Elizabethtown - The Beer Thrillers https://thebeerthrillers.com Central PA beer enthusiasts and beer bloggers. Homebrewers, brewery workers, and all around beer lovers. Thu, 25 Jan 2024 15:14:51 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8 https://i0.wp.com/thebeerthrillers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/cropped-The-Beer-Thrillers-December-2022-Logo.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 Elizabethtown - The Beer Thrillers https://thebeerthrillers.com 32 32 187558884 Cox Brewing Close Out Party https://thebeerthrillers.com/2023/12/29/cox-brewing-close-out-party/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cox-brewing-close-out-party Sat, 30 Dec 2023 00:36:00 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=13447 Cox Brewing Company Close Out Celebration

As many of you might know, unfortunately, Cox Brewing Company is closing at the end of the year, making Sunday, December 31st their last day of business. (You can read our full article here: Cox Brewing Company (CBC) Announces Closure At End of the Year)

Tomorrow – December 30th, they are throwing an all out party and going away celebration. The garage will be packed, jamming out, and everyone will get to say their final goodbyes to one of the great Central PA breweries. So come out and wish these veterans and this veteran owned brewery a fond farewell.

Last Weekend 🇺🇸

Just a reminder, we are throwing an all-day party tomorrow, Saturday, December 30 (12-10), in hopes of kicking what beer is left and celebrating the wonderful community we built together these last eight years! There will be free food, swag giveaways, and live music.

Dan Jamison 3:00-5:00

Grant Bryan 5:30-7:00

Jordan Silva 8:00-10:00

As long as we have beer left, your last day to say goodbye to the garage is Sunday, December 31, from 12-5.

It’s been one heck of a ride. We’re feeling nothing but gratitude for all of you. Thank you for the love and support for our family business.

Cheers, Nick & Desiree, Tim & Audrey 🍻

Cox Brewing Company – Facebook Post

Cox Brewing Company Closure

See our article: Cox Brewing Company (CBC) Announces Closure At End of the Year for more news, but here is an excerpt.

Cox Brewing Company has been brewing for over eight years in the Rheems / Elizabethtown area of Central Pennsylvania. A huge proponent of home brewers, always offering assistance, as well as running events and local home brew meet ups, as well as participating in the Lititz Brewfest with giving prizes to home brewers.

Their closure will be felt in the brewing community as well as the home brewing community. A staple at many Central PA brewfests – like the Reinaissance Faire Brewfest at Mount Hope, at the Autos and Ales Brewfest in Hershey, the brand new Hershey Brewfest, the Fort Hunter Brewfest, the Lititz Brewfest, the old Lancaster Brewfest, and many more.

For More Articles From The Beer Thrillers

For more articles from The Beer Thrillers that we’ve written about Cox Brewing Company, check out the following:

For More Information on Cox Brewing Company

For more information on Cox Brewing Company – check out their Social Media Platforms. But first, Untappd describes Cox Brewing Company thusly:

Cox Brewing Company is a micro brewery from Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. It has 155 unique beers and over 14,500 ratings. It has a global average rating of 3.76 (as of 12.29.23). It’s Untappd description reads: “Cox Brewing Company (CBC) is a veteran-owned brewery located in Elizabethtown, PA in the village of Rheems.”

Find them on social media at the following:

Brewery News

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

Thank You For Reading

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

Cheers.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Beer Thrillers are a blog that prides itself on writing beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, news (especially local to the Central PA brewery scene), as well as covering other topics of our interests – such as hiking, literature and books, board games, and video games which we sometimes stream with our friends over at Knights of Nostalgia. We are currently listed as #7 on FeedSpot’s “Top 100 Beer Blogs” and #8 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. (As of January 2023.) Thank you for reading our site today, please subscribe, follow, and bookmark. Please reach out to us if you are interested in working together. If you would like to donate to the blog you can here: Donate to The Beer Thrillers. Thank you!

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

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cox Brewing Company (CBC) Announces Closure At End of the Year https://thebeerthrillers.com/2023/10/11/cox-brewing-company-cbc-announces-closure-at-end-of-the-year/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cox-brewing-company-cbc-announces-closure-at-end-of-the-year Thu, 12 Oct 2023 02:36:30 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=12623 Cox Brewing Company Announcement

Just moments ago Cox Brewing Company (CBC) made the unfortunate announcement – that their brewery will be closing at the end of 2023. Just twenty minutes ago on Facebook they posted a “Brewery News” update, stating that December 31st, 2023 will be their last day.

This is the second veteran owned brewery to be closing in the Central Pennsylvania area (with Tattered Flag closing in Middletown, Dauphin County).

Cox Brewing Company has been brewing for over eight years in the Rheems / Elizabethtown area of Central Pennsylvania. A huge proponent of home brewers, always offering assistance, as well as running events and local home brew meet ups, as well as participating in the Lititz Brewfest with giving prizes to home brewers.

Their closure will be felt in the brewing community as well as the home brewing community. A staple at many Central PA brewfests – like the Reinaissance Faire Brewfest at Mount Hope, at the Autos and Ales Brewfest in Hershey, the brand new Hershey Brewfest, the Fort Hunter Brewfest, the Lititz Brewfest, the old Lancaster Brewfest, and many more.

The Announcement

At 9:33 PM on 10.11.23, Cox Brewing Company posted the following on Facebook:

After running this family business for 8.5 years, we’ve decided that December 31, 2023, will be the last day we are open. With the rising cost of goods and services coupled with a 2024 military deployment, it’s time to let go.

Our families are incredibly proud of what we’ve been able to build together for the members of this community – we know it is more than just a place to drink craft beer. Our garage is sacred ground, and this decision was not easy for us.

We have watched love grow here and friendships develop; we also lost friends who were like family, and miss them. It has always been our priority to make the garage comfortable for our Veterans and first responders.

