Closings - The Beer Thrillers

Necromancer Brewing is Closing Permanently

B. Kline — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 00:30:32 +0000

Necromancer Brewing is Closing Permanently

We reported on February 13th that Necromancer Brewing was Temporarily Closing…. well, it is now officially permanently closing. There was talks of their “ongoing issues” with their liquor license, and how they were having issues with getting it renewed, and they made their Facebook post stating that they would be temporarily closed due to that. It seems there was more issues than just a liquor license behind the scenes, and they are permanently closing. So a funeral is to be held at the Necromancer Brewery – 2257 Babcock Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15237, and free beer will be given away – on Thursday and Friday of this week (2.22.24 and 2.23.24).

Come to Our Funeral

Necromancer Brewing posted to Instagram (not Facebook) about their announcement of permanent closure, and told everyone to come to their brewery on Thursday (2.22.24) and Friday (2.23.24) to “celebrate” and to come to their funeral.

Their announcement reads:

Our time has come.

After taking time to pause this past week and evaluate our future, we’ve come to the difficult decision to close our doors.

We’re so proud of our team and all they’ve accomplished these past nearly 3 years. Our closure is no reflection of the quality of their work, their dedication, or the blood, sweat, and tears put into Necromancer. It’s an unfortunate financial decision, and one we do not make lightly. Between operating costs that continue to rise, and the overall state of the industry – there isn’t much room for error.

This closure unfortunately also means that our plans for Greenfield’s Midnight Whistler Pub will not come to fruition. We’d like to thank the Greenfield community for their support and excitement, and we truly hope that the neighborhood gets the watering hole it deserves in the very near future.

We respect the hell out of the breweries in our community who will continue the legacy of beer making in this city. It’s an immense feat to bring beer to your glass. We encourage you to continue to support others in Pittsburgh’s brewing community. It’s a tough industry.

This week we’ll be open Thursday and Friday from 4-10pm for one last go.
– All beer will be free to consume or take. Limit 1 case per person.
– Any on-site consumption must be done responsibly.
– We’ll have a virtual tip jar. 100% of all proceeds will go to our staff. If you grab a 4-pack, or pint, please contribute.
– And all merch and glassware will be for sale. Inner Circle and Founder’s Club members will be able to reserve up to (2) cases of beer and 2 free items while supplies last.

Please come and say goodbye.

Thank you for your support over the years. We are honored to have been a part of your lives – however big or small.

Necromancer Brewing – Instagram Post

News of Their Closing and Reactions

Their Facebook account still doesn’t have a permanent closure post, and their last post is dated February 13th, announcing the temporary closure.

Necromancer Brewing was open for a little under three years and Midnight Whistler, a second location, which was planned to open in the former Hough’s Taproom in Greenfield are both closing.

A beer blog for the state discussed in “detail” with the ownership about their reasons for closing. Which for most people reading, only raised more questions, concerns, and even outright red flags. The owners stated the costs of liquor license, fees, and other things, as well as putting emphasis and blame on the government and state…. rather than possibly where its due. (More like financial decisions, regarding the opening of the second taproom, the remodeling of their current location, and much more.)

Two Reddit posts; one in the Pittsburgh subreddit and one in the Pittsburgh beers subreddit posit more information, albeit mostly hearsay, but there is more to glean from this than the obviously one sided blog post. The reddit posts can be read here:

A news article by TribLive also provides more information: Necromancer Brewing Co. closing, 2nd location won’t open.

Butler said not being able to afford renewing the license, which is $3,000, is only part of the scenario for closing. There are several taxes and the cost of yeast and grain has gone up by 500% over the past 18 months, he said.

As for the Hough’s location, he said the building presented unforeseen issues that they could not get over and it became too much.

“We ran out of money,” Butler said. “And we couldn’t continue operating this way. We had some missteps that we couldn’t recover from. This is not a high-margin business. It is difficult to make ends meet.”

Necromancer Brewing Co. closing, 2nd location won’t open

There is a lot to pack through the comments section on those two reddit posts, as well as the news article. There seems to be a lot of varying thoughts on the brewery, and the owner – in particular Ben Butler. One commenter stating that Butler and the other owner (Butler had 75% shared interest, and the other owner had 25%) didn’t talk for the past year, and only communicated via lawyers.

Much talk on their Facebook, Instagram, as well as craft beer groups (and those reddit posts) is about the mug club memberships, which was paid just a bit ago. People paid 75-200$ for varying levels of memberships, and just under two months ago, for this upcoming year. Many of these customers feel blindsided and upset about the way the closing has been handled.

Liquor License

PA Liquor License – Necromancer Brewing

Anyone can use the PLCB website to view and look at liquor license records, as well as violations and other things by breweries. The search on the site lets you do it by county, city, license, name of operation, or owner(s). The results on the Necromancer Brewing shows that their license expired Dec. 31st 2023, though they have an active brewery storage license good for 2024.

He said he was told he could be put in jail if he tried to sell beer without a renewed liquor license and that the inventory can’t be transferred to another business owner.

He said there is a lot of beer.

Shawn Kelly, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board in Harrisburg, confirmed that without a valid liquor license, beer can be given away.

However, he added that it “can be complicated.”

Necromancer Brewing Co. closing, 2nd location won’t open

So it appears they are able to host their free beer give away on Thursday and Friday, as long as it remains completely free. They also need to be careful of where patrons go with the beer and how they consume it on property.

Necromancer Brewing

Necromancer Brewing was a safe space and very positive for the LGBTQ+ community. They received national news attention with the release of their “Gayer” beer. Some in the Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh beer reddit communities have stated that Ben Butler used this as a means to an end, rather than true support and altruistic motives for the community. Either way, they were a positive force for good in the LGBTQ+ community, and it is disappointing to see the brewery lost and the community to lose this support, safe space, and inclusive environment.

The following information comes via Untappd.

Necromancer Brewing is a nano brewery from Pittsburgh, PA. They have 167 unique beers and over 20,000 ratings, with a global average rating of 3.89 (as of 2.13.24). Their Untappd description reads: “trends + familiars + resurrections ”

You can follow Necromancer Brewing at these social media pages:

Brewery News

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(This article updated on 2.20.24 at 1:00 PM)

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Anheuser-Busch InBev Closes Two Craft Brewpubs

B. Kline — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 19:33:19 +0000

Golden Road Brewpub

Anheuser-Busch InBev Closes Two Craft Brewpubs

The closures are unrelated and just happened to occur at similar time,

-An A.B Spokeswoman said.

Anheuser-Busch InBev is in the process of closing two craft beer brewpubs. Both brewpubs have been affiliated with craft beer and were purchased by Anheuser-Busch InBev in the past decade.

Anheuser-Busch InBev is closing Golden Road Brewery out of Sacramento, California, and Wynwood Brewing Company in Miami, Florida. Golden Road Brewing closed its Sacramento, California, brewpub last week, and Wynwood Brewing Co. in Miami will close after a final day of operations on Feb. 4.

The difficult decision to close the Golden Road Sacramento Brewpub reflects the current operating realities facing the entire restaurant and hospitality industry, and we are committed to supporting our people through this transition, we are tremendously grateful to this community and their support over the years, and though the Sacramento Brewpub is closed, we look forward to continuing to bring them the beers they know and love at their favorite bars, restaurants, and bottle shops.

-Craig Weiner, Golden Road Brewery’s general manager

Various reports give different “reasons” cited for the closures, but with Anheuser-Busch InBev, generally speaking the biggest fundamental reason is — money. Costs versus profit, both brewpubs came up lacking, and with Anheuser-Busch InBev that means they were expenditures willing to be cut.

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Devil’s Eye Brewing Closings Its Doors on September 30th

B. Kline — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 12:32:06 +0000

Devil’s Eye Brewing is Closing Their Eye

Last night at 6:40 PM Devil’s Eye Brewing Company announced on their social media pages that they will be closing their doors on September 30th, 2023.

They are located in Dillsburg right on Route 15. They are 7 minutes and 2.5 miles from Big Bottom Brewery, as well as the Greystone Public House. Centralized on the main road through – Route 15 – in an old barn like structure.

They were known for their live music, ‘happening scene’, good food, and a place of great merriment and meet up in the Dillsburg area. A large venue with plenty of seating, space for the live music, and a busy bar. They served their community well.

