Thank You For Reading

This is the poll for the HEELs Conference – Triple H Division – Round One. You can vote once per day, and you can vote once per poll (there is a poll for each division in round one). Be sure to share and send to your friends and breweries to let everyone vote!

Voting runs until March 7th, 11:59PM (EST).

To read more about The Battle of the Breweries (2021) you can read the initial post here: The Battle of the Breweries (2021) – March Madness – The Beer Thrillers way.

Any questions, concerns, or comments about the brackets, or tournament, or breweries in question, you can leave in the comment section or message us directly through our Contact Page.

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

The Battle of the Breweries (2021) – VOTING LINKS

Since this is the landing page post – survey, I will keep all of the voting links here for quick reference and jumping point, and so they don’t get lost in all the muddle.

• HEELs Conference:
  * Triple H Division: Round One
  * Ric Flair Division: Round One
• FACEs Conference:
  * Stone Cold Steve Austin Division: Round One
  * The Rock Division: Round One

(Updated: 10AM – March 1st, 2021. Continue on for the original introduction to The Battle of the Breweries [2021] – March Madness tournament – article.)

Who’s ready for some March Madness? Like everyone else, in March, that means we need to fill out some brackets! And we here at The Beer Thrillers are no different!

BUT….

Instead of filling out NCAA or college basketball brackets, we are doing our own take on it – The Battle of the Breweries (2021)!

The Battle of the Breweries (2021)

So how’s this going to work? Who all is invited? What all breweries are going to be in it? How many breweries? How’s voting going to work? Who decides whose in and whose out? Whats the seeding? Why is Rick such a jerk to Morty? Why is Jurassic Bark the saddest episode of Futurama ever? Why is it also B. Kline’s favorite episode? What does that say about him? Why is the sky blue?

Ok…. enough with the questions!

The procedure for this ‘tournament’ will be similar to most other March Madness style tournaments. Similar to the ones you’ve seen Untappd and Breweries in PA have done, but with a bit of a twist. Because we here at The Beer Thrillers have a terrible time making full fledged decisions, the list of competitors will be 48 instead of the normal 32.

How did I decide what breweries will be involved? Simple. Only breweries that I have physically visited in person. The voting is based on the brewery and their beers; but to be included on this list, I personally had to have been to one of their locations.

How is seeding decided? Thats also pretty simple, the seeding is based on global average Untappd ratings. So the decision of the seeding is out of my hands. Also, bonus, you can’t get mad at me for the seeding. “Why is X above Y? Why is Z below D?” Its all decided by Untappd.

So whats the tournament structure? One total grouping of 48 breweries (in lieu of teams), divided by two conferences of 24 each, which is divided further into a total of four divisions of 12 each. So break down is simple: 4 divisions of 12 each, with two divisions per conference, of 24 teams in each, for a total of 48 competitors / teams / breweries.

How did we decide on who is in what division? Simple – random number generator. I rolled the dice (a D4 to be exact, thank you to my old nerdy DnD days, I just ‘happened’ to have one of these lying about). Rolled the dice for each brewery to locate them into a division. If one division was understaffed and another overstaffed, I re-rolled until they were evened out.

Let’s Meet Our Competitors

So who all do we have facing off in this crazy free for all of brewing expertise? Quite an assembly of breweries actually. There are a heavy abundance of local (Central PA local) breweries but there is an assortment of breweries from my various travels and across a few states. We have a few breweries from the Rochester area of New York; some breweries from Maryland, a Delaware brewery, some from Ohio, one from Indiana, and one from Kentucky as well.

Surprisingly; it actually took a while to curate the list. At even 48 entries, I still had many more to include, and even removed a few to make it a bit more diverse. I wanted to try and make this as diverse as possible (so removed a local brewery for one out of state, etc.). Possibly in the future, maybe the 2022 iteration of this, or the 2023, who knows, it’ll expand to even more breweries.

This has taken up pretty much my entire night to create the list, and to roll the dice for their divisions, and then checking their Untappd scores to get them into the correct seedings. In the case of matching Untappd scores, I did make my own decision, and that was primarily based on my thoughts of their size, notoriety, branding; so there is a few judgment calls due to a few ties, but there isn’t too many of them.

