Some brewery releases announce themselves with a bigger hop bill or another round of fruit additions. Others take a quieter route: an interesting style, a familiar brewing tradition, and a flavor description that makes you stop scrolling.

Tröegs’ Scratch #561 Weizenbock belongs in that second category. A recent addition to the Hershey brewery’s experimental series, it checks in at 6.8% ABV with brewery-described notes of banana bread, candied clove, and subtle black pepper. That sounds like a pretty convincing invitation to explore something beyond the usual fall beer rotation.

The Beer at a Glance

Scratch 561 – Weizenbock by Troegs Brewing Company

• Brewery: Tröegs Independent Brewing

• Location: Hershey, Pennsylvania

• Series: Scratch

• Release number: 561

• Style: Weizenbock

• ABV: 6.8%

• Brewery tasting notes: Banana bread, candied clove, subtle black pepper.

A Scratch Release Worth Slowing Down For

The appeal of the Scratch Series is right there in its purpose. Tröegs describes its small-batch Scratch beers and three-barrel Scratch Lab as places to explore the relationship between ingredients, technique, and flavor. These releases give drinkers a look at a side of the brewery that extends beyond the familiar year-round lineup.

Scratch #561 arrived among a recent group of releases that also included Scratch #559 Blueberry Gose and Scratch #560 Roggenbier. That lineup offers three different reasons to pay attention, rather than three variations on the same idea. For this review, the Weizenbock’s combination of bread-like fruit character and spice makes it the most intriguing starting point.

Aroma and Flavor: More Bakery Than Candy Shop

“Banana bread” is the description doing the heavy lifting here. It suggests a different direction from a straightforward banana note: something rounded and bread-like, with fruit folded into the overall impression rather than standing apart from it.

That is an interpretation of the brewery’s wording, not a claim about a glass in front of us. Still, it provides a useful starting point for understanding what Tröegs wants drinkers to notice. Banana bread is the first descriptor on the brewery’s menu, followed by candied clove and subtle black pepper.

The distinction between those two spice notes is especially interesting. “Candied clove” evokes a sweeter aromatic impression, while “subtle black pepper” points toward a restrained counterpoint. Neither description establishes that actual candy or pepper went into the beer; they are tasting notes, not an ingredient list.

Taken together, the published profile suggests a beer built around complementary flavors rather than one dominant attraction. The question for a firsthand tasting would be how those elements interact: whether the banana-bread character leads throughout, how prominently the clove presents itself, and whether the pepper emerges most clearly toward the finish.

A Different Kind of Fall Beer Story

What makes Scratch #561 an appealing subject isn’t simply that its tasting notes sound seasonally appropriate. It’s that the beer offers a different story to tell.

There is room in the fall rotation for a release whose calling card is banana bread and spice rather than a familiar seasonal label. At 6.8% ABV, this Weizenbock also has a clearly stated identity without needing an enormous alcohol number to attract attention. Its interest lies in that specific combination of style and brewery-described flavor.

For a Central Pennsylvania beer audience, that makes it a worthwhile example of what the Scratch program contributes: another reason to look beyond the beers you already recognize and see what the brewery is working on next. Exploration is the program’s stated purpose, and a Weizenbock gives that mission a different expression from another hop-forward release.

Final Thoughts

Scratch #561 Weizenbock has an enticing premise: banana-bread character, candied-clove aromatics, a touch of black pepper, and a 6.8% ABV framework. Those details make it a compelling recent Scratch release to feature, particularly for readers interested in the malt-and-spice side of Tröegs’ experimentation.

There are a few things I look forward to every fall: cooler weather, changing leaves, the return of football, and, of course, Oktoberfest beers. While some people celebrate the season by pulling out their sweaters and decorating their porches with pumpkins, I prefer to celebrate with a good beer in hand. And when it comes to seasonal releases, Sierra Nevada is a brewery that knows how to make an impression.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. has built a reputation for producing quality craft beer, and its annual Oktoberfest release is another opportunity to showcase what happens when American craft brewing meets German brewing tradition. For its 2026 edition, Sierra Nevada teamed up with Bavaria’s Hoppebräu to create a Festbier that balances traditional malt character with a little modern American hop personality.

Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest (Hoppebräu collaboration) (2026)

The Beer: Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest (2026 Hoppebräu Collaboration)

Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

Style: Festbier

ABV: 6.0%

Appearance

Pouring this beer into a glass brings out the golden appearance you’d expect from a modern Festbier. It’s an inviting-looking lager that feels right at home alongside a plate of German sausages, a soft pretzel, or whatever else happens to be on the menu at your local Oktoberfest celebration.

It’s not trying to be some dark, mysterious stout that requires a philosophical discussion before the first sip. This is a beer that looks like it wants to get the party started.

Aroma

The aroma leans into the malt side of things, with a pleasant bready character reminiscent of freshly baked bread. There’s a touch of honey-like sweetness, accompanied by subtle floral and herbal notes from the hops.

It’s an appealing combination that gives the beer some character without overwhelming the senses. Nothing here needs to scream for attention. Sometimes a beer can make its point without shouting across the bar.

Taste

The malt character is where this Oktoberfest makes its strongest impression. Expect a combination of bready, biscuity malt flavors and a gentle sweetness that brings honey to mind. The Munich and Pilsner malts provide the foundation, while the hops add a floral, herbal counterpoint.

That balance is important. Malt-forward beers can occasionally become a little too sweet or heavy, particularly when you’re drinking them alongside a meal. The hop character helps keep things in check, adding enough contrast to prevent the malt from dominating the entire experience.

The collaboration with Hoppebräu also gives this year’s release an interesting identity. Sierra Nevada brings its American craft-brewing experience to the table, while its Bavarian partner helps keep the beer grounded in German tradition. The result is a modern interpretation of an Oktoberfest beer rather than an attempt to reinvent the style entirely.

Mouthfeel and Drinkability

At 6% ABV, this Festbier has enough strength to feel substantial without turning into a heavyweight. Its medium-bodied character and clean lager finish make it suitable for sipping alongside food or enjoying while catching up with friends.

And that’s really the appeal of a good Oktoberfest beer. You want something with enough flavor to keep you interested, but not so much weight or intensity that one glass feels like a commitment.

It’s the kind of beer that fits naturally into a fall afternoon, whether you’re sitting around a backyard fire, watching football, or taking a break from whatever responsibilities adulthood has decided to throw your way this week.

Final Thoughts

Sierra Nevada’s Oktoberfest is a reminder that a seasonal beer doesn’t need to be complicated to be enjoyable. A solid malt backbone, complementary hop character, and a crisp finish are a pretty good foundation for a beer designed to celebrate the arrival of autumn.

The annual German brewery collaboration adds another layer of interest, and the 2026 partnership with Hoppebräu gives this release a distinctly modern Festbier identity. If you’re looking for a fall beer that balances traditional German-inspired flavors with Sierra Nevada’s craft-brewing sensibilities, this one deserves a spot on your seasonal shopping list.

Oktoberfest beers won’t solve life’s problems, unfortunately. If they did, I’d have a few more steins and considerably fewer questions about the universe. But they can make a chilly autumn evening a little more enjoyable, and there’s something to be said for that.

So grab a pretzel, raise a glass, and enjoy the season while it lasts. As always, prost!

Cheers!

B. Kline
The Beer Thrillers

Dylan Austin reached out to me wondering if I would be interested in getting a tumbler from Revive Drinkware with our logo on it. Without asking for a review or anything in return, all he asked for was our logo on the tumbler, and before I knew it, it was in my hands, and ready for a cold beer inside of it. So I want to say thank you to Dylan Austin and Revive Drinkware for the Tumbler, and for reaching out to us and thinking of us, and for the great job they did with the logo and the tumbler itself. You can find their website here: Revive Drinkware. Also, I will be discussing how I drank the XX Anniversary Beer by Jackie O’s Brewery in this review. To read the beer review of that, go here: XX Anniversary Blend.

XX Anniversary Blend by Jackie O’s Brewery in a Revive Tumbler

REVIVE Tumbler Review: Drinking Great Beer With Your Own Branding

Every now and then, you come across a product that makes you appreciate something you already enjoy doing just a little bit more. For me, that means drinking great craft beer, discovering new breweries, and occasionally finding something that makes the entire experience a little more enjoyable. Enter the REVIVE Tumbler.

If you follow The Beer Thrillers, you know I’m always looking for new beers to try, new breweries to explore, and new ways to enjoy this wonderful, occasionally wallet-destroying hobby. But while most of the attention understandably goes toward what’s inside the glass, the vessel itself deserves a little recognition, too.

And when REVIVE gave me the opportunity to feature a tumbler sporting The Beer Thrillers’ very own logo, well, you can imagine that got my attention.

Putting the REVIVE Tumbler to the Test

I recently put the REVIVE Tumbler to use with a beer that certainly deserved a little extra attention: XX Anniversary Blend from Jackie O’s Brewery.

As I discussed in my review of XX Anniversary Blend here on The Beer Thrillers, this is no ordinary beer. At 14.8% ABV, this anniversary blend brings together 16 barrels of stout and barleywine-style ales, creating the kind of big, ambitious beer that practically demands you slow down and appreciate what you’re drinking.

Naturally, I figured this would be an excellent opportunity to give the REVIVE Tumbler a proper outing.

There’s something particularly fitting about pairing a special occasion beer with a dedicated drinking vessel. When you’re opening a beer like XX Anniversary Blend, you’re not exactly looking to knock it back like a cheap lager at a backyard barbecue. This is a beer to sit with, examine, savor, and contemplate while wondering whether your next beer purchase should really cost as much as it does.

Using the REVIVE Tumbler added another element to that experience. It became part of the presentation, part of the ritual, and part of the enjoyment of sitting down with a beer worth remembering.

And yes, it looked pretty damn good doing it.

The Beer Thrillers Logo: A Personal Touch

Revive Tumbler featuring The Beer Thrillers logo with the XX Anniversary Beer from Jackie O’s Brewery

Let’s be honest: I’m a little biased when it comes to seeing The Beer Thrillers’ logo on things. After building this blog and spending years writing about craft beer, breweries, and the people behind them, seeing the brand represented on something I can actually use is pretty satisfying.

One of my favorite aspects of this tumbler is that REVIVE put The Beer Thrillers’ logo right on it.

That personal touch takes the tumbler beyond being just another piece of drinkware. It gives it a connection to the blog and the community I’ve been building around craft beer. It’s one thing to put a logo on a website or a social media profile; it’s another to have it on something that comes along for the ride when you’re sitting down to enjoy a great beer.

I also appreciate that it gives me another way to represent The Beer Thrillers outside the digital world. The blog has always been about more than simply listing tasting notes and assigning opinions to whatever happens to be in my glass. It’s about the experiences, the stories, the breweries, and the people who make craft beer such an enjoyable hobby.

Having our logo on the tumbler feels like a natural extension of that.

I even featured the REVIVE Tumbler on Instagram at @the_beer_thrillers, alongside my craft beer content. If you’ve seen that post, you already know this isn’t just a product sitting in a cupboard waiting for a special occasion. It’s something I’ve incorporated into my actual beer-drinking experience.

(Beer Review: XX Anniversary Blend (Jackie Os Brewery) (XX Anniversary Blend by Jackie O’s Brewery: Twenty Years of Brewing, One Big Barrel-Aged Celebration))

Why the Glassware Matters

I’m not going to pretend that buying a new tumbler will magically transform an average beer into an award-winning masterpiece. If a beer isn’t good, no amount of fancy glassware is going to save it. And if a brewery makes something exceptional, chances are I’m going to enjoy it regardless of what I’m drinking it from.

But presentation and the overall drinking experience do matter.

Craft beer is full of little rituals. You choose the beer, inspect the label, pour it, take in the appearance, smell the aromas, and finally get to work figuring out what the brewer was trying to accomplish. Sometimes you discover something unexpected. Sometimes you find a new favorite. Sometimes you spend twenty minutes trying to decide whether that flavor is dark chocolate, roasted malt, caramel, or just your imagination getting carried away.

That’s part of the fun.

A good drinking vessel becomes part of that process. And when you’re enjoying a complex, high-ABV beer like Jackie O’s XX Anniversary Blend, taking your time is practically mandatory. Having a tumbler that I enjoy using makes that experience feel a little more personal.

