This Fast Paced World

Life just never seems to slow down.  I have these grandiose plans of things to do when I’m bored.  Do I really expect that might happen in my lifetime?

One thing I do have to be thankful for is when meeting the wonderful editor/creator of this blog as he retaught me how to take time for myself and relax.  So now that we have a 5 – month – old daughter together, we still make time to do just that.  I’m sure you know what I’m about to claim is our favorite relaxation activity?  Yup, you got it, go have a beer! 

The past couple of outings we have visited some breweries they were definitely at times when both sat down with a beer and let out a big sigh.  This is what breweries do for us.  They become our 3^rd home.  That one we have those relaxation dreams and plan big.

Local Favorites

The past few weeks have consisted of some visits at some fav breweries around our area; many more favs on the list of course!  We just had our first outside beer drinking over at Troegs Independent Craft Brewing in Hershey.  There we split a flight and shared a smoked brisket sandwich with a side of hop fries.  I remember being so excited to be able to sit on the patio outside.  It’s about making sure to take that bit of relaxation, squeeze it in your day! 

We swung by Cox Brewing Company when we were in the area running errands and trying desperately not to forget a stop.  We shared the Gene Wenger’s meats and fine foods snack pack.  We were sitting in the open-door garage with the breeze blowing after the morning rain in their new/old Rheems location.  Admit it, you took a deep breath in as you read that last line.  I did too.  We took the time to share some brews, some laughs and some deep sighs before heading out of CBC.  Then we tackled the rest of that To-Do list!

(Read Amy’s column last week about Cox Brewing Company – Cox Brewing Company: Back to Their Roots.)

Another awesome moment to sit outside was at Boneshire Brew Works in Rutherford, we enjoyed the picnic table layout in the parking lot.  We munched on our fav of their amazing pizza creations, the bacon thyme pizza. 

We each sipped on a beer and enjoyed the evening outside.  (Ben got ‘The Heights’ IPA and I got the ‘Pletzfest’ festbier.) It was a beautiful evening, and was fun to see the ‘Death Rattler’ truck pull up.

We did Pizza Boy in Enola in the half outside room they have and it was great introducing my mom to Pizza Boy too.  Yup, my mom loves the craft beer too.  We actually just took her to Pizza Boy again tonight.  We swung by there both times after a couple mile walk. (First trip we walked the Vincent DiFilippo Nature Preserve, and the second trip we walked Grandon Farm Trail starting from Creekview Park South.)

(You can read Ben’s book review about the art of stillness and relaxing here: Book Review: The Art of Stillness – Adventures in Going Nowhere (Pico Iyer).)

Ok that’s it, I need to go relax and so should you. 

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Ferris Bueller

Drink More Beer!

-Amy

Thank You For Reading

If you really want to take the day off, you can check out some of our articles, like this one about Hemp and Beer:

• Hemp and Beer – Happy 4:20 Day

Or this list of Amy’s weekly column articles:

• Cox Brewing Company: Back to Their Roots
• Peanut Butter Eggs, Easter, Beer, and Yah Brew’s Shimmy Shake (Beer Review)
• Beer and Pretzel Review: Legends and Lore (St. Boniface Brewing Company) and Garlic Parm Pretzels (Pretzels.com)
• I’ve Missed Drinking (A Look at Non Alcoholic Beers)

Thanks for reading everyone. Be sure to like, subscribe, and follow, to keep getting our great content. Comment and let us know what you think, give us your suggestions, ideas, or thoughts. Any questions? Let us know in the comments or reach out to us through the CONTACT US page.

Cheers!

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.

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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!

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Sunny Side Up

Sunny Side Up has been a staple of Pizza Boy since…. well, since as long as I can remember; and therefore a staple of the Central PA (Harrisburg – Hershey) beer scene. It is a fantastic stout and showcases how Pizza Boy could always make a really good (albeit rarely made) stout.

Sunny Side Up is a regular / semi – regular beer from Pizza Boy that they make, and is often one of the ‘come home to get’ beers for many who moved away (similar to how Nugget Nectar, Mad Elf, and Nimble Giant from Troegs is).