Conferences and division names…. I had to decide on what to pick. I was going to go by hop names, but I saw at last second, that the Breweries in PA have done that this year, instead of their normal divisions based on geography, it appears they decided to use hop names for their divisions, so thats out. I debated doing Jedi and Sith for the conferences and then doing different Jedi or Sith Masters for the division names…. but… instead decided to go with WWF/E names due to WrestleMania 37 approaching.

So I present you two conferences. One is based on HEELs and one is based on FACEs. The names of the breweries are listed in the order of their seedings, and will have their location and their Untappd (global average) rating behind their names.

The Heels Conference

First up, is divisions one and two of the HEELS conference. Triple H and Ric Flair.

Division One: Triple H

• Fourscore Beer Company (Gettysburg, PA) (4.09)
• Urban Artifact (Cincinnati, OH) (3.90)
• Mad Chef (East Petersburg, PA) (3.79)
• Levity Brewing (Indiana, PA) (3.77)
• Swiftwater Brewing Company (Rochester, NY) (3.77)
• Braxton Brewing Company (Covington, KY) (3.75)
• Sun King Brewery (Indianapolis, IN) (3.71)
• Highway Manor (Camp Hill, PA) (3.70)
• Gearhouse Brewing (Chambersburg, PA) (3.68)
• ZeroDay Brewing (Harrisburg, PA) (3.69)
• The Ministry of Brewing (Baltimore, MD) (3.64)
• Black Forest Brewing (Ephrata, PA) (3.62)

Division Two: Ric Flair

• Dewey Beer Company (Dewey Beach, DE) (4.08)
• Rotunda Brewing Company (Annville, PA) (3.96)
• Yellow Bridge Brewing (Pittsburgh, PA) (3.88)
• Troegs Independent Brewing (Hershey, PA) (3.79)
• Twisted Bine Brewing Company (Mount Joy, PA) (3.79)
• Cox Brewing Company (Elizabethtown, PA) (3.71)
• Chatty Monks (Reading, PA) (3.71)
• Land-Grant Brewing Company (Columbus, OH) (3.70)
• Saucony Creek Brewing Company (Kutztown, PA) (3.70)
• Desperate Times Brewing (Carlisle, PA) (3.69)
• Couch Brewery (Pittsburgh, PA) (3.60)

The Faces Conference

The faces conference is made up of two divisions led by Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. First up, is Division Three, Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Division Three: Stone Cold Steve Austin

• Ever Grain Brewing (Mechanicsburg, PA) (3.93)
• Idiom Brewery (Frederick, MD) (3.90)
• Breaker Brewing (Wilkes-Barre, PA) (3.85)
• ShuBrew (Zelionople, PA) (3.85)
• Wolf’s Ridge Brewing Company (Columbus, OH) (3.84)
• Liquid Noise (Marysville, PA) (3.84)
• Boneshire Brew Works (Harrisburg, PA) (3.83)
• Rough Edges (Waynesboro, PA) (3.82)
• Tattered Flag (Middletown, PA) (3.79)
• Rubber Soul Brewing Company (Hummelstown, PA) (3.74)
• Three Heads Brewing (Rochester, NY) (3.71)
• Mount Gretna Craft Brewery (Palmyra, PA) (3.58)

Division Four: The Rock

• Cushwa Brewing (Williamsport, MD) (4.11)
• Jackie O’s Brewery (Athens, OH) (4.02)
• Pizza Boy Brewing Company (Al’s of Hampden) (Enola, PA) (3.88)
• Mellow Mink (Mechanicsburg, PA) (3.84)
• Moo-Duck Brewing (Elizabethtown, PA) (3.83)
• Logyard Brewing Company (Kane, PA) (3.78)
• Molly Pitcher Brewing (Carlisle, PA) (3.75)
• Olde Bedford Brewing Company (Bedford, PA) (3.75)
• Taft’s Brewing Company (Taft’s Ale House) (Cincinnati, OH) (3.72)
• Isle of Que Brewing (Selinsgrove, PA) (3.69)
• The Church Brew Works (Pittsburgh, PA) (3.56)

Alright, that’s all 48 competitors. Tomorrow the brackets will be published and you will be allowed to vote on the first round matchups. Here’s where things get a bit screwy…. mainly because I don’t do math so good (sigh, sad subject, really, since I work at a job where I do math all day). Well, what really happened, is that I didn’t think through the breakdown. 32 breaks down easily for each round…. 48…. not so much. So…..