Announcement

The following announcement was made on their Facebook page at 6:43 PM last night (9.20.23):

Four years ago we set out on a journey, never expecting we’d have to end it so soon. However, like so many others we can no longer continue to operate at our location in todays economy and have simply exhausted ourselves in every way. Our last day open will be September 30th, 2023…. We would love to see as many of you as we can by then!

With that being said, we’d like to thank all of our Devil’s Eye family (aka)staff for riding out every storm with us… There truly are no words that will ever fully express how much each of you will FOREVER mean to us, or how grateful we have been for your loyalty, and continued support ( You’ve all made the book we will write one day ) The road has been anything but easy, yet you stood with us and gave us a million percent day, after day. We have never enjoyed working beside anyone as much as we have each of you.

We’d also like to thank all of the amazing people we have had the pleasure of meeting, engaging with and getting to know. The customer support so many have shown over the years is truly humbling, and we can not say THANK YOU loud enough… and trust me… WE ARE LOUD!

At the end of the day, we started this journey with many goals in mind but, the change in this worlds compass altered those goals. Our # 1 goal however, still remains in tact and that is… We have NO regrets. Not one. We have learned from the good & the bad… During a time when the world was afraid, our futures uncertain… a dark cloud reigning over us all, it was those of us who engaged that brightened the path ahead. From the customers, to the community and it’s local business owners that we have tried to support as often as we could, from the incredible musicians we have met that have connected rooms full of people by speaking how the world was feeling with their talent and emotion, to those that brought them to us because they wanted to play, you’ve brightened our journey. There truly is no way to thank every one we have encountered enough. No matter what the encounter was, it taught us something incredible. And finally, we thank our families. Many of you have met some or all of our own families therefore, you will understand how important it is for us to say whole heartedly, without a single one of you…. We could NEVER have made it this far, nor would we have tried. Your support has been the most critical part of our accomplishments and we love you all, thank you for tolerating our crazy everything. You are the very best humans we know. For you we are blessed.

While we could go on and on about the incredible things we will take away from this journey… We will end it with this… When one door closes…. You kick open the next one … See y’all soon
Devil’s Eye Brewing Company (Facebook Post)

By 6AM this morning (9.21.23), their post has already received over 450 reactions and 189 comments and nearly a hundred shares.

Closings, Condensing, Squeezing, Bubbles Bursting

Is the craft beer bubble bursting? Is the brewery industry condensing? Are more breweries closing? Yes, maybe, yes, no, who knows?

It certainly seems like we’re in a restructuring phase for craft beer as a whole. Breweries are closing more frequently right now, its not just a perceived thing, its a full thing. There is also a lot more buy – outs, mergers, and restructuring by breweries and with other breweries – including some of the big companies like AB InBev, etc.

Times are definitely changing. Economic situations are different than they were when the craft beer boom really hit, and then when the craft beer scene blew up years and years ago as well. Theres an ebb and flow to things, so it will be interesting how the next few years factor into things.

A lot of craft breweries are also at that ‘hump’ stage. The years four through seven are the make or break years for most businesses; and craft breweries are no exception. Most of the breweries we see closing in our area are in this window (having been opened in 2016 through 2018 or 2019). The COVID-19 / coronavirus didn’t help things for many of these businesses either, either speeding up their demise, or forcing them to change too drastically, or even hindering their initial openings.

We are seeing some breweries expanding – but they are fewer and fewer. Pennsylvania seems to have some new openings, some new expansions, but on the whole – its more negative (despite some spin doctors out there) with more breweries closing. Even bigger breweries are brewing less and selling less as well. Staple beers that have been industry favorites are under – performing on the markets this year and sitting on shelves longer, and even being returned from distributors.

We will most likely be doing a more comprehensive look at this near the end of the year. Stay tuned for that.

Dillsburg

Amy and I got to visit Devil’s Eye Brewing once; last year in February 2022. We did a trip through the Dillsburg area hitting Big Bottom Brewing and Devil’s Eye Brewing on our way through. We would like to wish the owners, staff, and loyal clientele all the best in the future, and hopeful to see what future endeavors they come up with.

For More Information on Devil’s Eye Brewing

The following information comes from Untappd. Devil’s Eye Brewing is a brew pub from Dillsburg, PA. They have 50 unique beers with over 3,200 ratings, and a global average rating of 3.42 (as of 9.21.23) on Untappd. Their Untappd description is blank.

You can find them on the following social media platforms:

September 30th

September 30th, 2023 is the last day of business for both Tattered Flag Brewing and Devil’s Eye Brewing. If you are in the Middletown area, be sure to check out Tattered Flag one last time before they close, and if you are in the Dillsburg area, be sure to visit Devil’s Eye Brewing one last time.

Brewery News

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Founders Brewing Company Sued for Racial Discrimination (Again) Just Before Detroit Taproom Shut Down

B. Kline — Wed, 03 May 2023 14:13:58 +0000

Founders Brewing Sued for Racial Discrimination Again

In the run up to their announcing their immediate taproom closing in Detroit on May 1st, that Founders Brewing Company is once again being sued for racial discrimination.

This happened previously in 2019, and they temporarily closed the Detroit taproom. This time the taproom is being closed permanently.

(For more information on their previous time being sued, see later in this article.)

As per Detroit Fox News 2:

The Grand Rapids-based brewery abruptly shuttered Monday, citing the impact Covid closures that it said made it difficult to regain foot traffic.

In a statement from Founders, the brewery said the decision to close the taproom was announced to employees Monday morning, and they were not aware of the lawsuit until a reporter contacted them that evening.

…

That announcement came the same day a lawsuit was filed claiming racial discrimination at the taproom.

The suit, brought against Founders by a Black employee who worked there from June 2021 until April 2023, claims that the “environment became so objectively racially hostile that she had no choice but to resign.”

This is the second racial discrimination lawsuit filed against Founders because of alleged conduct at the Detroit taproom. In 2019, a former employee sued the company.

The employee behind that lawsuit said he was fired in 2018 after telling his supervisor that he planned to meet with the company’s human resources department to discuss the alleged racist work environment.

After that lawsuit became public, Founders closed the Detroit taproom for several months. The company eventually settled with the former employee. When the taproom reopened in 2020, it said it was creating a diversity and inclusion strategy.
Founders Brewing again sued for racial discrimination just before announcing Detroit Taproom closure

In October 2019 they announced that the Detroit taproom would be ‘temporarily closed’, citing that they were going through internal revitalization, and changing their diversity programming and working to ensure a better future for their company and employees.

The tap room soon re opened a few months later, just before COVID – 19 and the coronavirus pandemic hit, causing further issues to the tap room and to Founders Brewing Company.

On May 1st they abruptly shuttered the Detroit tap room again, this time posting on social media that it is permanent and citing COVID – 19 and pandemic related issues as the cause.

According to the new lawsuit, the former employee who worked there until April of this year said she was promoted to a part-time management role with no focus area, while white managers had a focus work area.

While she was a manager, she allegedly was still required to work server shifts and would not receive her managerial pay during those shifts. The lawsuit claims she was the only manager required to work server shifts.

Other instances of alleged racial discrimination were also described in the lawsuit, including someone telling the employee to be careful that her toddler doesn’t “steal any money,” and her allegedly being told that she hasn’t “struggled enough to be black.” She also claims that her name would be intentionally mispronounced.

According to the lawsuit, the employee reported the discrimination. She alleges in the suit that her complaints were dismissed or her hours were cut.

Eventually, she resigned. The lawsuit says that a white manager also resigned because they did not want to “be part of the ongoing discrimination she was being subjected to.”
Founders Brewing again sued for racial discrimination just before announcing Detroit Taproom closure

Statement From Founders Brewing Company

Founders Brewing Company issued the following statement about the lawsuit:

“We are deeply saddened and concerned to learn of the recent accusations that have been brought against the Detroit Taproom. We take these claims very seriously, and we are conducting a thorough internal investigation.

Since 2019, we have instituted mandatory bias, discrimination and harassment training throughout our organization. We have reexamined our policies and enacted new policies, along with implementing new procedures for the reporting of workplace concerns.

Closing a business is a difficult decision, and this decision was made after a several year evaluation of the Detroit Taproom’s financial performance that began prior to COVID and was made worse by the pandemic. During the closure of our Detroit facility on Monday, we were unaware of the filing. We announced the closing to all of our Detroit staff on Monday morning, and did not learn about the lawsuit filed against Founders until that evening when a reporter contacted us. As with any closure, there was a lot of work that needed to be done to prepare for the loss of this extension, including redistribution of internal assets, conversations with our landlord and pulling together a comprehensive severance plan, all of which take time.

