If there are two things Americans love, it’s football and beer. And what better way to combine them than by finding the nearest craft brewery to every NFL stadium? Whether you’re traveling for an away game, tailgating with friends, or just want to explore new taprooms, this guide lays out exactly which brewery is closest to each of the NFL’s 30 stadiums (remember, the Giants/Jets and Chargers/Rams share homes).

We’ve mapped out the nearest on-site breweries to every stadium, with exact coordinates and precise distances (straight-line, great-circle measurement). This isn’t a rough estimate—it’s as accurate as it gets without breaking out a tape measure on game day.

(See our article from the other day about Football and Beer: NFL Stadium Beer Prices for the 2025 Season – From $6.80 to $16.49 (and Higher).)

Recent NFL Stadiums that hosted the Super Bowl

Full Chart: Nearest Brewery to Each NFL Stadium

(This chart is a DIRECT location to location measurement.)

Closest Breweries to NFL Stadiums

(Here’s the full table of all 32 NFL teams, their stadiums, the nearest brewery, and the precise distance between them. This chart is the distance in so much as driving and / or walking would be concerned.)

Observations

• Shortest Walk for a Pint: Seattle Seahawks fans win this one — Pyramid Alehouse is basically across the street from Lumen Field (0.1 miles).

• Cincinnati Close Second: Bengals fans at Paycor Stadium can stroll over to Moerlein Lager House in under half a mile.

• Longest Trek: Buffalo Bills fans have to head ~8 miles to Buffalo Brewing Company. But let’s be real, Bills Mafia is tailgating in the lots anyway.

• Brewery Culture Hotspots: Cities like Denver, Seattle, Charlotte, Philly, and Minneapolis have multiple breweries within walking distance of the stadium.

Beer and Football – A Perfect Pair

Key Takeaways

• Closest Pair: Patriots fans win with Wormtown Brewery’s Patriot Place taproom, only 0.14 miles away from Gillette Stadium.
• Big Beer Desert: Arrowhead Stadium and Commanders Field are both over 5 miles from the nearest brewery.
• Beer Hotbeds: Green Bay, Detroit, Philly, and Minneapolis have breweries practically across the street.

Why This Matters for Beer and Football Fans

• Travel Planning: Away game? Know where to pregame with fresh craft beer.
• Local Flavor: Each stadium has its own beer scene—some are surrounded by breweries, others are beer deserts.
• Beer Tourism: Football season is the perfect excuse to visit a new brewery.

Conclusion

Football and beer go hand in hand, and no matter which stadium you’re at, there’s a brewery nearby worth checking out. Some fan bases have it better than others—Packers fans can walk across the street, while Commanders fans may have to Uber—but either way, beer and football continue to be a match made in heaven.

So next time you’re headed to a game, remember this list, support your local brewery, and raise a glass to touchdowns and good beer.

No matter which team you root for, there’s a craft brewery nearby waiting to serve you on game day. The rise of local beer near stadiums shows how intertwined football culture and the craft beer scene have become. Next time you head out to a game, consider supporting a local brewery before kickoff.

What’s your favorite stadium beer experience? Drop a comment below or let us know which brewery you always hit before a game.

Other Sports Related Articles

• The Best and Closest Brewery to Every MLB Ballpark
• The Average Cost of Beer Per Ballpark (2025)
• Beer Review: Pulisic Pilsner (Jackass Brewing Company)
• Book Review: Pulisic – My Journey So Far (Christian Pulisic)
• Qatar Bans Alcohol Sales at World Cup in Last Second Decision
• Breweries Opening Early For the USA vs Netherlands World Cup Game
• The Philadelphia Eagles Running Back – D’Andre Swift – Visits Bald Bird Brewing Company
• Drunk Phils Fans and Rotunda Brewing Company Collaborate Together on Jam the Batter sWheat Tart
• Mystery Phillies fan buys rounds of beer for people in Section 103
• Beer Review: Broken Skull – Stone Cold Steve Austin’s IPA (El Segundo Brewing Company)
• Beer Review: Macho Man (Couch Brewery)
• Beer Review: Royal Rumble (Funk Brewing)
• Stone Cold Steve Austin and the WWE Are Celebrating 3:16 Day
• Human Robot and The Full Pint Are Hosting RoboMania
• Brawl in the Beer Hall at Lakefront Brewery
• Hulk Hogan Announces Real American Beer
• Hulk Hogan’s Real American Beer Faces Lawsuit Over Alleged Negligence at Promotional Event
• FOR A SECOND YEAR IN A ROW, LAKEFRONT BREWERY TO HOST MAJOR WRESTLING EVENT IN THEIR BEER HALL
• NFL Stadium Beer Prices for the 2025 Season – From $6.80 to $16.49 (and Higher)
• Every NFL Stadium’s Closest Brewery – A Complete Guide for Football and Beer Fans

Thank You For Reading

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

Cheers.

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

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

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

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

• MAPS OF BREWERIES

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

You can check out our different directories here: Beer Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

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

You can now find us on our Discord Server here: The Beer Thrillers (Discord Server).

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

We’ve also joined LinkTree to keep track of all of our social media pages, as well as hot new articles we’ve written. The Beer Thrillers on LinkTree can be found here: The Beer Thrillers LinkTree.

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

The Beer Thrillers are a blog that prides itself on writing beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, news (especially local to the Central PA brewery scene), as well as covering other topics of our interests – such as hiking, literature and books, board games, and video games which we sometimes stream with our friends over at Knights of Nostalgia. We are currently listed as #5 on FeedSpot’s “Top 100 Beer Blogs” and #9 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. (As of May 2025.) Thank you for reading our site today, please subscribe, follow, and bookmark. Please reach out to us if you are interested in working together. If you would like to donate to the blog you can here: Donate to The Beer Thrillers. Thank you!

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

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

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

There’s nothing quite like the marriage of two of America’s greatest obsessions: football and beer. Whether you’re tailgating in the parking lot hours before kickoff, grabbing a cold one while cheering from the stands, or yelling at your TV from the comfort of your couch — beer is part of the NFL experience.

But if you’re heading to a game this season, you might want to check your wallet before you order that pint. Because depending on where you are, you could be paying as little as $6.80 or as much as $16.49 for a single 16-ounce beer. And if you’re unlucky enough to be in Philly, you might even see $18.50 staring back at you from the concession stand menu.

