Justin Hoak - The Beer Thrillers

Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery For Sale

B. Kline — Fri, 07 Jul 2023 14:31:54 +0000

Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery in Middletown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania (photo taken by The Beer Thrillers pre-COVID)

Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery Is Up For Sale

The Middletown brewery and distillery appears to be up for sale. Nearly ten years in business, they opened in 2015, as a veteran owned brewery and distillery (the first in the state). In recent months (less than two years or so) they have opened a location in Lancaster – their barrel house – as well as took over the upstairs bar and restaurant at Hollywood Casino (Tattered Flag at Hollywood Casino).

They previously also had a location in Hershey – the Tattered Flag Bar and Lounge – which they are sub leasing to YAH Brew.

PennLive broke the story this morning:

Tattered Flag Brewery & Still Works in Middletown is for sale.

The nearly 10-year-old brewery and distillery at 1 S. Union St. is listed for an undisclosed price by Nik Sgagias of NAI CIR, a commercial real estate company in Lemoyne. Tattered Flag remains open for business.

The sale includes a 13,000 square-foot state-of-the-art brewery with canning and bottling lines, distillery, and full service restaurant with seating up to 200 guests, according to the listing.
Dauphin County brewery / distillery with restaurant listed for sale – PennLive

In 2020 they announced they would be shipping statewide with their “Supply Drop” feature, letting you order their beers anywhere in the state of Pennsylvania.

Their locations in Lancaster (the Barrel House) and Gettysburg (the tap room) are currently listed as temporarily closed.

Justin Hoak, a former head brewer of theirs, now runs his own brewery – YAH Brew – at their former location in Hershey, next to Duck Donuts.

Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery

The brewery, restaurant, and distillery were a staple to the Middletown (Dauphin County), Pennsylvania community. Located on Union Street in the center of Middletown, it was typically a very busy restaurant.

Over the past year or so there has been a lot of changes with them. Their head distiller left to move to the Caribbean, they’ve changed multiple brewmasters and brewer staff (Dave Marrow, Cliff Plank, Justin Hoak), and at one point they were up to five locations (the Middletown location, the bar and lounge in Hershey, the Lancaster Barrel House, the Gettysburg tap room, and the Bar and Restaurant at Hollywood Casino). There was even talks at one point of them opening a bar and restaurant in other Hollywood Casino properties – not just the one in Grantville, Pennsylvania.

A few months ago a former employee of theirs had lamented to me that he felt they might have “over reached” and “over stepped” themselves, coming out of COVID – 19 and the coronavirus pandemic. Opening and spreading a bit too far and too wide.

This wouldn’t be the first or last brewery (or business in general) that has done that.

As per the sales listing the owners are willing to stay on to assist the new owners in the transition of the company.

Tattered Flag dates to 2015 when military veteran Pat Devlin and his Susquenita High School friends opened the brewery and restaurant at the former Elks building following a major renovation project. They converted the two-story building including three storefronts and a meeting room into the brewpub and distillery.
Dauphin County brewery / distillery with restaurant listed for sale – PennLive

Sales Listing

From the sales listing, the building is listed as being built in 1910. They offer the following specs for potential buyers:

Property Description

Unique opportunity to purchase turnkey, award-winning brewery and distillery in the heart of Dauphin County, PA. Sale includes 13,000 SF state-of-the-art brewery, distillery, and full service restaurant with seating up to 200 guests. Must see property that features a big city vibe located in Middletown, PA. Tattered Flag was founded by a military veteran and several of his friends and business partners in 2015. Since then, the company has evolved into a brand recognized throughout Pennsylvania for both quality and customer service experience. The Tattered Flag brand is known for quality and innovation in producing award-winning hand-crafted beer, spirits, and cocktails. Upon sale, ownership is willing to stay on to facilitate a smooth transition to new owners.