Of course, the custom logo doesn’t hurt, either.

Final Thoughts: Is the REVIVE Tumbler Worth a Spot in Your Beer Collection?

For me, the REVIVE Tumbler has already earned a place in my craft beer routine. I’ve used it to enjoy Jackie O’s XX Anniversary Blend, featured it on Instagram, and had the opportunity to see The Beer Thrillers’ branding represented on a product I can actually put to use.

That combination makes it more meaningful to me than a generic piece of drinkware.

Would I recommend finding a good drinking vessel for your favorite craft beers? Absolutely. Do you need a branded tumbler to appreciate a great stout, barleywine, or imperial stout? Of course not. But when a product combines practical use with a personal connection to something you care about, it can make an already enjoyable hobby feel that little bit more special.

And if you’re a fellow beer blogger, brewery enthusiast, or someone who simply appreciates having a favorite piece of drinkware, there’s something pretty cool about having your own branding on the vessel you’re using to enjoy your next beer.

As for me, I’ll keep putting the REVIVE Tumbler to work. There are plenty more beers to drink, plenty more breweries to discover, and plenty more excuses to sit down with something interesting in my glass.

Cheers!

B. Kline
Founder & Writer, The Beer Thrillers
TheBeerThrillers.com
Instagram: @the_beer_thrillers

Some beers are meant to be cracked open on a random Tuesday night. Others deserve a little more attention. And then there are beers like XX Anniversary Blend from Jackie O’s Brewery, which practically demand that you slow down, find a comfortable seat, and give yourself some time to appreciate what’s in the glass.

Brewed to celebrate Jackie O’s twentieth anniversary, this barrel-aged blend brings together two of my favorite categories of big, bold beer: stouts and barleywines. At a hefty 14.8% ABV, this isn’t exactly a session beer, unless your idea of a session involves one carefully poured glass and absolutely nowhere to be for the next couple of hours. The brewery combines 16 barrels of single- and multiple-vintage stouts and barleywine-style ales to create a beer built around rich toffee, chocolate, and oak-derived vanilla character.

And honestly, combining stout and barleywine sounds like a pretty good way to celebrate two decades of brewing.

The Beer: XX Anniversary Blend

XX Anniversary Blend by Jackie O’s Brewery in a Revive Tumbler

Beer: XX Anniversary Blend

Brewery: Jackie O’s Brewery · Athens, Ohio

Description Notes: A blend of barrel-aged stouts and barleywine-style ales, created for the brewery’s 20th anniversary.

What makes this beer particularly interesting is that it’s not simply a stout with a little barleywine thrown into the mix, or a barleywine trying to borrow some of a stout’s personality. The concept is to bring together the characteristics of both styles and let them complement one another.

A good barrel-aged stout can deliver roasted malt, dark chocolate, and a deep, almost dessert-like richness. A good barleywine brings its own malt-forward character, caramel sweetness, dried-fruit complexity, and warming alcohol. Put them together, and there’s plenty of potential for a beer that offers something a little different from either style on its own.

The trick, of course, is balance. At nearly 15% ABV, a beer can easily become a boozy, syrupy mess if the individual elements don’t play nicely together. The appeal of a blend like this is seeing whether the barrel character, dark malt, and rich sweetness can come together as something cohesive rather than competing for attention.

A Toast to Barleywines

If you’ve read my recent review of #400 Barleywine by Boneshire Brew Works, you already know I’ve been giving barleywines some attention lately. And there’s a reason for that: I genuinely enjoy the style.

Barleywines are one of those beer styles that deserve more appreciation than they sometimes get. They’re big, they’re bold, and they don’t apologize for being either. They can deliver layers of caramel, toffee, dark fruit, malt sweetness, and alcohol warmth, with enough variation between brewers and vintages to keep things interesting. They’re beers that reward patience, and they’re often better when you take your time instead of treating them like just another can in the fridge.

That’s a big part of the appeal for me. I enjoy beers that give you something to think about while you’re drinking them. Barleywines have that ability to turn a simple beer into an experience, especially when barrel aging enters the picture.

And that’s where XX Anniversary Blend gets particularly interesting. Rather than presenting a barleywine on its own, Jackie O’s has brought it together with barrel-aged stouts. The result is an opportunity to explore the overlap between two styles that I think deserve a place in any serious craft beer enthusiast’s rotation.

My recent #400 review was a celebration of barleywine in its own right. This beer takes that appreciation in a different direction, pairing the style’s malt-forward foundation with the darker, richer character of barrel-aged stout. For someone who enjoys barleywines, that’s a combination worth exploring.

(See Beer Review: #400 by Boneshire Brew Works)

Drinking XX Anniversary Blend With the Revive Tumbler

Revive Tumbler featuring The Beer Thrillers logo with the XX Anniversary Beer from Jackie O’s Brewery

I’ll admit that glassware and drinkware can be an overlooked part of the beer-drinking experience. We spend plenty of time talking about the brewery, the ingredients, the ABV, and the flavors, but what we drink out of matters, too. The Revive Tumbler brings a different approach to enjoying a beer, particularly if you’re looking for a reusable, practical drinking vessel rather than reaching for a traditional pint glass every time. Since I haven’t verified the exact model and specifications of the tumbler featured on my Instagram, I’ll leave the technical claims aside. What matters here is that it was the vessel I chose for this pour. And with a beer as substantial as XX Anniversary Blend, the occasion is as much about slowing down and enjoying the experience as it is about what’s in the can. If you missed the original feature, head over to The Beer Thrillers on Instagram to check it out.

There is something fitting about pairing a twenty-year anniversary beer with a piece of drinkware that has its own story to tell. Craft beer has always been about more than just the liquid. It’s the people, the places, the equipment, the glassware, the conversations, and the memories that come along with it. The tumbler was part of this particular beer experience, and that’s reason enough to give it a mention.

(See the Tumbler Review)

What to Expect From the Pour

XX Anniversary Beer by Jackie O’s

The brewery describes XX Anniversary Blend with notes of rich toffee, supple chocolate, and oaky vanillin, drawing on the combined character of its barrel-aged stouts and barleywines.

That flavor combination makes sense for a beer like this. Toffee and caramel-like malt notes provide a rich foundation, while chocolate brings in the darker, roasted side of the stout. The oak-derived vanilla character adds another dimension, connecting the malt and barrel influences.

The interesting question with a blend like this is which side takes the lead. Does the stout provide the dominant impression, with its chocolate and roasted character? Does the barleywine bring more caramel, fruit, and malt sweetness to the forefront? Or does the barrel aging tie everything together into something that doesn’t fit neatly into either category?

That interplay is what makes anniversary blends appealing. They give a brewery the opportunity to draw on years of brewing experience and bring different beers together in a way that tells a larger story.

Of course, a beer’s published tasting notes are only part of the picture. Every drinker’s experience is different, and I won’t pretend to have detected specific flavors or mouthfeel characteristics in my own pour without recording those impressions. What I can appreciate about the concept is the ambition behind it: a celebratory blend that brings two substantial beer styles together rather than relying on a single barrel-aged stout to do all the work.

Final Thoughts

XX Anniversary Blend is a fitting concept for celebrating twenty years of Jackie O’s Brewery. Bringing together barrel-aged stouts and barleywine-style ales gives this beer plenty of potential complexity, and the 14.8% ABV makes it a clear candidate for sipping rather than rushing through.

For me, the barleywine connection is what makes this one especially worth discussing. As I mentioned in my recent review of Boneshire Brew Works’ #400 Barleywine, I’m a fan of the style. I like the malt-forward character, the richness, and the way a good barleywine encourages you to take your time. Pairing those qualities with barrel-aged stout is an intriguing variation on that theme.

And naturally, I enjoyed this one with the Revive Tumbler featured on my Instagram at @the_beer_thrillers. It’s another reminder that the craft beer experience doesn’t stop at the brewery door or end when the can is opened. The beer, the vessel, and the occasion all play their part.

Twenty years of brewing is worth celebrating. And if you’re going to raise a glass to that kind of milestone, a blend of stout and barleywine seems like a pretty good way to do it.

Cheers, everyone!

— B. Kline, The Beer Thrillers

After eight years, more than two million visitors, hundreds of experimental beers and countless pints, the Guinness Open Gate Brewery in Halethorpe is coming to an end.

Guinness has announced that its Open Gate Brewery in Halethorpe, Maryland, will close to the public on Sunday, November 1, 2026.

For Maryland beer drinkers, Baltimore-area beer fans and anyone who made the trip to 5001 Washington Boulevard over the past eight years, the news marks the closing of one of the most ambitious brewery projects to arrive in the region in decades.

Diageo, the parent company of Guinness, announced the closure October 1, saying the decision followed a review of its operations and long-term business priorities. The company cited increasing operating costs, changing consumer demand and broader economic pressures as factors that made the Baltimore operation increasingly difficult to sustain.

The brewery’s operations are expected to completely wind down by the end of 2026.

And just like that, the Guinness gate in Baltimore is about to close.

Guinness Halethorpe Location

Guinness Open Gate Brewery in Halethorpe

The Guinness Open Gate Brewery is located at 5001 Washington Blvd, Halethorpe, MD 21227, just about 10 miles southwest of downtown Baltimore and a quick drive from BWI Airport

Guinness Social Media Posts

The following is their post to Instagram announcing their upcoming closure:

Guinness Open Gate’s post on Instagram

That was posted on their Instagram at Guinness Open Gate.

An Eight-Year Experiment

When Guinness Open Gate opened in 2018, it was a pretty big deal.

The facility represented Guinness’ return to brewing on American soil for the first time since 1954. The roughly $80-$90 million project transformed the former Maryland brewery site into something considerably more ambitious than simply another taproom.

There was a brewery.

There was a restaurant.

There was a large beer garden.

There were tours, tastings, events and experimental beers.

And, of course, there was Guinness.

The idea behind Open Gate was particularly interesting because Guinness wasn’t simply trying to recreate St. James’s Gate in Maryland. The concept gave Guinness brewers an opportunity to experiment, producing beers that could be served fresh to visitors and giving the massive international brand something resembling a local brewery personality.

It worked.

At least for a while.

The brewery welcomed approximately 400,000 visitors during its first year, exceeding its original projection of 300,000.

Over its eight years, Guinness says more than two million people visited the Baltimore brewery.

The brewery also says its brewers produced more than 700 different beers during its time in Maryland.

That’s a lot of beer.

And a lot of people walking through those gates.

More Than Just Guinness Draught

One of the most interesting things about Open Gate was that you could walk into a Guinness brewery and discover that Guinness was capable of being considerably more than Guinness.

The Maryland brewery became a laboratory of sorts.

There were experimental ales, lagers, IPAs, stouts, fruited beers and limited releases. Some were tied to Maryland events and traditions, including beers associated with the Preakness Stakes.

The brewery also became known for Baltimore Blonde, a beer that became one of the more recognizable products associated with Guinness’ Maryland experiment.

That production, however, eventually moved elsewhere.

The Baltimore operation had already undergone a major transformation before this week’s closure announcement.

The Writing Was Already on the Wall

The November closure didn’t come completely out of nowhere.

In 2023, Diageo announced that it was ending the larger-scale manufacturing operation at the Halethorpe facility and laid off more than 100 employees.

The Baltimore Blonde was no longer being produced there, either.

What remained was essentially the destination brewery: the taproom, restaurant, beer garden and smaller innovation brewery.

In other words, the Guinness brewery had already gone through one significant contraction.

The brewing operation that once represented Guinness’ return to American manufacturing had become primarily an experience.

And now even that experience is going away.

Why Is Guinness Closing?

This is where the story gets considerably more interesting than simply “Guinness brewery closes.”

Diageo’s explanation is familiar to anyone paying attention to the beer business in 2026.

Operating costs are up. Consumer preferences have changed. Economic pressures are making it harder to operate large physical destinations.

That’s essentially the same cocktail of problems that has been hammering breweries across the country.

The Guinness operation had another challenge that many independent breweries don’t necessarily face: scale.

Open Gate was built as a destination.

That meant a large property, extensive facilities, hospitality operations, food service, events, employees and all the costs that come with maintaining a major brewery attraction.