(See our article about prices at the MLB Ballparks – The Average Cost of Beer Per Ballpark (2025) .)

So let’s dive into the full stadium-by-stadium beer price breakdown for the 2025 NFL season.

Recent NFL Stadiums that hosted the Super Bowl

Average Beer Price Across the NFL – 2025 Season

The league-wide average price for a 16-ounce beer in NFL stadiums sits right around $9.76, based on the most recent available data from the 2024–2025 season. This figure reflects standard draft pricing — not the inflated “premium” options you might encounter in certain stadiums.

NFL Stadium Beer Prices – 2025 Chart

Beer Price Leaders and Losers

• Most Expensive: Washington Commanders — $16.49 for a 16 oz pour. That’s nearly the price of a six-pack at your local craft beer shop.

• Most Affordable: Cincinnati Bengals — $6.80, proving that the Queen City still knows how to take care of its fans.

• Biggest “What the Hell?” Moment: Philadelphia Eagles — $11.24 standard… but an $18.50 Miller Lite made headlines this preseason.

Why the Huge Price Differences?

A lot of factors go into these prices:

• Market size and cost of living (New York, LA, DC tend to be pricier)

• Team ownership philosophy (some owners see concessions as profit goldmines, others try to keep them affordable)

• Stadium contracts with vendors and distributors

• Fan demand and willingness to pay

And of course, once you’re in the stadium, they’ve got you. No outside beverages allowed, and unless you’re nursing a $6.50 bottle of water, you’re paying the going rate for beer.

A Craft Beer Fan’s Perspective

Here at The Beer Thrillers, we’re all about quality, variety, and flavor. So when I see someone dropping $16 on a watery macro lager, my beer-loving heart hurts. That same $16 could get you a hazy IPA from a local brewery, a barrel-aged stout, or three pours at your favorite taproom.

That said… when you’re in the middle of a roaring stadium, your team is in the red zone, and the crowd is electric — maybe, just maybe — the beer tastes a little better (even if your wallet feels lighter).

Final Take

Beer prices in NFL stadiums are going nowhere but up. If you’re a die-hard fan, budget accordingly. If you’re a craft beer drinker, maybe save your serious sipping for the pregame tailgate or post-game brewery stop.

Either way, beer and football aren’t breaking up anytime soon.

Sources:

• VinePair – NFL Stadium Beer Prices 2024

• AmericanCraftBeer.com – Beer Prices at Every NFL Stadium

• The Sun – Eagles Fans React to $18.50 Beer

Other Sports Related Articles

• The Best and Closest Brewery to Every MLB Ballpark
• The Average Cost of Beer Per Ballpark (2025)
• Beer Review: Pulisic Pilsner (Jackass Brewing Company)
• Book Review: Pulisic – My Journey So Far (Christian Pulisic)
• Qatar Bans Alcohol Sales at World Cup in Last Second Decision
• Breweries Opening Early For the USA vs Netherlands World Cup Game
• The Philadelphia Eagles Running Back – D’Andre Swift – Visits Bald Bird Brewing Company
• Drunk Phils Fans and Rotunda Brewing Company Collaborate Together on Jam the Batter sWheat Tart
• Mystery Phillies fan buys rounds of beer for people in Section 103
• Beer Review: Broken Skull – Stone Cold Steve Austin’s IPA (El Segundo Brewing Company)
• Beer Review: Macho Man (Couch Brewery)
• Beer Review: Royal Rumble (Funk Brewing)
• Stone Cold Steve Austin and the WWE Are Celebrating 3:16 Day
• Human Robot and The Full Pint Are Hosting RoboMania
• Brawl in the Beer Hall at Lakefront Brewery
• Hulk Hogan Announces Real American Beer
• Hulk Hogan’s Real American Beer Faces Lawsuit Over Alleged Negligence at Promotional Event
• FOR A SECOND YEAR IN A ROW, LAKEFRONT BREWERY TO HOST MAJOR WRESTLING EVENT IN THEIR BEER HALL

Thank You For Reading

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

Cheers.

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

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

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

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

• MAPS OF BREWERIES

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

You can check out our different directories here: Beer Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

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

You can now find us on our Discord Server here: The Beer Thrillers (Discord Server).

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

We’ve also joined LinkTree to keep track of all of our social media pages, as well as hot new articles we’ve written. The Beer Thrillers on LinkTree can be found here: The Beer Thrillers LinkTree.

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

The Beer Thrillers are a blog that prides itself on writing beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, news (especially local to the Central PA brewery scene), as well as covering other topics of our interests – such as hiking, literature and books, board games, and video games which we sometimes stream with our friends over at Knights of Nostalgia. We are currently listed as #5 on FeedSpot’s “Top 100 Beer Blogs” and #9 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. (As of May 2025.) Thank you for reading our site today, please subscribe, follow, and bookmark. Please reach out to us if you are interested in working together. If you would like to donate to the blog you can here: Donate to The Beer Thrillers. Thank you!

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

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

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

Woke up in the hotel, drove to Cincinnati, stopping about an hour into the two hour drive to walk a one mile little park area called Brum’s Woods, just to give my legs a wake up and keep myself from falling asleep. But once I got into Cincinnati, I fell in love, immediately.

I got to park right near the Cincinnati Red’s stadium – Great American Ball Park. For 5.50$ I got two hours on the meter. I walked along the river front, walked along the one street, and found this Taste of Belgium restaurant. …I couldn’t help but go in.

Next thing I know I’m having Rodenbach, Avobode, and other high quality Belgian beers. And its only 11AM. I finally manage to pull myself away, and walked the Roebling Bridge into Kentucky and back, and then I stop in at the Christian Moerlein Lager House.

Another fine brewery establishment. This was great, got to drink upstairs at the bar (something I never realized I would be so grateful for, since we can’t do this back in Pennsylvania anymore), and talked to a wonderful young sweet bartender who told me all about Cincinnati and we discussed the changing laws. She was saying they were expecting a news conference today about some new restrictions. From my view, I could see Paul Brown Stadium while I drank my pint.

After saying goodbye, I went back to my meter, put another 5.50$ in, and then went to the Underground Railroad Museum. If you are in Cincinnati, this is something you should definitely do. It is extremely powerful, and a very well done museum.