Highlights

Award-winning brewery, distillery, and restaurant for sale

13,000 SF building with 6,000 SF fully-functional lower level

Includes all bottling and canning lines

All FF&E included in sale

Downtown Middletown, PA , less than one (1) mile to PSU Harrisburg

Tattered Flag Brewery – NAicir

It is zoned retail, commercial, and offers 13,000 square feet. The listing site also gives information on demographics in the area, a map to the location, and more if you are interested in purchasing the brewery (no price listing directly on their page).

The Beer Thrillers and Tattered Flag

Canning Day at Tattered Flag

I really sincerely hope that someone comes and buys the brewery and wants to do good with it. Its a beautiful building, a beautiful brewery, and much can be done with both the brewing and distillery options of the building.

Personally I’ve had a lot of good memories in the building. I used to help Justin, volunteering, on canning days for beers, and helping to can, label, and move beers on beer release days. Myself, Amy, and Scarlet also enjoyed going their for the food and atmosphere, having recently gotten to go to their big St. Paddy’s Day fest.

Hopefully someone with good intentions, and good brewing, and good business knowledge will purchase them.

Our Articles About Tattered Flag

Looking to read more about Tattered Flag, check out our articles here:

Tattered Flag Brewery Information

The following comes from Untappd about Tattered Flag Brewery – they are a micro brewery from Middletown, Pennsylvania, with 637 unique beers, and a global average rating of 3.78 (as of 7.7.23). They have 119,110 ratings. Their Untappd description is currently blank.

You can follow them on the following social media pages:

Articles About YAH Brew

For articles about YAH Brew (the brewery owned by one of their former head brewers), you can check them out here:

YAH Brewing’s First Can Drop
YAH Brew Coming to Hershey in Spring 2023
YAH Brew in Hershey Now in Open (Soft Opening)
Peanut Butter Eggs, Easter, Beer, and YAH Brew’s Shimmy Shake (Beer Review)
It Was All A Dream (A Visit to YAH Brew)
Happy Father’s Day (Amy’s Weekly Column Series)

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.

-B. Kline

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MAPS OF BREWERIES

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YAH Brewing’s First Can Drop

B. Kline — Thu, 26 May 2022 12:14:44 +0000

YAH Brewing is doing their first can drop this Saturday – May 28th, 2022

YAH Brew

YAH Brew is the newest brewery on the block, and with a retro feeling that all 90s kids will love. If you grew up in the 90s watching Saved by the Bell or listening to New Kids on the Block; then this will definitely be the brewery for you.

You might have gotten to taste their great beers at some of the recent brewfests in Pennsylvania. They first showed up to the Prototype Invitational Brewfest and then were at the Best Beer Brunch Ever and then were also at the Imprint Haze it Forward brewfest.

YAH Brewing is owned by Justin Hoak (head brewer) and his wife Aimee Hoak. Justin is still currently the head brewer for Tattered Flag out of Middletown, PA. (I’ll post a list of our beer reviews of Justin’s later in this post.)

Can Drop

They are hosting their first can drop this Saturday out of Hummelstown, PA. You can find the details for this on their brewery page here: YAH Brewing (Facebook).

Their post:

First can drop this week!
We are thrilled to announce our first release of crowlers this Saturday 5/28. We have a limited amount of 32oz crowlers available of the following:
Saturday Morning Strata 7% DDH DIPA
Our house DIPA brewed with 2-row, wheat, and oat malt hopped exclusively with Strata hops for notes of strawberry jam, over ripe citrus, and cannabis.
French Toast Crunk 6.7% Golden Stout
Full bodied white stout conditioned on maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla, and hemp flower
Pick up will be available from 12p-6p at the brewery which is located at the back of 268 W Main st. Hummelstown. Just turn down the side road and stop at the open garage door to place an order.
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#BrewingUpNostalgia #YAHBrew #YoungAtHeart #NewKidsOnTheBlock #candrop #supportyourlocalbrewery
YAH Brewing

This Saturday

Hopefully you’ll be able to find time on Saturday to stop by Hummelstown and try out and some great new beers and support a local just starting up brewery. I have gotten to personally try much of what Justin has brewed for Tattered Flag, as well as some of his newer brews with YAH Brewing at the Prototype Invitational. I’ve also gotten to try several of his old homebrews he’s made, and I’ve enjoyed them all.

