A Brewfest Two Years in the Making

In a lot of ways, this is a brewfest two years in the making. Its also kind of a brewfest filling a void that got left open two years ago.

See, there was this little thing called… “covid” or as we knew it better then – “coronavirus” two years ago, and that pretty much put a lockdown on everything in the brewery industry. As a result, the Prototype Brewery Invitational in 2020 got put on hold, hiatus, seemingly cancelled, until now. Also as a result of that (as part of many factors), the Harrisburg Beer Week also came to a close.

So now we fast forward to 2022, and in one week we are finally getting the long awaited Prototype Brewery Invitational.

Prototype Brewery and Meadery

The Prototype Brewery and Meadery has been in ‘start up’ mode for two (two plus) years now. Partly the love and brain child of Kevin Keller (also the event organizer for this), of Evil Genius credit and fame. The brewfest is partly celebration of all their friends that they are hoping to do collaborations in the future with (and ones Kevin has done work with in the past) and sort of a kick off to whenever they finally open. (No date yet.)

Prototype Brewery and Meadery has been pouring at events for a bit of time now, most notably was recently at the Cushwa 5th Anniversary. Kevin Keller is good people, and I love the idea of both a brewery and meadery in one, so I am eagerly awaiting their opening.

The Brewfest

This is absolutely looking like a killer brewfest lineup! Check out this lineup from their ticket page:

• Abomination Brewing Company

• Against the Grain Brewery

• Aslin Beer Company

• Beat Street Beer Project

• Boneshire Brew Works

• Bottle Logic Brewing

• Burnish Beer Co.

• Cellar Works Brewing

• Chatty Monks Brewing

• Cinderlands Beer Co

• Civil Society Brewing

• Collusion Tap Works

• Cushwa Brewing Company

• Dancing Gnome Beer

• Dewey Beer Company

• Dream State Brewing

• Ever Grain Brewing Co.

• Fourscore Beer Co.

• Funguys Brewing

• Great Notion Brewing

• Grist House

• Hidden River Brewing Company

• Hidden Springs Ale Works

• Hitchhiker Brewing

• Imprint Beer Company

• Ingenious Brewing Company

• Lovedraft’s Brewing Co.

• Narrow Gauge Brewing Company

• New Trail Brewing Company

• North Country Brewing Company

• Ology Brewing Company

• Other Half Brewing Company

• Pilger Ruh Brewing

• Rotunda Brewing Company

• Short Throw Brewing Co.

• Species X Beer Project

• Tripping Animals Brewing Co.

• Vitamin Sea Brewing

• Wolf Brewing Co.

• Yah Brew

That is a killer lineup! Other Half, Tripping Animals, Vitamin Sea, Ology, Great Notion, Civil Society, Grist House, Hitchhiker, Bottle Logic, Aslin, Cushwa, Fourscore, Dewey, Against the Grain…. …..some absolute amazing breweries.

Me and my buddy Drew have our tickets, and we got the VIP tickets to be in an extra hour. (I fully suggest going this route if any are available.)

Tickets

Tickets for the brewfest come in three types:

• DD (15$)
• General Admission (1PM – 4PM) (55$)
• VIP (12PM – 4PM) (75$)

Additional information on each:

General Admission: GA will grant you access to samples from over 40 breweries from around the nation from 1-4pm. I’m addition, there will be live music, food vendors and plenty of brewery swag (While supplies last). A special edition tasting glass will be included in this package.
VIP: Early Entry tickets will grant you access to the sampling, music, food vendors and brewery swag an hour early from 12-4p. Select breweries will have limited beers that will be available exclusively during this hour. Have a certain brewery you absolutely need to sample beer from? Here is your opportunity!

Location

The brewfest will be at the Zembo Shrine in Harrisburg. This is a great venue for brewfests. Harrisburg Beer Week has done their Little Big Beer Fest there in the past, and other events have been there before. Its a lovely venue. Parking isn’t horrible, but its not the best. I obviously highly highly highly highly recommend Uber or Lyft or getting dropped off, but if you do have a DD, there should be enough parking.

Some general rules and FAQ:

– Each ticket is permitted one entry.

– Must be 21+ to consume alcohol. Must have valid proof of ID.

– Must 21+ to attend

– No ticket or event wristband sharing is allowed.

– We ask that you please do not arrive before 11am

– No backpack or large bags allowed in venue

– No Pets allowed

– No refunds on any ticket sales

– Event is rain or shine

– Tickets are not transferable

– Parking Information TBA

To get your tickets you can go to their Eventbrite page here: Prototype Brewery Invitational – Tickets.