I then got back in my car and drove to Braxton Brewing Company in Kentucky. Now…. I hate to speak ill of a state…. but Kentucky was horrible. The brewery was AMAZING. But getting to it… and then leaving it… was so extremely aggravating. I have no idea why… but it was only 1.5 miles and it took me twenty minutes to get there, and fifteen minutes to leave. Apparently Kentuckians don’t know how to do round-a-bouts correctly. I have no idea what was going on with that.

But, let me just say, the brewery was amazing. And Adam – the bartender – was one of the best bartenders I’ve gotten to spend time with and talk to in a while. I promised him I’d make a shout out to him in this blog post, so there you go. Dude is straight up nice, knowledgeable, and great bartender. If you stop in at Braxton Brewing, make sure you say hi to him, he is a class act. He too mentioned the governor of Ohio, and his own governor, doing an announcement at some point.

After making it back into Ohio, and Cincinnati, thankfully, I went to the Cincinnati Art Museum. Where I puttered about acting like I know what art is. I don’t. No clue. My ex-wife went to school to be an art teacher, and I have zero understanding of art. I always want to put a sign over urinals in bathrooms at art museums that just say: “THIS IS ART. YOU ARE MAKING ART.” And see if people will take pictures of it and believe it.

After the art museum, I then went to Taft’s Ale House.

This is another one of those beautiful stories of a church being turned into a brewery to preserve the building. Also, if you see the logo its Taft in a bathtub, so if you know the story of that, you’ll understand why I find that so amusing. (I’ll elaborate on that in the full write-up.)

After Taft’s I then went to Urban Artifact. It came as the most highly recommended place for me to visit from all of my friends, and I am so completely glad I did. Wow, every beer was absolutely amazing and fantastic. All sours. All sooo sooo sooooooooooo good. I picked up plenty of beers for Deuene Hoffman, and myself, and a t-shirt for myself, bid them a fond adieu, and then drove to Wilmington Ohio, where I was hoping to hit up a cidery right before they closed up, but unfortunately I got there at 10:05PM and as I walked up they closed the doors. So next time I’m in the area, I’ll try and hit it up again, I’m not a huge cider person, but if its there, its there, might as well. And figured this would be a great ending stop to the day. Oh well, so it goes. The cidery is called TinCap Cidery. In case you are ever in Wilmington Ohio, there is a cidery.

Ok, tomorrow will be Hocking Hills and some more legit hiking again, as well as Jackie O’s in Athens, and then on to Ohiopyl Saturday and the end of my trip sadly. My bank account I think is looking forward to this trip being over the most… …and my liver.

Well, stay healthy out there everyone, cheers!

-B. Kline

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

The Trip to Indianapolis:

• The Trip to Indy
• The Trip to Indy – Day One Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Two Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Three Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Four Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Five Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Six Recap
• The Trip to Indy – Day Seven Recap
• Recap and Stats

Saturday night after work got over (7PM) I got the pleasure to get to Highway Manor Brewing in Camp Hill. I left work at 7 and got there at about 7:25-7:30. There was still a decent crowd at the time when I got there (inside tables were full and the tables with the swing seats were full). I ordered the Mr. Blackberry and a Turkey Sandwich to start.

Beer: Mr. Blackberry
Brewery: Highway Manor Brewing Co.
Style: Sour – Other
ABV: 5.2%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: None

First time having this, I’ve had several other Highway Manor beers at various brewfests (Lititz Brewfest, Lancaster Brewfest, possibly Little Big Beer Fest or the Mount Hope RenFaire Brewfest), and this was just as good as all of those. This was super tart, delicious, fruity, with a great berry flavor.

On Untappd I gave it a ****.25
The global Untappd rating (as of 9.27.20) is: 3.73

Soon my food was arriving, and I had already drained my Blackberry sour, so I needed a new beer to help eat the food. (By the way, the entire food menu looked amazing, the turkey sandwich was phenomenal. Top of the line, high quality food, and very cheap, and with huge portions.)

Once my sandwich arrived I needed another beer, and decided to try some of their guest taps that they had running (they had five drafts; all guest taps). I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about Human Robot but haven’t had a chance yet to try anything from them, so I decided to try out their IPA – Dreams of Orgonon.

Beer: Dreams of Orgonon
Brewery: Human Robot
Style: IPA – New England
ABV: 6.6%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Deliciously dreamy juice bomb brewed with sweet golden promise malt and hopped intensely with Citra, Mosaic, and Idaho 7. Its like the sun coming out…

My Untappd Rating: ****.5
Global Untappd Rating: 4.15 (as of 9.28.20)

This was extremely tasty, juicy, dank, and delicious. Everything you want from a New England IPA, this had in spades, plus some. All around amazing beer and went fantastically with my sandwich. By this point I had moved to the center table and sat across from the one swing. I was informed by Johnny (Johnny Compton III – owner/brewer at Highway Manor Brewing) that a friend of his bought everyone a round. I was then joined by a couple – Lucas and Kaitlin who sat next to me.

They were both wearing ‘cat’ pants (pants with dozens of cat faces all over them), and quickly from talking to them I realized Lucas was Johnny’s friend. I thanked him for the beer, and for the rest of the night there, talked with them while we all drank, as well as talked with a few others who were there and one or two that came and went.

Beer: Compton Pilsner
Brewery: Raney Cellars Brewing Company
Collaboration with: Highway Manor Brewing Co.
Style: Pilsner – Czech
ABV: 5.4%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: A traditional Pilsner with Mr Johnny Compton from Highway Manor Brewing. Saaz Hops from start to finish on this Pils.