I’ll post the Untappd description here, since the version I’m reviewing here (Sunny Side Up – Bacon) doesn’t have a description.

Sunny Side Up:

Sunny Side Up – Little Amps! Double Coffee Stout is our rich, smooth oatmeal imperial stout brimming with locally sourced coffee from Little Amps coffee roasters in Harrisburg, PA

Untappd: Sunny Side Up

As you can see from the link, as of 11.15.21, regular Sunny Side Up has a global average rating of 4.16.

Pizza Boy has released a ton of different variants over the year, from hazelnut, to chocolate, to one off firkins, to pumpkin, to all different kinds, and this is no different. Though the ABV for this bacon variant is a bit higher than most of them, and certainly higher than the original (original is a 9.6%; the Bacon wash variant is 11.9%).

Beer Review

Beer: Sunny Side Up – Bacon
Brewery: Pizza Boy Brewing Co.
Style: Stout – Coffee
ABV: 11.9%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: (Blank)

Pizza Boy, also known as Al’s of Hampden, has been one of the staples and giants of the greater Harrisburg area brewery / beer scene. Along with Troegs Brewing and Appalachian Brewing Company, they were the ‘originals’ or ‘OGs’ (as the hip cool young kids say nowadays) of the Harrisburg beer scene. Their Untappd description is low-key and simple:

“A brewery inside a pizza shop. Pizza. Beer. Happy.”

They have (according to Untappd) 295 unique beers (I wanna say its far more than that in their history, but we’ll go with the stats given), with (as of time of writing this – on 11.15.21) 644,984 ratings, 99,695 of which are unique; for a global average rating of 3.88.

I personally would say they are primarily known for IPAs (typically hazy), sours (think Permasmile, etc.), and stouts like Sunny Side Up and all of its variants.

This was a variant that I was very eagerly looking forward to getting to try and so glad I did. So let’s break it down and discuss this. (As always, I break it down going by paragraphs as such – aroma, visual, taste.)

Cracked open the can, poured it out, and you get a wonderful aroma of roasty notes from the coffee, dark heavy stout smells, and a bit of a greasy bacon hint. The bacon and the cooking pan smell is definitely the most subtle to this, as the coffee aroma certainly overpowers it, along with your typical malt and stout and roast notes from a good dark heavy stout.

Visually there’s not a whole lot to say other than what you can see from the picture. It looks as if it could be coffee other than the beautiful head it has to it; which is a nice small ring, maybe a quarter of an inch, with varied bubbles, and left nice lacing. The head was an off white, slightly tannish hue, and lasted til first sip. The stout itself is a deep, dark ocher, or as I often say on the blog “as black as Razor Ramon’s hair” or “black like the abyss we all stare into”. Take your pick.

Taste I think is where your mileage may vary on this one. There’s certainly nothing wrong with this beer and it is one hundred percent a good beer. There’s zero off flavors, there’s zero wrong with it. Why I say the mileage may vary, is on the bacon flavor. I’ve talked to a few good friends who had it, and the person who I drank this with, and we all had different opinions and thoughts on how much the bacon flavor came through. To be honest, when I hear ‘bacon flavored’ in beer, I’m a bit skeptical right out of the gate, wondering how its going to translate and how they are going to make it work. I’m of the opinion that it doesn’t come through too strong. You get the coffee, you get the malt, you get the stout, you get some booziness, (especially with its 11.9%), but I don’t get a ton or even a lot of bacon flavor. More like a whiff of it, like its there, barely hanging on the fringes. I think the bacon comes through a bit on the back – end and the aftertaste. (I burped after drinking it, and I could taste a bit of bacon on the burp, so I suppose it has to be in there somewhere, unless I was over thinking my burp, which is always a very good possibility.) There is a sweetness to this that I don’t recall from the original Sunny Side Up (which I always thought tasted more bitter – though it has been several months since I’ve had the original). This could be from the greasy ‘wash out’ of the bacon in the beer, I don’t know, but it has a nice taste. I enjoy the flavor of this very much, I think like I said above, that the bacon flavor mileage will vary for many, though it seems overall people are saying its subliminal or subtle or minimal rather than being stronger or too strong. If you want to enjoy a good, strong, high ABV stout, this is still certainly a fantastic choice and you can’t go wrong with that.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 4.07 (as of 11.15.21)