A small neighborhood brewery can sometimes survive by keeping things relatively simple.

A major corporate brewery destination has a considerably larger financial machine to feed.

And apparently the numbers no longer worked.

Diageo said the decision was made after a “careful review” of operations and long-term priorities. The company also emphasized that the closure was not a reflection of the employees or the support Guinness received from Baltimore.

That’s corporate language, certainly.

But there’s an important reality underneath it.

A brewery can be incredibly popular and still not be profitable enough to justify continuing to operate.

Other Guinness Related Articles

• Beer Review: Guinness Draught (Guinness)
• Beer Review: Baltimore Blonde (Guinness Open Gate Brewery)
• Guinness Baltimore Blonde Beer Production Moving to New York
• Guinness Brewing is Closing Their Maryland Production Facility

The End of Guinness Brewing in Maryland

For Maryland beer history, this is a significant loss.

Guinness Open Gate wasn’t simply another brewery.

It was one of the largest and most recognizable brewery destinations in the state, backed by one of the most recognizable beer brands in the world.

Its arrival also represented a strange moment in American beer.

The craft beer boom had convinced consumers to seek out breweries as destinations. Breweries weren’t merely places where beer was made anymore.

They became restaurants.

Tourist attractions.

Event venues.

Social gathering places.

Weekend destinations.

Guinness essentially took that idea and applied it to a global beer brand.

For a while, it was an impressive combination.

But the fact that Guinness is now closing Open Gate is another reminder that the brewery-as-destination model isn’t immune to the economic realities affecting the rest of the industry.

Guinness Isn’t Going Away

It’s worth making an important distinction here.

Guinness isn’t leaving America.

You aren’t going to wake up November 2 and discover that Guinness Draught has disappeared from American bars.

The Guinness brand remains one of Diageo’s major global beer brands, and the company has made clear that it intends to continue investing in Guinness.

What’s disappearing is the Baltimore brewery experience.

Once the Halethorpe operation is gone, Guinness will have just one remaining Open Gate brewery in the United States: Chicago, which opened in 2023.

So if you wanted to visit an American Guinness brewery, the list is about to become considerably shorter.

A $250,000 Goodbye to Baltimore

Diageo says it understands that the brewery’s closure affects more than its own business.

The company plans to establish a $250,000 community fund supporting local organizations and initiatives focused on economic opportunity and the hospitality industry.

The company has also said that its immediate priority is supporting employees affected by the closure and providing resources and assistance during the transition.

The closure also affects hospitality workers at the site.

Aramark, which provided hospitality services at the brewery, said 174 of its employees supporting the location would be affected and that it was looking for opportunities elsewhere within the organization where possible.

Those numbers are worth remembering.

When a brewery closes, it’s easy to focus on the beer.

The people who brewed it, served it, cooked the food, gave the tours, cleaned the building and made the place function are the ones whose lives actually change.

Eight Years Is a Long Time in Beer

Eight years doesn’t sound like an eternity.

In the beer business, though, it can feel like a lifetime.

When Open Gate opened in 2018, the American craft beer landscape looked very different.

There were more breweries opening than closing.

Consumers were still aggressively chasing new releases.

The brewery taproom was one of the hottest concepts in the industry.

The idea that people would drive significant distances simply to spend an afternoon drinking beer at a brewery seemed almost unquestionably sound.

Then came the pandemic.

Inflation.

Higher labor costs.

Higher real estate and operating expenses.

Changing drinking habits.

The explosion of alternatives to traditional beer.

And a broader correction across the craft beer industry.

Guinness is obviously not an independent craft brewery.

But the closure demonstrates that even one of the world’s largest beer companies isn’t immune to the changing economics of the American beer market.

One Last Pint

There is something fitting about the fact that Guinness Open Gate will have one final month.

The brewery’s final day open to the public will be Sunday, November 1, 2026.

So there is still time.

Time for one more trip.

One more tour.

One more flight.

One more experimental beer.

One more walk through the beer garden.

One more Guinness.

And, for those of us who have spent years documenting the American beer scene, one more opportunity to visit a brewery that will soon become part of beer history rather than part of the current beer landscape.

Because eventually every brewery becomes one of two things:

A place you can still go.

Or a place you remember going.

Guinness Open Gate is about to become the second one.

And that’s a hell of a thing to say about a brewery that only opened eight years ago.

The Last Call

The Guinness Open Gate Brewery in Halethorpe will close to the public on November 1, 2026, with operations expected to wind down completely by the end of the year.

More than two million people walked through those gates.

More than 700 beers came out of the innovation brewery.

Thousands of memories were made.

For eight years, a little piece of Ireland sat just outside Baltimore and invited Maryland to come have a beer.

Now, it’s almost time to close the gate.

So if you’ve been putting off that last visit, you’ve got about a month.

Go have the beer.

Raise the glass.

And give Guinness Open Gate one final Sláinte.

Other Guinness Related Articles

• Beer Review: Guinness Draught (Guinness)
• Beer Review: Baltimore Blonde (Guinness Open Gate Brewery)
• Guinness Baltimore Blonde Beer Production Moving to New York
• Guinness Brewing is Closing Their Maryland Production Facility

Once again its Oktoberfest season — or as Boneshire Brew Works calls it – Pigtoberfest season. Come on out to Boneshire Brew Works, located at 7462 Derry St, Harrisburg, PA 17111 , on October 3rd from 11 AM til close.

Pigtoberfest – October 3rd, 2026 at Boneshire Brew Works

Pigtoberfest: October 3rd, 2026

Pigtoberfest is coming your way again for another exciting time of great German food, great beer, and fun at Boneshire Brew Works.

…We celebrate the greatest Oktoberfest this side of the Rhine — and you definitely don’t want to miss it!

Dust off the lederhosen, warm up your PROST!, and get ready for a day full of beer, brats, music, and general shenanigans.

GIANT PRETZELS

BRATWURST • KNOCKWURST • WEISSWURST

RED CABBAGE • SAUERKRAUT

Pigtoberfest Oktoberfest Lager

Stein Holding Contest at 2pm

– Boneshire Brew Works (Facebook Post)

Events

• All Day Events:
  • Food: German foods like Bratwurts, Knockwurts, Weisswursts, Red Cabbage, and Sauerkraut
  • Giant Pretzels
  • Pigtoberfest Lager (drink it from Das Boot!)
• Steinholding Contest at 2PM
• Bavarian Stompers (live music) from 1PM to 5PM

Come On Out!

So come on out! Have some fun, enjoy great German food, beers, support a great local brewery, and enjoy the company of friends, family, and strangers!

Prost!

See Also

• 2025: Top 5 Oktoberfest Beers in Pennsylvania

There are few things more American than a small brewery making beer for its local community.

A brewer orders malt. Hops arrive from somewhere that may be several thousand miles away. Yeast goes into the tank. Stainless-steel equipment gets cleaned. The beer eventually finds its way into a keg or aluminum can, and from there it ends up at a neighborhood taproom, a bottle shop, a grocery store or sitting on somebody’s porch while they contemplate whether they really need to mow the lawn.

It is easy to imagine that most of this process has very little to do with Washington, D.C.

Then tariffs enter the picture.

Craft Brewers Confront Higher Packaging Costs Under Trump Trade Policies

During Donald Trump’s current presidency, U.S. trade policy has become an increasingly important variable for American breweries. Tariffs on aluminum and steel, new duties affecting imported brewing equipment and ingredients, and increasingly complicated trade relationships with major suppliers such as Canada have introduced another layer of uncertainty into an industry that was already dealing with declining production, brewery closures and increasingly cautious consumers.

That does not mean that Donald Trump is solely responsible for the problems facing American craft beer.

Far from it.

Craft beer was already experiencing a difficult period before the current tariff regime. U.S. craft production declined in 2025, retail dollar sales fell, and the number of operating breweries continued to shrink. The Brewers Association estimates that craft volume declined another 4% during the first half of 2026.

But trade policy can make an already difficult business environment more difficult.

And for a small brewery, the interesting question isn’t necessarily:

“Did Trump make beer more expensive?”

The more useful question is:

“How does a policy made in Washington eventually become a more expensive can, keg, ingredient, piece of equipment—or pint?”

The answer involves an unexpectedly complicated journey through global commodity markets, domestic manufacturers, tariffs, supply chains and, eventually, the brewery down the street.

Some of our resources and links:

• Trouble Brewing: How Trump’s Liberation Day Tariffs Are Impacting Craft Beer
• Tariffs and Taps: How Trump’s Trade Policies Would Impact Craft Breweries
• It’s Time to Say Something About Canada’s Reaction to Trump’s Tariff (Opinion Piece by Lew Bryson)
• How Doubling Steel and Aluminum Tariffs Could Cripple America’s Craft Beer Industry

The Craft Beer Industry Was Already Having a Rough Time

Before getting into Trump and tariffs, it is important to establish something that can easily get lost in political arguments:

The American craft beer industry was already struggling.

The Brewers Association’s 2025 national statistics show craft brewer volume sales declining approximately 4%. Retail dollar sales declined 2.8%, falling to approximately $28 billion.

The number of breweries has also been declining.

According to the Brewers Association’s July 2026 midyear report, approximately 9,344 breweries were operating in June 2026, down 1.8% from 9,515 in June 2025. Craft production was down another 4% during the first six months of 2026 compared with the first half of 2025.

That matters.

A brewery that was already operating comfortably on a five- or six-percent margin doesn’t have the same ability to absorb another increase in its costs as a multinational beverage company.

And the problems facing craft beer aren’t exclusively about ingredients.

Breweries have been dealing with:

• higher labor costs;
• higher real-estate costs;
• energy expenses;
• insurance;
• slower beer consumption;
• increased competition;
• changing consumer preferences;
• distributor challenges;
• declining packaged-beer sales;
• and the simple fact that there are now thousands upon thousands of breweries competing for consumers’ attention.

The Brewers Association’s 2026 midyear data nevertheless contain some encouraging signs. While overall production was down, 54% of surveyed breweries reported growth, and craft consumers’ reported engagement with craft beer increased. Taprooms were also outperforming several other brewery models.

So this isn’t a story about an industry disappearing.

It’s a story about an industry under pressure.

And tariffs are another pressure.

The Aluminum Problem

If you want to understand Trump’s effect on craft beer, start with the aluminum can.

The humble beer can is one of the most important pieces of technology in modern craft brewing.

Cans are lightweight, stackable, recyclable, relatively durable, easier to transport than glass bottles and particularly useful for breweries that want to package beer for distribution.

They are also made out of aluminum.

And aluminum has become one of the most politically important metals in the American economy.

The Trump administration’s Section 232 tariff structure has placed a 50% tariff on covered aluminum products, including aluminum sheet and finished aluminum containers used for beverages. The Brewers Association says the current framework includes aluminum sheet and finished cans within the 50% tariff category, while some aluminum lids are treated differently.

At first glance, a brewery owner might reasonably think:

“I don’t import aluminum. I buy cans from an American supplier.”

And that would seem to solve the problem.

It doesn’t necessarily.

The American Can That Isn’t Immune to Tariffs

This is one of the more fascinating aspects of the tariff issue.

A can can be made in America and still be affected by tariffs.

Why?

Because the American can manufacturer exists within a broader aluminum market.

The Brewers Association explained in August 2026 that U.S. aluminum pricing is influenced by both the global aluminum price and something called the Midwest Premium. That premium reflects the delivered price of aluminum in the U.S. market.

And tariffs can influence that price.

This creates an important distinction between:

“Did my brewery directly pay a tariff?”

and

“Did a tariff affect the price my brewery paid?”

Those aren’t necessarily the same thing.

A small brewery may purchase cans from an American manufacturer.

The manufacturer may purchase aluminum sheet from another American company.

That company may purchase or compete against material priced against the global aluminum market.

Tariffs alter the economics of that market.

Those increased costs can move through the supply chain.

Eventually, the brewery gets the bill.

The Brewers Association’s August analysis specifically noted that the Midwest Premium had grown substantially as a share of U.S. aluminum pricing and that tariff policy was contributing to the delivered cost of aluminum.

That means the tariff’s effect doesn’t stop at the customs dock.

It can move through the domestic market.