As I’ve said in the blog here before when doing reviews, pilsners are a style that can be very hit or miss for me. This was a complete hit for me. Blew me away how wonderful the flavor was, how crisp it was, no lingering aftertastes (which I sometimes get from pilsners and why they are often a miss for me). This is just a fantastically brewed beer.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 3.88 (as of 9.28.20)

Throughout the night I had been texting with the group text of guys from my work, a group of us that regularly meet to play the Game of Thrones board game (and other games) and just group text each other about all kinds of things, from beer to philosophy, to politics, to work, to movies, shows, nerd culture, etc. My one friend and co-worker in the group text decided he would spend the night throwing out some new “blog names” for me instead of using The Beer Thrillers. At this point, I’d like to take a divergence from the brewery review and highlight the best that D. Pezzuti had to offer:

• Benjamin Buzzin
• Get Ben’t
• Bend Over Bens Benders
• The Curious Cases of Benjamin Buzzin

We then discussed doing a segment of beer reviews of Nitro stouts and rate them in the style of WCW Nitro Years. With five star Nitro stouts being WCW Nitro ’97 and one star Nitro stouts being WCW Nitro ’01. We also discussed calling the faithful to the blog “Hopamaniacs”.

Anyway…. back to the program…

Time for another beer, this time I went for another guest draft – this time from Naked Brewing; Thank Frank.

Beer: Thank Frank
Brewery: Naked Brewing Company
Style: IPA – American
ABV: 5.6%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: West Coast IPA hopped with Citra & Amarillo.
Refreshing and perfect for those warm September days. Notes of dank citrus & delicious sticky resin.

A traditional hoppy IPA, this was a change of pace from the crisp pilsner, the juicy New England IPA, and the super tart and delicious sour Mr. Blackberry. This was a good, hoppy, bitter, earthy IPA, old west coast style old-school vibe to it.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 3.75 (as of 9.28.20)

It was starting to get late, I had thought about meeting two friends (D. Arndt and Youngblood) at Ever Grain before Ever Grain closed (at 11 – just like Highway Manor) since they were doing their Anniversary weekend, but Youngblood’s comedy (stand up comedy) bit went on longer and they wouldn’t be leaving their show til just before 11 anyway. So I stayed til closing getting to talk to Lucas and Kaitlin and others.

At this point, we also got introduced to Johnnie’s dog – a great dane and black lab mix – named Luna. Absolutely beautiful and wonderful dog. Fun and playful and nice drinking companion (no, I didn’t give the dog any beer).

So for my final beer of the night, I tried another brewery I never had before but have heard nothing but great things about – Brewery ARS.

Unfortunately for this, I do not have a pic, as just as I was ordering, my phone died and I did not have a charger on me. (9 hour day at work, plus driving using my GPS, plus texting, plus Untappd, and other apps, for notes, etc., really drained the battery).

Beer: Embrace the Day
Brewery: Brewery ARS
Style: IPA – Imperial / Double New England
ABV: 8.7%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Hazy Double IPA :: mosaic, simcoe, falconer’s flight, el dorado

Another juicy, bright, delicious New England style IPA; this time a DIPA. A great beer to end the night on. This was super easy to drink, juicy, and went down fast (also perhaps because it was the end of the night and my fifth drink, but who knows).

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 4.09 (as of 9.28.20)

Before leaving, I said my goodbyes to everyone, and got to talk to Johnnie Compton a bit more. He is a great dude, knows his saisons, knows his yeast, knows his beer, and very down to Earth. Thanked me for coming out, and sent me on my way with a few (free) bottles of Mr. Peach and Mr. Plum. Which I will be diving into on the next stream with D. Scott for The Knights of Nostalgia.

I will discuss the aesthetics of the brewery now. The building is small, but well laid out (even with the current COVID restrictions), it has two rooms for dining tables, and then an open patio like area. Kind of reminds you of a house in the suburbs with the patio garage area.

The swings are really neat. I am wondering if they may become a problem with an ‘intoxicated’ person, but at a brewery, I highly doubt this will come up, but you never know. The tables and seating area though is gorgeous, both indoor and outdoor. Indoors, it has a rave like vibe with the glowing lights and the glow in the dark paint. (Make sure to check out the bathroom to really see what I mean.)

Lucas summed it up when we were discussing the brewery and the area, that its a “Philly bar in Camp Hill, turned saison bottle brewery.” And thats probably the most apt way to describe it. Johnnie and I were discussing how it was like opening during COVID and everything, and he was saying how nuts he was for opening a brewery primarily based on bottles rather than draft, and to do it during a global pandemic on top of everything.

The food menu on Saturday night looked fantastic. Lamb, turkey, vegetarian or vegan sandwich, and many other options, all for 8$ or less. Not sure if that menu is permanent or if it will be changed or updated or switched, but Johnnie did say he’s hoping to have food trucks in their parking lot area and grass field area across from the brewery on weekends.

The following pictures I took Saturday night while I was there:

The following pictures are courtesy of Highway Manor’s Facebook page:

This will certainly be a stop I will make regularly when on the West Shore, and will be perfect when hitting the area to do a brewery lap. Other great local breweries include Ever Grain, Mellow Mink, Hemaur Brewing, and Pizza Boy (as well as Liquid Noise which is a bit further, but still in the general area). So lots of great options all in the area.

I personally highly recommend checking the brewery out, and trying their wonderful tremendous beers. Especially if you like farmhouse ales, saisons, tart beers, sours, lambics, or all things similar. They also will have a rotating guest draft list that looks great for the area (Johnnie said he would like to keep it relatively full of Philly area beers), so that looks great – getting to try Philly beers and Philly breweries without the 2 hour drive to Philly. The brewery has a super cool vibe. There was a food menu for kids though it might not be 100% the most kid friendly; its certainly not anti-kid, but the venue vibe seems to be aimed away from parents. It is also dog friendly.

Be sure to check out some of our other brewery opening articles:

• A Sneak Preview of Rubber Soul Brewing (Hummelstown)
• Midwest Coast Brewing Opens (Chicago)
• Rally Point – Cox Brewing Taproom Opens (Elizabethtown)
• Boneshire Brew Works to Open Second Taproom in Harrisburg (Harrisburg)
• Irv’s Pub Rebranded as Rotunda Brewing Pub (Hershey)
• Official BBQ (Pizza Boy Secondary Location) (Rutherford)
• Pilger Ruh Brewing Needs Your Help (Pottsville)

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

Thanks for reading everyone and hopefully someday I’ll see you at Highway Manor and have a beer together. Until then, virtually, cheers!