Past Beer Reviews

Some past beer reviews:

Brewery Openings

Thanks For Reading

As always everyone, thanks for reading. This Saturday we are running down to RAR Brewing to pick up their big Star Wars beer release, and then will be back in the area. Hoping to make it out to YAH Brewing to pick up some great beers!

Cheers!

-B. Kline

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Beer Review: Life Sentence (Tattered Flag)

BKline — Mon, 01 Nov 2021 22:58:00 +0000

Life Sentence by Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery

Getting Hitched… Tying the Knot… A Life Sentence…

So many different terms and words and ways to describe getting married. Justin, the head brewer for Tattered Flag wanted to celebrate his nuptials just like anybody else, so he brewed up this New England IPA to commemorate the grand occasion.

This fine beer was released on October 21st, a day ahead of Justin’s wedding (October 22nd). I got to try it a week ago at their Halloween Party the night of (what was supposed to be) the Hummelstown Halloween Parade.

Tattered Flag Facebook post

Tattered Flag’s Can Releases

Most Fridays (not all, but a lot) Tattered Flag does releases, and they have several locations you can pick their beers up from, or even get them sent to you in the mail through their Supply Drop. They currently have five easily accessible locations in the Central PA area in various places (Middletown, Dauphin County; Penn National Hollywood Casino, Grantville, Dauphin County; Gettysburg Pennslvania, and Lancaster City in Lancaster County in Pennsylvania).

The Review

Beer: Life Sentence
Brewery: Tattered Flag
Style: IPA – Imperial / Double New England / Hazy
ABV: 8.7%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Hazy Double IPA hopped with Citra Incognito and intensely dry hopped with Citra, Galaxy, and Sabro cryo for aromas of cantaloupe, citrus, over ripe peach, and papaya combined with vibrant flavors of grapefruit, oaky citrus, peach sorbet, and strawberry candies

Ok, bear with me here, but its been a bit of a while since I’ve done a beer review (glad to be getting back into the swing of doing them). So, just like my old reviews did – I’ll continue the trend – aroma, followed by appearance, and then finish my review with the taste descriptions and any conclusion and final thoughts I want to express. So lets get to it.

This is a super bright green, hoppy, fresh New England. It is hoppy, it is strong, it gives you peach and candy aroma. Its like opening the brite tank of an IPA in progress, or just ripping open a bag of hops about to be added to the boil. Its that bold, bright, and fresh. The aroma definitely leaps at you.

The appearance is a murky, hazy, turbid, frothing sea of hop juice. The sea was angry that day my friends. Filled with hops, it looks every bit as green and hop juicy as you expect. It doesn’t have the full haze – orange glow that most New England IPAs have, this has a bit of a greener hoppier look to it, but its still certainly hazy, opaque, juicy, and still looks very delicious.

As soon as you take your first sip, you are immediately drop kicked in the teeth, the gums, the lips, the mouth, the whole oral area by hops. This is every bit as green, as bold, and powerful, as fresh, as straight from the tanks as a beer can get. You are getting hammered and walloped by a massive dose of hops right out of the gate on this one, and it doesn’t let up at all, until the last sip. Which, warning ahead, leave some in the can, as there is some sediment, and there is a bit of trub with these cans. I think this could be the only point of contention with this beer, it maybe could have used a little bit of extra time in the tanks before being canned; but I still think it is every bit the powerful hoppy New England IPA that people will want. Its not the full on juicy easy sipping hazy New England IPA, insomuch as its a hoppy, bite, powerful, hazy New England IPA. This is certainly a strong hoppy NE – IPA; which might put off some, and there is certainly a hop bite and even hop burn, but overall its an extremely good NE – IPA. You have an incredible aroma; a very hop forward and hoppy tasting IPA with notes of peach, papaya, and gummy candies, that blend together nice, with the added boost of the hop bite.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 3.17 (as of 11.1.21)