Week one will be divisions with 6 matches in each divisions. After that, the divisions will break for week two, and it will be by conference, with 6 matches in each conference. After this, we break apart the conferences, and do another 6 matches. This leaves us with 3 final competitors, for a triple threat for the ending.

So…. I kinda sorta walked myself into a corner…. and kinda… sorta…. walked my way out of it. Glad I chose to use wrestler themed people, so that the finale “Triple Threat” makes more sense.

*Smacks head* D’oh!

But anyway, there will be 7 days of voting for each round. With the final round taking the remainder of the month and ending on the 31st.

Voting

Each day you will be able to come to the site to make your votes in the polls. It will be set-up by IPS, so it limits you to voting just once per day per vote. You can vote as many times as you want per round, but only once per day.

Following each round, I will update the brackets and post them and make up the new polls for voting. Round one begins on March 1st, 2021 and will last until March 7th at Midnight, when it will then become the next round.

I suggest helping your breweries out and sharing the poll pages so that as many of your friends and brewery lovers can vote as well. Good luck to all of the competitors… err… breweries!

As always, please like us and follow us here and on our social media pages to stay up to date on The Beer Thrillers. We have plenty of content to check out, so be sure to stop by often to see what we have coming out. Beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, events, news, and more!

Thanks for reading everyone!

Cheers!

-B. Kline

It is now official – Levity Brewing is expanding both in Indiana (Pennsylvania) and adding a second tap room in Altoona (Pennsylvania). Erich, a co-owner and bartender when I was there on my trip was discussing the expansion with me and a few other patrons at closing time, and it is now official, with construction beginning at both locations.

The goal is to have both – the expanded taproom and the new location – open and running in January 2021; hopefully by the first of the year. This is a difficult time with COVID-19, the pandemic, restrictions, changes, and weather, so this is a ‘scheduled’ timeframe, and as with all things right now its up in the air, but by all appearances, they should be able to make their date.

The Indiana expansion is under way, as they turn the former Gorell Windows employee gym – which was located above the current taproom – into a second taproom, dedicated to overflow, private parties, and events. This will nearly double the occupancy of the Indiana brewery and taproom, and with social distancing being such a priority right now, will provide for a much more safer and socially distanced environment for guests.

Co-owner Luke McKelvy said: “This year has forced us through one change after another – not many of them fun. But this is a fun one for the Levity family. We have been working on this for a couple years, but COVID-19 restrictions have actually pushed us forward.”

2020 has certainly been a tough time for many breweries, bars, restaurants, and business owners of various fields. The 25% and 50% reduced occupancy rules have been tough for many places, as has the restriction on bar seating, and requiring food, and various other mandates. As we move into the more wintry months, outdoor seating will stop being usable, further reducing space and occupancy. Many small breweries have already felt the pinch, and will only further feel it in the winter months. Co-owner Erich Walls knows this very well. When I was there in early November, we discussed the changes they foresee in the coming months. He has also been quoted by media sources saying: “We have been so fortunate to have lots of outdoor seating this summer. And fire pits are extending the season a little bit. But we have to make more space inside. The big bonus for our customers is the ability to do private parties, wedding receptions, and things we never had space for in the past.”

Thankfully also, for those of us closer to Harrisburg, Levity is expanding to a second taproom in Altoona. This is about (roughly) an hour east of their Indiana location, making it closer to those in the Harrisburg region (which we here at The Beer Thrillers are greatly happy for). The taproom in Altoona will be downtown in the historic section and will actually be one of the historic buildings of Altoona, providing the the taproom with a beautiful space. Co-owner Jared Herman said this: “We explored lots of towns for a second location, but in Altoona we were immediately drawn in by this energetic group of local leaders. They are passionate about their town and excited to bring something like the Levity taproom downtown.”

Altoona Mayor Matt Pacifico is very excited for Levity Brewing to expand into his town. He personally met Erich Walls at a coffee shop in downtown Altoona (The Clay Cup) and pitched the idea of Levity expanding into Altoona. “I couldn’t be more excited to welcome Levity to Altoona! Over the last year I’ve really gotten to know Erich, Luke, and Jared, and we all share the same passion for community. So I know they will be a valuable part of the Altoona community just like they are right now at their flagship brewery in Indiana, PA.” Mayor Matt Pacifico said about Levity and their expansion into Altoona.

The Altoona location will be the Chalk Box building, on 11th Avenue. In January 2019 it was renovated and reconstructed for office space, which you can read about here: We Are Central PA – Building Renovations in Downtown Altoona.