We dedicate these last three months to our loyal customers. We are grateful (especially during the shutdowns) for your support, showing up, and choosing Cox Brewing Company.

So, some good news…

Wednesdays are back, we have a lot of beer to drink, and the parties and events will continue! So come over, get some pints, visit with the BEST brewery staff in this business, and help us finish strong! We will not go gentle into that good night. We’ll see you at the garage.

Cheers and with much gratitude,

Nick and Tim

Cox Brewing Company (CBC) – Facebook Post

Cox Brewing Company

Cox Brewing Company was one of our absolute favorite stops and breweries. I’ve gotten to meet so many great people there and at the many different hang outs and parties at both the Rheems location as well as their Elizabethtown location next to the Pizza shop.

I will miss sitting with Ron Bell and others and listening to great stories and getting home brew advice.

Amy also enjoyed the location as well, and we had a tremendous time recently when we had brought Scarlet along.

I wish nothing but the best for Nick and Tim and hope the deployment is safe, and wish them the best in their future endeavors. Hopefully only good and better things to come from them, the area, the brewers of the area, as well as so much more. We know this decision couldn’t have been easy and I’m sure it was a fraught and tough decision.

For More Articles From The Beer Thrillers

For more articles from The Beer Thrillers that we’ve written about Cox Brewing Company, check out the following:

The Battle of the Breweries (2023)

Cox Brewing Company had a fantastic showing in this year’s Battle of the Breweries; losing to fellow veteran owned brewery – Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery in the Conference Finals.

Voting is still going on (for about three more hours) for the tournament finals. You can vote here:

For More Information on Cox Brewing Company

Cox Brewing Company (CBC) – The Garage – Brewery Sign

For more information on Cox Brewing Company – check out their Social Media Platforms. But first, Untappd describes Cox Brewing Company thusly:

Cox Brewing Company is a micro brewery from Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. It has 152 unique beers and over 14,100~ ratings. It has a global average rating of 3.76 (as of 10.11.23). It’s Untappd description reads: “Cox Brewing Company (CBC) is a veteran-owned brewery located in Elizabethtown, PA in the village of Rheems.”

Find them on social media at the following:

Brewery News

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

Thank You For Reading

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

Cheers.

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

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

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

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

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

You can check out our different directories here: Beer 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 love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

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

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

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

The Beer Thrillers are a blog that prides itself on writing beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, news (especially local to the Central PA brewery scene), as well as covering other topics of our interests – such as hiking, literature and books, board games, and video games which we sometimes stream with our friends over at Knights of Nostalgia. We are currently listed as #7 on FeedSpot’s “Top 100 Beer Blogs” and #8 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. (As of January 2023.) Thank you for reading our site today, please subscribe, follow, and bookmark. Please reach out to us if you are interested in working together. If you would like to donate to the blog you can here: Donate to The Beer Thrillers. Thank you!

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

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

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

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

 

 

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Funk Brewing in Elizabethtown on Fire https://thebeerthrillers.com/2022/10/27/funk-brewing-in-elizabethtown-on-fire/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=funk-brewing-in-elizabethtown-on-fire Thu, 27 Oct 2022 11:41:56 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=9846
Funk Brewing Company in Elizabethtown currently on fire

Not So Good Morning

Pretty much upon waking up Amy showed me the news. Two hours ago (5:20AM) it was first reported by Kate Merriman of WGAL News 8 that the Funk Brewing Company on South Market Street of Elizabethtown was on fire.

Since then, updates have been coming in and pictures and videos and news articles as well.

First reported was at 5:20AM by Kate Merriman of WGAL News 8 with her personal Facebook account. Her post reads:

#UPDATE Police lined the back of the building with tape. Details are still limited. Still with us for the latest developments.

BREAKING Crews are on the scene of a fire at Funk Brewing on South Market Street in Elizabethtown Borough. This is the backside of the business. No injuries. Still under investigation.

Kate Merriman Facebook

She updated the post at 6:30AM with the following pictures:

WGAL 8 7:00AM News

The WGAL 8 News at 7:00AM then ran a news clip, which they posted to their YouTube Channel after its airing. It was posted on YouTube just 8 minutes ago at 7:10AM.

Funk Brewing Company

Funk Brewing Company is located on South Market Street in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. You can find them here on Google Maps: Funk Brewing Company Brewery and Taproom – South Market Street. They are located next to the Elizabethtown (E-Town) Public Library. They host several events often and regularly at their brewery and one of the top spots of the E-Town community. They do a lot of fundraising events, charity events, and other things to help out the community.

Funk Brewing Company according to Untappd:

They are listed as a microbrewery out of Elizabethtown and Emaus Pennsylvania. They have 515 unique beers with 249,432 ratings (as of 10.27.22) and a global average rating of 3.85 (as of 10.27.22). They have no Untappd description.

For more on Funk Brewing Company, you can check out their social media pages:

The News

Things are still new at this point, so not lots of news, but whats coming in we’ll try and keep updated (will try and make phone edits while at work, so bear with me on that). But currently we have the following:

WGAL8 News:

Crews battled a fire early Thursday morning at a brewery in Lancaster County.

The fire happened at Funk Brewing along the first block of South Market Street in Elizabethtown. The call went out around 3 a.m.

Advertisement

Crews from Lancaster and Dauphin counties responded to the fire.

WGAL 8 News – Kate Merriman Reporting

Around 6 a.m., police officers surrounded much of the scene in crime tape. WGAL’s Kate Merriman was at the scene as it happened. You can watch that video in the player above.

There were no injuries in the initial call.

The investigation is continuing.

WGAL 8 News – Kate Merriman Reporting

Updates

Stay tuned and come back here to the article for updates as we get them. We will try and best and keep everyone updated.

Sources

See Also

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:

Funk Brewing Company Articles

Thanks For Reading

Well…. this is very unexpected and unfortunate news to wake up to this morning. Hopefully the updates will be better and things will come out better. Hoping that there continues to be no injuries and very little building damage. Funk Brewing is a great brewery and a great spot to visit. I love stopping in there when in the E-Town area. (Even done a few beer reviews from there.)