-B. Kline

(Post Script: This was meant to go up Sunday night, but everything kinda got pushed back and thus why its gone up this morning, Monday, September 28th. My parents celebrated their 40th Anniversary on Sunday the 27th, and originally – pre-COVID – we were all going to go to the Bengals vs. Eagles game at the Lincoln Center in Philly; since they are big Eagles fans and I’m a Bengals fan, but unfortunately that didn’t get to work out. Instead, we got to watch the overtime – because the game in regulation time was not aired locally – and we got to see possibly the most apathetic overtime ever played. Six punts by the two teams combined in the 10 minute overtime. Neither team trying on their last plays to score. And on top of all this, the Phillies still had a chance to make the playoffs, and all they had to do was win, against a team that was locked in at their seed, and that they had just lost to twice, ….and of course they couldn’t do it. So despite it being an 8-team playoff for each conference, the Phillies *STILL* couldn’t manage to get in. So disappointing. But needless to say despite all this, the article is now up, just a bit later. Enjoy!)

If there’s one thing I love, its a Monday Night Football game between two 0-3 teams. Especially when that one team is mine – the Cincinnati Bengals. Yes, every season is a long road of torture and abject humiliation, and watching the Bengals is somewhere near the level of being waterboarded at Gitmo (Guantanamo Bay base). But I push through every year. We have a new coach now, Zac Taylor. The most whitest of whitest and blandest of blandest men. He wanted to prove to his father he was the bigger WASP so he went and played QB at Nebraska. He drives a mini-van, knows all the words to baby shark, wears short khaki shorts, and thinks Desperate Housewives was the culmination of the television medium. When fist-bumping the black players on his team he refers to himself as “Zakky T”. The Bengals team can be actively described as “aggressively milquetoast”.

….and those are the positives we have on the Bengals this season. So I find myself rooting them on (actually, in a perverse way, rooting for the loss so we can go 0-16 and lock up Tua and get away from Andy Dalton for good) sitting at the bar at Boneshire Brewery alongside Owen and a host of other characters playing Dungeons & Dragons (while MNF “rages” on around them, all of whom are oblivious to it) and Jimi manning the bar. And this was probably the best way to view this schlocking and revolting display of “football” pageantry by a team who legitimately (maybe) Alabama a run (though I’d still bet on Alabama).

The nice takeaway from it all is that Steelers might look better but its all a sham because they got to play at home (like they always do) on MNF to a very enthused crowd, so their 27-3 thrashing of an extremely subpar team is all smoke up the back end of a buffalo. The now 1-3 Steelers will go on with their backup QB to have a subpar / below average season, but at least they got this one big win in. I always love the statistics before these games, like Steelers are 13-0 in their last 13 (now 14-0) Monday Night Football home games. Which makes you wonder just how few away Monday Night games they’ve had, and what their record is on those extremely rare occasions. And just how lopsided that statistic becomes if you are always the home team for these games (note: they don’t give Bengals home games on prime time.) And, Andy Dalton now progresses to a 3-14 lifetime record against the Steelers (which includes a botched playoff game courtesy of Vontaze Burfict, who incidentally enough got himself suspended for the season yesterday).

But enough of this tragedy known as the NFL season 2019, and onto this delicious beer.

Currently on tap at Boneshire Brewery is two Tried and True variants. One of which is pineapple, the other being mango. I got to try the pineapple version at the Lititz Brewfest just before it ended and before I got to help Alan pack up / move equipment to his truck after it all ended. The pineapple version is absolutely delicious. But mango in beer is always a surefire way to make it good (in my opinion at least).

Tried and True is one of the biggest staples for Boneshire. I even have two cans in my fridge as we speak. (Saving them for a review as well coincidentally, having traded the other two for the Mississippi beer mail I received before, and the South Carolina beer mail I just received). Tried and True is a 5.5% ABV Witbier that is extremely delicious on its own right. Alongside other Boneshire Brew Works (BBW) staples of Green Machine, Iscariot, Angels on the Sideline, Lazarus, Dark of the Forest, Testify, and Devil’s Burden; this is one of their consistent staples that rotates on their system and is a beloved fan favorite. Its nice, juicy, soft, low-key (5.5%) and always hits the spot. So adding mango or pineapple can only make it better. Both variants are absolutely delicious and tweak the original and just make it better (or at least the same high quality but with a slightly different taste).

Beer: Tried and True (Mango)
Brewery: Boneshire Brew Works
Style: Witbier
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: None
Untappd Write-up: Tried and True with mango.

The original Tried and True lists a 15 IBU, and has this for it’s Untappd write-up: This witbier, meaning “white”, is good for any occasion. With notes of orange peel, coriander, Belgian yeast, and wheat, this beer is sure to satisfy your thirst. Pours a slightly cloudy gold with a hue of orange and fluffy white head. Delicious.

Appearance is a beautiful golden orange. Juicy like orange juice, unfiltered looking, delicious looking. Poured to the top to almost overflowing by Jimi (one of the many favorite bartenders at Boneshire, along with Owen, Jared, Jason, Shawn, Alexis, or even one of the owners – Alan, Carson, or Alex; occasionally stepping in) there’s not much head to this, but a slight foam ring right at the top barely there. It looks like sun reflection through a window with that beautiful golden hue. The second picture I have here makes it look like it has a bit more haze and sediment then there really is, but it is hazy and it is cloudy and it is unfiltered, but in all the right ways.

Aroma is Tried and True esque and similar to how the original was, and similar to how the pineapple version I had at the Lititz Brewfest was. BUT, like the pineapple one, this one has a lot of mango in the nose (that one, obviously had a lot of pineapple in the nose). Very upfront heavy mango smell. Followed by the orange peel and coriander and a lot of the golden wheat smell that witbiers are known for. This is one of my favorite styles, mainly for the smell. Alongside many of the Belgian styles, you can smell the yeast strain in there. A staple for Belgian breweries this is just a fantastic style overall. You can smell the wheat and the Belgian yeast strain, you can smell the orange peel that is so characteristic of the style, and you can smell the various spices used, typically coriander, which is what Tried and True uses.