They are planning on renovating, restructuring, building, and opening the Altoona location in three phases. The first phase is to set up and construct a facade and storefront on the Chalk Box building (you can find a picture of the building in the article above), this will serve as a place to sell their canned beers (which they can in Indiana and are already distributing into the Altoona area – this will allow them to store them there and be more accessible to the Altoona community). After this, they are planning on turning the 2400 square feet first floor into a taproom and restaurant, with similar style to that of their current Indiana location. No word yet on how many taps, what foods, or look or appearance of the restaurant. The third (and final – for now) phase will see a brewhouse and canning line added to the Altoona location. This will allow them to brew in both locations (Indiana PA and Altoona PA) and will allow them to make unique distinctive beers for both locations. No word on timeline or proposed dates for the second and third phases.

As per Untappd, Levity Brewing Company is a brewpub located in Indiana, Pennsylvania. They have 65 unique beers, with a total of 34, 312 ratings (as of 12.3.20). They have a global average rating of 3.76. The description on Untappd reads: “Levity Brewing Company is a small brewery and pub in Indiana, PA-about an hour east of Pittsburgh. We aim to brew clean, crisp, and dry examples of style and bring a diversity of beers to our community. At any time we offer a variety of IPAs, kettle-soured fruit beers, oak-aged wild beers, etc, etc, etc…”

Stephen J. McKnight, President and CEO of the Altoona Blair County Development Corporation (ABCD) issued this statement about Levity Brewing: “Levity’s investment is a testament to the resolve and innovation of our small businesses even in difficult times. It’s also further proof of our community as an attractive place to live and invest. This adds to our growing craft food and beverage scene, helping to bring people together throughout our mountain main streets. This is great news at a time when we all really needed it. On behalf of the ABCD Corporation Board of Directors, we look forward to welcoming Levity to the First Frontier Blair County.”

I personally was there at Levity Brewing on Sunday the 8th (of November, 2020) and got to talk with Erich Walls, who is a great guy, and a wonderful bartender, host, and all round cool dude. Genuinely interested in his customers, his community, books, (we discussed the book I was reading about Presidents and that its the hardest job, etc.) and is very knowledgeable about Indiana, Pennsylvania, and brewing. I hope the absolute best for them with this expansion, and am excited that they will be a bit closer to home to be able to try their beers more easily.

You can read about my time at the brewery at the below links:

• The Trip – Day One Recap
• The Trip to Indianapolis: Day One – 1000 Steps Trail, Juniata Brewing Company, Ghost Town Trail, Hoodlebug Trail, Levity Brewing

I will also be doing a beer review soon of Punky Bruiser, a plum porter that they made which I had as part of my flight while there (and was given a free can of by Erich as well). So be on the lookout for that soon, and I will edit this post, to the link of it when I do so.

• Beer Review: Punky Bruiser (Levity Brewing)

As always everyone, thanks for reading, please be sure to like, follow us here, and on our social media pages (links can be found below and above at the top of each page), and be sure to check out our other openings / closings and industry news with the links below.

Cheers everyone!

-B. Kline

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

Be sure to check out our other articles on brewery openings:

• A Sneak Preview of Rubber Soul Brewing (Hummelstown)
• Midwest Coast Brewing Opens (Chicago)
• Rally Point – Cox Brewing Taproom Opens (Elizabethtown)
• Boneshire Brew Works to Open Second Taproom in Harrisburg (Harrisburg)
• Irv’s Pub Rebranded as Rotunda Brewing Pub (Hershey)
• Official BBQ (Pizza Boy Secondary Location) (Rutherford)
• Pilger Ruh Brewing Needs Your Help (Pottsville)
• Highway Manor Brewing Co. (Camp Hill)
• Grand Opening: Rubber Soul Brewing Company (Hummelstown)
• Tap Room Opening: Howling Henry’s Brewery (Hummelstown)
• Little Fish Brewing Extending into Dayton
• Levity Brewing Expanding Taproom and Opening Second Location in Altoona

You can read about more brewery closures here:

• Stoudt’s Brewing Closing
• Crystal Ball Brewing Closes
• Voodoo Brewery Lancaster Closes
• Spigot Brewing Closes
• Full Pint Brewing Closes
• Night Shift Brewing Cancels Expansion
• Mikkeller Brewing NYC Closes Permanently

I left home to drop off books at the Hershey Public Library at 9:00AM. Having given my dog a nice walk in town, and setting things up for my ex-wife to come in and be able to take care of the dog with my daughters. I left the Hershey Library and went straight to the Thousand Steps Trail.