Please stop back for updates.

Reminder – tomorrow is the Boneshire Brew Works 6th celebration that we’ll be stopping out at, come out and visit. As well as game one of the Phillies – Astros World Series. Fingers crossed for our Phightin Phillies.

Cheers!

-B. Kline

As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us â€“ 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.

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

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

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

The Beer Thrillers 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!

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Beer Review: B-52 Belgian Dubbel (Bottle-Conditioned, 2017) – Cox Brewing Company (CBC) https://thebeerthrillers.com/2020/12/17/beer-review-b-52-belgian-dubbel-bottle-conditioned-2017-cox-brewing-company/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=beer-review-b-52-belgian-dubbel-bottle-conditioned-2017-cox-brewing-company Thu, 17 Dec 2020 21:21:25 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=6503 It’s winter here in PA, and making it more apparent than ever that it is that time of year is SNOW. On the ground. Actual white, powdery, cold, SNOW. The fact that the temperature has plummeted into the lower 30’s is just the icing on this very chilly cake. With projected depths of 24″ in places, it’s time to settle in and ride out this “Snowpocalypse”. However, at the time of writing this, we’re sitting at modest 2″ just after 5pm. As with the colder months, glasses of heavier and thicker alcohols must be filled, if only to trick the brain into thinking we’ll get warmer. Stouts are typical and almost expected this time of year, but I’m not one to always follow the trend. Winter Ales exist for a good reason, though the subject of this review goes a step further. I’m especially referring to Belgian beer styles. Dubbels, Tripels, and Quads are among those heaviest of hitters. Three beer styles that can range anywhere from 9-15% and still come off impossibly smooth and delicate. Just don’t try to stand up too fast…or at all if you’ve had more than one. Perhaps then it seems fitting that I suggest you sip those styles of beers on a “night in” when you’re able to get regrettably pants drunk and don’t have to be seen or heard from at any local venues or watering holes. Wait…this is 2020, so what the heck am I talking about?! Let’s crack open a bottle and find out.

The mighty B-52 Stratofortress

Just before we crack on, I would like to set the scene a little. The beer that I am about to write a review for is the better part of three years old. Because of that, I am going to elaborate more than normal as this is decidedly not an IPA and as such, deserves a little more time and effort spent waxing philosophic. You’ll want to strap in.

The Beer

Beer: B-52 Belgian Dubbel (Bottle-Conditioned, 2017)
Brewery: Cox Brewing Company (CBC)
Style: Belgian Dubbel
ABV: 7.7%
IBU: 10
Untappd Description: A smoked Belgian Dubbel, bottle conditioned one year before release and aged with raisins.
Enjoy In: Tulip, Snifter
Enjoy At: 50-55 degrees Fahrenheit or 30,000ft

The last dram

The Review

It’s 2017 and a friend of mine has asked me to join him and his father at a small brewery in Rheems, PA. Back then I had never heard of Cox Brewing Company, much less tried any of their beer. However, it’s local brewery and I’m more than willing to check a new place out. We pull into an industrial and farm looking part of town and up to what appeared to be a hole in the wall. The kind of place that only those that were “in-the-know” frequented. And there we were, walking into a crowded and cramped garage that was abuzz with conversation. The whole time I was wondering just how good the beer was, but after the first sip, all doubt fled through that same garage door and I began enjoying myself. Spent a few moments scanning the chalkboard menu and spotted something very interesting. I was going to choose by name, and then I noticed the style. WOAH! “Dubbel” Now there’s something you don’t find very often. While being very happy to see the style, I have to admit I was still a bit of a sceptic. My personal experience with US brewed Belgian styles has been a bit spotty at best. Not many breweries seem to be able to replicate the unique taste found in Belgian beers. So naturally, I did what any beer nerd would do: I ordered a pint. I remember being very glad I was sitting down as much fresher versions of the flavors I’ll depict later washed over me. I enjoyed it so much that I vowed then and there that I would be back to buy two bottles, because only a fool would buy one. I returned a week later, making good on my promise. One of those bottles was had two years ago, and thought it unlikely that it would get any better.

Fast forward those two years and I finally popped the cork on the last bottle that had been sleeping in my cellar ever since. It doesn’t feel like it’s been three years, but with the way 2020 has gone, time is a mere construct, and a fickle one to be sure. Regardless, after carefully coaxing the cage and cork from the glass bottle, the sound of bubbles frothing and bursting echoed forth from the long neck to the tune of a Geiger counter. The effects of the beer contained within wasn’t quite so nuclear, though it will blow away the day’s stress or the frigid temperatures outside. This is a sipping beer in much the way that relaxation and a comfortable lounging chair are the quintessential furnishings of an in home get-a-way. The bottle reads 7.7% but with the way it drinks, you’d swear it was hovering just above the mid 5% range. Either way this beer doesn’t wash down the throat like either of those as it slips easily beyond the tongue and tonsils (if you still have them), down the esophagus and into a waiting stomach. Tickling your nose isn’t the sensation of bubbles popping but the rich, almost candied essence of raisins toiling and rising with a very mild and light smoke. And now to look at the gentle fluid now occupying space in your vessel of choice. A gorgeous, deep ruby red hue briefly accompanied by a coarse, thin, light brown head that evaporates shortly after being poured. Open the hatch, over the gums, and bathe your tongue in liquid bliss, as the taste buds pull out sweet notes of the raisins your nose sniffed out, laced with a subtle, yet comfortable smokiness. The concept might sound a little weird at first, but I assure that this combination not only works, it’s downright delicious. For having such heavy flavors and notes, this is a beer that disappears from your glass and you’re left wondering where it all went and why it’s all gone. Don’t stand up. Allow me to repeat myself a little louder: DO. NOT. STAND. UP. Not only will you likely stumble if you’ve downed the bottle yourself (which I may or may not have done in this case), but you’ll ruin the cozy, warm feeling you’ve likely built up while reclining in your favor chair. Allow the rich flavor to linger and envelope you as you sink deeper into that recliner. Relax and let your mind wander. Oh for that last sorrowful dram of sweet release, how does it linger. A slow flavor evolution that ends with hints of milk chocolate. Odd? Yes, but given that raisins appear in the flavor profile, chocolate only bolsters the thickness of this flavor. This was well worth the wait, so perhaps I should be happy there was snow as I would have left this one to age even further. Prost!