November

As in tradition here on the blog, in honor of NaNoWriMo, I will be posting a blog post every day. It will consist of who knows what all – beer reviews, book reviews, hike reviews, board game reviews, news articles, travelogues, brewery news, brewery openings, brewery closings (hopefully not), and anything else under the sun. So be sure to be checking in with us daily to see what all we got in store for this month!

Cheers everyone and see you tomorrow!

-B. Kline

Brewer Interview: Tyler Budwash (Pilger Ruh Brewing)

BKline — Wed, 22 Jul 2020 01:19:00 +0000

The guys from Pilger Ruh brewing a collab with Chatty Monk Brewing. Left to Right: Tyler Budwash, Anthony Deppen, Conlan Budwash, and David Morrow (Chatty Monks head brewer)

Welcome to our first of the brewer interview series that I am introducing to the blog. This is going to be a new section to the blog that will include interviews with head brewers, assistant brewers, beer scientists, home brewers, fellow beer bloggers, and other craft beer industry workers. This has long been a segment and series I wanted to introduce to the blog, but finally got off the ground. If you are a brewer or industry worker and would be interested in doing an interview, contact us through the CONTACT PAGE (link here or see above in the menu).

A crowler from Pilger Ruh Brewing

Our very first interviewee for the segment is Tyler Budwash of Pilger Ruh Brewing. Tyler is a great guy, I’ve gotten to know him through helping out with Tattered Flag’s canning line where Pilger Ruh has done a few collaborations, as well as several brewfests, Ffej of July, and discussing Civil War battlefields with him; as well as the Central PA Whalerz.

Our interviews will follow a pretty simplistic and easy formula for everyone we interview. Topics will be introduced in bold and underline, questions will be asked in bold, and answers will be in regular font. TBT stands for The Beer Thrillers. The interviewee’s name will be initialized in his answers. (Example: TB = Tyler Budwash).

Starting off with the simple, softball, questions:

TBT: What is your name and do you currently work for a brewery?

TB: My name is Tyler Budwash, I currently work for the Social Security Administration, but will also be working at my brewery when we open.

TBT: What is your brewing background?

TB: I got into homebrewing in early 2012 (Mr Beer Kit). At the time I wasn’t aware that alot of extract beer is kind of gross the way it is so I had some okay beers but quite a few misses before I got into all grain brewing in 2013 or so. I then stopped brewing all together in late 2014 as I was preparing to have my first child and didn’t get back into it until 2017. Both Conyngham Brewing and Rotunda let me come in and collab on some beers for my fest (Schuylkill County Brew Fest) and I haven’t looked back since.

TBT: What are your interests in and out of the industry?

TB: Pro Wrestling, history, weight lifting, Carolina Panther Football, coordinating events.

TBT: How did you get into beer? What were your ‘starting beer’ days like? What were the first craft breweries you tasted / visited?

TB: My starting beers were Miller Lite, Yuengling Lager, Budweiser, and Hurricanes. Some of the first “craft beers” I got into at the time were Sam Adams, Magic Hat, and Saranac..I always got variety packs to try as many different beers as I could. This was pre – Untappd days so I wasn’t even getting any check-ins/badges! As far as actual breweries that I first visited…it’d have to be ABC in Harrisburg, Troegs, and a brew pub in Myrtle Beach that’s now closed called Liberty. ABC and Troegs definitely got me more into the scene. I ended up going to a ton of beer fests just to see what else was out there. I had no idea there were as many PA breweries as there were and this was back in 2013.