If you’ve ever had the Tried and True before, this tastes very similar, but you get punched in the face first by mangoes (and you didn’t even do anything to deserve it!) and then it goes into the true Tried and True (see what I did there?) taste. Extremely strong mango upfront that slides into the orange peel extremely well and like a perfect tandem, before sparking the coriander, the Belgian yeast, the softness of the wheat, and the juicyness that comes from the mango, as it all easily drinks down. It is quick to finish a pint of this and find yourself getting a second (and then third, and then fourth, and fifth, etc.), and at 5.5% ABV its not too bad on you either. You’re not going to get walloped after two or three of these, and it’ll pair so well with the new Smoked Blues BBQ truck next door or with a good steak, and potatoes, and green beans… ok, now I’m just making myself hungry (and its only breakfast time, and besides, like I’ve said before, I’m no foodie). I honestly don’t foresee this one lasting long at Boneshire, so I’d make good usage of it and stop in and drink it up yourself while you can. Maybe pickup some 4-pks to go.

My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 3.71 (as of 10.1.19)

And quickly, while I sat there, watching my Bengals jump up 3-0 it quickly, oh so quickly, vanished, into a final score thrashing of 27-3. Onwards Bengal Soldiers, onto 0-16! The road continues on with this beautiful 0-4 start. #tankfortua is going to be the hashtag most used in Cincinnati for this year I believe, despite the Bengals home office attempt to get people to use #seizetheDEY.

I know from talking to a few people who got to go to the Kennett Square Brewfest (so jealous) that the Tried and True (mango) was a huge hit, so I highly recommend everyone stops out to Boneshire Brew Works and give it a good solid try before its gone. Get the pineapple version as well for comparison sake.

Also, fresh Iscariot just hit the taps, and that is always a delicious Black IPA.

This is possibly one of my favorite black IPAs, which can be a miss or hit breed. And I always love seeing it come back on the taps and make sure to get a pint or two before its gone. (Which I had to do last night during the thrashing, and talking old Harrisburg Heat stories with Owen. Reminiscing on John Abe, Mark Pulisic, Scoop Stanisak, Bob Lilley, and the various other notable Heat alumni.) I figure I’ll save this for another beer review rather than doing a two-fer here.

As always, I have a ton of things in the pipelines here. As J. Doncevic said to me last night (he was one of the many playing D&D behind me at the tables), I currently have three opened tabs in the blog control panel for the various events and things I need to write up, including the Midwest Coast Brewing article that is nearing finishing (just waiting for their big weekend to settle down for them). I have the Lancaster Brewfest and the Lititz Brewfest to write up, as well as several beer reviews (like the Iscariot), and so much more, as always I’m running behind and their piling up. But October should be a good month to get them all written down and posted (some dating as far back as July). So be on the lookout for them and much much much much much more.

Currently we’re still listed at #11 on the Top 100 Best Beer Blogs, but it refreshes and reloads weekly – today at noon, so in my review of Iscariot tonight, I’ll be able to see where we stand after this week. We’ve been holding solid, so hopefully that continues.

I am astonished by how well the blog continues to grow in readership, we started out in May with only 100~ views, got to 1.2K in June, hit 2.5 in July, and 4K viewers in August, September concluded with 4.3K viewers, and here’s hoping October tops that and we get to 5K viewers. (These are poor month and not overall totals.)

J. Doncevic also said he has quite a few writings he wants to do, like a recap of the Kennett Square brewfest where he got to help pour for Rotunda Brewing Company, and many more things (like a lot of beer reviews, so be sure to check out his stuff, he gets to try a lot more eclectic things than I do it seems with Tavour and his friends trading with him, so you’ll see a multitude of whaler beers from him).

As always everyone, continue to hit the like, the follow and subscribe, and as always, make sure to leave comments, we love hearing from you guys, its always great to get in touch with our readers (potentially fans? too?).

Until tonight – keep those livers pumping, you’re going to need them boys (and girls)!

-B. Kline

After leaving work at 630 decided to NOT watch the end of the Bengals game, as I had a very good idea of how this was going to turn out (it was 21-17 Seattle when I left work). So taking 743 route home, I stopped at Troegs brewery. Perfect place to avoid football. Not a TV in sight, a gorgeous outdoor beer garden to sit in and drink and read. And pretty much only hipsters and families from the park in sight. Perfect place to avoid the Bengals. To avoid football.

Missed out on Scratch 387 (hazy NE style IPA), and too early for the new Trail Day Pale Ale that their releasing, I grabbed a flight of Fest Lager (looking to be a regular from some of their scratch versions of this), Scratch 385, Scratch 386, and a repeat for me – the Boysenberry Tart Ale.

Something can be said for just how consistent Troegs is with their beers, styles, tastes, and flavors. Over the years, since at least moving to the new facility in Hershey, they have just been flat out consistent. Never really having experienced any off flavors, or downright undrinkable beers, everything confirms to styles and is spot on to their taste listings, etc. A few ‘stinkers’ throughout the year (what brewery hasn’t) and some amazing beers (Nimble Giant immediately comes to mind, various scratches, some of the new splinter series like Blackberry Tizzy), but under it all, just a consistent batch of beers at all times. They might not be creating a list of whales to go and seek out, but the consistency is such an important factor. Give me a brewery that consistently pumps out nearly 4 star beers that all fit the styles and guidelines and taste good over a brewery that gives a 5 star followed up by a 1 star then a 4 star then a 2 star then a 5 star then a 1 star, etc. I’d rather have the reliable consistent beer and brewery next door than the whale chaser that as often times misses the mark than makes it. (Note, this isn’t a call-out or a jab at any one particular brewery, I’m just giving a hypothetical comparison.)

So let’s move on and get into this flight shall we?

This is one of the latest of their scratch versions of marzens, dark lagers, and festbiers, that they typically have done one or two of each year around this time. Now that its named instead of having the scratch designator, it looks like they’ve come to their conclusion on the recipe for this one and it might see play as a seasonal rotation beer at this time. Which is good, this is definitely their best version of it (of those that I’ve had, and I believe I’ve had at least 3 or 4).

Beer: Fest Lager
Brewery: Troegs Independent Craft Brewery
Style: Festbier
ABV: 6.1%
IBU: No IBU
Untappd Write-Up: Our take on this timeless German style – perfected through our small-batch Scratch Series – starts with a traditional brewing technique called decoction. By boiling a portion of the mash, we create a bright, dry maltiness. A kettle addition of Hallertau Tradition hops adds subtle floral and herbal undercurrents to this toasty sweet Fest Lager.