Only proper glassware will do

My Untappd Score: ****-1/4
Global Rating: 4.21/5 (as of 12/17/2020)

PROST!

J.Doncevic

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Beer Review: Griddle (Funk Brewing) https://thebeerthrillers.com/2020/09/21/beer-review-griddle-funk-brewing/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=beer-review-griddle-funk-brewing Tue, 22 Sep 2020 02:38:12 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=4377
Griddle by Funk Brewing Company at Funk Brewing in E-Town, PA

Sorry for a slow amount of articles lately. I know things have kinda gotten down to a trickle with only weekly articles, but I do have a lot of backburner ones, and hoping for my weekend (Wednesday – Friday) I will be able to get up a lot of them. Quite a bit of them are backdated ones, so be sure to be on the lookout for them (best way to automatically be notified is to become a subscriber and follower, so make sure to follow us). I am also hoping to finish up the YouTube video (FINALLY!?!!!!!??!?!?!?) and get that posted this weekend as well.

But I do have a TON, and I mean, ___A___TON___, of beer reviews to go over and get published up on here. From a lot of different breweries. Hopefully also J. Doncevic will jump back in with a review soon (every time I see him he hints to me that he’s getting back in the review game…. and…. then…. nothing….) (….maybe if we bug him enough…. he will….). Also looking forward (still) to A. Parys’s soon to be released interview article that he did / is doing / has done / is working on.

So as always, lots of stuff going on here at The Beer Thrillers, so always be sure to like, follow, and subscribe, and follow us on our Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and our Facebook group (all of the links are above) and soon on our YouTube channel as well (link above also).

I ended up at Funk Brewing in E-Town a while back (September 4th) when Cox Brewing’s newest location – The Rally Point – was at max capacity. So, unable to get in, I got a draft to go, drank it in the parking lot, then went to Funk Brewing. Where I first had their Oktoberfest, and then this – Griddle – a barleywine that was delicious and worthy of a beer review. So here goes!

Griddle by Funk Brewing

Beer: Griddle
Brewery: Funk Brewing (Funk Brewing Company)
Style: Barleywine – English
ABV: 10.5%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Brewed with over 50 gallons of Vermont maple syrup this barleywine a huge maple nose but the heirloom english malt shines through cutting the sweetness. In 4 words or less: Flapjacks and Jack Daniels.

I am a huge Barleywine fan, of all shapes, sizes, flavors and breweries. Funk’s is no different. Funk Brewing is well known in the Central PA, primarily for their Double Disco and Mic Drop and Citrus and a few others. Their location in E-Town is typically pretty hopping (even during COVID) (….get the pun?). To read more about Funk Brewing click here for their Untappd page: Funk Brewing’s Untappd Page.

Appearance for Griddle follows what most Barleywines look like; a malty looking dark, heavy beer. Akin to tobacco spit, which might not be the most appetizing way to describe it, but I think a pretty apt one (just don’t think about it from now on). Despite having to drink it in a plastic cup (which I hear is a bit of a no-no for some people in PA and that sometimes post in a Facebook group and run their own brewery……….) it still had a nice small ring of a head.

Smell is very syrupy, very maple, very malty. The description does a good job describing the nose to this; very heavy maple. Very. Heavy. Maple. A. Very. Maple. Forward. Nose. The. Nose. Is. Very. Heavy. In. Maple. Ummm… did you pick up on that its got a very heavy maple aroma? There are a few more underlying hints and whiffs, but its primarily the maple, a bit of a brown sugar smell, and English malts. Possibly a hint of some of the English hops, but it would be so extremely diluted that it’d be hard to say.

This is definitely flapjacks and Jack Daniels. Its strong boozy right out of the gate, but with an extremely heavy maple flavor. The English malts (and perhaps English hops too) bitter out the sweetness of the maple syrup and tame it a bit, giving it – alongside with the booziness – a bit of a bite. Not fully a bitter bite, but a definite eye – opener. Mostly bitter to cut out the sweet, the bite also has that boozy undertone kicking you a fair bit. Thats not to say this isn’t sweet though. Its certainly still very sweet, but with the heavy boozy undertones, and with the English malts providing a nice malty bitterness, that the maple sweetness doesn’t become too cloying or clinging to your tongue (like Lizard of Koz was from Founders……. shudders….. I still have nightmares of drinking that beer). This seems like a very strong Pennsylvania beer, the idea of a boozy flapjack strikes deep to the core of a good hard working lumberjack breakfast. A can of Griddle, some flapjacks, scrapple, bacon, eggs, and maybe coffee to wash it down, would be a great breakfast and start to the day for any hard working man ready to go out and cut down a hundred trees and deforest the rural lands. The beer might even give said lumberjack the edge he would need if he had to race a giant flannel wearing man with a big blue Ox…… (Do people even remember the old folk tales and folk legends of yore?) At 10.5% and with the boozy taste, a 16oz can of this is all you need at a time, but its a wonderful time, and a great drinking beer. Enjoy! (I know I did!)

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 3.65 (as of 9.21.20)

For those interested, the book I’m reading in the picture was a great book by Daniel Klein. You can find it (and even find my book review of it there) on GoodReads here: Everytime I Find the Meaning to Life, They Change It: Wisdom of the Great Philosophers on How to Live Life. I highly recommend the book as much as I do the beer. (In fact I highly recommend Daniel Klein as an author, his philosophy books are fantastic, and the joke series he did with Thomas Cathcart are great – Plato and A Platypus Walk Into a Bar and Heidegger and a Hippo Walk Through Those Pearly Gates).