TBT: How did you get into brewing?

TB: The love of beer, beer fests, and starting my own festival all gave me the itch.

The future home of Pilger Ruh Brewing

Brewing Specific:

TBT: What is / will be your full job at Pilger Ruh Brewing?

TB: We didn’t give ourselves any fancy titles yet, but I’ll be Co-Owner/Brewmaster? I’ll basically be running the day to day activities (brew/personnel scheduling, event coordinating, ordering etc) while our other Co-Owner Tony Deppen is more of the big picture. My brother Conlan Budwash will take the Head Brewer position and he’s also a minority owner.

TBT: What do you like to brew? What styles do you like most?

TB: I like brewing stouts, whether it’s going to be heavily adjuncted or straight up. I also like brewing Pilsners, they’re not an easy beer to brew so I enjoyed the challenge.I’m going to sound just like every other beer boi out there right now but I enjoy my hazy IPAs and fruited sours, but again my palate had come full circle and I’m enjoying alot of Pilsners, hefeweizens, and kolsches as of late.

TBT: Who are some of your favorite current brewers and breweries? What do you like about them, why do you like them, etc?

TB: This is a loaded question. Favorite brewers? My favorite brewers are the friends I’ve made over the last couple years, so it’d be Dave Morrow (Chatty Monks), Justin Hoak (Tattered Flag), Derek Wolf (Wolf Brewing), Brad Moyer( Liquid Noise), and Eric Stubbs (Rotunda). I’ve been picking their brains for years now and they’ve all been nothing but great to me and Pilger Ruh. Favorite breweries… I’ll do it like this. Locally I really like Tattered Flag (great beer and chicken sammiches), The Millworks (I love the not so over the top styles and of course their chicken sammiches), Hidden River (awesome beer and ambiance) , and South County (they knock everything out of the park and I miss the Gelato line beer shares). Outside of this general area I really like The Veil, Urban South Htx, Dancing Gnome, Cinderlands, Cushwa.

TBT: What styles do you think you do best? What are some of your hardest styles to nail down?

TB: I’ll have to go back to stouts as the styles I do best, along with sours, and Pilsners. Believe it or not IPAs were very hard for me to nail at first (oxygen and shit). Luckily that’s no longer an issue.

TBT: What do you think are defining qualities of a good beer?

TB: Your water. Does it match your description?

TBT: What do you think are defining qualities of a good brewer?

TB: Being able to adapt, never think you know everything because you never stop learning.

TBT: Same vein as the last two – what do you think are defining qualities of a good brewery?

TB: Good beer, ambiance, and friendliness.

Pilger Ruh Brewing Specific:

TBT: Tell us about Pilger Ruh. What is Pilger Ruh Brewing? How did it form? Who all is involved? What are the plans for the brewery/etc?

TB: Pilger Ruh started when myself and 4 others wanted to start a homebrew club. At that point we were going by Keyhop Homebrew Club. One thing led to another and we found ourselves on festivals around the state.Right now, as I said earlier it’s myself, Tony Deppen, and my brother Conlan as the three owners/brewers. We have 2 others (Matt and Alex) who have been helping us along the way.Plans for the brewery, well we are going to open on a 5 barrel system in a 2400 square foot building in Pottsville PA. We’ll have 12-15 rotating taps from Milkshake IPAs to Dark Milds. We will be focusing on the popular hype beers but will have something for everyone.

TBT: Where do you foresee Pilger Ruh Brewing in 5, 10, 15 years from now?

TB: I hope to see ourselves growing with production, and paying off all our debts ASAP as possible. Buying a canning line. My personal goal would be to open a second location, where we’d get a bigger system.

COVID-19 and Beer Industry Specific:

TBT: How has COVID-19 impacted Pilger Ruh Brewing? Impacted your brewing and impacted your current work?