As to the pending lawsuit, we are sorry that this individual did not have a good experience with us, and to the extent it was due to our actions or inactions that contributed to that, we are deeply sorry.”
Founders Brewing Company

Founders Brewing Company Announces Detroit Taproom Closure

Founders Brewing Company Announces the Closure of Their Detroit Taproom

For more information on the topic – see the original article here: Founders Announce Closure of their Detroit Taproom.

Their announcement, which was posted at 6:30 PM (EST), and which nearly immediately afterwards they turned off and cancelled commenting on, reads:

It is with with great sadness that we announce that the Founders Detroit Taproom will be permanently closings its doors today.

Unfortunately, our Detroit location has not been immune to the struggle to regain foot traffic after temporary Covid closures that have impacted restaurants and bars across the nation. We are working diligently to find new positions within the company for the employees impacted by this closure.

We would like to thank all of our loyal customers, Mug Clubbers, and friends for your support and business over the years. It has been a great pleasure to serve you.
Founders Brewing Company – Facebook Post

The Detroit Free Press also broke the story shortly thereafter, and in their article stated:

The Grand Rapids-based brewery, Michigan’s largest, cited “an ever changing craft beer market, coupled with the struggle to regain foot traffic after temporary COVID-19 closures” as the reasons for shuttering its second location, which originally opened in late 2017 at 456 Charlotte in Midtown Detroit.

“This decision involved a lot of careful consideration of each aspect of our business, and ultimately, what we felt was best for the company and our employees overall,” said Founders CEO Elton Andres Knight in a statement. “We explored every possible avenue to course correct the business and gave it as much time as we could. We are now working diligently to find new positions within the company for the employees who are displaced upon this closure.”
Founders Brewing Co. closes Detroit taproom, cites ‘ever-changing’ craft beer market

Founders Brewing Company states that they made the decision to close their brewery ahead of any news or knowledge of the lawsuit filed against them. It is interesting to note that they posted their announcement at 6:30 PM, despite their stating they told employees that morning. The comment section was immediately deleted and blocked, which I can only imagine was filled with a lot of interesting choice comments that they wished not to be seen.

Initial Racial Discrimination Case

In October of 2019, Founders Brewing Company announced that they were closing the Detroit taproom “until further notice”.

Michigan’s largest brewery sent an email to ticket-holders of this weekend’s highly anticipated Canadian Breakfast Stout release and party in Detroit that it’s canceling said release and party while closing the popular Detroit taproom indefinitely “in light of the recent events” and due to safety concerns for its employees.

Those “recent events,” of course, include the pending racial discrimination lawsuit that reached national news this week when a leaked deposition first posted by the Detroit Metro Times sparked a social media firestorm and led to some Detroit shops, bars and restaurants pulling Founders products from their shelves.

Founders co-founder and president Dave Engbers told the Free Press on Friday afternoon that the brewery closed its Detroit taproom out of an abundance of caution for employee safety and that it has “every intention” of reopening the taproom.Founders Brewing closes Detroit taproom indefinitely amid racial discrimination lawsuit

Founders, which had announced a majority-stake sale to Spanish beer company Mahou San Miguel just weeks earlier, temporarily closed its Detroit taproom in October 2019 after a racial discrimination lawsuit a former employee filed against the company made national headlines and caused a social media firestorm. It reopened the taproom in February 2020 with plans to donate 100% of the profits from the taproom to charities and community organizations through “at least 2022” (it continued that commitment through Sunday, the company said). The COVID-19 pandemic began a month later.

Mike Stevens and Dave Engbers co-founded Founders in 1997 and, along with Larry Bell and Bell’s Brewery, helped lead the Michigan craft beer boom into the 2000s and 2010s. Founders became best known for its sessionable All Day IPA, which represents more than half its output, as well as its Kentucky Breakfast Stout, Dirty Bastard scotch ale and Centennial IPA.

Stevens stepped down as CEO in 2022. Engbers is still with the company as president.Founders Brewing Co. closes Detroit taproom, cites ‘ever-changing’ craft beer market

Founders Brewing Company

Founders Brewing Company was certainly one of the early craft giants of the 2010s, but their market share, and value has greatly declined over recent years. While still greatly available and distributed, they have fallen off many ‘favorites’ lists.

Their controversies and issues have also certainly caught up to them over the years.

Lawsuits, racial discrimination cases, employee issues, and much more has caused them heartache throughout the late 2010s and early 2020s.

COVID-19 and the coronavirus has probably been the least of their issues in recent years.

For further information on craft beer market share, check out our two articles here:

For More Information About Founders Brewing Company

The following comes from Untappd. Founders Brewing Company is a macro brewery, and a subsidary of Grupo Mahou-San Miguel, from Grand Rapids, Michigan. They have 975 unique beers, and over 7 million ratings, with a global average rating of 3.96 (as of 5.1.23). Their Untappd description reads: We don’t brew beer for the masses. Instead, our beers are crafted for a chosen few, a small cadre of renegades and rebels who enjoy a beer that pushes the limits of what is commonly accepted as taste. In short, we make beer for people like us. Founders. Brewed for us.

You can follow them on their social media pages here:

Articles we have written:

Beer Reviews: Green Zebra (Founders) and Next Coast (Goose Island)

Reddit Thread About the Lawsuit:

Founders Brewing again sued for racial discrimination just before announcing Detroit Taproom closure ( /r/ CraftBeer)

Brewery News

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

Thank You For Reading

Tomorrow is May 4th. “May the 4th Be With You.” Anyone planning on doing any fun silly Star Wars stuff? Any breweries you are hitting up for some fun beer releases? I know Bottle Logic is releasing some Star Wars beers. RAR Brewing has hinted that they are doing a Star Wars Out of Order drop soon. (But haven’t given any details as of this morning.)

Lots of places are turning their normal Thursday night trivia into “Star Wars Trivia” nights.

So what all are you getting into?

Then, Friday is Cinco de Mayo (May 5th). And THEN – its the Craft Brewers Conference May 7th – May 10th. What a busy grouping of days!

Thank you for reading everyone. We are gearing up for the Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) this upcoming week. We are traveling down Saturday and Sunday, and going to be at the conference late Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

We are totally psyched and cannot wait.

Will you be there? What do you hope to see, learn, do? Anything cool we should check out? Let us know in the comments!

Cheers All!

-B. Kline

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. 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!

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.

The Bruery Store D.C. Is Closed

B. Kline — Wed, 03 May 2023 00:41:59 +0000

The Bruery Store D.C. Is Closed

Today at 6 PM, The Bruery posted on Facebook and Instagram that ‘The Bruery Store D.C. Is Closed’.

Their store in Washington D.C. has been open since 2017. The Bruery has consistently been a top brewery in America since their inception.

The Bruery cited rising costs and new opportunities as their reasoning for closing the Washington D.C. store.

The Bruery Store Announcement

Important update for The Bruery Store D.C.

As of May 1, 2023, The Bruery Store D.C. will be closing. We’ve enjoyed our stay in Union Market since its opening in 2017, but due to rising costs and new opportunities, we made the hard decision to shift our focus in the D.C. area.

With this change comes new opportunities, including:

SHIPPING EXPANSION

Perhaps most excitingly, you’re now able to have your favorite beers from The Bruery & Offshoot shipped to your door in 47 states plus D.C. We’re thrilled about this new opportunity, and we know many of you have been waiting patiently for this to be available!

The Store’s closure in large part allows us to shift our focus to better supporting this new shipping availability.

ORDER PICK-UPS

We’ll still have order pick-up options for our Members in the D.C. area. Please reference your email for pick-up location and instructions, or reach out to us at society @ thebruery .com with any questions. At this time, pick-ups in D.C. are only available for our Society Members; reach out with any questions!

We’re grateful for our community, both in the D.C. area and nationwide. Thank you for your ongoing support and patience as we perfect our shipping and pick-up processes. Cheers and we can’t wait to share a beer with you soon!
The Bruery – Facebook Post

For More Information on The Bruery

The following comes from Untappd. The Bruery is a regional brewery from Placentia, CA. They have 620 unique beers with over 2 million ratings, and a global average rating of 4.07 (as of 5.2.23). Their Untappd description reads: “We are a boutique craft brewery located in Orange County, California specializing in experimental and barrel aged beer. Our name is a fusion of ‘brewery’ with our family name, Rue. Our calling is to create beers with character and depth using the simplest and purest of means. We strive to use unconventional ingredients, and we will proudly state what we put in our beers.”

