in there and just take a look around. While inside I enjoyed an IPA by Big Timer. (And yes, thats the beer name – IPA.)

Belmont Brewerks

My first brewery into Ohio for the year and its near the very end of the year. In Martins Ferry, Ohio, is Belmont Brewerks, and from the sounds of the nearby people its more known for its food than its beer, but both were quite good. I had the Italian Sausage Sandwich for food, and for beer I had their Belmont Stout.

Hightower Brewing Company

Up a winding road in Rayland, OH, after crossing train tracks and death defying turns, you’ll reach Hightower Brewing Company, which had possibly the happiest and nicest brewer / bartender I’ve seen all trip. There I had The Great Punkin Charlie Brown Ale and Stumpdweller English Brown Ale.

Squids Brewery LLC

After this I reached Toronto, OH. Already on my list, but also recommended by the brewer at Hightower Brewing Company, Squids Brewery LLC was a rocking jamming frat party place and atmosphere at 5 PM on a Saturday night at the end of November. I had the Knotty But Nice stout and made my way back into Pennsylvania.

Coal Tipple Brewing

Back into Pennsylvania, I reached Burgettestown. At the Kramer Farms is a little brewery called Coal Tipple Brewery. Inside what looks like it could pass as an Amish road-side greenhouse and novelty shop (ok… not Amish, but maybe Mennonite), was a fabulously delicious Peanut Butter Porter.

Helicon Brewing

Planning on making the brand new Grist House Command Station my last spot I made my way there, but just before reaching there I found Helicon Brewing. Who am I to pass up the chance at trying another brewery? Inside I found myself chatting up sports with a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and another local who seemed to foster the complete Philadelphian style attitude for his Steelers. They also had a delicious Dunkel Lager.

Grist House Brewery – Command Station

Just recently opened (Grist House Brewery Command Station Opening), the Grist House Brewery’s Command Station used to be a missile command site. And boom (see what I did there?) they had me instantly with a Black IPA – Hops of Darkness. And damn was it explosively good. (Ok…. I’ll stop there.) I also got a thing of fries and made my way to my hotel for the night.

Tomorrow will be my last day on the trip and the last day in the area before heading back home. No plans and not quite sure where I’ll end up tomorrow. Planning on possibly Lincoln Avenue Brewery, and maybe the new(ish) Allusion Brewing Taproom. Especially since they won our 2025 Battle of the Breweries championship. But who knows, weather also doesn’t look the greatest, and it is a four some hour drive home.

Follow The Beer Thrillers

For more updates on Pennsylvania brewery news, closures, openings, and expansions, follow The Beer Thrillers on social media and subscribe for the latest articles on the state’s ever-evolving craft beer scene. Search for us on all of your favorite social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, BlueSky, etc.) – search “THE BEER THRILLERS”.Thanksg

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:

• MAPS OF BREWERIES

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 Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, 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 also now have a SLACK channel – which acts as a hybrid chat room, message board, Reddit style; workspace and posting area for us. You can hang out with us there and chat about all kinds of things – not just beer, but “off topic” things like movies, TV, books, podcasts, hiking, sports, and more! Join us at: The Beer Thrillers on SLACK.

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 May 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.)

A beloved vegan restaurant and a craft beer brewery in Harrisburg is closing their doors after an eleven year run. Their final day will be on November 29th, 2025. Their Harrisburg location is at 614 N 2nd St, Harrisburg, PA 17101. They also have a location in Carlisle and a vendor stand in Hershey.

The Vegetable Hunter’s social media announcement

The Announcement

After 11½ years of plant-based magic, mayhem, miracles, and memories, we’re closing our doors.
We’ve seen it all- the beautiful, the hilarious, the unforgettable.
Every guest, every employee, every amazing and wonderfully weird moment has left a mark on this little vegan corner of the world.

Tomorrow, 11/29/25, is our last day.
Come through, grab a bite, tip the crew, soak in the vibe.

A new restaurant will be taking over soon, not fully vegan, but offering plenty of vegan love to keep the option open and the spirit alive.

Thank you for being part of our journey.
Stay kind. Stay wild. Stay plant-powered.
K & J
The Vegetable Hunter

– The Vegetable Hunter (Instagram Post)

One of many Central PA (and national) breweries closing. The Vegetable Hunter was much more than just a craft brewery however. They were the premiere vegan restaurant in the Harrisburg, Carlisle, and Hershey areas of Central PA and received much celebrated attention for their foods, as well as their beers. They will be missed both from the brewery scene as well as from the restaurant scene. Especially in Harrisburg.

For More Information on The Vegetable Hunter

The following comes via Untappd.