TB: I’ve been working from home since mid March. I actually get less work done with the brewery than I do when I’m at my office. It impacted the brewery by the cancelling of all the beer festivals, closing on our loan, but at the same time it bought us time as I wouldn’t want to open during this pandemic.

TBT: How do you think COVID-19 has impacted the beer industry as a whole? Specifically the craft beer market, and even more so in PA?

TB: It shows that people care about their local breweries and that you better have a crowler machine or canning line. I guess now you have to have your permit to sell food.

TBT: What do you think will be the big trends in the foreseeable future?

TB: People reverting back to easy drinking beers and doing everything you do to sours to some classic styles (blondes, hefes, wits).

TBT: What are some trends you think have benefited the craft beer industry?

TB: Seltzers, low cals, all around light beers. I feel fruited sours and IPAs bring people in, but there’s only so many you can drink. I can drink PBR all day.

TBT: What are some things, aspects, or trends of the craft beer industry you don’t like, or think has been a negative on the craft beer market?

TB: Oh God, well you’re in some of the same beer groups as me so you can see whatever negatives there are. I think as a brewery you always got to put your customers first, never think you’re above them or anyone. There’s lots of people making good beer, it doesn’t mean you have to be a douchebag about it.

TBT: Is there such a thing as the “craft beer bubble” and if so, do you feel like it’s going to burst – soon, in the future, or is currently happening?

TB: Are we seeing the bubble burst right now? Look how many breweries in the last year or so that closed because they got too big too quick, got locked into a distributor contract, or there was no market for their beer. One thing I want to absolutely avoid is distribution. If we ever did distro our beer we will do it ourselves. Too big or too small may be an issue going forward. However, I do think there could be a brewery in every other town and everyone could be successful. You have to pick the right location and know your market.

TBT: What are some ultimate goals you have for Pilger Ruh Brewing, for your own brewing, etc?

TB: I want to help build a community around us in Schuylkill County. We owe alot of breweries collabs, but I want to bring non beer people into the scene and get them involved. I want to show my area that a brewery like us can succeed. I want us to be able to give back to the community, make it better for others, and leave the area better than we found it.

TBT: What do you foresee being the big changes happening to the craft beer market in 5, 10, 15 years?

TB: More breweries getting bought out by the big guys and competing for shelf space while we sell all of our beer from our taproom. More seltzers and easy drinkers, fruited sours/hazy IPAs will still be here.

You can follow Pilger Ruh Brewing on their following social media platforms:
Facebook: Pilger Ruh Brewing
Twitter: @PilgerRuhBrews
Instagram: Pilger Ruh Brewing
Untappd: Pilger Ruh Brewing

For articles on or about Pilger Ruh Brewing here on The Beer Thrillers, you can check out:

This article has impeccable timing on its release, as today is Tyler Budwash’s birthday. So make sure you give him a big Happy Birthday.

Make sure to check out our growing Brewer Interview series. A. Parys is currently wrapping up his interview with a beer scientist from Cape May Brewing Company, so be sure to check that out. If you would like to be interviewed or know of someone who would like to be or would make for a good interview, be sure to either comment here or contact us using our CONTACT PAGE.

Cheers Everyone!

-B. Kline

Tyler Budwash, Anthony Deppen, and Conlan Budwash of Pilger Ruh Brewing at Chatty Monks Brewing with head brewer Dave Morrow.

Beer Review: Social Distancing (Tattered Flag, Abomination Brewing, and Pilger Ruh Brewing)

BKline — Tue, 26 May 2020 00:00:38 +0000

Social Distancing by Tattered Flag, Abomination Brewing, and Pilger Ruh Brewing

Friday, as you guys have read, I was lucky enough to help out at Tattered Flag’s canning run for their collaboration effort with Abomination Brewing and Pilger Ruh Brewing for their version of Social Distancing. Abomination Brewing has set this collaboration up, and they have done it with a few varied other breweries (notable ones include Ever Grain Brewing and Breaker Brewing).