Other Pizza Boy Reviews

Here’s a few other Pizza Boy beer reviews we’ve done:

• Beer Review: St. Thomas (Pizza Boy Brewing Co.)
• Beer Review: Ice Dreamz: Cranberry, Cherries, and Tangerines (Pizza Boy Brewing Co.)

Thanks for Reading

As always everyone, thanks for reading. This was a great stout to finish my day on, after a 10 hour day working the craps table, followed by errands to Home Depot and Target, and then having to run an errand and go to the bank for my ex-wife, this was a nice relaxing end of my day (while re-watching the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode from Sunday) and finding out my one fantasy football team barely edged out the win by .84!

Thursday and Friday is going to be a big trip for us. We’re running down through Maryland, over into Delaware, and up into New Jersey and then through Philly before heading home. So be on the lookout for big stuff coming out of this trip. And make sure to be checking back in daily here at the blog. News on the street is, our new writer may have her first post up tomorrow, so be sure to check that out!

Cheers!

-B. Kline

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.

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This is the poll for the FACEs Conference – The Rock 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.

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I had this on Nitro, had the I Voted Today, and later got a draft of this for Haley as her birthday ‘gift’ and she enjoyed it as well. So it does come …two-time recommended.

Beer: Shallow Grave (Nitro)
Brewery: Heretic Brewing Company
Style: Porter – American
ABV: 7%
IBU: 33
Untappd Description: Shallow Grave Porter is dark as night, perfect for a cool evening out in the woods. This is a big, dark ale with a complex and rich chocolate and caramel malt character followed by a touch of warmth and light malt sweetness, leaving you ready for more after each shovelful. You will love this so much you won’t have time to dig a six-footer, so make it a Shallow Grave. We’re sure you’ll dig it.

Heretic Brewing Company is a small microbrewery from Fairfield California. Their Untappd description reads: “Ordinary beer is boring; don’t drink it. Embrace your inner Heretic and join us to push the boundaries of beer flavors. We are crazy about beer and passionate about making it. Wanna be a Heretic too? There’s always room for one more.” They have 173 unique beers with a global average rating of 3.84 (as of 11.19.20).

This is a dark brown, but creamy looking porter. The nitro adds a layer of creaminess to the already brown silken look to it. It looks like a good dark brown porter should, not as dark as a stout, but with a heaviness that isn’t in brown ales. It had a very thin dispersed head with nice bubbles, all varying, smooth and creamy, with a lightly brown to off white coloring that dissipated pretty quickly.

Aroma is very deep complex rich and aromatic. Lots of chocolate and caramel notes. Sweet and bitter at the same time, like you are getting sweet candy and also the bitter baker’s chocolate at the same time. There is definitely some malt notes but its a little bit more subdued and hidden behind the chocolate and caramel.

This is delicious right out the gate, it starts with the bitterness of a baker’s chocolate, but very, very quickly, switches to sweeter chocolate, and sweet malt, and sweet caramel, all emphasized and stronger due to the nitro. This has a nice range of flavors amongst these – varying sweetness and bitterness, but mostly staying on the sweet side. I think the base malt gets really added to by the nitro and lays down a very solid foundation for the chocolate and the caramel. Most of the chocolate and caramel is a malty style, but there is some regular caramel and chocolate. The 7% ABV isn’t too high, but I definitely think you feel it with this, it has a bit of a heaviness to it all overall. You aren’t going into this drinking a four pack or a six pack, but this makes for a wonderful beer to drink by the campfire, or at the bar (when we can drink at bars again in Pennsylvania) in winter times. Nitro or not this has a great flavor profile, is exactly what a good porter should be, and will leave you feeling full but satisfied, everything you can really ask for in a beer during these colder months.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Average Global Untappd Rating: 3.84 (as of 11.19.20)

Well, back to writing on those Indy trip articles. They won’t write themselves after all. Until then, everyone stay safe and healthy, cheers!