The Recycling Complication

Here’s another wrinkle.

Aluminum is highly recyclable, and breweries commonly use cans containing recycled material.

So shouldn’t recycled aluminum protect breweries from tariffs on imported primary aluminum?

Not entirely.

The Brewers Association explains that the primary and recycled aluminum markets are interconnected. Even when a can contains substantial recycled material, the pricing of recycled aluminum can be influenced by the broader aluminum market.

In other words:

American brewery + American can + recycled aluminum ≠ completely insulated from tariff effects.

This is one of the reasons the issue is more complicated than simply asking which country manufactured a can.

The aluminum market is a market.

And markets don’t always respect the neat national boundaries we like to draw on a map.

Why Small Breweries Feel This More

A giant beer company buys enormous quantities of cans.

A small brewery doesn’t.

That sounds like an obvious disadvantage—and it is.

Large buyers generally have greater purchasing power and can negotiate from a stronger position. A small independent brewery ordering comparatively modest quantities has fewer opportunities to use sheer volume to negotiate favorable pricing.

The Brewers Association notes that aluminum cans accounted for nearly 80% of off-premises craft beer volume in 2025, making aluminum particularly important to independent brewers.

Consider what that means.

Imagine a brewery that packages thousands of cases every year.

A relatively small increase in packaging cost is multiplied across:

• every can;
• every case;
• every pallet;
• every shipment;
• and eventually every beer sold.

The consumer may never see a line on their receipt saying:

“Trump aluminum tariff surcharge: $0.37.”

Instead, the cost may simply become part of the price of the beer.

The Keg Problem

Cans get most of the attention because they’re visible.

But breweries don’t live on cans alone.

They use stainless-steel kegs.

And they use enormous amounts of stainless steel and other metal in the brewery itself.

Fermentation tanks.

Bright tanks.

Brewhouses.

Pipes.

Valves.

Heat exchangers.

Pumps.

Kegs.

Packaging equipment.

Storage equipment.

Some of these products or components are affected directly or indirectly by tariffs on steel and aluminum.

The Brewers Association has specifically warned that tariff policy is likely to keep costs elevated for craft brewers in areas including cans, kegs and brewing equipment.

This becomes particularly important when a brewery is trying to expand.

Imagine two breweries.

One is established and has no major capital projects planned.

The other wants to buy a new fermenter, upgrade its canning line or install additional cellar capacity.

The second brewery isn’t simply dealing with the cost of today’s beer.

It is dealing with the cost of tomorrow’s beer.

If equipment costs rise, expansion can become more expensive.

And that can influence decisions about whether a brewery adds capacity, opens another location, launches distribution or simply stays put.

It’s Not Just Aluminum and Steel

If this were simply an aluminum story, it would be relatively straightforward.

But breweries are businesses with global supply chains.

And beer is made from ingredients and equipment that come from all over the world.

In July 2026, the U.S. Trade Representative finalized new Section 301 tariffs covering goods from approximately 60 economies. The Brewers Association reported that Australian and New Zealand hops, along with many Chinese brewing-equipment products, were among the brewery-related products facing a 12.5% tariff rate under the new framework.

That matters because craft beer loves specialty hops.

American breweries have spent decades building beers around distinctive varieties from around the world.

A brewery might use:

• American hops;
• Australian hops;
• New Zealand hops;
• European specialty malts;
• Canadian malt;
• imported yeast or fermentation products;
• foreign equipment components;
• American water;
• and American aluminum cans.

The beer may be brewed in Pennsylvania.

But the supply chain behind that beer can stretch around the world.

New Zealand and Australian Hops

For hop lovers, this is particularly interesting.

Australian and New Zealand hops have become extremely important to modern American craft brewing.

Think of the flavors associated with many modern hazy IPAs:

Passionfruit.

Grapefruit.

Lime.

Tropical fruit.

Stone fruit.

White wine.

Pine.

Resin.

Brewers have increasingly turned to varieties from Australia and New Zealand to achieve particular aromatic profiles.

If imported hops become more expensive because of tariffs, breweries have several options.

They can:

Absorb the increase.

That hurts margins.

Raise the price.

Consumers pay more.

Use less of the expensive hop.

The beer changes.

Substitute another hop.

The beer changes again.

Find another supplier.

That may take time and may not produce the same sensory result.

This is why tariff policy isn’t necessarily just an accounting problem.

For some breweries, it can become a recipe problem.

The Specialty-Malt Question

Hops get the headlines because hop-forward beer is such a defining part of American craft brewing.

But malt matters too.

Specialty malts can come from different countries, and certain brewing styles depend on ingredients that aren’t necessarily produced domestically at the same scale or with the same characteristics.

The Brewers Association has warned that imported hops, specialty malts, brewing equipment and other brewery inputs can be affected by the evolving tariff environment.

Again, however, there is an important exception worth mentioning:

Canadian barley and barley malt have received different treatment under USMCA.

The Brewers Association noted in June 2026 that duty-free Canadian barley and barley malt remained outside the proposed additional tariffs discussed at that time.

Which brings us to Canada.

And things get considerably more complicated there.

Canada: Beer, Barley and a Complicated Relationship

Canada is important to American brewing.

It’s also America’s neighbor, major trading partner and an important source of agricultural products.

For brewers, Canadian barley and malt are particularly significant.

So changes in U.S.-Canada trade policy can have consequences far beyond the political arguments surrounding tariffs.

There is also another side to the Canadian dispute: Canadian beer itself.

In September 2026, the Trump administration issued a proclamation concerning Canadian alcoholic beverages. The White House announced that certain Canadian alcoholic beverages would be excluded from importation into the United States beginning September 29, 2026, while products covered by the earlier measures were subject to a 50% duty under the specified circumstances.

The administration’s stated rationale is that Canada has discriminated against U.S. alcoholic beverages.

That is the administration’s position and should be distinguished from the broader economic question of what the policy does to American beer businesses.

For an American brewery, Canadian beer can be both:

a competitor

and

a source of inputs.

That’s an unusual situation.

A trade dispute that makes imported Canadian beer more difficult or expensive can potentially reduce competition from Canadian products in the American market.

But trade restrictions involving Canada can also create uncertainty around the agricultural and manufacturing supply chains American brewers depend upon.

Trade policy rarely travels in only one direction.

So Will Beer Prices Go Up?

Probably the more useful answer is:

There is upward pressure, but tariffs don’t automatically translate into a specific increase in the price of a pint.

A brewery has choices.

Suppose a brewery’s annual packaging expenses increase.

The brewery could absorb the increase.

That means lower margins.

Or it could increase prices.

That means consumers absorb the increase.

Or it could cut costs elsewhere.

That might mean fewer employees, fewer events, less marketing, fewer experimental batches or reduced capital investment.

Or it might simply accept that it will make less money.

The economic chain therefore looks something like this:

Tariff

↓

Higher input cost

↓

Supplier pricing

↓

Brewery cost of goods increases

↓

Brewery decides how much of the increase to absorb

↓

Potential price increase / reduced margin / cost-cutting

↓

Consumer eventually experiences some portion of the change

The important phrase is “some portion.”

A tariff doesn’t necessarily mean the consumer pays 100% of the tariff.

Nor does it necessarily mean the brewery absorbs 100%.

The cost can be distributed throughout the supply chain.

But Beer Was Already Getting More Expensive

This is another important piece of context.

Craft beer had already experienced significant price increases before the current tariff environment.

Inflation, labor costs, transportation, ingredients, packaging and other expenses have all contributed to the cost of producing and selling beer.

The Brewers Association’s 2025 figures illustrate an interesting phenomenon: craft retail dollar sales fell less sharply than volume, with price increases contributing to the difference.

That means breweries have already been trying to navigate a difficult balancing act:

How much can you charge for a four-pack before the consumer decides that four beers simply aren’t worth that much money?

That’s a particularly serious question for independent breweries.

The Consumer Is Part of the Equation

Ultimately, a brewery can only charge what somebody is willing to pay.

This is where tariffs intersect with consumer psychology.

Imagine a consumer walking into a brewery in 2027.

They see:

$9 pint

Then:

$10.50 pint

Then:

$12 pint

The consumer doesn’t necessarily know why the price increased.

Maybe it was aluminum.

Maybe it was malt.

Maybe wages.

Maybe insurance.

Maybe rent.

Maybe distribution.

Maybe the brewery simply raised prices.

Maybe all of the above.

And that creates a challenge for craft beer because craft beer’s greatest strength—its diversity and independence—is also one of its economic vulnerabilities.

Consumers have alternatives.

They can buy a domestic lager.

They can buy a macro beer.

They can buy wine.

They can make cocktails.

They can buy spirits.

They can buy nonalcoholic beer.

They can drink THC beverages where legal.

Or they can simply buy less alcohol.

The Brewers Association’s 2026 midyear report does provide an encouraging counterpoint: among surveyed craft consumers, monthly craft consumption increased year over year, and brewery visits increased as well.

So consumers haven’t abandoned craft beer.

But breweries still have to convince them that the experience is worth the price.

The Small-Business Problem

This is where the tariff discussion becomes particularly important.

A brewery isn’t just a beer factory.

It’s often:

• a restaurant;
• a bar;
• an event venue;
• a community gathering place;
• a retailer;
• a local employer;
• a tourist destination;
• and sometimes a manufacturing operation all at once.

The Brewers Association estimates that craft brewing contributed approximately $71.8 billion to the U.S. economy in 2025 and supported more than 415,000 jobs when direct and indirect economic effects are included.

That means changes in brewery economics don’t stop at the brewhouse.

If a brewery cuts production, the effect can reach:

• employees;
• distributors;
• can manufacturers;
• maltsters;
• hop growers;
• farmers;
• restaurants;
• delivery companies;
• local contractors;
• musicians;
• event vendors;
• and nearby businesses that benefit from brewery traffic.

The economic ecosystem surrounding craft beer is much larger than the liquid inside the can.

Is This All Bad News?

Not necessarily.

This is where the discussion becomes more nuanced.

Tariffs are intended, in part, to change economic behavior.

The argument for tariffs is generally that making imported products more expensive can encourage domestic production and reduce reliance on foreign supply chains.

If tariffs encourage more American production of aluminum, steel, equipment or other brewery inputs, there could eventually be benefits for domestic manufacturers.

That is a legitimate economic argument.

But the important word is:

eventually.

A brewery facing higher costs today has to survive today.

A hypothetical domestic manufacturing expansion five years from now doesn’t pay today’s electricity bill.

This creates the central tension:

Short-term cost

versus

Long-term industrial policy.

Whether the long-term benefits outweigh the short-term costs is a broader economic and political question rather than something that can be answered simply by looking at the price of a six-pack.

The Bigger Problem May Be Uncertainty

Perhaps the most significant effect of the Trump administration’s trade policy on craft beer isn’t any single tariff.

It may be uncertainty.

Breweries make plans.

They buy equipment.

They sign contracts.

They develop recipes.

They order ingredients.

They negotiate distribution.

They plan seasonal releases.

They forecast revenue.

They decide whether to expand.

They decide whether to hire.

They decide whether to open another location.

All of those decisions become more difficult when a brewery doesn’t know what a particular piece of equipment, ingredient or packaging material will cost six months from now.

And trade policy has continued to change.

The Brewers Association’s 2026 updates show an evolving tariff landscape affecting aluminum, steel, hops, equipment and other brewery-related inputs.

For a giant corporation, uncertainty is expensive.

For a tiny brewery, uncertainty can be existential.

Trump Didn’t Create the Craft Beer Slump

This deserves repeating.

If someone tells you that the current problems facing American craft beer began with Donald Trump, the historical record doesn’t support that simplistic explanation.

Craft beer’s current difficulties predate the present tariff environment.

Production has declined.

The brewery count has fallen.

Consumer behavior has changed.

Competition has intensified.

Costs have risen.

The industry has been working through a post-pandemic correction and a broader maturation of the American craft beer market.

The Brewers Association’s own 2026 data show that the industry was already contracting while also showing signs of resilience.

Trump’s policies therefore shouldn’t be viewed as the cause of the craft beer industry’s problems.

They are better understood as another economic variable affecting an industry that was already under pressure.

That distinction matters.