This was a shorter beer review, and a bit of a quick launch one, but I wanted to get an article out tonight, because primarily, because I feel like I haven’t been writing that much lately, and I need to get a lot more writing done. I have all of these “drafts” set-up on my WordPress and just need to finish them. Plus I have had a ton of great beers lately that all deserve reviews. So I need to get through them and get them done! So I’m trying.

As always, please, please, please, please – like, follow, subscribe, follow us on social media, and comment your questions, comments, suggestions, etc. Always love to hear from you.

Enjoy and cheers everyone!

-B. Kline

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Rally Point – Cox Brewing Company – Taproom Opening Friday, September 4th 2020 https://thebeerthrillers.com/2020/09/01/rally-point-cox-brewing-company-taproom-opening-friday-september-4th-2020/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rally-point-cox-brewing-company-taproom-opening-friday-september-4th-2020 Tue, 01 Sep 2020 22:15:00 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=4222
Cox Brewing Company’s Rally Point Taproom (Photo Courtesy of Cox Brewing Company Facebook page)

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2020, marks the final day of Cox Brewing Company‘s current location and brewery and taproom. But its not the final chapter for the veteran owned brewery.

Their new taproom has been in the works for a while now and despite all the difficulties of 2020, it is finally due for its grand opening on September 4th, 2020, at 5:00 PM. The new taproom is located at 50 Veterans Drive in Elizabethtown.

As per Cox Brewing Company’s website there is some rules to visiting the new taproom on opening day (primarily due to COVID-19 guidelines by the state), a brief summary is here:

Briefing: When you plan to visit, please enter through the main entrance (not the patio door) and as always, please wear your mask while not seated at your table. Anyone who has dined out recently knows that any customer who wishes to consume alcohol on premises must also purchase a meal. Being neighbors with PizzAtown makes this very easy.

Customers can go order their meal at the PizzAtown counter or use their smart phone to order take-out online and eat it at your table with your pint or flight. This will ensure the state guidelines are being met, it’s much appreciated! Check out this article from Breweries in PA on visiting protocol.” (Cox Brewing Company’s Website).

The Rally Point Taproom Interior (Photo Courtesy of Cox Brewing Company’s Facebook Page)

The new taproom is a big step up for the veteran owned brewery. The new taproom is set-up to be a much bigger improvement upon their old location. As per their website, the new tap room will boast: ““the new space will have a 20-foot bar, a dedicated stage for live music, a bunker, outdoor patio, and delicious menu options on the property from our friends at Pizzatown.”

Cox Brewing Company (Rheems Brewery) (Photo Courtesy of Lancaster Online)

The ‘old’ facility in Rheems is closing on Wednesday September 2nd, 2020 and was the home base for the brewery for the past several years. I (B. Kline) had gotten to visit it a few times, once being their 2nd Anniversary party, which was a complete blast. The old Rheems location was a garage and was an intimate, Cheers like place where people knew everyone, and everyone knew everyone, much like many hometown breweries in the Central PA area. It will be missed, but the new location looks to be offering a lot that the old place could not and will be a massive step up for the brewing company.

Cox Brewing Company (Rheems location)

The old location was the home base since 2015, and has served the brewery well. Cox Brewing Company started in 2015 and has been located there since the beginning. Cox Brewing Company is a veteran owned brewery and in the five years since they’ve opened, as been one of the highly regarded Central PA breweries, making some extremely delicious beers over the years.

Their Untappd page reads: “Cox Brewing Company (CBC) is a veteran-owned brewery located in Elizabethtown, PA in the village of Rheems.”

On opening day (Friday) the beer lineup for Rally Point (as per their website on 9.1.20) looks to be as such:

  • Liberty Lager
  • 82nd Amber Ale
  • CH-47 IPA
  • Fat Cow Coffee Porter
  • Cryo Citra
  • Tropic Lightening
  • IP-X
  • Clockwork Oranjse
  • The Big Red One
  • SR71
  • Worthog Wit
  • 17022

An impressive lineup for their opening day that I can’t wait to personally dive into. They will be offering flights and drafts on Friday, so you will definitely be able to get your fill! I know I’ll be there Friday, and can’t wait.

Cox Brewing Company – Rheems (Photo courtesy of their Facebook page)

Cox Brewing Company on their Facebook page posted the following about their last day in Rheems tomorrow – September 2nd, 2020:

“Just a quick reminder we’re open tomorrow in Rheems for our last night up on the hill. We’ll be pouring take-out only. There will be an off-premises location open if you decide to hang out for a bit. #veteranownedandoperated, #gratitude#community#goodtimes#rheems ##CBC#elizabethtownpa#coxbrewingcompany#craftbeer#customerexperience#pabreweries#pacraftbeer#pabreweries#drinklocal#coxbrewingcompany#cbc#lancastercounty#veteranowned

The hours for the new location will be:

  • Wednesday – Thursday: 5:00 PM – 10:00 PM
  • Friday: 5:00 PM – 11:00 PM
  • Saturday: 12:00 PM – 11:00 PM
  • Sunday: 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM
  • (Monday and Tuesday: Closed)
Cox Brewing Company’s current logo

For more information, you can follow Cox Brewing Company on their Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages. As well as check out their personal website – Cox Brewing Company Homepage.

For more information: Grand Opening: Rally Point, September 4th. (Breweries in PA)

Be sure to follow us here at The Beer Thrillers by clicking the subscribe and follow buttons below. Leave any comments you wish, we always love hearing from you all and will respond. Let us know if you are planning on coming out tomorrow for the Rheems’ location’s last day or if you are coming out Friday for the grand opening; I’m (B. Kline) planning on stopping out both days.