For those curious, there is differences between Marzens and Festbiers. Festbiers are what kind of came out of Marzens turning into Oktoberfest beers and instead of lumping them all together, they got different designations with the subtle differences being the key notes between them. And Festbiers got their own branding instead of being called Oktoberfest mainly not to deal with copyright and similar legality issues (many German breweries, and some American ones had already copyrighted beer names of Oktoberfest before the BJCP could fully define things, as well as the Oktoberfest in Germany, etc., just more of a headache than its worth.)

For those curious for more on the Festbier style, here is the BJCP write-up on it:

4B. Festbier

Overall Impression

A smooth, clean, pale German lager with a moderately strong malty flavor and a light hop character. Deftly balances strength and drinkability, with a palate impression and finish that encourages drinking. Showcases elegant German malt flavors without becoming too heavy or filling.

Appearance

Deep yellow to deep gold color; should not have amber hues. Bright clarity. Persistent white to off-white foam stand. Most commercial examples are medium gold in color.

Aroma

Moderate malty richness, with an emphasis on toasty-doughy aromatics and an impression of sweetness. Low to medium-low floral, herbal, or spicy hops. The malt should not have a deeply toasted, caramel, or biscuity quality. Clean lager fermentation character.

Flavor

Medium to medium-high malty flavor initially, with a lightly toasty, bread dough quality and an impression of soft sweetness. Medium to medium-low bitterness, definitely malty in the balance. Well-attenuated and crisp, but not dry. Medium-low to medium floral, herbal, or spicy hop flavor. Clean lager fermentation character. The taste is mostly of Pils malt, but with slightly toasty hints. The bitterness is supportive, but still should yield a malty, flavorful finish.

Mouthfeel

Medium body, with a smooth, somewhat creamy texture. Medium carbonation. Alcohol strength barely noticeable as warming, if at all.

Comments

This style represents the modern German beer served at Oktoberfest (although it is not solely reserved for Oktoberfest; it can be found at many other ‘fests’), and is sometimes called Wiesn (“the meadow” or local name for the Oktoberfest festival). We chose to call this style Festbier since by German and EU regulations, Oktoberfestbier is a protected appellation for beer produced at large breweries within the Munich city limits for consumption at Oktoberfest. Other countries are not bound by these rules, so many craft breweries in the US produce beer called Oktoberfest, but based on the traditional style described in these guidelines as Märzen.

History

Since 1990, the majority of beer served at Oktoberfest in Munich has been this style. Export beer specifically made for the United States is still mainly of the traditional amber style, as are US-produced interpretations. Paulaner first created the golden version in the mid-1970s because they thought the traditional Oktoberfest was too filling. So they developed a lighter, more drinkable but still malty version that they wanted to be “more poundable” (according to the head brewer at Paulaner). But the actual type of beer served at Oktoberfest is set by a Munich city committee.

Characteristic Ingredients

Majority Pils malt, but with some Vienna and/or Munich malt to increase maltiness. Differences in commercial examples are mostly due to different maltsters and yeast, not major grist differences.

Style Comparison

Less intense and less richly toasted than a Märzen. More rich-heavy in body than a Helles, with more hop flavor and higher alcohol. Less rich in malt intensity than a Maibock. The malt complexity is similar to a higher-gravity Czech Premium Pale Lager, although without the associated hops.

And for comparison sake, here is the BJCP’s write-up on Marzen:

6A. Märzen

Overall Impression

An elegant, malty German amber lager with a clean, rich, toasty and bready malt flavor, restrained bitterness, and a dry finish that encourages another drink. The overall malt impression is soft, elegant, and complex, with a rich aftertaste that is never cloying or heavy.

Appearance

Amber-orange to deep reddish-copper color; should not be golden. Bright clarity, with persistent, off-white foam stand.

Aroma

Moderate intensity aroma of German malt, typically rich, bready, somewhat toasty, with light bread crust notes. Clean lager fermentation character. No hop aroma. Caramel, dry-biscuity, or roasted malt aromas inappropriate. Very light alcohol might be detected, but should never be sharp. Clean, elegant malt richness should be the primary aroma.

Flavor

Initial malt flavor often suggests sweetness, but finish is moderately-dry to dry. Distinctive and complex maltiness often includes a bready, toasty aspect. Hop bitterness is moderate, and the hop flavor is low to none (German types: complex, floral, herbal, or spicy). Hops provide sufficient balance that the malty palate and finish do not seem sweet. The aftertaste is malty, with the same elegant, rich malt flavors lingering. Noticeable caramel, biscuit, or roasted flavors are inappropriate. Clean lager fermentation profile.

Mouthfeel

Medium body, with a smooth, creamy texture that often suggests a fuller mouthfeel. Medium carbonation. Fully attenuated, without a sweet or cloying impression. May be slightly warming, but the strength should be relatively hidden.

Comments

Modern domestic German Oktoberfest versions are golden – see the Festbier style for this version. Export German versions (to the United States, at least) are typically orange-amber in color, have a distinctive toasty malt character, and are most often labeled Oktoberfest. American craft versions of Oktoberfest are generally based on this style, and most Americans will recognize this beer as Oktoberfest. Historic versions of the beer tended to be darker, towards the brown color range, but there have been many ‘shades’ of Märzen (when the name is used as a strength); this style description specifically refers to the stronger amber lager version. The modern Festbier can be thought of as a pale Märzen by these terms.

History

As the name suggests, brewed as a stronger “March beer” in March and lagered in cold caves over the summer. Modern versions trace back to the lager developed by Spaten in 1841, contemporaneous to the development of Vienna lager. However, the Märzen name is much older than 1841; the early ones were dark brown, and in Austria the name implied a strength band (14 °P) rather than a style. The German amber lager version (in the Viennese style of the time) was first served at Oktoberfest in 1872, a tradition that lasted until 1990 when the golden Festbier was adopted as the standard festival beer.

Characteristic Ingredients

Grist varies, although traditional German versions emphasized Munich malt. The notion of elegance is derived from the finest quality ingredients, particularly the base malts. A decoction mash was traditionally used to develop the rich malt profile.

Style Comparison

Not as strong and rich as a Dunkles Bock. More malt depth and richness than a Festbier, with a heavier body and slightly less hops. Less hoppy and equally malty as a Czech Amber Lager.