The Vegetable Hunter is a nano brewery from Harrisburg, PA. They have 182 unique beers and over 4,100 ratings with a global average rating of 3.7 (as of 11.28.25). Their Untappd description reads: “Boutique brewery located in Harrisburg, PA. We handcraft each batch of beer onsite, 1 BBL at a time. It’s small batch brewing using fresh and unexpected ingredients. The beer recipes are crafted to complement the seasonal food featured in our restaurant. We utilize PA grown malts, hops, fruits, herbs and vegetables as much as possible. Our beer lineup is constantly changing, but you can always expect to see approachable, hop-forward ales and rustic row house ales (Saison, Grisette, etc.).”

You can follow them at these social media platforms:

• The Vegetable Hunter – Official Website
• The Vegetable Hunter – Facebook
• The Vegetable Hunter – Twitter
• The Vegetable Hunter – Instagram
• The Vegetable Hunter – Untappd

Thanksgiving at The Beer Thrillers household usually means one thing: yes, the kids are arguing over who gets the wishbone, the pies are cooling on the counter, and the Macy’s parade is droning in the background — but most importantly, a Pennsylvania craft beer is getting cracked and poured into whatever dish I’m cooking. Because if you’re not using local beer in your holiday feast… what are you doing?

This year, we’re going with a full-on PA-powered centerpiece: a Maple–Brown Ale Glazed Turkey, roasted low and slow, basted in a malty, caramel-rich glaze made with one of Pennsylvania’s best fall beers: Troegs’ Troegenator Doppelbock or Victory’s Festbier (both work beautifully and are easy to find statewide). The result is a turkey that’s juicy, glossy, sweet, savory, and unapologetically Pennsylvanian.

Below is the complete recipe, along with a few craft-beer-pairing side suggestions to turn your Thanksgiving table into a full flight of PA brew goodness.

Maple–Brown Ale Glazed Turkey Recipe Card

For More Thanksgiving Themed Articles

See our other Thanksgiving themed articles:

• What Did the Pilgrims Really Drink at the First Thanksgiving?
• Munching on Some Thanksgiving Leftovers (Amy’s Column Series)
• Recipe: Crispy Beer Roast Turkey (using Troegenator)

Maple–Brown Ale Glazed Turkey (Made with Pennsylvania Craft Beer)

Beer Recommendation

Pick one of these PA craft beers depending on your flavor goals:

• Troegs Troegenator Doppelbock – Dark fruit, caramel, toffee; slightly sweet.
  Perfect for a deep, rich, almost BBQ-like glaze.

• Victory Festbier – Clean, bready, slightly sweet malt.
  Lighter, more delicate, but still beautifully malty.

• Weyerbacher Merry Monks – If you want a more Belgian, fruity twist.

For the recipe below, I’ll assume Troegenator, because very little says “Pennsylvania in November” more than that purple-labeled doppelbock.

Ingredients

The Turkey

• 1 whole turkey (12–16 lbs), thawed

• 2 tbsp kosher salt

• 1 tbsp black pepper

• 1 tbsp smoked paprika

• 2 tsp garlic powder

• 1 tsp dried thyme

• 1 tsp dried sage

• Olive oil or melted butter (2–3 tbsp)

Aromatics (for inside the turkey)

• 1 orange, quartered

• 1 small onion, halved

• 3–4 garlic cloves

• Fresh rosemary, thyme, and sage

The Beer–Maple Glaze

• 1 ½ cups Troegenator Doppelbock (or your PA beer of choice)

• ½ cup pure Pennsylvania maple syrup

• ¼ cup apple cider

• 2 tbsp soy sauce

• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard

• 1 tbsp brown sugar

• 3 tbsp butter

• Pinch of salt & pepper

Instructions

1. Prep the Turkey

1. Remove giblets and pat the turkey dry.

2. Mix the salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, thyme, and sage.

3. Rub the turkey generously with olive oil or butter, then coat with the seasoning blend.

4. Stuff the cavity with the orange, onion, garlic, and herbs.

5. Place on a roasting rack in a large pan.

2. Make the Beer Glaze

1. In a medium saucepan, combine Troegenator, maple syrup, cider, soy sauce, Dijon, and brown sugar.

2. Bring to a simmer and reduce by roughly one-third (about 15–20 minutes).

3. Whisk in the butter until glossy.

4. Remove from heat and set aside — it will thicken slightly as it cools.

This stuff smells like caramelized heaven. Resist the urge to drink it.

3. Roast the Turkey

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.

2. Roast the turkey uncovered for 1 hour.

3. Start basting with the beer glaze every 20–30 minutes.

4. Continue roasting until the internal temperature hits 165°F in the thickest part of the thigh (usually about 3–3.5 more hours).