But Trump Is Changing the Economic Environment Brewers Operate In

At the same time, it would be equally misleading to dismiss the effects of the administration’s trade policies.

The documented effects are tangible.

Aluminum tariffs influence aluminum pricing.

Steel tariffs influence steel pricing.

Tariffs on imported goods affect the cost of certain brewing equipment and ingredients.

Trade disputes create uncertainty.

And those costs can move through the brewing supply chain.

The Brewers Association has repeatedly raised these issues because independent breweries are particularly exposed to packaging and equipment costs.

The question isn’t whether trade policy affects breweries.

It does.

The more complicated question is how large the ultimate effect will be.

That will vary enormously from brewery to brewery.

What Does This Mean for Your Local Brewery?

For the average beer drinker, the most meaningful effects may not be dramatic.

You probably aren’t going to walk into your favorite brewery and see a sign reading:

“SORRY, PRESIDENTIAL TARIFFS. PINTS NOW $14.”

Instead, the effects may be incremental.

Maybe a four-pack goes from $17 to $18.

Maybe a seasonal beer disappears because its imported hops became too expensive.

Maybe a brewery delays buying a new fermenter.

Maybe a tap list contains fewer beers.

Maybe a brewery changes packaging.

Maybe a brewer switches hop varieties.

Maybe a brewery chooses to distribute less beer and focus more heavily on its taproom.

Maybe none of those things happen.

That’s the difficulty in attributing a particular brewery’s business decision to a particular tariff.

Businesses have dozens of costs and dozens of variables.

Pennsylvania Has More at Stake Than Most States

Trump’s Tariff Policies are Affecting Pennsylvanian Breweries

If the national craft-beer industry is feeling the effects of tariffs, Pennsylvania has a particularly interesting—and potentially complicated—position.

The Keystone State isn’t simply another state with a few breweries scattered around it.

Pennsylvania is one of the country’s major craft-brewing states.

According to the Brewers Association’s 2025 economic-impact data, Pennsylvania’s craft-brewing industry generated approximately $4.9 billion in economic output, second among all states behind California.

That makes Pennsylvania’s brewing industry economically significant enough that changes affecting breweries can ripple well beyond the taproom.

And Pennsylvania’s breweries are already operating in a difficult environment.

According to 2025 production data compiled from the Brewers Association, Pennsylvania produced approximately 1.92 million barrels of craft beer, down dramatically from 2.63 million barrels in 2024. That represented the state’s third consecutive annual decline in craft production.

So Pennsylvania’s brewers aren’t entering the tariff era from a position of unlimited growth.

They’re entering it while already trying to figure out how to sell less beer in a market with more competition and increasingly price-conscious consumers.

That makes every additional cost matter.

Pennsylvania’s Brewery Industry Is Big—and Particularly Diverse

Pennsylvania has another characteristic that makes it interesting.

Its craft-beer industry isn’t concentrated exclusively among enormous breweries.

The state has a huge number of small and independent breweries spread throughout Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, the Lehigh Valley, the Poconos, Central Pennsylvania, Erie, Lancaster, York, Harrisburg and dozens of smaller communities.

That means Pennsylvania’s beer economy includes everything from relatively large regional producers to tiny neighborhood breweries.

The tariff consequences therefore won’t be uniform.

A brewery that sells primarily draft beer directly from its taproom has a different exposure than a brewery selling thousands of cases of canned beer through distributors.

A brewery that buys American-made equipment has a different exposure than one importing specialized equipment.

A brewery using mostly domestic hops has a different exposure than one heavily dependent upon New Zealand or Australian varieties.

And a brewery producing 500 barrels a year has a radically different purchasing position from a brewery producing tens of thousands.

But there is one Pennsylvania characteristic that makes the aluminum issue particularly important:

Pennsylvania has a large packaged-beer market and a large number of independent breweries competing for shelf space.

When packaging becomes more expensive, those breweries have to make difficult decisions about where that money comes from.

Fegley’s Brew Works: A Pennsylvania Brewery Already Talking About the Problem

One of the clearest Pennsylvania examples comes from Fegley’s Brew Works, the Lehigh Valley brewery with locations in Bethlehem and Allentown.

In February 2025, before the Trump administration’s aluminum and steel tariffs took effect, owner Jeff Fegley publicly warned that higher metal costs could hurt Pennsylvania’s craft-beer industry.

Fegley specifically connected higher aluminum costs to potentially higher can prices and, ultimately, higher consumer prices.

He also pointed out that Pennsylvania’s craft-beer industry was already dealing with a difficult marketplace, including changing consumer behavior and competition from other beverage categories.

That distinction is important.

Fegley’s concern wasn’t simply:

“Aluminum is going to cost more.”

It was essentially:

“Aluminum is going to cost more in an industry that is already struggling.”

That’s a much bigger problem.

A brewery can potentially absorb a cost increase when business is booming.

It is considerably harder to do when margins are already under pressure.

Fegley’s comments also highlight something particularly important for Pennsylvania:

craft beer isn’t competing only against other beer.

Pennsylvania’s beverage market includes breweries, distilleries, wineries, RTDs and other alcohol categories.

If a craft brewery raises prices, consumers have alternatives.

Human Robot: When the Numbers Become Real

Philadelphia provides an even more concrete example.

In March 2025, CBS Philadelphia interviewed Jake Atkinson, owner of Human Robot Brewery, about the aluminum tariffs.

Atkinson said that if the situation continued, beer prices would have to rise. He described the situation as particularly difficult for a small business because of the uncertainty surrounding changing tariff policy.

Human Robot is an especially useful example because Philadelphia’s beer scene is heavily populated by independent breweries operating at relatively small scales.

Those breweries don’t have the purchasing power of multinational beverage companies.

They can’t necessarily negotiate the same prices.

And they can’t necessarily spread a relatively small increase across hundreds of thousands or millions of cases.

For a small brewery, a few cents per can can become a substantial annual expense.

And if the brewery doesn’t raise prices, that money has to come from somewhere else.

Love City Brewing: The “American-Made Can” Problem

Perhaps the most useful Pennsylvania example is Love City Brewing in Philadelphia.

Co-founder Melissa Walter told CBS Philadelphia that Love City packaged approximately 150 cases—roughly 3,600 cans—on a typical canning day, with the brewery operating its canning line roughly three times per week.

The really interesting part, however, was the source of the cans.

The cans themselves were manufactured in the United States.

But the raw aluminum used to produce them frequently came from Canada.

Walter said the brewery spends tens of thousands of dollars on aluminum, meaning even a substantial percentage increase in raw-material costs could have a significant effect on the brewery’s finances.

This illustrates one of the most important points in the entire tariff debate:

“Made in America” doesn’t necessarily mean “unaffected by tariffs.”

A Pennsylvania brewery can buy an American-made can from an American supplier and still be affected by tariffs on the aluminum entering the American supply chain.

That is precisely why the Brewers Association has continued lobbying for changes to aluminum tariff policy.

The association has explained that American can manufacturers themselves can depend on imported aluminum, particularly material originating in Canada.

For Love City, this wasn’t an abstract economic theory.

It was an actual purchasing expense.

And when Walter discussed the possibility of increased costs, she also raised another issue: maintaining employee compensation and benefits.

That is an important part of the story.

When a brewery absorbs higher costs, the consequence isn’t necessarily just a lower profit for the owner.

It can potentially affect:

• wages;
• benefits;
• staffing;
• hours;
• new hires;
• production;
• taproom investment;
• and expansion.

Sherman Street Beer Company: Hops, Malt and Aluminum All at Once

Philadelphia isn’t the only Pennsylvania market where brewers were worried.

In Allentown, Sherman Street Beer Company owner Beau Baden discussed the tariff issue with The Pennsylvania Independent in April 2025.

Baden had a particularly interesting problem because his brewery imported hops and malt from countries around the world, while also relying heavily on aluminum cans.

And he had just received an order of approximately 20,000 cans when he was discussing the potential financial impact of the tariffs.

His concern was simple: he didn’t yet know exactly what the bill was going to look like.

That uncertainty is worth emphasizing.

A tariff doesn’t always arrive at the brewery with a neatly labeled invoice saying:

Aluminum tariff: $X.

The effects can move through suppliers and distributors.

That makes budgeting difficult.

Baden also described the fundamental problem facing small breweries: margins are already thin.

He told The Pennsylvania Independent that the brewery might have to absorb the increased costs initially and reassess its position later.

That is a very different strategy from immediately raising prices.

And it demonstrates the choices breweries actually face.

Pennsylvania’s Brewery Leaders Were Warning About This Before the Tariffs Hit

The Pennsylvania examples aren’t isolated.

In February and April 2025, Pennsylvania brewery owners were publicly discussing the potential impact of Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs before the costs had fully worked their way through the supply chain.

Fegley’s Brew Works was one example.

Human Robot and Love City were others.

Sherman Street Beer Company provided another.

And Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro even visited Fegley’s Brew Works in Bethlehem in April 2025 to discuss the potential effects of tariffs on Pennsylvania small businesses.

That doesn’t mean Pennsylvania breweries have experienced identical financial consequences.

They haven’t.

But it demonstrates that tariff exposure was an identifiable concern among Pennsylvania brewers before the full effects of the policy were known.

Why Pennsylvania Could Be Especially Vulnerable

There are several reasons Pennsylvania deserves special attention.

1. Pennsylvania has a huge craft-brewing economy

The Brewers Association estimates approximately $4.9 billion in craft-brewing economic output in Pennsylvania during 2025, second nationally.

When the industry is that large, even relatively modest changes in operating costs can have substantial aggregate effects.

2. Pennsylvania has hundreds of breweries

The state has one of the country’s largest brewery populations.

That means tariff effects aren’t concentrated in a handful of companies.

They can reach hundreds of independent businesses.

3. Pennsylvania’s craft industry is already contracting

The state’s craft production fell from approximately 2.63 million barrels in 2024 to 1.92 million barrels in 2025, according to Brewers Association data reported by Breweries in PA.

That makes the timing particularly significant.

4. Pennsylvania breweries compete in a crowded beverage market

As Fegley pointed out, Pennsylvania breweries aren’t operating in isolation.

They compete with:

• other breweries;
• distilleries;
• ready-to-drink beverages;
• wine;
• spirits;
• nonalcoholic drinks;
• and increasingly diverse consumer choices.

Higher beer prices can therefore have consequences beyond the brewery itself.

5. The state’s geographic position makes regional supply chains important

Pennsylvania sits between major population centers in the Northeast and has enormous transportation connections.

Philadelphia is close to New York and New Jersey.

Pittsburgh sits at a major crossroads between the Midwest and Northeast.

Central Pennsylvania sits between major population centers.

That creates tremendous advantages for breweries—but also means Pennsylvania breweries are embedded within complicated regional distribution networks.

But Pennsylvania Also Has Some Advantages

The story isn’t exclusively negative.

Pennsylvania’s size and established brewing culture can work in its favor.

The state has:

• established malt producers;
• hop growers;
• brewing-equipment businesses;
• packaging suppliers;
• distributors;
• a large consumer base;
• a mature brewery tourism culture;
• and a long-established network of independent breweries.

The state also has substantial agricultural resources.

That gives Pennsylvania breweries opportunities to shorten portions of their supply chains.

For example, a brewer can potentially emphasize Pennsylvania-grown ingredients or work with regional suppliers.

That won’t solve the aluminum problem.

It won’t eliminate tariffs on imported equipment.

And it won’t necessarily make domestic ingredients cheaper.

But it provides Pennsylvania breweries with something valuable:

options.

Pennsylvania’s “Brews to Barns” Experiment

Pennsylvania is also doing something particularly interesting at the state level.

A 2026 legislative effort known as Brews to Barns was developed to help connect Pennsylvania breweries with Pennsylvania agricultural producers.

The legislation includes provisions intended to support the use of Pennsylvania agricultural products by breweries, while also providing financial relief mechanisms for brewers.

According to the Brewers Association, Pennsylvania’s version developed from a similar Texas proposal and was being pursued as a way to help small independent brewers navigate a difficult environment that includes tariffs, fuel prices and rising aluminum costs.

That is an interesting response to the tariff environment.

Instead of trying to solve the international trade problem, Pennsylvania can potentially help breweries strengthen the parts of their supply chains that can be localized.