-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!

As you can see, I am well stocked for the election results. (Not pictured is actually a draft already drank before my pizza got done and brought out to me.) What is pictured is I Voted Today by Tired Hands, Tired Branches II (the small remainder of a pour) by Tired Hands, and Heretic’s Shallow Grave (a porter). But thats not what today’s story and review is about.

You can guess what today’s story and review is about…. trains. Its all about trains and the locomotives that transformed America in the 1800s and early 1900s….. oh wait…. no… no… thats not it at all.

No, today’s review, is brought to you by the letters I. V. T. …. I Voted Today. And followed by the letters T. H. Oh… you figured out the pattern by now did you? This marks the first Tired Hands beer for the blog, surprisingly, but so it goes.

The full accurate title for this one should read: I Voted Today (Simcoe and Chinook) (Tired Hands), but that felt like adding too much to it all, so I just left it at “I Voted Today” which is far more the important part anyway.

….Well, I guess, its easy to discuss it now, and the cat is kind out of out of the bag, but today is November 3rd, which means, in America, its election day, when millions upon millions of people stand in line to do something very similar to getting Other Half or Burley Oak beers – vote.

Knowing the parking lot for the Lower Dauphin High School would most likely be completely packed, I parked at my parent’s house (which is about two blocks away) and walked over. I got to the high school to stand in line at about 8:08AM. Its interesting how Hummelstown has their voting set up. Everyone votes in the same location, but they have it split into two groups – “West Side” and “East Side”. (Yes, I can imagine what you are thinking about this.) The dividing line is Rosanna Street in town. I don’t know the official split of residences, but it is far lopsided in that West Side has a ton more residences and people than the East Side. Mainly because they added Greystone Farms (a development) to the West Side and most of the East Side is primarily just Main Street which has turned a lot of the houses into businesses. Plus it just doesn’t have the same amount of land. So while the wait for the West Side was incredibly long, if you lived on the East Side you could literally walk right in, vote, and leave.

I took this picture while still waiting in line but having at least made some progress, this is me now waiting at 8:40AM. Meanwhile the East Enders are flying past me still at the regular brisk pace they were before. Interesting notes – while in line I saw that both George Scott and Lindsey Drew were there by the entrance. George Scott walked up the line thanking everyone for coming out. Also at the entrance was Mayor David Roeting, which has been the Hummelstown standard for as long as I’ve been alive, Mayor Brad Miller and Mayor Bud Alexander both would stand at the polling entrance for the entirety of the day.

(First, disclaimer, before posting the above picture, I looked it up, in Pennsylvania you are allowed to take a photo of your non-filled out ballot and post it online. From what I have read on a few sites, you are not allowed to take a picture of a filled in ballot however. So the above is perfectly fine in compliance with these laws since its not filled out.)

Finally at 9:22AM I am inside and able to vote. I am #197 and getting to vote. I am not elaborating or discussing my details. This isn’t the point of this post or beer review. This is all just to discuss the actual process of voting. On exiting, the line had certainly gotten smaller, and I ran into Rich Dibeler who said he had been only waiting twenty or so minutes and he was up to the door (so he had about ten to fifteen more minutes to wait).

At 4PM my parents went to vote after my mom got home from school (she’s a teacher not a student). This was the line they were greeted to, and they were finally able to get in and vote around 4:40-4:50. My dad texted saying he was #895. They ran into Robert Myers as well as Mayor Roetting still there.

It is fantastic to see people doing their civic duty. Voting is one of the strongest and most powerful tools we have in America for the real change we want to see as Americans, and everyone should exercise it. Too many countries in the world don’t have the ability to have a say in their government and their politics, and we owe it to people like them to let our voices be heard.