Follow them on their social media pages:

Articles we’ve written which mention or feature The Bruery:

Bottle Share: Event at Tattered Flag

Brewery News

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

Thank You For Reading

We are totally psyched and cannot wait.

Will you be there? What do you hope to see, learn, do? Anything cool we should check out? Let us know in the comments!

Cheers All!

-B. Kline

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

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.

Fermentery Form Announces Closure

B. Kline — Sun, 02 Apr 2023 17:15:27 +0000

Fermentary Foam Announces Temporary Closure

Fermentery Form Announces Temporary Closure

Unfortunately this is no April Fools joke. Fermentery Form announces a temporary closure yesterday on their Facebook page. (They announced it at 2:06 PM on March 31st, 2023.)

The Announcement

Posted at 2:06PM yesterday on Facebook:

Due to unforeseen circumstances, Fermentery Form will be closed to the public until further notice. Fear not, all is not lost, we just need time to weather a season.

Thank you to everyone who has enjoyed this place and brightened our spirits. We will rise again in an even more resplendent form, soon enough. Til then, howdy and good day.
Fermentery Form – Facebook Post

There is no word yet on the duration of this hiatus, or what it all fully means. No word on anything really at this point other than their announcement that they are closing. This could be a temporary hiatus, a short term thing, a long term thing, a changing and re – branding, anybody’s guess right now.

Since their post they have received an outpouring of support on their social media platforms. We hope they can soon turn things around (in whatever capacity that means) and are able to soon re – open. We hope nothing but the best for all involved.

Fermentery Form

As per Untappd, Fermentery Form is a micro brewery from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They have 91 unique beers with nearly 16,000 ratings. They have a global average rating of 4.15 (as of 4.1.23). Their Untappd description reads: We are a small artisan brewery opening soon in West Kensington, Philadelphia. We focus on wood aged beers fermented with our own mixed cultures.

You can follow them at these social media pages:

Brewery News

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

Thanks For Reading

Thank you all for reading. How is everyone’s April Fools Day? Fall for any brewery’s tricks or anything on Facebook, Instagram, or wherever? This is always the day of “we’re deciding to add a Bacon Ketchup Spaghetti Monster Beer” and other things like that. (Or as I saw a meme – the day that Martin House Brewing goes and gets their inspiration for beers.)

Drew (from Knights of Nostalgia) and I are currently in AC – and will be coming home from AC today. We got here yesterday around 5 PM and are checking out today around 11 AM – Noon and will be then home around 3 – 3:30 PM. Tonight is also Night 1 of WrestleMania. (Main Event looks to be Kevin Owens and Sammi Zayn vs. The Usos (c) for the Tag Team Championship.)

In honor of that – let me shoot a shout out to our Stone Cold Beer Review:

Beer Review: Broken Skull (Stone Cold IPA) (El Segundo Brewing Company)

Also – as a heads up – tomorrow night (pretty much when WrestleMania Night 2 will be ending) at 11:59:59 PM EST – the Conference Finals round of our Battle of the Breweries (2023) tournament is ending. So make sure you vote before then. You can vote here:

The Battle of the Breweries (2023) – Conference Finals (Voting Page)

Thank you all very much for reading. It is always disappointing to have to write these “closure” news posts. But unfortunately, they are becoming more and more frequent. 2023 is not looking like a kind year so far to start. Hopefully that gets turned around.

Thank you all for reading, and if you like, please share, comment, like, subscribe, and follow.

Cheers All!

-B. Kline

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

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.

Rocket Frog Brewing Announces They Will Be Closing December 11th

B. Kline — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 21:00:00 +0000

Rocket Frog Brewing Company, Sterling Virginia

Rocket Frog Brewing Company Announces Closure

Unfortunately, another brewery has announced their closure. This time its Rocket Frog Brewing Company out of Sterling Virginia. They took to their social media an hour ago making the announcement that December 11th will be their last day.

They posted the following on their Instagram and Facebook accounts:

We regret to announce Rocket Frog will close its doors on December 11. We’ve had an epic ride and could not have done it without the support of our fans, staff and family. Through Rocket Frog, we have gained an extended family, which makes closing that much more difficult. We are thankful that we had a great staff and beer to share with all of you.

We plan on having one final bash on December 10 so we can thank all of you and say goodbye as a brewery. We hope to see as many of you as possible before we shut our doors.

In the meantime, our weekly events will go on as scheduled until we close.

Thank you,

The Rocket Frog Team
Rocket Frog Brewing Company – Facebook Post

This blow out final bash on December 10th sounds wonderful. Amy, myself, and Scarlet are going to be making the trek down to Virginia to hang out with them one final time.

Rocket Frog’s Opening

Rocket Frog Brewing Company opened May 19th of 2018 (following a few soft openings). They opened at – and have been located at since – 22560 Glenn Drive Suite 103 in Sterling. An article about their original opening stated:

The brewery is owned by David Hartogs, Jennifer Showell-Hartogs and Richard Hartogs. Russell Carpenter is the head brewer. Rocket Frog will open with five beers on tap: Angry Alice IPA, Minotaur American Golden Ale, Wallops Island American Brown Ale, Double IPA and Dry Saison. The May 19 grand opening starts at 11 a.m. for Launch Pad Members and the brewery will open at noon for the general public. To learn more, go to rocketfrogbeer.com.
Rocket Frog Brewing Company Plans to Open May 19th – Loudoun Now

Our Trip to Rocket Frog

Amy and I got to travel to Rocket Frog back in January on a Bengals play-off gameday. I got out of work early (I was still working Saturdays then), using my top of the EO card and we made the two and a half hour trek down to Virginia hitting some breweries. We stopped in the Sterling Park Business Center to hit two breweries right off the bat. The first of which was Rocket Frog.

You can find our trip here: Trip Down to Sterling Virginia and Beyond to Visit Rocket Frog Brewing Company, Crooked Run Fermentation, Beltway Brewing, Mustang Sally Brewing Company, and Bunnyman Brewing.

We had a really good time. We got to see the Bengals win against the Las Vegas Raiders – their first playoff win in 30 years (they last won in January 1991). We got to Rocket Frog Brewing Company before the game started. We then watched the first half at Crooked Run Fermentation, before driving to Beltway Brewing where we saw a little bit of the third (they didn’t have any TVs on, so we quickly left to get to Mustang Sally’s after a flight), and we finished the game out at Mustang Sally’s where I got to witness the first playoff win since I was 5 and a half years old. Amy and I then celebrated and finished the night out watching the Bills rout the Patriots at Bunnyman Brewing.

It was a really fun day all around. We are hoping to make it to the “End of All Things” Bash with Scarlet. Things will certainly be different this time with a just – older than four week old, but it will still certainly be a fun time. Shame to see things go like this. We really enjoyed our time at Rocket Frog, and its a shame to see them close.

At our first time there, we each got a flight, so I got to sample eight of their beers. They were:

Best Buddy
Kai Gose to Hawaii
Zaba
Rhinewasser
Wallops Island
Barrel Aged Dark Word
Barrel Aged Roscosmos
Barrel Aged Shame and Torment (2021)

Rocket Frog Brewing Company

Rocket Frog Brewing Company (photos in this post are courtesy of their Facebook page)

According to Untappd, the following information is true (as of November 29th, 2022) about Rocket Frog. They are a micro brewery from Sterling, Virginia. They have 117 unique beers with 42,000~ ratings, and a global average rating of 3.82. Their Untappd description reads: Rocket Frog Brewing Company is an independent craft brewery based in Sterling, Virginia, serving the greater Northern Virginia and Washington, DC community. Our passion for quality craft beer runs deep and we demonstrate this with our four to five flagships, seasonal offerings, and a variety of specialty beers throughout the year.

For more information on Rocket Frog Brewing Company, you can check out their pages here:

Brewery News

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

Thanks For Reading

As I said earlier in the post, we are hoping to get there for the ‘bash’ on December 10th. Obviously plans can change as thats still 12 days out. Especially with us having Scarlet now. She will be 29 days old at that point, so who knows.

Its a shame to see the brewery closing, it really is. We’ve gotten word that a few other breweries are ending and closing and making end of the year ‘brewery closure’ announcements. We will keep everyone posted. Its not good news and its not news we enjoy sharing on here, but unfortunately its the reality of the business, and we like to keep our readers informed. The brewery opened May 19th of 2018 and will be closing December 11th of 2022. I enjoy writing the “brewery openings” articles far more than I do the “brewery closings” articles, thats for sure.