If a Pennsylvania brewery can source more of its agricultural inputs from Pennsylvania, it potentially reduces exposure to some international trade volatility.

Again, though, that isn’t a magic solution.

You can’t grow aluminum in Lancaster County.

You can’t necessarily manufacture every specialized brewing component in Pennsylvania.

And a brewery making a New Zealand-hopped IPA can’t simply substitute a Pennsylvania hop and expect an identical beer.

But localization can reduce exposure at the margins.

And when you’re operating on thin margins, margins matter.

The Pennsylvania Brewery Examples

The following breweries have publicly discussed tariff-related concerns or consequences and are therefore useful examples for anyone writing about the Pennsylvania impact:

The first four are particularly useful because there is specific reporting connecting the brewery or owner to tariff concerns, rather than simply assuming that every Pennsylvania brewery must have been affected.

That’s an important distinction.

It would be misleading to publish a list of Pennsylvania breweries and claim that all of them have been harmed by tariffs without evidence from those individual businesses.

What About Troegs, Yuengling, Yards and Other Pennsylvania Breweries?

This is where caution is warranted.

Pennsylvania has some very large and recognizable breweries—Yuengling, Tröegs, Victory, Yards, Neshaminy Creek, Weyerbacher and many others—but I would not claim that any of these particular breweries have suffered a specific tariff-related financial impact unless the brewery itself, a credible industry publication, financial disclosure or another reliable source documents it.

That’s especially important because tariff exposure depends heavily on:

• packaging contracts;
• purchasing volume;
• domestic versus imported materials;
• equipment purchases;
• hop varieties;
• malt sources;
• distribution strategy;
• and the timing of contracts.

Two breweries in the same city can therefore experience very different effects.

A Pennsylvania brewery is not automatically “tariff affected” in the same way as another Pennsylvania brewery.

The Bigger Pennsylvania Question

The most interesting question for Pennsylvania isn’t necessarily whether tariffs will cause every brewery to raise its prices.

It’s what happens when several economic pressures arrive simultaneously.

Pennsylvania’s craft industry is already dealing with declining production.

Then add:

higher aluminum costs

higher equipment costs

potentially higher imported ingredient costs

labor costs

energy costs

distribution costs

consumer resistance to higher prices

and you have a much more complicated economic equation.

The danger isn’t necessarily one enormous cost increase.

It is death by a thousand small increases.

A brewery doesn’t have to lose $500,000 because of tariffs to feel the consequences.

It might lose:

$5,000 here.

$10,000 there.

Another $15,000 in packaging.

Another $8,000 in equipment.

Another increase in transportation.

Another increase in insurance.

And suddenly the brewery’s annual profit has become considerably smaller.

Pennsylvania’s Craft-Beer Future May Depend on Adaptation

There is, however, an encouraging element to this story.

Pennsylvania breweries have survived enormous changes before.

The state went from having relatively few craft breweries to becoming one of America’s most important brewing states.

Brewers have repeatedly adapted to changes in consumer tastes, distribution laws, ingredients, packaging and technology.

They have also become increasingly creative about their business models.

Taprooms.

Restaurants.

Beer gardens.

Events.

Nonalcoholic products.

Cider.

Spirits.

Food.

Merchandise.

Brewery tourism.

Direct-to-consumer experiences.

The modern Pennsylvania brewery is much more than a factory producing beer.

That flexibility may become increasingly important.

The Keystone State’s Tariff Story

Ultimately, Pennsylvania provides a useful microcosm of the national story.

Trump’s tariffs did not create Pennsylvania’s craft-beer problems.

The state’s breweries were already dealing with declining production and a changing marketplace.

But tariffs add another variable.

And because Pennsylvania has such a large and economically important craft-brewing industry, the consequences potentially extend much further than the breweries themselves.

The question isn’t simply:

“Will Pennsylvania beer become more expensive?”

Some beer probably will.

The more interesting questions are:

Which breweries can absorb the additional costs?

Which will pass them on to consumers?

Which will change ingredients or packaging?

Which will postpone expansion?

Which will localize more of their supply chain?

And perhaps most importantly:

Which breweries can adapt quickly enough to survive another difficult period?

Pennsylvania has one of the largest craft-beer economies in America.

It also has one of the largest collections of independent breweries.

That combination means the Keystone State could become an especially interesting place to watch the long-term effects of America’s new trade environment.

Because when Washington changes the rules of the global economy, the consequences don’t remain in Washington.

Eventually, they show up in Allentown.

Philadelphia.

Erie.

Pittsburgh.

Harrisburg.

Lancaster.

Scranton.

And, eventually, at the tap.

1. Pennsylvania vs. Other Major Craft-Beer States

This would be an excellent graphic for the Pennsylvania section because it establishes why Pennsylvania deserves special attention.

Pennsylvania is one of America’s largest craft-beer economies

2025 economic impact of craft breweries in the five states with the largest total economic output.

Source: Brewers Association, 2025 Economic Impact Data.

Pennsylvania ranked second among U.S. states in craft-brewing economic impact in 2025, generating nearly $5 billion in economic activity. Source: Brewers Association.

2. Pennsylvania Craft-Beer Production

I’d put this directly into the section discussing the state’s existing problems.

The important point here is that tariffs are arriving while Pennsylvania craft beer is already dealing with contraction.

The current Brewers Association data give us a 2025 Pennsylvania production figure of 2,004,382 barrels, while the BA’s 2024 data reported Pennsylvania at more than 2.6 million barrels.

Pennsylvania craft-beer production has fallen sharply

Annual craft-beer production in Pennsylvania. The decline illustrates the difficult market conditions breweries were already facing before the current tariff environment fully developed.

Sources: Brewers Association 2024 and 2025 state craft-beer statistics. Figures are craft-beer production, measured in barrels.

Pennsylvania’s craft-beer production fell substantially from 2024 to 2025. Tariffs therefore entered an industry already dealing with declining production rather than a rapidly expanding market.

3. Pennsylvania’s Craft-Beer Footprint

This might actually be my favorite Pennsylvania graphic.

It shows that Pennsylvania has a huge number of breweries relative to other major craft states, while also having enormous production.

Source: Brewers Association, State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025.

Pennsylvania had 538 craft breweries in 2025, second only to California.

What This Means for Craft Beer as a Whole

The American craft beer industry has always been built on experimentation.

That experimentation isn’t limited to flavors.

Craft brewers experiment with:

• ingredients;
• equipment;
• packaging;
• business models;
• taproom concepts;
• distribution;
• collaborations;
• events;
• and consumer experiences.

Tariffs could potentially make some forms of experimentation more expensive.

A brewery considering an imported canning system might reconsider.

A brewer experimenting with expensive imported hops might use less.

A brewery thinking about adding a new cellar tank might delay the purchase.

Those decisions don’t necessarily kill innovation.

But they can influence which innovations are economically practical.

And that is ultimately the most interesting part of the story.

4. The National Craft-Beer Contraction

I’d also include one national chart near the beginning of the article, because it gives readers the context they need before we start talking about tariffs.

The Brewers Association reports that U.S. craft production fell 4% in 2025 to 22.034 million barrels, following a 3.9% decline in 2024.

American craft beer entered the tariff era already contracting

U.S. craft-beer production declined in both 2024 and 2025, illustrating that the industry’s current challenges predate the latest tariff environment.

Source: Brewers Association. 2024 production: 23.1 million barrels. 2025 production: 22.034 million barrels.

Craft beer’s current difficulties did not begin with Trump’s tariff policies. U.S. craft production declined in both 2024 and 2025, with 2025 production falling another 4% to 22.034 million barrels.

From the Oval Office to Your Pint Glass

The distance between Washington and your local brewery may seem enormous.

It isn’t.

A tariff can begin as a presidential proclamation.

It can become a change in the price of aluminum.

That can influence the price of can sheet.

The can manufacturer adjusts its pricing.

The distributor adjusts its costs.

The brewery receives a higher packaging bill.

The brewery calculates its margins.

The owner decides whether to absorb the increase.

The brewer releases a new IPA.

You walk into the taproom.

And you pay for it.

That’s how government policy becomes beer.

Not instantly.

Not always directly.

And not always predictably.

But through the interconnected machinery of the modern economy.

The Bottom Line

The effect of Donald Trump’s policies on American craft beer is neither as simple as “Trump is killing craft beer” nor as simple as “tariffs will bring manufacturing back and everything will be fine.”

The reality is considerably more complicated.

The craft beer industry was already contracting before the current tariff regime.

At the same time, the administration’s trade policies have created real additional costs and uncertainty for breweries, particularly around aluminum, steel, packaging, equipment and certain imported ingredients.

The aluminum issue may be the clearest example. A brewery doesn’t necessarily have to import an aluminum can to feel the effects of aluminum tariffs. Domestic cans can be connected to a broader aluminum pricing structure influenced by tariff policy.

Meanwhile, tariffs affecting Australian and New Zealand hops and Chinese brewing equipment illustrate how the consequences extend beyond packaging.

And the increasingly complicated relationship with Canada demonstrates just how interconnected American brewing is with its neighbors and international suppliers.

For consumers, the eventual consequences may be subtle:

A slightly more expensive four-pack.

A different hop variety.

A delayed brewery expansion.

A smaller tap list.

A brewery choosing to focus more heavily on its taproom.

Or perhaps nothing noticeable at all.

For some breweries, however, several small increases arriving simultaneously could make the difference between comfortable operation and another difficult year.

And that may be the real story of Trump’s effect on craft beer.

The tariff isn’t the beer.

It’s one more ingredient in the recipe.

And for an industry already trying to figure out what the next version of American craft beer looks like, it’s an ingredient that brewers didn’t necessarily order—but now have to figure out how to work with.

Sources & Further Reading

Brewers Association

1. “From Tariff to Tap: How Aluminum Costs Reach Brewers” — Brewers Association, August 26, 2026.
   Detailed explanation of aluminum pricing, the Midwest Premium, recycled aluminum and how tariff-related costs can reach breweries.
2. “Restructured Aluminum Tariffs Continue to Pressure Craft Brewers” — Brewers Association, April 3, 2026.
   Discussion of the administration’s Section 232 tariff framework and its implications for cans, kegs and brewing equipment.
3. “New Section 301 Tariffs Take Effect” — Brewers Association, July 24, 2026.
   Covers the 2026 Section 301 tariff changes and their effects on Australian/New Zealand hops and Chinese brewing equipment.
4. “2026 Midyear Report: Pressure Persists as Signs of Stability Emerge” — Brewers Association, July 22, 2026.
   Industry production, brewery-count and consumer-engagement data for the first half of 2026.
5. National Beer Sales & Production Data — Brewers Association.
   National craft-beer production and sales statistics, including 2025 volume and retail-dollar data.
6. Economic Impact Data — Brewers Association.
   Estimates of the craft brewing industry’s contribution to the U.S. economy and employment.

U.S. Government

7. The White House, “Excluding Certain Canadian Alcoholic Beverages From Importation Into the United States…” — September 8, 2026.
   Primary-source documentation concerning the administration’s September 2026 action involving Canadian alcoholic beverages.
8. The White House, “Modifying the Scope of Products of Canada Subject to the Additional Duties…” — September 8, 2026.
   Primary-source documentation concerning the September 2026 modifications to Canadian-product duties.

Beer Industry

9. National Beer Wholesalers Association, “Tariffs and Trade.”
   Industry perspective on tariffs affecting aluminum, steel, imported beverages and the broader American beer distribution system.

Bibliography

Brewers Association. From Tariff to Tap: How Aluminum Costs Reach Brewers. August 26, 2026.

Brewers Association. National Beer Sales & Production Data. 2026.

Brewers Association. New Section 301 Tariffs Take Effect. July 24, 2026.

Brewers Association. Restructured Aluminum Tariffs Continue to Pressure Craft Brewers. April 3, 2026.

Brewers Association. 2026 Midyear Report: Pressure Persists as Signs of Stability Emerge. July 22, 2026.

Brewers Association. Economic Impact Data. 2026.

National Beer Wholesalers Association. Tariffs and Trade. 2026.

The White House. Excluding Certain Canadian Alcoholic Beverages From Importation Into the United States in Response to Continued Discrimination Against the Commerce of the United States With Respect to Alcoholic Beverages. September 8, 2026.