Abomination Brewing’s press release on the beer:

“The Beer industry has always relied on community, now more than ever. And since we can’t drink a beer together, we’ll BREW a beer together, but responsibly apart, to get us through these hard times. Social Distancing is a massive collaboration with some of our favorite folks in the industry! Each collaborating brewery will be brewing up their own unique version of this DDH DIPA, so trust us, you’re going to want to try them all! We will be updating the list below as we announce collaborating breweries!” (Abomination Brewing – Social Distancing)

A full list of participating breweries include:

Saints Row Brewing
Kinsmen Brewing
Hoof Hearted Brewing
The North Brewery
Breaker Brewing
Ever Grain Brewing Co.
Pilger Ruh Brewing
Ten7 Brewing Company
Rotunda Brewing Company
Tattered Flag
Front Porch Brewing
Icarus Brewing
Bolero Snort
Lost Tavern Brewing

Its quite a hefty list. Each beer brewed is a collaboration, all with Abomination Brewing as the genesis. For example; Rotunda Brewing is a collaboration with them and Abomination Brewing. Ever Grain Brewing is them and Abomination Brewing; Breaker is them and Abomination Brewing, and the one I will be reviewing here today – Tattered Flag’s – is a collaboration with Tattered Flag, Abomination Brewing, and the guys at Pilger Ruh Brewing.

So grab a chair, sit six feet away, grab a glass and a Social Distancing, and lets check this bad boy out!

Canning Day at Tattered Flag (5.22.20)

Firstly, lets look at the breweries involved – Tattered Flag, Abomination Brewing, and Pilger Ruh Brewing. For many readers, Tattered Flag will be very recognizable, especially on this blog as I’ve reviewed several beers from them (Tattered Soul, You Hoppin On Me?, Tattered Dreamz, Member Berry, Wasted Away Again, Inexplicably Juicy, Should Have Put Him in Custardy, Pink Guava, Boulangerie Stout, and lastly another collaboration involving Pilger Ruh Brewing and Abomination Brewing [as well as three other breweries – Wolf Brewing, Rotunda Brewing Company, and Snitz Creek Brewing] – Abbra Collabra Six-Way Banana Milkshake IPA).

So, astute readers of the blog should recognize Pilger Ruh and Abomination Brewing as well. From the various reviews as well as event coverage I’ve done (like Ffej of July, and different brewfests). Tattered Flag and Pilger Ruh have ‘hooked up’ several times over the recent years, and each time has resulted in a homerun, and this certainly is no different.

For some background information all the same:

Pilger Ruh Brewing – Nano Brewery, 63 unique beers, a global average rating of 4.03 (as of 5.25.20). Untappd Description: Future nano brewery coming to Schuylkill County PA!
Abomination Brewing – Contract Brewery, 133 unique beers, a global average rating of 3.94 (as of 5.25.20). Untappd Description: Nomadic brewers specializing in out of this world experimental ales. #beermonster.
Tattered Flag – Micro Brewery, 416 unique beers, a global average rating of 3.79 (as of 5.25.20). Untappd Description: (blank).

Social Distancing Canning Run

So we canned this just Friday; 5.22.20 at the Tattered Flag brewery. Have no fear, we all maintained social distancing and practiced safety and precautions given everything going on. Justin as head brewer for Tattered Flag supervised the canning and the guys from Pilger Ruh Brewing (Tyler and Conlan Budwash, and Anthony Deppen) were on hand as well. As well as myself and two other volunteers. The canning run went smoothly, very few low-fills and no disasters (like a few times in the past). Starting at 10AM and ending around 1:30PM, not a bad, quick, easy, smooth canning day. I got to hang out with the guys, drink a few (…ok three) of the Social Distancing beers, as well as sample the Pineapple Upside Down Cake (Custardy series), and try out the Breaker Brewing and Ever Grain Brewing Co’s variants of the Social Distancing beer.