Cheers All, and hopefully for some better news and articles soon!

-B. Kline

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

The Beer Thrillers are a blog that prides itself on writing beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, news (especially local to the Central PA brewery scene), as well as covering other topics of our interests – such as hiking, literature and books, board games, and video games which we sometimes stream with our friends over at Knights of Nostalgia. We are currently listed as #7 on FeedSpot’s “Top 100 Beer Blogs” and #9 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. 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!

Brewery Event: Bottle Share (Tattered Flag)

BKline — Wed, 12 Feb 2020 15:31:53 +0000

Tattered Flag and Breweries in PA’s Bottle Share (February 8th, 2020).62+ Tickets were ‘sold’. Packed house down in the brewhouse of Tattered Flag. (Thats me in the red Pizza Boy shirt, and my friend D. Scott to my left.) (Photo Courtesy of Chad Balbi – Breweries in PA).

On February 8th, 2020, Tattered Flag and Breweries in PA co-hosted an event at the Tattered Flag Brewery in Middletown PA. It was a ticketed event and promoted across Tattered Flag’s social media and Breweries in PA’s social media (their Facebook page and their Facebook group). Tickets were free. Welcome to all that were to come out. According to Justin (brewer for Tattered Flag) 62 tickets were given out. Myself and my friend were two of those tickets, and so let me take you through the event.

Let’s back this up a bit from the time of the event. Starting with the event itself. It was first announced near the beginning of the year. Luckily it was a Saturday I was able to get off from work (a rarity in my case). And my friend D. Scott was also off and along for the idea. So, the premise of the event is simple – bring 2-3 (or more) beers. Everyone who comes to the event, does so, and once the event is underway you place your beers in the corresponding coolers (IPA, Sours, Wheats and Kolsches, Stouts), and then after everyone has grouped up, you start cracking beers and sampling and moving on.

The premise is simple and neat. Anyone whose ever done a beer / bottle / can share or swap at home with friends, its the same premise just on a much larger scale. (A 62+ person scale that is.)

Leading up to the event my friend stopped at Breski’s Beverage and picked up a four-pack of larger beers to bring with. He grabbed Thief Share (2016) by Strange Roots Experimental Ales, Blue Farm (2017) by Free Will Brewing Co, a German Chocolate Cake Stout from a brewery I’m drawing a blank on, and New Holland’s Dragon’s Milk (2019).

I had set up to do a beer trade with a guy from Eureka California. We were both set to send our packages on either January 31st, or February 1st. (I sent on 31st and showed proof.) He unfortunately, kept saying he would get to it… and get to it….. and he kept NOT getting to it…. and NOT getting to it. Finally, he promised he would expedite it next day to make up for its tardiness…. and I get a message from him “Sorry, it’d be 200$+ to expedite, so I sent it regular. Sorry it won’t be there in time.” …..Massive annoyance and disappointment on those fronts. So at last second, I had to figure out what I was bringing.

Unfortunately I had just ran through my cans from Tree House brought home by my friend D. Arndt. If I would have known…. I would have brought the Sap, Autumn, Julius, Haze, or Doppelganger I had. So I likewise stopped at Breski’s Beverage and picked up some beer for the event. I got Grimm Artisanal Ale’s I Still Love the Old World (2018), Lickinhole’s Virginia Black Bear, Clown Shoe’s Coffee Sombrero, and Trial by Wombat (mainly for the name and picture).

Saturday morning comes and I do my typical morning chores and errands and take Leela (my border collie) for a run. D. Scott is Ubering to Tattered Flag, and I’m going to meet him there. Planned to get there at 10:40, but ended up getting there closer to 10:50 with our tickets and my beer and meet him just inside the door. He shows me the beer he’s bringing and we go over our small sample size. At just a bit before 11AM, Justin comes through and tells everyone to follow him down into the brewhouse.

Since 2018 I’ve done some volunteer canning work with Tattered Flag – though recently they’ve stopped using volunteers now that their employee force is big enough to keep it all done in-house, so I’m quite familiar with their brewhouse and back of the brewery operations and location.

At the time, there’s not too many people yet. Maybe 15-20. Justin goes over the rules. (Big rule: don’t touch any valves. Little rule: throw your trash away. Big rule: DON’T TOUCH ANY VALVES. Little rule: put your beers in their appropriate tubs.) They had bussing tubs with a label for each: IPA, Sour / Saisons, Wheats / Kolsches, and Stouts. Bigger bottles were kept in the front or where room was for them.

The guys from Breweries in PA introduced themselves. And then we were off to the races (…or beers). Talked with the lady from Breweries in PA and she was saying how the Dayman can was the last “known in the wild” can to exist, due to them getting hit with a Cease and Desist from Disney. And we talked about Disney with recent news, and how past places have gotten hit with some C & D’s.

After sampling Dayman, and then Nightman, I saw a lovely looking Smoked Porter big bottle. Unfortunately I forget the name of it, and it appears I never checked it into Untappd (something I didn’t do too good of a job of). (Just like pictures, unfortunately I took no pictures of the event either, so I have no pictures of my own, and had to try and remember the beers I tried for Untappd later on.) So whoever brought the big bottle Smoked Porter, I’d love to know what it was. ….but also… oh boy that carbonation! As soon as I popped the cap on it, it just gushed. Foam everywhere, so much so that I had to set it down under the table over the grate, it just wouldn’t stop, for a good solid 2 minutes it kept going. (So yes, I apologize for being ‘that guy’, but….. it wasn’t my fault!)

A cache of the beers at the bottle / can share. Photo courtesy of Justin Hoak.

Me and D. Scott kinda hovered over the Stouts area. Talked to Justin and his girlfriend Aimee, about recent events with Tattered Flag, as well as Hibrewnation that took place, as well as the upcoming Prototype Brewery and Meadery and the Prototype Invitation Brewing Event.

The beer share at Tattered Flag. Photo courtesy of Justin Hoak.

After a few more samples, me and D. Scott headed back into the caverns a bit, where there was more space, as by now we were likely up to about 40+ people in attendance. And out by the brite tanks and fermenters it was getting pretty crowded. After a bit, the guys from Breweries in PA brought a few of the bussing trubs out into the side-room where we used to do the labeling for Tattered Flag’s canning run. They brought out a few beers of each type as well and so there was now a more mixed variety in the different areas.

While in the side-room, I branched out a bit from my stouts and sours and had a few IPAs. Bearded Iris’ Homestyle, Psycho Simcoe by Three 3’s, Ex Novo Brewing’s Spirits of the Dead, and Double Luv by East Branch Brewing. Hanging out, talking with D. Scott and some of our fellow drinkers in the area, we also cracked open the Black Tuesday (2017) by The Bruery, which was amazingly fantastic. While discussing the ridiculously high ABV on it (19.5%), one of the guys talked about the beer he brought from Nimble Hill, a Maple Stout in their Mysteria Series, that was a 25%. I’ve always been a huge fan of big ABV beers…. so my ears and eyes and nose, and mouth, all perked up. The kind gentleman went back and got it and brought it out. After a bit of a struggle getting the cork off of it, we each drew a good sample size of it (and I won’t lie and say I didn’t have two samples of it).

The description on Untappd for it reads:

MAPLE SYRUP STOUT
This super limited creation is an off shoot of Turbo Diesel.
But instead of using hops, we added a few gallons of maple syrup and a dash of molasses and fermented it to the limits.
The result is a thick dessert stout with a strong maple syrup and imperial stout finish, followed by hearty warming from the 25% abv. Served without carbonation for a smooth and velvety finish.

It was smooth, dry, but with an amazing maple syrup flavor. Tasted like drinking a maple syrup wine. It was pretty much fantastic. And the nice 25% ABV to it, certainly didn’t hurt. I would like to throw a shout out to Ryan Haraschak. Fantastic, gorgeous gem to bring to the bottle share! Kudos my man!

We also tried a gentleman’s RIS Homebrew that was wonderful as well. And somehow, quickly, we realized we were approaching the end of the time for the bottle share, so me and D. Scott went back by the fermenters to try some of the beers still over there.

While hanging out there, and chopping on some tortilla chips, the Harris Brewery guys came in. Got to talk to Harris guys for a long time about their upcoming brewery, black culture in brewing and craft beer, Allison Hill, the impact their hoping to make, the old Coke-Cola building / factory on the corner of 19th and Derry, the obstacles their having to overcome for their brewery, their GoFundMe vs. the Kickstarter, and much more. We also drank from their growler of their collaboration with The Vegetable Hunter which was fantastic. If you would like to support the Harris Family Brewery, and add to their GoFundMe you can do so here:

Harris Family Brewery Start-Up Go Fund Me

Shaun Harris posing at the end of the bottle share. Photo Courtesy of Harris Family Brewery.