This is just a recap of the day, and not a complete article, I’ll be doing those post-full trip, which will include a lot more pictures of the trails, the breweries, and the beers I had from the travels.

All told my hike was roughly 7 miles. The thousand steps portion was certainly difficult, and a heck of a work out going up the thousand steps. But it was so worth it at the top when you get a view like this:

The view was absolutely breathtaking and worth it the whole time. I highly recommend the trail and the climb for anyone who is able to make it. It is just breathtaking. I have a dozen good pictures from the trip to show in the full article.

After the hike, I stopped at Juniata Brewing Company to sample a good flight of beers and let my legs rest a bit.

After this, I traveled another hour and forty minutes to get to the Ghost Town Trail and Hoodlebug Trail by Indiana. Walked the path and then visited Levity Brewing, which was right next to my hotel for the night.

I legitimately can’t say enough good things about this brewery. Both Eric and Nathan – the staff, bartenders, co-owner, etc, – were absolutely fabulous, taking the time to talk to me about my trip, my beers, the book I was reading, etc. And without even knowing about my blog, Eric, the one bartender and co-owner, gave me a free can of their latest release, for my hikes and travels. They were super nice, the place is beautiful, and clean, and all in all just a wonderful experience. The eight beers I had were all absolutely amazing. I honestly can’t say enough good things about them, and will be doing quite a few reviews and mentions of them in the future I am sure! Do yourself a favor and make sure to stop out and check them out.

Juniata Brewing Company was also a very nice little brewery and worth stopping by and checking out their spot. Its a bit out of the way, but still worth it as well.

Tomorrow I head to Pittsburgh and skirt it for some hikes, and cut through the city, and might end up at the casino – who knows, wish me luck!

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

Cheers!

-B. Kline

The Trip to Indianapolis:

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

Just like last summer (August 1st-3rd) when I took my daughters on a trip up to Elk Country, to Kinzua Bridge, to Pittsburgh, to Bushy Run, and back home; I am again taking a road trip.

This time, it’s a solo trip, just myself. So wish me luck that this reads as a “Tale of There and Back Again” and no Reading shenanigans happen again.

Unlike the trip with my daughters, this is being a bit more ad-hoc and I am kind of doing things on a whim. With them I had a very planned itinerary of where we were going, what days, what times. However, for my trip the main focus point is getting to Indy for Wednesday the 11th (Veterans Day) which is Kurt Vonnegut’s birthday and visit the Vonnegut Museum and Library.

I do have a list of some breweries I will be hitting, but not a guarantee I will hit them all. COVID-19 is throwing a bit of a monkey wrench in my plans for what breweries are open certain days, plus unlike last time, I’m traveling Sunday through Friday whereas last time it was a Thursday – Friday- and Saturday.

You can read about my trip last year here:

August Road Trip Series:

• Going on the Road
• The Trip: Day 1 Recap
• The Trip: Day 2 Recap
• The Trip: Day 3 Recap

I didn’t go into a crazy lot of detail about all the places we went to in the articles, but you can still read them and get an idea of what I did hit up. In later travelogues for the blog I’ve gone into a bit more detail on my crazy travels with Drew or Ming or by myself.

For my first day of travel – tomorrow – Sunday, November 8th – my places of visit will be:

• Thousand Steps Trail (Mount Union, PA)
• Juniata Brewing Company
• Ghost Town Trail
• Levity Brewing Company

Hopefully everything goes according to plan. Tomorrow is a few hikes, a few breweries, and then Monday will be the outskirts of Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh area, and then Tuesday I will drive through Ohio and Columbus make my way towards Indianapolis. Where Wednesday I will spend the day in Indianapolis. Then Thursday I will make my way back through Ohio through Cincinnati. Friday I will be making may way back home.

Fingers crossed.

I will most likely be doing a “recap” of each day once at the hotel at the end of my days, so be on the lookout for that.

Be sure to leave some comments letting me know where to stop and check out on my travels. Let me know what your favorite breweries and places to visit are, I’d love to hear them!

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

Cheers!