They have hinted that in the upcoming days before the brewfest that they will be posting a beer tap list for each brewery. Can’t wait to see what these amazing breweries will be pouring!

(Post notice: I just saw that their ticket page list of breweries isn’t inclusive of some of the later additions, or they just missed putting some on it. But the logo pictures I have at the top of the heading show all of the 46 breweries that will be there. Some more notable breweries are Heist Brewing, Human Robot, and Hop Butcher!)

For More Information

For more information on the brewfest and to stay connected, check out the following pages:

• Prototype Brewery and Meadery (Facebook Page)
• Prototype Brewery Invitational (Facebook Event Page)
• Prototype Brewery Invitational Tickets (EventBrite Page)
• Prototype Brewery and Meadery (Instagram)

Thanks For Reading

Are you going to the brewfest? If so what breweries are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments! I think I’m gonna be wearing my Mandalorian RAR shirt, so see if you can find me and we can clink some glasses together.

Cheers all!

-B. Kline

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Boneshire Brew Works is moving into Harrisburg. While always been a part of the Harrisburg beer scene, their physical tap room and brewery has been kind of on the periphery and outskirts of Harrisburg proper. The brewery itself is located on Derry Street next to the 717 Armory and Blue Smoke BBQ food truck, as part of a small outlet mall that includes Marino’s Pizza, Signal 5 Crossfit, and Everest Spice. The address being: Boneshire Brew Works, 7462 Derry St, Harrisburg, PA 17111.

But now, they are moving into the city proper. The city that they’ve helped and worked on so much through events like Harrisburg Beer Week and sip @ soma and 3rd in the Burg, and other great events like brewfests and Beers and Bacon. The city that has loved and embraced Boneshire Brew Works so much, is now fully accepting them into the capital itself.

As reported yesterday – Monday July 13th 2020 – on The Burg’s website, as well as on our Facebook page, and then later on PennLive and with an interview Alan Miller did with Breweries in PA – Boneshire Brew Works will be setting up a taproom on 3rd Street in Harrisburg.

As quoted from The Burg’s press release on the brewery’s expansion: “On Monday, Harristown Enterprises announced that Boneshire would open a tasting room in the SoMa neighborhood on S. 3^rd Street in space that had been the location of Sip@SoMa.

‘We are a small brewery that focuses on providing an opportunity for community gathering, and we think Boneshire and SoMa are a perfect fit,’ said Alan Miller, majority owner of Boneshire, which is based in Swatara Township.

In early 2019, Harristown opened the snug, 25-seat Sip@SoMa in a first-floor storefront as an interim measure until it could attract a brewery to the location. Since then, breweries from around PA have used the 12-tap system to serve their beer on a visiting, rotating basis, often in conjunction with 3^rd in the Burg, though the COVID-19 pandemic has put a halt to that undertaking.”

Harrisburg is a vibrant and large city with a diverse culture and many tourist opportunities and attractions. The capital of Pennsylvania, it sees many people coming from all over to visit annually. Located along the Susquehanna and near towns of Hershey and Hummelstown, it provides a lot of entertainment options for visitors. From museums to the waterfront, from bars to restaurants all over the city, there is much to see, eat, drink, and do in Harrisburg. Harrisburg currently has a few other craft breweries – ZeroDay Brewing and The Millworks are the two largest, but there is also a small craft brewery in the vegan restaurant – The Vegetable Hunter.

The sip @ soma location has been a prime target for craft beer and has been a vital part of the craft beer scene in the Harrisburg area. Sara Bozich, a regular planner, and part of the creation of Harrisburg Beer Week regularly (well, regularly pre-COVID-19) hosted ‘block parties’ there, offering a variety of craft breweries and craft beer – but one staple that typically was well represented at the block parties was Alan Miller’s Boneshire Brew Works.

According to Harristown Enterprises: “Boneshire expects to open its SoMa tasting room in spring 2021. It also will continue operating from its main location on Derry Street outside of Hummelstown.

‘Having a dynamic, local craft brewer like Boneshire take over the space is exactly what we’re looking for in the neighborhood,’ said Brad Jones, Harristown’s president and CEO.”