5. If the bird is browning too quickly, tent with foil.

Your kitchen will smell like a brewery decided to host Thanksgiving. This is a good thing.

4. Finish & Rest

When the turkey reaches temp, remove from oven and let it rest 20–30 minutes before carving. Brush once more with warmed glaze for that Instagram-ready shine.

Flavor Notes (Because This Is The Beer Thrillers)

A Troegenator glaze gives you:

• Deep caramelized sugar from the doppelbock malt

• Notes of date, fig, and dark fruit

• Rich mahogany color

• A slightly sticky, sweet–savory crust

• Incredible drippings for gravy

If you go with Victory Festbier instead, the turkey comes out lighter and more bready-malt forward — still spectacular, just less intense.

Suggested Pennsylvania Craft Beer Pairings

Serve your turkey with any of these PA craft beer gems:

• Troegs Blizzard of Hops – juicy, bright, seasonal, balances the turkey’s sweetness

• Neshaminy Creek Shape of Hops to Come – for hopheads who want bitterness with the rich glaze

• Rotunda Cran-Gose (Annville) – tart, salty, and the sleeper hit of the meal

• Imprint’s Schmoojee Cranberry variants – dessert in a glass, but pairs amazingly well

Bonus: “Beer in Every Side” Pairing Ideas

Because why stop at the turkey?

Hop-Infused Mashed Potatoes

Stir ½ cup of slightly warmed Troegs Sunshine Pilsner into your mashed potatoes with butter and cream — it adds a grassy, herbal brightness.

Brown Ale Stuffing

Use Lancaster Brewing’s Winter Warmer or Yards Brawler in your stuffing liquid. Absolute game-changer.

Stout Sweet Potatoes

Glaze roasted sweet potatoes with Yuengling Hershey’s Chocolate Porter (still PA! still craft-adjacent enough!). Chocolate + sweet potato = chef’s kiss. (If you have any left. They stopped making this two years ago. A good new substitute would be Troegs Chocolate Elf.)

Final Thoughts: A Thanksgiving Made the PA Way

If you’re a regular reader of The Beer Thrillers, you know that Pennsylvania isn’t just a craft beer state — it’s the craft beer state. From the giants (Tröegs, Victory, Yuengling) to the small-town killers (Boneshire Brew Workst, Rotunda, YAH Brew, Sworn Brewing, Sterling Pig, Forest & Main), the Commonwealth knows how to brew something for every season.

And Thanksgiving — with all its comfort, nostalgia, chaos, and warmth — is the perfect canvas to show off what Pennsylvania beer can do in the kitchen.

If you end up making this recipe, send pictures or tag us on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter. And let me know which PA beer you picked — I’m always curious what everyone’s pouring and cooking with.

Happy Thanksgiving, and cheers from The Beer Thrillers!

Follow The Beer Thrillers

For more updates on Pennsylvania brewery news, closures, openings, and expansions, follow The Beer Thrillers on social media and subscribe for the latest articles on the state’s ever-evolving craft beer scene. Search for us on all of your favorite social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, BlueSky, etc.) – search “THE BEER THRILLERS”.Thanksg

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:

• MAPS OF BREWERIES

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 Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, 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 also now have a SLACK channel – which acts as a hybrid chat room, message board, Reddit style; workspace and posting area for us. You can hang out with us there and chat about all kinds of things – not just beer, but “off topic” things like movies, TV, books, podcasts, hiking, sports, and more! Join us at: The Beer Thrillers on SLACK.

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 May 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.)

It’s sobering when one of the craft-beer world’s landmark names draws the curtain early. After 37 years, Rogue Ales & Spirits has stunned the industry and its loyal followers by shutting down its Newport, Oregon, production operations and all associated restaurant/taproom venues seemingly overnight. The move marks a dramatic fall for a company that helped define the Pacific Northwest craft-beer boom—and underscores the harsh remains of a beer market in contraction.

Just this past week we reported on Hell in a Bucket Brewing closing and West Connection Beer Vault closing.

Rogue Ales was a Top 50 Brewery (production size) for the country. Their production facility was located at 2320 SE Marine Science Dr, Newport, OR 97365 (which Google already lists as ‘Temporarily Closed’ just six hours after the announcement).

Rogue Ales Nation (photo courtesy of Rogue Ales and Spirits)

What Went Down

On Friday morning, the team at the Port of Newport was informed that Rogue would be vacating its 47,000-square-foot facility in South Beach—home to its brewery, warehouse, and flagship pub. Immediately thereafter, closure signs appeared at Rogue’s locations in Astoria, West Salem and Southeast Portland.
The financial troublescape is stark: Rogue reportedly owed roughly $545,000 in back rent to the Port of Newport, plus more than $30,000 in local taxes. That kind of liability postures a brewery once ambitious enough to distribute nationally in peril.