So, as you can see, a few differences. And that was my knowledge for you for the day. And as GI Joe would say “And Knowledge is Power!” Ahem…. ehmm… err…. cough…. back to the program.

So back to the actual beer, the Fest Lager, by Troegs (in case you dozed off and got prodded by a stick by somebody when they scrolled down to the actual review).

Appearance is on the darker hue of lagers, clear and obviously lager / dunkel like in coloring. Malty appearance, nice top to her and a clean body.

Aroma is malty, some herbal notes, some possible subtle hop notes but nothing strong and more or less grasping for this maybe. It just looks and smells delicious at this point.

And thankfully the taste lives up to it, and it is a sweet tasting, malty, slightly bready, herbal beer. Great for this time of year. This is a fantastic bonfire sipping beer right here. Great Oktoberfest quality style beer, with the spice and herbal notes to really bring out the various malts and deliver a fantastic brew.

My Untappd Rating: ***.75
Global Untappd Rating: 3.75 (as of 9.8.19)

And, as the book in the background gives testament, the Bengals settle for a field goal and make it 21-20 with 7:46 left in the game. Giving the ball back to Seattle and Russell Wilson in Seattle with 7:46 left to go, down only by 1 point. (This screams typical Bengals…. I made sure to check Marvin Lewis wasn’t still there.)

Troegs has really gotten gung-ho about krausened and krausening and doing open fermentation. They have done several scratch dunkels (and I believe a wheat or two) using this process, and the DreamWeaver is done with this process now. Krausening means doing end of fermentation additions of fresh wort and yeast, something that is typically not done. Troegs does this in the old German style with open fermentation, making it easier to add late additions like this, and to give it other qualities that differentiate it from normal (closed) fermentation.

Beer: Scratch 385 Krausened Dunkel Lager
Brewery: Troegs Independent Craft Brewery
Style: Lager – Munich Dunkel
ABV: 5.4%
IBU: No IBU
Untappd Write-Up: Our new Dunkel Lager walks the line between two of our favorites here at Tröegs: Sunshine Pils and Troegenator. On a recent trip to Germany, we fell in love all over again with this classic dark lager. Our take explores the additions of open fermentation, a technique we use for DreamWeaver Wheat, and krausening. Krausening is the process of adding wort and fresh yeast toward the end of fermentation. The combination of techniques adds subtle fruity esters and a soft, bready mouthfeel.

We taste: bread crust-like maltiness with subtle notes of caramel, nuttiness and chocolate.

There is a notable difference between open fermentation and closed. You get added variables that aren’t in play when its closed and everything is under lid, lock, and key. Brewers must also be a lot more careful with open fermentation due to an increased chase of contamination and other things obviously falling in. It would be interesting to have this recipe done regularly, closed fermentation, and then done in open, to compare the two. Likewise with the krausening, try it as the regular recipe, and then with the late fermentation additions of fresh wort and yeast. For comparison’s sake. For Science!

Appearance for this is very similar to the Fest Lager, but a bit lighter, but not by a massive amount, just a shade or two. Has a nice caramel color to it.

Aroma is malty again, with a bit of roasty malt, not too much, but just a bit, which I thought was a bit odd since this is lighter in color than the Fest Lager which you would think would have more of the roast malts then. Perhaps something to do with the krausening or open fermentation, or maybe my sniffer isn’t working too well (or due to just drinking tasters rather than whole drafts).

This has a very nice, gentle, smooth, subdued taste to it. Nothing punching you in the face, nothing taking your breath away, but just a nice, subtle, beer. No astringency, no off flavors, mellow, smooth, crisp, tasty, and like the Fest Lager another great fall, bonfire, late night sipper while hanging out with buds and roasting marshmellows with kids.

My Untappd Rating: ***.75
Global Untappd Rating: 3.76 (as of 9.8.19)

Another Guava beer, they are popping up everywhere it seems. That makes four or five of them I’ve had in recently history. So I’m coming to grips with it, and I think done subtly, and small, its done well, too much, and its too overpowering.

And the final has just come in, Bengals lose 21-20 to Seattle. Not a bad opening game really. In Seattle, I had Bengals losing by at least a touchdown, possibly by 10 or more. So this is really not a bad start to the season, considering the number of players out (like AJ Green). John Ross III really stepped up and played great, and Dalton actually looked promising (for once).

Beer: Scratch 386 – Tangerine Passionfruit Guava Tart Ale
Brewery: Troegs Independent Craft Brewery
Style: Sour – Fruited
ABV: 4.8%
IBU: No IBU
Untappd Write-Up: Scratch #386 is our latest soft and rounded tart beer, this time with a bold combination of tangerine, passionfruit and guava. The citrus and tropical notes of the fruit are propped up by a rich backbone of oats and honey malt. A first fermentation with lactobacillus adds tartness, and a second pass with Hornindal Kveik yeast adds subtle notes of pineapple. We taste: citrus zest, marmalade, tart pineapple

Once again another new theme of Troegs scratch beers popping up – hornindal kveik yeast. They’ve been toying around and playing with this yeast strain for a bit of a while now, in all kinds of ways, with all kinds of different styles. I believe this is their first time trying it out with a sour.

Appearance is exactly what you would expect from a sour with passionfruit, tangerine, and guava. Its a light, orange, to pinkish hue, similar to some children’s fruit juices. Like a Capri Sun or something similar. There is a slight fizzyness with this as well.

Aroma is like a refreshing breeze. There is the notes of tangerine, citrus, passionfruit, guava, possibly orange juice like smell to the concoction. Its refreshing, gentle, and light, just like the beer itself.

And taste is just right there too, refreshing, gentle, soft, light. You get up front notes of citrus and guava in equal measures that then fades back and fades into the notes of the tangerine, the passionfruit, and the tartness starts to take over. This has just a relaxing vibe to it, with an easy going, soft mouthfeel and nothing clingy or off putting, and leaves you with a nice citrus, tart, fizzy, taste that lingers in your mouth and on your tongue.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 3.8 (as of 9.8.19)

Well the Bengals might have lost, but the road to 0 and 16 began there and that first round draft pick looks closer and closer to a reality. Just have to pray for a Dolphins win I suppose.

Here’s to great beers and an interesting NFL season this year. Cheers!

-B. Kline