Alan Miller is very enthusiastic for the growth. As well as he should be. Expansion is the key to much of the craft beer scene. Growing, maintaining quality, growing, maintaining quality, is the key to success. You can look at other local breweries like Troegs Independent Craft Brewing or Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery, and see how their growth has led to more growth. Troegs Brewing originally started in Harrisburg on Paxtang Street and has since moved to Hershey, just outside of HersheyPark on HersheyPark Road, growing to become one of the largest producers of beer in Pennsylvania (behind Yuengling Brewing and Yards Brewing). Likewise, Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery has grown to several additional locations – Gettysburg, as well as the old Hershey Biergarten and soon to Lancaster. Growth can be difficult for some breweries, and there is usually a small bit of a ‘adjustment period’. Breweries like Rotunda Brewing Company expanded in recent history from a small little bottle shop and near home-brewery size equipment, to a 7 Barrel System, as well as opening a second brew pub in Hershey. There was a small window of time for them that was an ‘adjustment period’, but after that small blip and bump, they’ve maintained that quality they were known for before hand, and now providing it on a bigger scale, and to more people – which is ultimately the goal of all craft breweries and craft brewers. Alan being no exception to that.

Alan is an extremely smart brewer and knows what he is doing. I, personally, think he will have no difficulty with the adjustment and addition of the new taproom, due to open in Spring 2021. The new tap room won’t be adding any additional brewing size capacity to Boneshire Brew Works, but will be providing a second location to have their beers on tap. This will likely mean a quicker turn-over for their production though, so Alan will probably have to spend more time brewing to meet the demands of two locations as well as wherever else their kegs are shipped, and if they further their market by moving cans into beer distributors.

From The Burg’s press release, Alan had to say: “We love the feel and vibe of the SoMa area in Harrisburg, and we have been involved in the SoMa block party since day one and are excited to have a permanent place in the neighborhood.”

This is certainly an interesting time for brewers, not just in Pennsylvania, but the world over, as the coronavirus – COVID-19 is still working its way through the human population. A difficult time for brewers with a lot of uncertainties. Hemauer Brewing recently opened their doors during the pandemic, and Wolf Brewing Co, has had their opening pushed back a bit due to the pandemic as well. Likewise, Rubber Soul Brewing in Hummelstown which was due to open back in late May / early June, still has yet to open, and is looking to open tentatively late July / early August.

The tap room is typically described as ‘intimate’. Its small, and cozy, relaxed, ‘intimate’, but will feature a vibrant tap list. The seating is only 25, which is rather small, but will work well for Boneshire Brew Works. The current tap system has 12 taps, and will thus be able to cover the full spread of Boneshire Brew Works’ beer menu, as well as possibly other ‘guest taps’ if they so choose to do. (As per their licensing, Boneshire Brew Works can have guest taps for craft beer from any Pennsylvania brewery.)

The current location for Boneshire Brew Works (their brewery) is 7462 Derry Street Harrisburg PA. The tap room’s location will be 13 South 3rd Street Harrisburg PA.

For additional information, you can check out these sources:

• Boneshire to tap into city market with a tasting room in downtown Harrisburg (The Burg)
• Dauphin County brewer to open tasting room in Harrisburg (PennLive)
• Meet The Brewer Series – Breweries in PA’s interview with Alan Miller

For more articles from The Beer Thrillers on Boneshire Brew Works, check out:

• Boneshire Brew Works 3rd Anniversary Celebration
• Beer Reviews:
  * Beer Review: Sunburst
  * Beer Review: Dillston
  * Beer Review: Good Walk Spoiled
  * Beer Review: Road Less Traveled
  * Beer Review: AuZealand 2.0
  * Beer Review: Caucus Race 6.0
  * Beer Review: Harrishire (with Harris Family Brewery)
  * Beer Review: Tried and True (Mango)
  * Beer Review: Iscariot
  * Beer Review: S’mores Lazaris
  * Beer Review: The Hog
  * Beer Review: Blue Hippo
  * Beer Review: Pandemic Pils
  * Beer Review: Long Tongue Liar w/Cherries (Barrel Aged)

Brewery Openings and Expansions:

• Rotunda Brew Pub Opening in Hershey
• Grand Opening of Hemauer Brewing in Mechanicsburg
• A Sneak Peak at the New Rubber Soul Brewery in Hummelstown
• Midwest Coast Brewery Opening in Chicago
• Official BBQ and Burgers Becomes Pizza Boy’s Secondary Location in back of Rutherford

Definitely excited for the opening of this tap room. It will be great for the residents of Harrisburg, it also shows off the hard work Alan Miller and his co-owners / partners have been putting into Boneshire Brew Works, it will also be great for the craft beer scene in Harrisburg to feature another great craft brewery, and will be great for craft beer enthusiasts in Harrisburg; as well as be great for Boneshire Brew Works. Hopefully soon, in Spring 2021 I will be sitting and having a drink (or two, or three) with some of you at the new Boneshire Brew Works taproom!

Until then – cheers everyone!

-B. Kline