The White House. Modifying the Scope of Products of Canada Subject to the Additional Duties Imposed to Offset Canadian Discrimination Against the Commerce of the United States With Respect to Alcoholic Beverages. September 8, 2026.

Editorial note: Because tariff policy is changing rapidly, this article should be treated as a September 17, 2026 snapshot rather than a timeless explanation. Tariff rates, exemptions, affected countries and product classifications can change through subsequent presidential actions, USTR decisions, trade agreements, litigation or congressional action.

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 (past) weekly columns, book reviews, board game reviews, hike reviews, and so much more. We have several writers to check out: B. Kline, Josh, Paul R. Kan, Drunk Duck; and past writers like Amy.

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.)

An old-school science fiction adventure that reminds us that sometimes the biggest mistake is assuming we’re the smartest creature on the planet.

The World That Couldn’t Be by Clifford D. Simak

There is something wonderfully entertaining about classic science fiction. Before every other story needed a cinematic universe, a sprawling mythology, or enough world-building to fill a small encyclopedia, writers like Clifford D. Simak could take a relatively simple premise, send it to another planet, and turn it into a surprisingly thought-provoking adventure.

The World That Couldn’t Be, originally published in 1958, is a fine example of that old-school approach. It’s a short, brisk science fiction tale about a farmer, a troublesome alien creature, and what happens when a man’s determination to solve a problem runs headfirst into the possibility that he doesn’t understand the problem in the first place.

And, as it turns out, there’s a pretty good lesson in that.

The Story: A Farmer, an Alien, and One Very Bad Idea

The story follows Gavin Duncan, a human farmer living on the distant planet Layard. When a strange native creature known as the Cytha begins damaging his crops, Duncan decides that something must be done about it. His solution is straightforward enough: track down the creature and kill it.

Naturally, things don’t go quite according to plan.

With the help of a reluctant local tracker named Sipar, Duncan ventures into the alien wilderness in pursuit of his quarry. What begins as a fairly conventional hunt gradually becomes something much stranger as Duncan discovers that the Cytha—and the world he inhabits—may be considerably more complicated than he imagined.

Simak builds the story around a familiar premise: a human being encounters something he doesn’t understand and assumes that determination, ingenuity, and a little firepower will sort everything out. It’s the sort of thinking that has gotten humanity into trouble more than a few times, both in fiction and in the real world.

The difference here is that Duncan doesn’t have to travel across the galaxy to discover the limits of his understanding. He merely has to venture a little farther into the wilderness.

What Works: Simak’s Imagination and the Joy of Discovery

One of the things I appreciate about classic science fiction is how effectively it can turn an ordinary situation into something extraordinary. Simak doesn’t need an intergalactic war, a planet-destroying weapon, or an elaborate conspiracy to make this story work. He gives us a farmer trying to protect his crops and lets the situation develop from there.

It’s a simple premise, but simplicity isn’t a weakness when the writer knows what to do with it.

The real appeal is the gradual revelation of the unfamiliar. Layard isn’t merely Earth with a different name slapped onto the map. Its native life, its ecology, and its inhabitants provide the foundation for the mystery. The Cytha is particularly effective because its presence transforms what initially seems like a straightforward hunting expedition into a question of biology, intelligence, and the assumptions humans make about other living things.

Simak understands that one of the great pleasures of science fiction is the opportunity to encounter something that challenges our understanding of the natural world. The best speculative fiction doesn’t simply ask us to imagine different planets. It asks us to reconsider the planet we’re already living on.

That is where The World That Couldn’t Be finds its strongest footing.

The pacing deserves credit, too. At novella length, the story doesn’t have much room to waste, and Simak generally keeps things moving. Information is revealed gradually, the hunt supplies a tangible objective, and the mystery gives readers a reason to keep turning pages. Even when some of the developments become predictable, there’s an undeniable pleasure in watching the pieces come together.

This is the kind of story that reminds me why older science fiction remains worth exploring. The special effects might be missing, but the imagination is still doing the heavy lifting.

The Problem With Gavin Duncan

Unfortunately, the story’s biggest obstacle is also its central character.

Duncan is not especially easy to like. He’s stubborn, self-assured, and largely convinced that his own priorities should take precedence over the concerns of the people who understand Layard better than he does. His attitude toward Sipar and the planet’s native inhabitants is particularly revealing.

To Duncan, the situation is relatively simple: something is damaging his property, and he intends to eliminate the problem. The local inhabitants’ apprehension doesn’t carry much weight with him. Their knowledge of the environment matters less than his determination to impose his own solution.

There’s a familiar frontier narrative operating here. Replace the alien planet with an unfamiliar wilderness on Earth, and the basic framework would be recognizable from countless Westerns: the settler, the land, the threat, and the determination to tame what refuses to cooperate.

That framework isn’t inherently bad. In fact, it gives Simak a useful foundation for examining human arrogance. But it also raises an uncomfortable question: does the story recognize the implications of Duncan’s attitude, or does it occasionally reproduce them without enough critical distance?

The answer isn’t entirely satisfying.

Duncan’s treatment of Sipar can feel dehumanizing, and the story’s portrayal of the relationship between the human settler and the native inhabitants carries some uncomfortable colonial undertones. The fact that the setting is another planet doesn’t make those implications disappear.

To Simak’s credit, Duncan’s assumptions are challenged, and his experiences force him to reconsider at least some of what he believes. His character arc gives the adventure a more meaningful dimension than a simple contest between a hunter and his prey.

Still, the story doesn’t always interrogate its frontier assumptions as thoroughly as a modern reader might hope. Readers who are sensitive to the ways older science fiction depicts Indigenous-coded populations may find this aspect more frustrating than charming.

I don’t think that makes the story worthless. Quite the opposite: it makes the story more interesting to examine. But appreciating a work’s imagination doesn’t require pretending that its shortcomings aren’t there.

The Bigger Ideas Behind the Hunt

The title, The World That Couldn’t Be, suggests something more philosophical than a farmer’s struggle against a crop-eating creature. And while the story is primarily an adventure, its central mystery opens the door to some worthwhile questions.

How well can we understand a world when we approach it exclusively through our own needs?

How often do we mistake unfamiliarity for inferiority?

And what happens when we assume that every problem has a solution that conforms to our existing understanding of reality?

Duncan’s fundamental mistake isn’t simply that he wants to protect his crops. That’s a perfectly understandable motivation. His mistake is assuming that he already knows enough about the situation to determine what must be done.

He sees a problem and immediately begins thinking about how to eliminate it. He doesn’t initially give sufficient consideration to the possibility that the creature’s existence, behavior, or place in the ecosystem might reveal something important about the world itself.

It’s a very human failing.

We tend to approach unfamiliar situations with the tools and assumptions that have worked for us before. Sometimes that works. Sometimes it doesn’t. And sometimes the problem isn’t that our tools are inadequate but that we’ve misunderstood what we’re looking at.

This is where Simak’s story becomes more than a science fiction hunting expedition. The alien environment serves as a reminder that the universe doesn’t owe us an explanation that makes sense according to our expectations.

For a story published in the late 1950s, that’s an appealing idea. It’s also an idea that remains relevant today, whether we’re talking about environmental stewardship, scientific discovery, or simply the tendency to dismiss people and things we don’t understand.

I wouldn’t go so far as to call The World That Couldn’t Be a profound philosophical work. Its ideas are delivered through a fairly straightforward adventure rather than an especially deep exploration of consciousness or humanity’s place in the universe. But the underlying questions give the story enough substance to linger beyond its final pages.

Where the Story Falls Short

For all its strengths, The World That Couldn’t Be isn’t among the most extraordinary examples of classic science fiction.

The premise is stronger than some of its execution. Once readers recognize the basic pattern of the hunt and begin anticipating the direction of the mystery, certain developments become easier to predict. The story still has its moments of discovery, but the overall experience isn’t quite as surprising as its central concept promises.

Duncan’s characterization is another limitation. His stubbornness is necessary to the plot, but it can make portions of the story feel repetitive. His insistence on pursuing his objective supplies the conflict, yet the narrative occasionally leans too heavily on that insistence instead of developing the interpersonal dynamics around him.

And although the alien world is imaginative, I wanted more time to explore its implications. The ecological mystery is arguably the most compelling element of the story, and there are moments when I would have welcomed a deeper examination of what it means for an entire environment to operate according to principles its human inhabitants barely comprehend.

Of course, there’s a balancing act here. This is a relatively short work, not a 600-page planetary epic. Expanding every idea would undermine the brisk pacing that makes the story enjoyable in the first place.

Nevertheless, the brevity leaves me wishing Simak had pushed a little further in a few areas.

The story is entertaining, and its central concept is clever. It just doesn’t quite reach the heights that might have made it exceptional.

Final Thoughts: Worth the Trip to Layard?

The World That Couldn’t Be is a worthwhile little adventure for anyone interested in the roots of science fiction or the kind of speculative storytelling that places an intriguing idea at the center of a straightforward narrative.

Clifford D. Simak demonstrates a knack for taking a familiar human conflict and making it strange enough to reconsider. A farmer wants to protect his livelihood. An unfamiliar creature threatens his crops. A hunt begins. What could be simpler?

But beneath that familiar setup is a story about the limits of human understanding, the dangers of arrogance, and the consequences of assuming that the unfamiliar exists merely to be conquered.

Not everything works. Duncan is an occasionally frustrating protagonist, the colonial undertones deserve scrutiny, and the story’s revelations aren’t always as surprising as they could be. Those are legitimate shortcomings, and I wouldn’t recommend approaching this one expecting a forgotten science fiction masterpiece.

What I would recommend is approaching it for what it is: a compact, imaginative piece of Golden Age science fiction that offers an entertaining adventure and a few worthwhile ideas along the way.

Sometimes that’s enough.

Not every book needs to change your life, reshape your worldview, or leave you staring at the ceiling at two in the morning questioning the nature of existence. Sometimes a good story, a strange alien world, and a reminder that humanity doesn’t know nearly as much as it thinks it does will do the trick.

And if nothing else, perhaps we should all think twice before deciding that the best solution to an unfamiliar problem is to go out and kill it.

B. Kline’s Rating: 3.5/5

Recommended for fans of classic science fiction, alien ecology, and old-school speculative adventures. Just be prepared to look a little more critically at the human being holding the gun.

GoodReads Blurb

Simak’s stories often repeat a few basic ideas and themes. First and foremost is a setting in rural Wisconsin. A crusty individualistic backwoodsman character literally comes with the territory. But the rural setting is not always as idyllic as here and it is largely dominated by intolerance and isolationism.

– The World That Couldn’t Be (on GoodReads)

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)
• Book Review: A Short Guide to a Happy Life (Anna Quindlen)

There are plenty of comic strips that make you smile, a few that make you laugh, and then there’s Pearls Before Swine, which occasionally makes you wonder how Stephan Pastis managed to get away with publishing some of this stuff in a newspaper. Naturally, I mean that as a compliment.

Pearls Freaks the #*%# Out: A (Freaky) Pearls Before Swine Treasury by Stephan Pastis

Pearls Freaks the #*%# Out is another wonderfully irreverent collection from Pastis, bringing together the strips from Larry in Wonderland and Because Sometimes You Just Gotta Draw a Cover with Your Left Hand. Featuring the usual assortment of misanthropic rodents, dimwitted pigs, philosophically inclined goats, and perpetually endangered zebras, this treasury delivers precisely what I’ve come to expect from Pearls Before Swine: dark humor, biting sarcasm, ridiculous wordplay, and an almost impressive disregard for good taste. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Rat remains the star of the show for me. He’s arrogant, selfish, cynical, and frequently downright awful, which makes him an excellent vehicle for exposing the more unpleasant aspects of human nature. He’s the sort of character who reminds you that people can be selfish, irrational, and spectacularly stupid, then makes you laugh at the realization that you’re probably guilty of at least one of those things yourself. Pig provides the lovable, well-meaning counterbalance, while Goat’s intelligence and Zebra’s earnest activism give Pastis plenty of opportunities to poke fun at everything from social conventions to humanity’s endless capacity for self-importance. And the Crocs? Well, their continued inability to successfully eat a zebra is a running joke that never seems to run out of ridiculous possibilities.