I figured for the review though, getting to have this beer with family on Memorial Day (again, social distancing was performed, and all people mostly quarantined together, and all in good health, as well as only an attendance of 7 people counting little ones), this would be the perfect, appropriate time to review the beer. So without further adieu, lets review!

Petunia Pig loves Social Distancing

Beer: Social Distancing
Brewery: Tattered Flag
Collaborators: Pilger Ruh Brewing and Abomination Brewing
Style: IPA – Imperial / Double New England
ABV: 8%
IBU: (none listed)
Untappd Description: Social distancing is our newest collab hosted by Abomination Brewing co and brewed in our facility with Pilger Ruh Brewing Co. With a base of 2-row, wheat, and oats each brewery put a spin on this collab by selecting different hop varieties. Our version was whirlpooled with Motueka, fermented with Kviek Voss, then slammed with a Citra and Strata dry hop for notes of mango, fresh berry, bright citrus, and gooseberry. Please enjoy no less than 6′ from your drinking buddy!

Canning day the whole brewery smelled delicious, like walking into a hop filled bakery. And cracking this beer just three days later retained that same smell. Strong juicy New England style hoppy deliciousness as soon as the tab cracked and the can opened. Very strong, citrus, floral and fruity notes, hint of peach and mango especially out of the fruit.

Appearance is very pretty, as my dad even noted “looks like you have lemonade and mixed a little bit of orange juice in it… boy” (…….thats a direct quote to. Also after he admonished me for using Petunia Pig instead of the Sylvester Cat pint glass too. He stands by his statement that Petunia wouldn’t drink but that Sylvester was a lush.) He is pretty right about the appearance; it is a lighter orange juice coloring. Typical for a New England IPA, its unfiltered, its juicy, its dank, its hazy (or as the cool kids would say “hazy AF”…. no clue what the A and the F stand for…). There is floaters but nothing crazy snow-globe like. It did manage to turn Petunia’s eyes an evil Sith Lord like yellow / orange.

Taste is genuinely juicy delicious. No hop bite, even the day of canning there was no ‘green-ness’ to it and hop bitterness. This is just a juicy, fluid, smooth beer. Immediate notes of peach, mango, floral, juicy, citrus hops; smaller notes of berry flavors like fresh picked mixture of blackberry, raspberry, and gooseberries. There is a floral note to the hops as well, and just a bit of an underlying wheat and oat tasting to it. The dry-hopping really brings out the bright and juicy hop notes, and keeps the bitterness down especially. No strong hop bite makes this extraordinarily smooth and juice like drink. It also masks the 8% making this feel a lot lighter and airy. With the small foamy pillowy head, you definitely get a vibe of lightness and airyness from this, just a gentle nice summer drink. Perfect for parties, or by the pool, or hanging out…. while being six feet (minimum) apart from friends. Made for a wonderful Memorial Day weekend beer (had a few the night before and then one at the party), also made for a fantastic post-7 mile hike at Gifford Pinchot beer as well Saturday night. This is definitely a fantastic and easy juicy beer.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 4.16 (as of 5.25.20)

Hopefully tomorrow or Wednesday I’ll wrap up Module Ten in our beer education series (which is the last module), and we’ll have that all finished. Also, make sure to check out the canning article from my day volunteering and helping the canning run for this wonderful beer. Thank you everyone for checking us out, make sure to like, subscribe, follow, share, etc, etc, etc, etc. We here at The Beer Thrillers greatly appreciate it!

Also, make sure your staying healthy out there, make sure to drink plenty of juice (wink wink nudge nudge) and stay six feet apart (…social distancing one might say…). Enjoy your Memorial Weekend, and remember why we celebrate it. Why you would have the day off (even if you weren’t furloughed like I am), and respect and honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Cheers everyone! Happy Memorial Day, happy beer, and see you guys once this is all behind us! We’re getting there, almost out of the woods!

-B. Kline