As the time dwindled down, we quickly tried to sample a last few beers. There was an Intuition Ales that I tried with a large dragon on it (wax sealed originally, no idea on the name), as well as two Hegemony Anniversary Beers from St. Boniface. Also back to back Black IPAs; one from Pour Man’s Brewing – Black Market, and the other from Heavy Seas – Night Swell. Also tried the 2SP and WaWa coffee stout – Winter Reserve. As well as a last sampling of the Candy Hearts by New Trail Brewing.

As it wrapped up, they told us to take anything we wanted that was unopened. Seeing my Lickinghole Virginia Black Bear unopened I grabbed that, as well as an IPA from Mainstay Brewing and one of the bakeries from The Bruery. My buddy grabbed a couple and we put them in the six-pack holder and took them out to my car and then came back in to use our free beer and food discount.

Tattered Flag with the (free) ticket, being the gracious host was giving one free pour with the ticket as well as 10% off food. D. Scott got an order of loaded chips, and I got Because I Was Inverted (Chocolate Covered Strawberry). His free drink was either the Custardy Tropic Like Its Hot or the Custardy Black Crumble. We had also sampled these in cans during the bottle share.

My list of beers sampled (that I was able to record on Untappd) was:
* Nightman (Stable 12 Brewing Company)
* Schmoojee Strawberry Orange Banana (Imprint Beer Co)
* Bible Belt (2019) (Evil Twin Brewing)
* Frucht: Fruit Punch (The Bruery Terreux)
* Churro Sombrero (Clown Shoes)
* Autumn Friend (Forest & Main Brewing Company)
* Spirits of the Dead (Ex Novo Brewing)
* Psycho Simcoe (Three 3’s Brewing Co.)
* Black Tuesday (2017) (The Bruery)
* Maple Stout, Mysteria Series (Nimble Hill Brewing)
* Double Luv (East Branch Brewing)
* Kriek Marriage Parfait (2015) (Brouwerji Boon)
* Black Market (Pour Man’s Brewing Company
* Night Swell (Heavy Seas Beer)
* Pack & Brass Coffee IPA (Wallenpaupack Brewing Company)
* I Still Love the Old World (Grimm Artisanal Ales)
* Bourbon Barrel Aged Hegemony Anniver7ary Reserve (Blue Wax) (St. Boniface Craft Brewing Co.)
* Bourbon Barrel Aged Hegemony Anniver8ary Reserve (Blue Wax) (St. Boniface Craft Brewing Co.)
* Cold Pro (Union Craft Brewing)
* Winter Reserve Coffee Stout (2SP Brewing Company / WaWa)
* Candy Hearts (New Trail Brewing Co.)
* Homestyle (Bearded Iris)
* Custardy: Blackberry Crumble (Tattered Flag)
* Custardy: Tropic Like Its Hot (Tattered Flag)
* Thief Share (2016) (Strange Roots Experimental Ales)
* Blue Farm (2017) (Free Will Brewing Co.)
* Gingerbread Crunchee (Other Half Brewing Co.)
* Double Vice Coffee Porter (Grist House Craft Brewery)
* Chili Nelson Hazy Habenero (The Vegetable Hunter)
* Winter Wassailand (The Vegetable Hunter / Harris Family Brewing)
* Dayman (Stable 12 Brewing)

These are the ones I remembered / checked-in on Untappd anyway. There were so many more I didn’t get to try, some I definitely wanted to. I saw some Aslin cans, I believe 4th Anniversary Sours, that I missed out on, as well as a few Other Half’s and similar. In the comments – for those of you who went – I’d love to see what you brought, had, and what was your favorites.

This was a fantastic event. I’ve been to some friend / home beer bottle / can shares, and its always a blast. Passing around beers, sampling, and talking about beer and just hanging out with good people. The craft beer community is an exceptional and diverse community and its so great to talk to so many different people. Bottle shares are like mini-brewfests in a way, sampling a ton of different beers from different places / breweries that you most likely won’t get into contact with. Its not a bad way to kill a Saturday morning, thats for sure.

My favorites that I got to sample were: Black Tuesday (2017) by The Bruery and the Nimble Hill Maple Stout Mysteria (the 25%). D. Scott said his favorite was also the 25% Maple Stout as well as the Custardy: Blackberry Crumble.

It was great of Tattered Flag to put up some of their own beers in the share, a great gesture on their part. Also, humorous note, I think I did see a Blue Moon in one of the tubs, not 100% sure though, but I think I did. Kudos to whoever brought that. I did think it’d be funny to bring a single Coors Light bottle or Miller Lite High Life bottle and sneak it in, but didn’t know how it’d go over.

The Kill Shot from the Beer Share at Tattered Flag hosted by Tattered Flag and Breweries in PA. (Photo courtesy of: Chad Balbi)

As you can see from the kill shot, there was a ton of great beer brought in, and sampled and served. Breweries from all over Pennsylvania, as well as numerous other big breweries like Other Half, Bearded Iris, Aslin, Dogfish Head, Brewery of Omnegang, Grimm Artisanal Ales, as well as some homebrew, and some heavy PA hitters like Free Will, Tattered Flag, Strange Roots, Imprint Beer Co, Dancing Gnome, Troegs Independent Craft Brewing, and New Trail, and even upcoming brewery Harris Family. It was a wonderful and diverse selection, bottles, bombers, growlers, crowlers, cans, and even wine bottles.

Interested in reading some reviews of beers from some of these places, you can check out my beer blog: The Beer Thrillers. We’ve reviewed beers from Tattered Flag like: Should Have Put Him Into Custardy, Inexplicably Juicy, Pink Guava, Fatum Series: Member Berries, and more. New Trail’s Broken Heels. Broken Goblet’s This Is The Way, Burn Them All Away. Boneshire Brew Work’s The Hog, Dillston, Harrishire (with Harris Family), Sunburst, Good Walk Spoiled, Road Less Traveled, and more. Wolf Brewing collaboration with Tattered Flag – Imperial Churro and collaboration with Imprint – Wolf Prints. Rotunda Brewing’s sWheat Tarts: Mango Guyabano and Juicy Fruit. Troegs Independent Craft Brewing’s Fuzzy Nudge, Coco-Nator, and Scratch 400. You can check out our brewery visit and recap (and review) of Mellow Mink and their Scarlet Sunrise. Or our brewery reviews of Battlefield Brew Works and Cushwa Brewery. Or the recent, unfortunate news of the closings – Crystal Ball and Stoudt’s.

You can also read our other article on Breweries in PA: Touring the Breweries that Surround Harrisburg. (Also located here: Breweries Around the Outskirts of Harrisburg.)

We are currently listed on FeedSpot’s Top 100 Beer Blogs at #9, and have been there for a few weeks now (moved up from #11). (If you would like to write for us, you can contact us through our contact page. Or if you would like us to write for you.)

You can check us out on Facebook as well as Twitter. Or just search for us – Facebook – The Beer Thrillers – and on Twitter – @thebeerthriller.

The blog is ran by me – B. Kline, and mainly written by me, but other writers for the blog include J. Doncevic, AJ Brechbiel (of Default Brewing). We also have Let Us Drink Beer Blog do some contributions as a guest writer.

I also do podcasts with D. Scott and Esteban – So a Mexican and a Scot Walk Into a Bar… where we discuss beer, pop culture, movies, TV shows, and much more. Always hilarious and always insightful, so make sure to check that out as well.

(Ok, that concludes the article for Breweries in PA. The rest from here on out, is just for the Beer Thrillers faithful and my blog only. Its also a little more personal and detailed than the above, so keep reading if you want to hear more.)

So as per usual with me, after the beer share event, my night didn’t end. It was about 3:30-4PM by the time we finished up at the Tattered Flag bar. Way too early to call it a day. Being in the area, we decided to check out the Lancaster Brewing spot off of Eisenhower Boulevard in Harrisburg. Neither me nor D. Scott had ever been there. And this checks off a “new brewery location” that I want to do each month. (January was Liquid Noise Brewing, so February will be Lancaster Brewing, and hopefully March – before they close up – will be Stoudt’s.) Its funny that neither of us have ever been here to this location. Its so close, and we’ve jumped and hit all of the Harrisburg breweries numerous times before.