Make sure also to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, as well as our YouTube page which will be starting up shortly. You can find the links for these at the top of each page on our blog here, as well as a link to our Facebook group as well.

And make sure to check out the other grand openings, closings, and brewery news pages as well to keep up to date.

Cheers everyone and hopefully see you in E-Town on Friday!

-B. Kline

Cox Brewing Company – Rally Point Taproom (Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania) (Photo courtesy of their Facebook page)

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Beer Review: Virtually Inseparable (Celestial Beerworks and Turning Point Beer) https://thebeerthrillers.com/2020/05/10/beer-review-virtually-inseparable-celestial-beerworks-and-turning-point-beer/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=beer-review-virtually-inseparable-celestial-beerworks-and-turning-point-beer Sun, 10 May 2020 19:00:24 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=3129
Virtually Inseparable by Celestial Beerworks and Turning Point Beer

This was a juicy, big, bold, IPA that was sent to me as part of that Texas beer mail package. I’ve done a few other reviews from the beers sent to me – Road Trip Snacks, Thursday (2016), Islla en el Cielo, $#!+ Ton, Daebak, Chocolate Confidential, Sunshine and Opportunity, Azathoth, Citraquench’l, Paradise Lost, Irish Table, Athena, Vanilla Ice Cream Stout, Reve Coffee Stout, and Ghost in the Machine. (In short, I love getting beer mail; and love doing beer reviews of them!)

This is another gem from a beer mail / beer trade. Haven’t had too many misses on my beer mail and beer trades (thank the maker). While we’re all stuck inside due to the snow squalls and cold May weather here in Central PA; lets check this out.

Virtually Inseparable (a quarantine collaboration between Celestial Beerworks and Turning Point Beer)

Beer: Virtually Inseparable
Brewery: Celestial Beerworks
Collaborator: Turning Point Beer
Style: IPA – Triple New England
ABV: 10%
IBU: None listed
Untappd Description: A “virtual collaboration” with our cyber pals at Turning Point Beer. It’s a triple IPA brewed with Citra, Strata and Sabro. It has aromas of passionfruit and pineapple, and is jam packed with flavors of coconut, mango, taffy, and melon. It has a soft and fluffy mouthfeel and is the absolute brightest 10% glass of juice.

Interesting hops for this – Citra, Strata, and Sabro. People seem to be on the fence with sabro hops (some love it, some hate it).

This looks pure orange juice. Bright, beautiful golden orange color. Little foam to the head, not crazy head to it, but enough to be good. The bubbles are interspersed and varied. This is certainly hazy, with a few ‘floaters’ but nothing egregious.

Aroma is strong, super strong hoppyness. As obvious as the appearance of the beer is, the aroma kicks in as soon as you crack the can and lets you know right away that this is a Triple IPA. You get immediate notes of coconut, passionfruit, mango, pineapple, and a bit of melon.

Lets take this opportunity to look at the hops involved in this delicious triple IPA:
* Sabro – Sabro is an aroma hop that is notable for its complexity of fruity and citrus flavors. It imparts distinct tangerine, coconut, tropical fruit, and stone fruit aromas, with hints of cedar, mint, and cream. Sabro’s pedigree is the result of a unique cross pollination of a female neomexicanus hop.
* Citra – Citra hops are now one of the most coveted aroma hops in the US and have a strong citrusy profile with elements of grapefruit, lime and tropical fruit.
* Strata – Bittering with Strata brings a nice balanced bitterness. Flavor and aroma additions bring out the fruity side with tropical fruit and fresh berry brightness. Brewers say that dry hopping deepens the grapefruit and dank/herbal/cannabis elements.
(Information comes from Yakima Valley Hops, Hopslist, and Learn.Kegerator; respectively for all three.)

This has a soft mouthfeel. Its very juicy, very dank, but extremely drinkable and no booze or strong bite despite its 10% ABV. The flavor this is fantastic. You get notes of coconut, passionfruit, mango, slight berry notes, a bit of citrus poking through at points (primarily in a tangerine or orange taste), a little bit of pineapple. I think the biggest hop fruit flavor is mango, which explains why I enjoy it so much, thats always one of my favorite hop or fruit flavors in beers. (Funny because I don’t eat mangos as actual food, but love the flavor of them in beer.) There is little bits of floaters in this, but nothing you actually taste or detect as you drink. There is no dryness to this, and very little bitter or hop burn as well, its just genuinely a smooth beer, with a decently heavy mouthfeel but overall it tastes light and airy but still juicy. It goes down relatively quickly too, especially for a 10% beer. Having multiples of this around could be a danger that’s for sure.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 4.46 (as of 5.10.20)

This was a wonderful beer to have at home, sitting relaxing, after I did a 10+ mile walk with my dog (Leela) walking the Conewago Recreational Trail. I walked it from the start on Rt. 230 near where Elizabethtown begins, and took it all the way to the Lebanon County line (where it becomes the Lebanon Valley Rails and Trails) and, went a bit further, than turned around. After the walk, stopped at Moo-Duck to support local breweries. I got a taco flatbread pizza, and a crowler of Hades Chocolate Rye (which I drank later that night with my friend and was delicious).

We’re rolling through May everyone, its now May 10th, which means we’re 1/3rd of the way through the month. I hope everyone is having a wonderful May, and is enjoying the blog, hopefully also, everyone is staying safe, staying (primarily) home, helping local small businesses and breweries, and doing their part to beat this virus. We’re all in this together.

Would love to give a shout out to all the hard working nurses, doctors, people who are volunteering for their communities by handing out lunches at schools, taking care of elderly, or doing whatever they can for their fellow neighbors and people. And a big thank you to people still working at some of the ‘centers’ of this; grocery store workers, cashiers, hospital employees, medical professionals, firefighters, etc. Thank you to all of you!