A Legacy in the Rear-View Mirror

Founded in Ashland, Oregon in 1988, Rogue rapidly became a cornerstone of the craft-beer revolution. Its Newport relocation in 1989 placed it on the coast, with a workhorse production facility and multiple pub outposts. For decades, it rode the craft-wave, achieving national distribution and resonating with beer lovers beyond Oregon’s borders.

Yet the past few years haven’t been kind. The craft beer sector is grappling with declining sales, rising overheads, labor and supply-chain costs—and even for stalwarts like Rogue, the pressure has mounted. For example, while Oregon’s craft segment shrank by roughly 4 percent in 2024, Rogue’s sales reportedly dropped by around 18 percent. The company tried to pivot—closing its distilling operations and seeking new lease terms—but the pace and scale of contraction appears to have overwhelmed the effort.

Why This Matters for The Craft Beer Community

• Symbolic loss: Rogue was part of the “first wave” of craft breweries. Its collapse suggests even established brands are not immune in the current climate.

• Distribution ripple effects: As Rogue supplied a wide area, the closure may shake taprooms, liquor stores and beer-buyers who stocked its lines.

• Local job impacts: Sources say about 60 people worked at the Newport facility—now abruptly a “closed” asset. *

• Regional identity hit: What gets lost when a longtime brand disappears? Part of Oregon’s beer narrative just took a sharp turn.

• (Source: The Washington Beer Blog)

What Went Wrong (and Key Takeaways for Breweries)

1. High fixed costs + big production footprint: Rogue’s 47,000 sq ft plant meant large overhead; when sales dip, those fixed costs bite hard.

2. National ambitions amid contraction: Expanding into national channels might spread brand reach—but it also widens exposure to macro‐headwinds. As distribution pressures mount, staying nimble locally may be smarter.

3. Market contraction is real: With declining craft-beer consumption and more players in the field, even successful breweries face margin compression.

4. Lease and tax liabilities escalate quickly: Back rent and tax bills piled up—what may have been manageable when growth was strong becomes untenable when growth halts.

5. Employee risk & abrupt closures: Reports say staff were notified via the company scheduling app and given no severance. Breweries must manage crisis planning—not just for operations but for people.

The Final Pour

As I sit here reflecting on this closure from Pennsylvania, I can’t help but feel a tinge of melancholy. Rogue’s story has been part of the craft beer tapestry, and it’s painful to see the lights go out—not just for the brand but for the people who poured their passion into it, the communities it touched, and the beer culture it helped shape.

For “The Beer Thrillers,” this is both a cautionary tale and a teachable moment. The beer industry isn’t immune to disruption, even for those with legacy. For you, the beer lover, brewer, or blog-writer: let this be fuel—not just for reflection, but for action. Stay aware of your overheads, lean into local, monitor your distribution strategy—and most of all, stay agile.

Raise a pint to Rogue Ales & Spirits—their journey ends today, but the lessons echo onward. May future breweries learn from the rise and the fall. Rogue Ales was certainly one of the early craft breweries I got a taste of in the 2000s, along with Bell’s, Founders, Stone, and the other industry giants of the time. The craft beer bubble bursting and its effects and impacts are certainly being felt across the entire industry in all the different aspects of it, from small to big and from big to small.

Cheers.

For More Information on Rogue Ales

The following comes via Untappd.

They are listed to have 0 unique beers, because Untappd has already moved them to “closed” and has them under “This brewery is no longer in production”. (Not sure why this means they have to set them to 0 unique beers though.) They are listed as being from Newport, Oregon and a regional brewery. They have over 2.7 million check ins, and an average rating of 3.68 (as of 11.14.25). Their Untappd description reads: “Rogue Ales & Spirits was founded in Oregon in 1988 as one of America’s first microbreweries. Rogue has won more than 2,000 awards for taste, quality and packaging, and is available in all 50 states as well as 54 countries. Proudly rooted in Newport Oregon, Rogue’s beers, spirits, cocktails, seltzers and sodas are a liquid ode to Oregon and the endless inspiration that its land, its sea and its people provide. ”

You can follow them on these social media outlets:

• Rogue Ales and Spirits – Official Website
• Rogue Ales and Spirits – Facebook
• Rogue Ales and Spirits – Twitter
• Rogue Ales and Spirits – Instagram
• Rogue Ales and Spirits – Untappd