While there we met up with friends D. Arndt, Youngblood, and Youngblood’s girlfriend. I did a flight, D. Scott got a draft of their eggnog, and I have no recollection of what the others got. My flight included:
* Jam Series #22 Mexican Style Lager
* Jam Series #21 Gingerbread Spiced Brown Ale
* Lancaster Lager
* Jam Series – Track #20 Eggnog Blond
* Jam Series – Track #19 Chili Smoked Baltic Porter
* Winter Warmer

Lancaster Brewing Company’s Spiced Gingerbread

All were pretty tasty. I enjoyed the Smoked Porter the most with the Spiced Gingerbread coming in second. Wasn’t a huge fan of the eggnog blond, but I’m not a fan of eggnog so kind of knew that going into it. Drew loved his, but then again, he’s a huge eggnog fan. So mileage may vary on that type of beer.

Lancaster Brewing Company’s Mexican Lager

Finally around 730-8PM or so we left and went to D. Arndt’s house, where we hung out with him and his fiance Kat and his dogs (the one of which is a Corgi named Indiana Bones). While there he had a can of Intemperance by Tree House which was absolutely delicious.

Intemperance by Tree House Brewing

Look for me to be adding the Intemperance to my series on Tree House. Also, most likely tonight Doppelganger will be going up to finish what was originally the series. But now, with the addition of Intemperance, the series will be going from 5 to 6, making it a nice easy and sensible six-pack. Makes sense for a beer blog (a beer blog making sense?!), I like it.

So, this was supposed to be written and was supposed to go up Sunday, the 9th. But… work was crazy, as it was a ticket promotion give-away and we were swamped there, and afterwards, I was supposed to go to D. Scott to watch the Oscar’s (and drink the remaining of the beer share beers), but… Haley forgot the crowler of Rotunda Brewing Company’s ‘Beautiful Trauma’ that I got her, so I had to swing back to work and then deliver it to her at Irgo’s Tavern. Where I then proceeded to stay and play pool with several co-workers until 1AM. So obviously… no posting that night.

Then Monday I did go over to D. Scott’s and we watched Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (finally got around to seeing it, fantastic movie, and Tarantino is still just as good as he always was). So once again, no blog posting Monday. But, last night I did start this, and sadly, only after editing, getting to finish it this morning. Sorry for the delay in things, but I rather edit and make sure I like the way blog looks, and that there’s no misspellings or grammar problems or anything (though I’m sure one or two will still sneak through). There’s two ways to write:

“You either write sober and edit drunk, or write drunk and edit sober.”

I also finally got that California beer mail Tuesday. Looks like some delicious brews to drink down and dive into and review for you all.

California beer mail.
California beer mail

So definitely expect to see some beer reviews come out of that 10-pack. There’s a lot of tasty ones (I am super looking forward to the Chocolate Donut porter.)

Blog news – I am going to be trying to get 2 blogs up a day for the next few days to catch up some of the beer reviews I’m behind on. Fingers crossed anyway. This blog post is also going up on Breweries in PA’s website, so you’ll be able to check it out there (albeit abbreviated). Once its live, I’ll come in and edit this to include it here.

Tomorrow (Thursday, the 13th), I have yet another funeral to go to. This time my Uncle (mother’s brother in law) passed away. (Last Thursday was a funeral for my Great Uncle, my father’s Uncle.) In the evening Funck’s in Palmyra is doing a tap takeover for New Trail. I might be stopping out for that (might not, depends on time). New Trail makes some great beers, so I’d love to check it out.

Some beer reviews that are due up are Doppelganger and Intemperance, New Heights I Cannot Tell a Lie, Boneshire Brew Work’s Anagnorsis, Revision’s Pete’s Stache, Rivertown’s Triple Belgian, and much more. So be on the lookout for a lot of beer reviews coming at you in the upcoming days.

Like I said earlier in the post (mainly for the Breweries in PA page), please check out our Facebook, Twitter, and other social medias, and please click follow, like, subscribe, both on those platforms and here on the blog itself. You can enter your e-mail at the bottom to get notifications immediately whenever a new blog post hits the internet, and we’d greatly appreciate it. We also love it when you use the ‘rating’ at the bottom so we know how we are performing, and click the LIKE down below as well. Also, even more importantly, we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, feedback. So leave us a comment, or two, or three, or forty-four. I try to respond and reply as quickly as I’m able to. And if you ever want, you can contact us at our contact page and leave me a message.

Thanks everyone so much for reading, and hopefully you enjoyed it, and if you were at the event, hopefully you had as much of a blast as I did (and D. Scott). (Which speaking of, be on the lookout for some new podcasts on LOST Seasons 3 & 4, Fullmetal Alchemist, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and potentially / possibly / hopefully BoJack Horseman.)

Cheers everyone!

-B. Kline

Tattered Fag and Breweries in PA’s February 8th, 2020, Beer Share – the final kill shot.

Beer Review: Scratch 400 Pre-Prohibition Lager (Troegs Independent Brewing)

BKline — Sun, 02 Feb 2020 14:53:43 +0000

Troegs Independent Brewing’s 400th scratch beer. Released on January 16th, Prohibition Day.

This is a monumental beer, and a monumental achievement, and it was released on a monumental day. This is Troegs Independent Brewing’s 400th scratch beer on their scratch system. Not their 400th beer released in total, just their 400th scratch. A very significant feat, and given the improvements they’ve made to their scratch system (and upgrades in general to their brewery) I don’t think it’ll take us long at all to get to Scratch 500. I know I personally can’t wait.

Just like I’m finally publishing this article on a significant date (2.2.20, palindrome day, Groundhog’s Day, Super Bowl LIV Sunday), this beer was released on a significant date – January 16th (2020). January 16th is known as “Prohibition Day”.

Let’s take a quick look at the history of it, from our favorite historical perspective news source – Wikipedia:

In the United States, after the battle against slavery was won (and even prior to it with the 1851 Maine law), social moralists turned to other issues, such as Mormon polygamy and the temperance movement.^[11][12][13]
On November 18, 1918, prior to ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment, the U.S. Congress passed the temporary Wartime Prohibition Act, which banned the sale of alcoholic beverages having an alcohol content of greater than 1.28%.^[14] (This act, which had been intended to save grain for the war effort, was passed after the armistice ending World War I was signed on November 11, 1918.) The Wartime Prohibition Act took effect June 30, 1919, with July 1, 1919 becoming known as the “Thirsty-First”.^[15][16]
The U.S. Senate proposed the Eighteenth Amendment on December 18, 1917. Upon being approved by a 36th state on January 16, 1919, the amendment was ratified as a part of the Constitution. By the terms of the amendment, the country went dry one year later, on January 17, 1920.^[17][18]
On October 28, 1919, Congress passed the Volstead Act, the popular name for the National Prohibition Act, over President Woodrow Wilson‘s veto. The act established the legal definition of intoxicating liquors as well as penalties for producing them.^[19] Although the Volstead Act prohibited the sale of alcohol, the federal government lacked resources to enforce it.
Prohibition was successful in reducing the amount of liquor consumed, cirrhosis death rates, admissions to state mental hospitals for alcoholic psychosis, arrests for public drunkenness, and rates of absenteeism.^[5][20][21] While some allege that Prohibition stimulated the proliferation of rampant underground, organized and widespread criminal activity,^[22] two academics maintain that there was no increase in crime during the Prohibition era and that such claims are “rooted in the impressionistic rather than the factual.”^[23][24] By 1925, there were anywhere from 30,000 to 100,000 speakeasy clubs in New York City alone.^[25] Wet opposition talked of personal liberty, new tax revenues from legal beer and liquor, and the scourge of organized crime.^[26]
On March 22, 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt signed into law the Cullen–Harrison Act, legalizing beer with an alcohol content of 3.2% (by weight) and wine of a similarly low alcohol content. On December 5, 1933, ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment repealed the Eighteenth Amendment. However, United States federal law still prohibits the manufacture of distilled spirits without meeting numerous licensing requirements that make it impractical to produce spirits for personal beverage use.^[27]
Source: Prohibition in the United States (Wikipedia)

And thank goodness that madness has ended. Not going to go into the politics of it all and not really going to discuss the politics of the time (or now) as I like to keep this blog readable for all. But I think everyone reading this blog can agree on this one thing – Prohibition was a bad idea.