We’ll get through this. We’ll get back out there to life, and we’ll all sit down for some beers together! Until then, cheers from afar!

-B. Kline

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Beer Review: Hershey’s Chocolate Porter (Yuengling Brewery) https://thebeerthrillers.com/2019/10/28/beer-review-hersheys-chocolate-porter-yuengling-brewery/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=beer-review-hersheys-chocolate-porter-yuengling-brewery Mon, 28 Oct 2019 12:09:21 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=1047
Hershey’s Chocolate by Yuengling

This is going to be something different, and don’t expect much more of this kind of thing. I’m not a huge fan of doing the mainstream beers, and I definitely don’t want to be doing macro beers (so have no fear, no Naturdays review coming up or Bud Lite Platinum or whatever other BS their peddling).

Yuengling is Pennsylvania though, through and through. You walk into any bar in Pennsylvania and say ‘lager’ you are going to get a Yuengling. Simple as that really. So if I have to drink the “lesser” beers, or the “swill” or “macros” or “mainstream” or “lower quality but mass produced beers”, Yuengling is usually my go to. Over the other heavily distributed beers like Miller Lite, Coors, Bud, Corona, or Heineken. I am not above drinking macro and I’m not making this a beer snobbery post, I drink, and I’ll drink anything/everything if nothing else is available. For instance, family parties where say a brother in law has just Corona, I’ll drink the Corona. So be it.

At the Boneshire Brew Works 3rd Anniversary party on Friday night (which by the way, look for an upcoming joint blog post from both me and J. Doncevic) I was hanging out with J. Doncevic and we discussed this exact drink, and we also discussed Yuengling in general, and macro beers as a whole. He’ll be upfront with any of you who ask him, he takes his beer snobbery to a whole new level, and he’s damn proud of it. He was telling me he’s never had Miller or Coors or Bud and won’t, and would rather not drink at a party then drink those. My unabashedly candid alcoholism tells me to drink everything and anything if available – so I do. Different strokes; different folks. Nothing wrong with either approach (in my opinion). But we did have a consensus that Yuengling is craft (it is by definition of the Craft Brewer’s Association) and that we both are willing to drink it.

In the South Central PA area, primarily every Hershey bar/brewery, beer place, etc, as well as in Harrisburg, Hummelstown, Elizabethtown, etc, nearly every place that has a good enough distributor got this (the Chocolate Porter) on tap. Specifically Hershey, Hummelstown, and Harrisburg. The Warwick, the Bear’s Den, Hershey Biergarten, Primanti Brothers, Hotel Hershey, Boro Bar and Grill, Chick’s Tavern, Boneshire Brew Works, The Sturgis, Ted’s Bar and Grill, Arooga’s on 422, Arooga’s on 22, just to name a few places that carried this.

Most places even did a glass give away the first night of the tapping. I know Boneshire Brew Works did (thus the glass in the picture), as well as the Gin Mill in Lebanon did. Hershey Biergarten did as well and I believe the Primanti Bros. did also. It is a lovely glass, a nice tulip with the logo in gold on it, looks very lovely and is a nice drinking glass for stouts, porters, belgians, etc.

So, on Wednesday the 16th, Boneshire Brewery announced that they were going to be tapping a keg of the Hershey’s Chocolate Porter and giving away the glasses. I got done with work at 5:40 (NEO from my work) and went straight to the library to drop off books, and was going to be meeting a friend at Newfangled Brew Works, but stopped at Boneshire to try out the porter.

So let’s break down the beer thats basically taken the beer industry, Twitter, social media, and the internet by storm. The beer that all of your non-craft beer friends have been bugging you about and asking you about for your opinion of it. Well, now here you go, you can just point them to this article, because I’m sure I speak for everyone. ………I kid…. I kid.

Hershey’s syrup

I feel like I could just break down Hershey’s syrup and that would be all the review needs to be. A slightly alcoholic version of the syrup, and bam-o there you go, review done. But, its not quite that simple, and there are a few more subtle notes.

This does seem to be the point of contention, for some it tastes like the syrup, for some it tastes completely different, it seems theres two sides to the coin of this beer, and the multitude of my friends fall on both spectrum(s).

Beer: Hershey’s Chocolate Porter
Brewery: Yuengling Brewery (or D.G. Yuengling and Sons Brewing Company)
Style: Porter – American
ABV: 4.7%
IBU: No IBU
Untappd Write-Up: Yuengling, America’s Oldest Brewery, and Hershey, America’s most iconic chocolate, are collaborating, for the first time in their history, to provide a once in a lifetime creation for their loyal fans to enjoy. America loves beer and America loves chocolate, so Yuengling and Hershey joined forces to bring the best of both worlds to their fans with a limited-edition Yuengling Hershey’s Chocolate Porter. This collaboration gives consumers the opportunity to savor and indulge in the unique beer from America’s Oldest Brewery and America’s most beloved chocolate brand.

Yuengling Hershey’s Chocolate Porter is a fresh take on Yuengling’s 200-year-old Dark Brewed Porter. Don’t miss your chance to enjoy, for a limited time only, America’s #1 craft brewery, Yuengling, come together with America’s most iconic chocolate brand, Hershey’s, for their first-ever collaboration — Yuengling Hershey’s Chocolate Porter.

Thats quite the marketing ad write-up right there. Gotta give an A+ to the ad team on this one, or at least a raise or something, that was a very well crafted (ah….. pun intended) and well made Untappd write-up for the beer. You can tell if a Brewery has a good marketing or ad-team with their social media presence, and things like a good Untappd write-up for their beers (like Troegs usually has a fantastic write-up, even for their Scratch beers) is a good sign of it; great Twitter posts, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc posts are always a good sign of a good marketing team which reflects well on a brewery as a whole.