-B. Kline

The Trip to Indianapolis:

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

I got to pick up this book by Dr. Alison E. Feeney last Thursday at the Mid-Town Scholar ahead of her panel discussion (alongside Hannah Ison, Jeffrey Musselman, and Sara Bozich). You can read about that here: “For The Love of Beer – Panel Discussion“. It was a fun and entertaining (and informative) night at the Mid-Town Scholar getting to listen to the three of them discuss breweries, beer, brewing, and community.

And that is the heart of this book. Communities. Even moreso than the breweries this is ‘about’, the heart of the book though is communities. And at the heart of a lot of communities, and growing, is craft breweries. Breweries, in particular craft breweries, are the seat of many things in communities now adays. Places like Boneshire, Moo-Duck, Troegs, and many other breweries that give back to their communities through charities and other activities. Breweries like ZeroDay and Millworks that act like centerpieces for revitalization of downtown areas.

There is so much to love about craft breweries and what all they do (and can do). And Dr. Feeney’s book covers that so well. From revitalizing downtown areas, or old historic buildings, to providing a center and a place for a community, to being an employment opportunity for the local town, to sustainability and environmental help, providing spent grain for local farmers, to helping charities, to hosting events, to having delicious food, to having local ingredients, etc, there is so much that breweries do for their local communities.

Dr. Alison Feeney has traveled all across Pennsylvania checking out various breweries, hop farms, malts, grains, communities, universities, etc, and has gotten a feel for the state, its history, its brewing industry, and the breweries and the people. She’s interviewed tons of people, she’s talked to customers, brewers, hop growers, home brew shop owners, just about everyone you can think of attached to the industry.

The book covers a lot of different breweries across the state. From big to little. From regional powerhouses like Victory and Troegs to smaller localized shops like Moo-Duck, Boneshire, Bonn Place, etc. She has traveled all across the state, all of the regions covered.

There is a wealth of information in the book detailing the history of beer, the history of brewing, the history of Pennsylvania, and brewing and beer in Pennsylvania, as well as a wealth of information and knowledge on brewing, the beer industry, and hops and other things in general. There is a ton of information on the breweries she’s visited as well, small details like the beers they have, or the information on how they restored the buildings they occupied, or little bits and info on the brewers or their styles.

The book is filled with pictures and images from all assortments of things, like hops, to the various breweries, to beer, to the workers at the breweries, to signs, to locations, etc. These pictures help fill in an overall image and idea of the breweries from across the state for those who haven’t gotten to visit them yet. Also with each brewery mentioned there is a small map of Pennsylvania showing where its located with an actual address as well. Its not a complete map of every brewery, and Dr. Feeney even states at the beginning that she isn’t providing a comprehensive listing of every brewery in PA as it’d be out of date before the book even saw print. Case in point – the book mentions Harty Brewing which has since folded up (relatively recently). But don’t let that fool you, this book is chock full of information and knowledge about PA beer and breweries.

At the beginning of the book is a note saying that a portion of the proceeds of the book are going to animal shelters and local places for animals. After this is the chapter previews which list which breweries are mentioned in which chapters and provides an outline for the book. Early chapters discuss beer and the history of it, progressing from Europe and Africa and Asia to America. Detailing the early pioneers to America and bringing beer over on the Mayflower, etc. It then discusses the history of beer and brewing in Pennsylvania.

Following this is how breweries affect communities, how they revitalize communities and buildings, and a chapter on historic buildings and how breweries are reusing old buildings. A chapter on the sustainability and environmental issues and help that breweries are doing and then a closing chapter on looking forward.

This book is a good read for anyone interested in beer, brewing, and especially for those interested in the craft breweries of Pennsylvania. She has provided lots of knowledge on the inner workings from the beginning to the present day on just about every tangential topic with the beer industry. I would certainly recommend this for anyone looking to learn about brewing and beer in Pennsylvania or just loves reading about breweries in Pennsylvania.

My GoodReads Score: ****
Global GoodReads Score: 4.00 (two ratings, three now, as of 10.9.19)

This was the first book review on the blog, hopefully you all like it, I know its a bit different then the beer and brewery reviews. But I am looking forward to doing a few more of these as I have a lot of beer books to read and go through. This is combining two of my loves – literature / books and beers, so this is definitely a double-win for me getting to review books about beer here for the blog. So if you are interested in this, let us know! Also if you have any beer book recommendations, be sure to leave them in the comments!

Thanks and cheers all!

-B. Kline
My GoodReads review link can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3007622590