What makes Pastis particularly effective is his willingness to embrace the absurd. He isn’t interested in delivering a tidy moral lesson or making sure everyone comes away feeling warm and fuzzy. His humor can be juvenile, mean-spirited, occasionally groan-inducing, and unapologetically dark. But beneath all that nonsense is a sharp satirical eye. Pastis understands that some of the funniest observations about society come from taking its logic, institutions, and self-seriousness to their most ridiculous conclusions. Sometimes the best way to expose the absurdity of the world is to draw a talking rat who behaves worse than most of the people he’s mocking.

The author commentary is another major selling point. Pastis doesn’t simply reprint his cartoons and leave readers to fend for themselves; he offers little explanations, anecdotes, and additional jokes about the strips and the reactions they generated. It’s rather like getting the director’s commentary on a comedy film, except the director is just as willing to mock himself as he is everyone else. These notes provide a welcome glimpse into the creative process and often deliver laughs of their own. They also remind us that behind the deliberately crude drawings and outrageous punchlines is a cartoonist who understands his craft and knows exactly what he’s trying to accomplish.

Of course, not every joke lands with equal force. Some of the puns are so terrible that you can practically hear the collective groan of an entire newspaper readership, and certain running gags inevitably become more predictable with repetition. The occasional joke also depends on familiarity with the characters or the broader world of newspaper comics. But these are minor complaints in a collection that consistently understands its audience and rarely loses its mischievous spirit.

There’s something refreshing about Pearls Before Swine in a world where so much humor seems designed to be agreeable to absolutely everyone. Pastis isn’t trying to win a popularity contest with his fictional animals. He’s content to be weird, cynical, offensive when the joke calls for it, and occasionally profound when you least expect it. His comics can make you laugh at humanity’s shortcomings without pretending that he’s somehow exempt from them.

Pearls Freaks the #*%# Out is a thoroughly entertaining treasury and another reminder of why Stephan Pastis remains one of my favorite newspaper cartoonists. It’s funny, irreverent, and gloriously ridiculous, with enough clever satire and behind-the-scenes commentary to make it more than just a collection of recycled comic strips.

If you enjoy dark humor, absurdity, terrible puns, and the occasional reminder that humanity might not be quite as intelligent as it thinks it is, this book belongs on your shelf. Just don’t expect Rat to offer you any meaningful life advice. If he does, you should probably do the opposite.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

GoodReads Back of the Book Blurb

An author-annotated Pearls Before Swine treasury featuring cartoons from Larry in Wonderland and Because Sometimes You Just Have to Draw a Cover with Your Left Hand.

From fire-breathing jugglers to sword-swallowing illusionists, this treasury showcases all strips from Larry in Wonderland and Because Sometimes You Just Gotta Draw a Cover with Your Left Hand , along with Pastis’s original commentary, which provides insight into what Pastis was thinking at the time random strips were conceived, and also fan reactions.

Tackling topics ranging from current events and modern technology to human and croc nature, Pearls Freaks the #*%# Out offers up a sideshow of feisty characters, including arrogant, self-centered, and totally hilarious Rat, who leads his four-legged collection of freakish friends through a carnival of misadventure. Joining the circuslike cavalcade are Pig, the slow but good-hearted conscience of the strip; Goat, the voice of reason that often goes unheard; Zebra, the activist; and those eternally inept carnivorous Crocs, who we learn happen to taste a lot like chicken. Pastis’s cynical humor and sharp wit imbue this entertaining vaudevillian collection.

– Pearls Freaks the #*%# Out by Stephan Pastis (GoodReads)

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)
• Book Review: A Short Guide to a Happy Life (Anna Quindlen)
• Book Review: The World That Couldn’t Be (Clifford D. Simak)
• Book Review: The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (Milan Kundera)
• Book Review: In Praise of Shadows (Junichiro Tanziaki)
• Book Review: The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows (John Koenig)

There are books about reading, books about books, and then there are books that make you stop in the middle of reading them and think, Wait a minute… how exactly am I reading this?

Peter Mendelsund’s What We See When We Read falls very firmly into that third category.

What We See When We Read Book Cover

At its simplest, the book is an exploration of what happens inside our heads when we read. When a novel tells us that a character has brown hair, do we actually see brown hair? Do we picture an entire face? Do we construct a detailed version of the character in our minds? Or are we doing something much stranger and less visually concrete?

Mendelsund spends the book poking at those questions, and the result is an entertaining, occasionally strange, and surprisingly thought-provoking examination of the reading experience.

And perhaps appropriately for a book about seeing things while reading, What We See When We Read is not presented like a traditional book.

The pages are filled with illustrations, diagrams, unusual layouts, typography, blank spaces, visual jokes, and all sorts of creative formatting. The physical presentation becomes part of the argument. Mendelsund isn’t simply telling us what reading looks like inside our heads; he’s constantly trying to demonstrate it.

That makes this a particularly fun book to read.

So What Do We Actually See?

One of the central ideas Mendelsund explores is the strange relationship between words and mental images.

If you read a description of a woman walking down a street, your brain presumably does something with that information. But what?

Mendelsund spends a considerable amount of time examining this through Anna Karenina. Anna becomes something of a laboratory experiment for thinking about fictional characters. Tolstoy gives us descriptions of Anna, but every reader inevitably constructs some version of her.

And that’s where things get interesting.

My Anna Karenina isn’t necessarily your Anna Karenina.

Even if we’ve both read the same words, we’ve experienced the character differently. We may have completely different ideas about Anna’s appearance, movements, voice, personality, or even the way she occupies physical space in our imagination.

The same thing happens with practically every fictional character we encounter.

When someone says “Harry Potter,” “Sherlock Holmes,” or “Huckleberry Finn,” most readers immediately have something in their heads. But how closely does that mental image correspond to what the author actually wrote?

And more importantly, why does our brain fill in all those gaps?

Mendelsund is fascinated by that gap between the words on the page and the experience happening inside the reader’s head.

Reading About Reading

One of the things I enjoyed most about What We See When We Read is that Mendelsund doesn’t pretend to be some completely objective scientist observing the human brain from the outside.

A lot of the book is based on his own experience of reading.

That actually makes the book more interesting to me.

As I was reading his explanations of how he visualizes things, I naturally started comparing them to how I visualize things. And that’s probably one of the best things a book like this can accomplish.

It made me think about my own reading habits.

When I read a description of a person, do I actually picture the person’s face? Sometimes. Other times, apparently not. I might have a vague sense of a person without ever consciously constructing an image.

Sometimes a setting is incredibly vivid. Other times, I know where the characters are supposed to be, but I couldn’t draw the place if you gave me a pencil and an hour.

And sometimes I realize that I’ve spent twenty pages reading about a character without ever deciding what they actually look like.

Mendelsund’s book made me notice those things.

That’s one of its greatest strengths.

A Different Way of Reading

Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of the book is the comparison it encourages between Mendelsund’s reading experience and my own.

His internal process isn’t exactly the same as mine.

It isn’t completely different, either.

And that middle ground is fascinating.

Reading this book is almost like getting a glimpse into another person’s brain while they’re reading a novel. Obviously, Mendelsund can’t literally show us everything happening in his mind, but he gives us his interpretation of the process and then uses words and images to recreate some approximation of it.

It makes you wonder how many different versions of the same book exist.

There is the book the author wrote.

Then there is the book the publisher printed.

Then there is the book Mendelsund reads.

There is the book I read.

And there are potentially millions of other versions being created simultaneously inside millions of other readers’ heads.

We all read the same words, but we don’t necessarily experience the same story.

That’s a pretty remarkable idea.

More Than Just a Book About Pictures

Despite the title, this isn’t simply a book about visualization.

Mendelsund also digs into memory, attention, language, character construction, descriptions, perspective, and the ways readers interact with fiction.

And because the book is so visually experimental, the format itself becomes part of the discussion.

Sometimes the pages are almost asking you to slow down and examine them rather than simply turning the page and continuing. The design forces you to become conscious of the act of reading.

That can occasionally make the book feel a little strange.

But I think that’s intentional.

A conventional presentation probably wouldn’t have worked nearly as well here. If Mendelsund had simply written 300 pages of straightforward prose explaining how readers visualize fictional worlds, it could have become a very dry academic exercise.

Instead, he makes the book itself an experiment.

The One Thing I Took Away

The biggest thing I took away from What We See When We Read isn’t necessarily a specific fact.

It’s an awareness of how I read.

That may sound like a small thing, but it isn’t.

Most of us read without thinking about the mechanics of reading. We pick up a book, look at the words, and allow the story to happen.

Mendelsund makes you step back from that process.

What am I actually picturing?

What am I ignoring?

How much of this fictional world am I constructing?

What does this character actually look like in my mind?

Am I hearing their voice?

Am I imagining the scenery?

Am I seeing the action like a movie?

Or am I experiencing the story in some completely different way?

And once you start asking those questions, it’s difficult to stop.

I suspect that’s also one of the reasons I enjoyed comparing Mendelsund’s reading habits to my own. His explanations gave me another perspective on something I’ve been doing my entire life without really examining it.

Maybe I’ll even experiment with it during future reading.

Perhaps I’ll pay closer attention to the images I’m creating—or not creating. Maybe I’ll try to visualize a setting more deliberately. Maybe I’ll notice when an author gives me an incredibly detailed description and my brain promptly ignores half of it.

Or maybe I’ll just continue reading exactly as I always have.

But now I’ll be thinking about it.

Final Thoughts

What We See When We Read is a fascinating little journey into one of those everyday experiences that we rarely stop to examine.

It’s entertaining, visually interesting, occasionally weird, and filled with ideas that can make you reconsider something as seemingly simple as opening a book and reading a sentence.

Mendelsund’s use of Anna Karenina as a recurring example works particularly well because it demonstrates the fundamental problem: an author can give us words, but the reader ultimately has to construct the experience.

And every reader constructs it differently.

That’s what makes reading so personal.

Ultimately, What We See When We Read isn’t just about what we see when we read.

It’s about the fact that we aren’t all seeing the same thing at all.

And that’s a pretty damn interesting thing to think about the next time you pick up a book.

Rating: 4 out of 5

A highly entertaining and unusual examination of reading, visualization, and the strange things our brains do with words. It won’t necessarily change the way you read, but it may make you much more aware of how you read—and that’s probably the best compliment I can give a book like this.

Back of the Book Blurb

A gorgeously unique, fully illustrated exploration into the phenomenology of reading-how we visualize images from reading works of literature, from one of our very best book jacket designers, himself a passionate reader. A VINTAGE ORIGINAL.

What do we see when we read? Did Tolstoy really describe Anna Karenina? Did Melville ever really tell us what, exactly, Ishmael looked like?

The collection of fragmented images on a page – a graceful ear there, a stray curl, a hat positioned just so – and other clues and signifiers helps us to create an image of a character. But in fact our sense that we know a character intimately has little to do with our ability to concretely picture our beloved – or reviled – literary figures.

In this remarkable work of nonfiction, Knopf’s Associate Art Director Peter Mendelsund combines his profession, as an award-winning designer; his first career, as a classically trained pianist; and his first love, literature – he thinks of himself first, and foremost, as a reader – into what is sure to be one of the most provocative and unusual investigations into how we understand the act of reading.

– What We See When We Read (GoodReads)

My Initial Review First Time I Read This

Back in October 2019 I first read this, and wrote this review:

This was a very entertaining read into how the mind views and thinks and “sees” things while we read. Filled with pictures, interesting ways to read each page (the layout and format) and the general bits of information you expect from the title.

He bases a lot of the book on Anna K. from Tolstoy and how we image and view her. And its interesting just how we think about characters when we read. He bases most of the book on his own ideas and own thoughts on reading and his own way of reading, with some bits of a ‘whole community’ as well.

Its kind of fun to see how he reads and internalizes what he reads vs. how I read and how I internalize how I read and how the two are not the same. Not completely different, but not the same. I like the comparison I’m able to make between his internalizing and my own and it makes a nice contrast. Also gives me a viewpoint for future reading perhaps and see if I can do some reading on a different level or different way.

I reread this and finished it today, and the book stays the same for me.

-B. Kline

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)