So you have the oldest American brewery (left) and a staple of the East Coast (specifically North East Coast) dive bar, and the “most iconic” chocolate company in America teaming up to make a beer. Yuengling is the oldest brewery in America; by process of elimination. It wasn’t the oldest founded, it wasn’t the first founded, but it has survived through prohibition, and other stretches when most American breweries folded, by changing what they sold, how they sold, downsizing, upsizing, etc, and they are to be commended for how they were able to achieve and survive and thrive despite times like prohibition, etc.

Hershey’s is iconic, insofar as anyone from the United States has heard of it, if not had it. From Pennsylvania to California, from Maine to Texas, Hershey’s is distributed. And that’s not speaking internationally. I could go into the history of Hershey’s (or even Yuengling) and talk about how the company was started, by who, how they’ve grown, etc. I could talk about Hershey Park, Chocolate World, the town of Hershey in Derry Township, etc, but its all stuff we pretty much know, and its all stuff that’s not really necessary or relevant to the beer review. Suffice it to say that the write-up is pretty spot on despite everything; Yuengling and Hershey are both iconic. Perhaps some hyperbole but it is mostly true, and a sound argument, and a pretty remarkable thing for the two of them to hook up and collaborate on this beer.

The idea of these two brands hooking up and collaborating on a beer is pretty amazing and impressive in its own right. I don’t know what the process was; who contacted who; what the involvement was that each brand had (I can’t imagine Hershey had much say, I have to assume its kind of like how the write-up reads, that they took their recipe for their old Dark Porter and just added Hershey’s ingredients to it, and called it a day – it tastes that way as well). But its brilliant marketing and strategy plan, especially given the anniversary of Yuengling, and with Hershey doing their big launching of the new entrance to Hershey Park and everything.

But enough of all this gibberish and jibber-jabbing…. lets get onto the actual beer itself.

Chocolate Porter

Appearance is a typical porter, Razor Ramon hair black, full bodied, thick, like some entertainers of the evening. It has a nice head to it, foamy, bubbly, a good half-inch that dissipated with nice interspersed and varied bubbles. The foam has a light brown look to go with the richness of the beer.

Aroma is chocolate syrup… Hershey’s chocolate syrup to be exact. Like flipping the lid of the syrup container and immediately getting that whiff of it. You get malty roasty grains from the porter to go with it, but the chocolate smell overpowers much of that. This is fine, this is what its being billed as, and it works well for this.

Moving on to taste; once again the very first thing you are going to note and taste is the Hershey’s chocolate syrup. I’ve likened this to drinking an alcoholic version of the famous Hershey’s syrup. But even in that aspect, its not too much of it, since the ABV is only 4.7% anyway. So its not a boozy version of Hershey’s syrup thats for sure. There is some malt, some roast, some dark notes underneath the chocolate syrup abundance, but its pretty subtle and mute. The mouthfeel is heavy, its thick like a good porter, and it hangs and feels right in your mouth, all signs that the beer is well made. I think beyond the chocolate syrup, there is a blandness to the beer. The chocolate syrup wears thin on the taste as you start to sip, and then its just a kind of generic bland porter with not enough malt backbone to really keep the taste alive or to really hold the beer. The more you sip and drink it, the less notable and profound the chocolate syrup taste is, and the weaker the beer as a whole gets. This is in general a discussion of mass market beers typically; that they don’t usually have the most flavorful beers, the most robust character notes, that there is just an underlying general blandness to most beers, like Bud, like Coors, like Miller, like Yuengling lager, like Corona, or Heineken, etc, theres just a ‘blandness’ or ‘been there’ kind of taste. Like McDonald’s to your local diner or restaurant, might be a very apt comparison for that sake. There’s just a mute blandness that this beer takes on as you sip it more and the chocolate syrup dissipates more. …or perhaps I’m full of it and reading too much into things and have my head up my own…..

Either way on this beer, it has certainly gotten the beer universe a flutter for a while, from Twitter to Instagram, from your friends at work and family who know you like beer “so how was it” or “did you hear Hershey and Yuengling are teaming up?” to actual craft beer enthusiast nerdy hipsters willing to try it out, it has gotten the attention, and the marketing it was aimed and designed for.

Overall, its not the worst beer you are going to drink, you know the hype is overblown, like it usually is for anything; not even just the craft beer industry, but all aspects (stares at the latest Star Wars trailer…. I know what your game is….). Its worth seeking out for the novelty of it. I couldn’t imagine myself ordering this again, but it was acceptable, and a fine drink at the moment of.

My Untappd Rating: ***.25
Global Untappd Rating: 4.03 (as of 10.27.19)

This review was started yesterday morning (Sunday, October 27th) but I wasn’t able to finish it before work, and then work happened, and then post brewski’s happened with my friend D. Scott. Which, he has finally finished the podcast that we did discussing Breaking Bad and El Camino, so I will provide the links for that, its two podcasts (a two-parter) because of how ridiculously long it was. This was done with our friend Esty and its for their podcast channel “WTF did I watch”.

You can check them out here:
WTF Did I Just Watch: Breaking Bad and El Camino – Part 1
WTF Did I Just Watch: Breaking Bad and El Camino – Part 2

Just as a heads up, there is some language in the podcasts, it would probably receive a R rating from the FCC, they are also long podcasts, so devote some time if you are going to watch them.

Thank you all for reading, please click the like, follow, subscribe, comment, etc. we always appreciate that here at The Beer Thrillers. When I do more podcasts with D. Scott, I’ll be sure to post them here (I won’t be posting the ones I’m not involved in). Also look for an upcoming collaboration article between myself (B. Kline) and J. Doncevic about the Boneshire Brew Works 3rd Anniversary Celebration. I also have plenty of beer reviews to post up. So please be on the lookout for all of that!

Tonight will be busy, work from 10-6, then blood donation at the Hershey Library, then the Hummelstown Parade, and then a party at a brewer from Tattered Flag’s house, so most likely no posts or blogs from myself tonight, but I’m sure I’ll have something for you all tomorrow, so be on the lookout!

Cheers!

-B. Kline

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