So thankfully that horrific time is over, and thankfully its now 2020, and we can enjoy fantastic and wonderful beers like this Scratch 400 from Troegs. (See how I segued that? Like a champ!) And this really is a wonderful and tasty brew from Troegs, regardless of the significance behind the numeration. If this was Scratch 1, 400, 69, or 285, it wouldn’t matter, it’d still be a great drink.

I started this article up on the night of January 16th after my date night with my youngest (six at the time, just now turned seven the other day). But this was written during the blog’s getting ready for the Mellow Mink article going live, and so I pushed it back, and figured today’s important numerical (2.02.20 – palindrome day!) significance would be a more meaningful time to publish this. (I wrote the beer review then, everything else being written now.)

So, February 2nd, 2020, Groundhog’s day seems like a very appropriate time to be posting this article. And heres another segue – I wouldn’t mind if this was the beer I was drinking if I had to be stuck on a time loop on Groundhog’s Day.

So, in honor of Punxsutawney Phil lets move on and review this beer!

Scratch 400 by Troegs. Mara approved! (And no, she didn’t drink any. She does approve of the fries though, and the water.)

Beer: Scratch 400 – Pre-Prohibition Lager
Brewery: Troegs Independent Brewing
Style: Lager – American
ABV: 4.3%
IBU: None listed
Untappd Write-Up: For our 400th Scratch beer, we’re turning back the clock for a pre-Prohibition lager, and we pulled a few extra levers to let our house lager yeast shine. For starters, we included blue corn grown in Imler, Pa., in the malt bill. Blue corn, floury and high in protein, lowers the free amino nitrogen in the wort, which elevates the esters of the yeast. We also open fermented this beer, an old-world technique we use for every batch of DreamWeaver Wheat. This also helps to bring out the yeast flavor. A session Troegenator? We like the sound of that. We taste: notes of corn, dried stone fruit, and subtle caramel and nuttiness.

A session Troegenator might be a great way to describe this. Far lighter, thinner, definitely lower ABV (only 4.3% !) and certainly less heavy then Troegenator. But that doesn’t take away anything from this beer though either.

Appearance is a beautiful chestnut, light brown, clearish hue. This is finely filtered, there’s no particles, no sediment, no haze, no dankness, nothing opaque, just a nice fine, well crafted, well brewed lager. Its not completely see through, but it has definite clarity and is somewhat transparent. It has a fine head with diverse bubbles, and the head retention is strong, it also leaves beautiful lacing on the tall boy glass that Troegs serves this gorgeous beer in.

Aroma is wheat and corn heavy. You get almost an acorn smell, a very heavy farm field to it (in a good way, not in a knee-deep in ‘cow patties’ kind of farm field smell). A nice rainy day aroma where you can smell the wheat, barley, grass growing. Something only a ‘good ol’ local boy’ might be able to rightly describe to you, and even then it wouldn’t be precise. This is a more subtle beer smell then some of those big macro Lagers that just have that stale, old, unwanted beer smell. The smell most of us grew up on smelling off grandpa’s breath at the family reunions and parties. Whereas this smells homely, crafted, and far better.

This is what Yuengling should pretty much be. An old fashion style, old fashion created, and old fashion lager. Germanic pride in the glass right here. Its malty, its corny, it has a bit of a nutty taste, its kind of heavy on the palate but also a bit thinner then say the Troegenator, it does still have a full body to it, and despite its only 4.3% ABV its still a hearty beer. It does have an ending sweetness to it, nothing cloying, but a fine stickyness that hangs to your palate and tongue. Nothing in a bad way about that, it just provides a nice ending sweetness. The open fermentation, the house yeast strain, and the PA home grown blue corn, definitely gives this a flavor all to its own. A uniqueness to it thats not going to be reproduced outside of using these exact means. I get notes of acorn, corn, nuttyness, malt, some sweetness from caramel malts, maybe kind of a plum like note to it, wrapping up all very nicely. This is a fine tasting brew I wouldn’t mind them possibly tweaking a bit, or keeping even as is, and releasing yearly on January 16th (or approximate) as a small seasonal run. It would most likely do well, and could have a catchy name like “Prohibition Lager” or “America’s Lager” or “Before The World Went Crazy Lager”. Eh, who knows about good names, actually, you know who does? Ffej, with his Fuzzy Nudge. Now thats how you name a beer! Either way, what I *DO KNOW* is that this is a fine tasting beer, that won’t last much longer at Troegs, and was a very significant beer for them, and for all of us fans of Troegs and fans in the Central PA area. So make sure you stop by Troegs brewery, drink up, and enjoy before its gone!

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 3.82 (as of 1.17.20)
Updated Global Untappd Rating: 3.83 (as of 2.2.20)

To read up even more on Scratch 400, you can check out Derek Markel’s excellent article over at ItsABrewLife: Troegs Scratch #400 & Beyond. ItsABrewLife is a wonderful blog written by Derek and Chelsea Markel. They are wonderful writers and a great influence on the scene in Central PA. She’s one of the co-founders of Harrisburg Beer Week, and he is an accomplished homebrewer who makes some delicious beers. So definitely pop over there and read this excellent article.

Here at the blog, we’ve been super busy as always. I’ve been writing nonstop it seems in the last few days. Beer reviews for This Is The Way by Broken Goblet, my series of Tree House beers – Sap, Autumn, Haze, Julius, and Doppelganger. Our beer review of Scarlet Sunrise by Mellow Mink, as well as our visit to Mellow Mink. The sad news of Crystal Ball’s Closing in York PA. Beer review of Hill Farmstead’s Florence. Also been doing several podcasts, LOST Seasons 1 and 2, LOST Seasons 3 and 4, Rise of Skywalker and The Mandalorian, and possibly soon one on the final season of BoJack Horseman. We also have much more content coming out, more beer reviews, visits to breweries, openings, an article on Liquid Noise opening in Marysville PA, an article on the progress of Rubber Soul opening in Hummelstown PA, and much more. So please be on the lookout for all of that great content. Click the follow here. Use the RSS feed to follow us or enter your e-mail, or if you already have a WordPress account, you can sign right up with that (probably the easiest way to get our blog).

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Also, if you ever check out FeedSpot’s Top 100 Beer Blogs, you’ll see we are currently sitting in the #9 position now since January 15th. (Previously we were #11). We are super proud to be in the Top 10. (Especially since #3 and #4 are the same link, so I guess that sort of, pseudo, technically, maybe, makes us really #8… I dunno.) So give that a click, and then click on us coming back, show them how much you love us!

As you can see in the pictures here, this was my daddy-daughter date night with my youngest. She absolutely loves Troegs. She loves the smell of the brewery (as does my ten year old) as soon as we get in. I picked her up from an after-school function. Took her to the Hershey Library, she picked out two books, and then we had dinner at Troegs. We read her books, she devoured her fries (which, by the way, Troegs has some of the absolute best fries ever) and I enjoyed Scratches 399 and 400. Both were fantastic beers, and Mara had a great night. The laid back atmosphere of Troegs is a nice family-friendly place, that all three of my daughters love coming to. If you are ever in the area, and never been here, I highly recommend it. Yes it gets pretty full in the summer time and with lots of kids from the park, but its still worth at least a one time visit.

Scratch 399 (left) and Scratch 400 (right) at Troegs Brewery

And as always, we greatly appreciate all of you, our fine readers. Thank you so much for stopping in, checking us out, and giving us a read. We hope you liked what you read and choose to stick around and check out our other articles. We have tons of stuff here on the blog, from beer reviews, to home brewing stuff with Default Brewing, to some guest writing from LetUsDrinkBeer’s blog and their contributions, to brewery reviews, beer events, even some book reviews, and much more.

Final note, tonight’s the Super Bowl, or technically as everyone who isn’t the NFL has to call it “The Big Game”. San Fransisco 49ers vs. Kansas City Chiefs. It should be a good game. I am going against the grain, and thinking it’ll be low scoring, and I’m predicting San Fran 21 to Kansas City’s 10.

So you heard that here folks, that as of 9:42AM, I, B. Kline, predict this as your Super Bowl LIV Final Score:

San Fransisco 49ers: 21
Kansas City Chiefs: 10

Leave your thoughts, comments, score predictions, and other esoteric antics (call back to the podcast!) in the comments section. Love to hear from you all. We greatly appreciate all the feedback we get. It means so much to us! Cheers, and thank goodness that ground hog saw no shadow! Spring is clearly on its way, rodent meteorology for the win!

-B. Kline

Scratch Number 400