After voting, I walked back, got home, took care of wind damage from the night before and had to leave for work, after work I went straight to Pizza Boy to try the ‘I Voted Today’ by Tired Hands. I had been looking for a ‘I Voted Today’ beer for the past week to be able to review it for the blog on election night. (I try to go nerdy and do the right things for the blog like election beers on election day, etc.) I wasn’t able to get any of cans from places like Monkish or etc, but was told and was able to get the last of ‘I Voted Today’ by Tired Hands at Pizza Boy. Literally, the last of it. Sorry if you didn’t get to try it, but here is the review of it all the same.

This might be one of the first times you get a sneak peak of the writing world there, as you can see my laptop up and running with the beer review started. You can also see my backup beers (one of which I started before I got the pizza). Backup beers were Tired Branches by Tired Hands and Shallow Grave by Heretic. Before the night was over, I would also get Elationship by Shy Bear and Valley Standard by Pizza Boy.

Beer: I Voted Today (Simcoe and Chinook)
Brewery: Tired Hands Brewing Company
Style: Pale Ale – American
ABV: 5.6%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Brewed with American two row barley and malted wheat, hopped with an enthusiastic dose of our very favorite American hop, Simcoe, and fermented with our house ale yeast. This batch was double dry hopped first with more of our beloved Simcoe, then again with ultra classic and punchy Chinook. 5.6% abv. Notes of sparkling orange drink, Meyer lemon, fresh cut grass, dank green stuff, and a beautiful piney bitterness to finish it of.

This was a bright yellow pale ale. Mine looks a bit darker than some of the others I’ve seen pictures of on the internet and Untappd, which I found to be interesting, perhaps it was due to date, perhaps just the lighting at Pizza Boy where I was sitting, or my camera. My camera has been at full memory so I haven’t been able to use my flash (I know, I know, I need to get rid of all the old hiking photos and upload them to my computer so I can delete them off my phone, and also remove old apps like Hop Plotter and work out apps I’ll never use), so it might also be because of no flash. But it has a beautiful yellow to light golden color, with a very foamy head that dissipated quickly. (My pour also doesn’t do a good service to the head, and was retopped too, so it doesn’t show it as well either.)

Aroma is strong hop presence, very powerful Simcoe and Chinook hop presence. Simcoe is a hit or miss hop for many people. I personally love it, and I also love Chinook (I even grow Chinook hops at home). There is a strong lemon zest and lemon grass from the hops, some piney and a bit of earthy and regular grass undertones as well.

This is certainly a delicious crushable beer. Probably a four pack of these would be fantastic to ride out election night results. Luckily at Pizza Boy I was able to do my best to only partially glance out at the results, and only after 8PM. (I got there at 6:30.) The hop presence just like in the aroma is very strong here, and you get all of the Simcoe and Chinook hop flavors you are expecting – lemon, zest, lemon grass, pine, some hints of earthy notes, some hints of orange drink – though I always found this very subtle and don’t always pick up on it like some have, and this tails off from being juicy to leaving a light hop bitterness at the end. Which I enjoy that little ending ‘kick’ of hop bitterness, letting it not all be juicy and dank and instead giving you a wide range of flavors and tastes. This isn’t as complex as it sounds, but is more just a full flavor wheel of the above. The lemon zest, lemon grass, and grass all work together, the orange drink, piney, dank, and earthy notes all work together, and as a whole it just blends well as a juicy drink with that hop ‘kick’ of bitterness at the end. Its also only 5.6% so it’s certainly not a heavy beer and very light on the palate and stomach.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 4.01 (as of 11.3.20)

While eating and drinking and writing and reading, I had been texting co-workers about the election results as they were starting to come in, as well as texting a friend Haley, as well as my mom about election results, and several others. Wrapping up and going to get a box for my pizza I hear this, “Ben is that you?” and turn around, and here it was Haley, her and her mother and a friend were there the whole night as well, and we just hadn’t even seen each other there, despite texting each other the whole time. Funny world. It was her birthday (28, practically still a child, compared to my old 35). So I bought her a drink (got her a Shallow Grave by Heretic) and got myself one more beer – the Valley Standard, and we chatted and hung out and watched some of the results pour in on the screen while discussing how she’s not coming back to the casino, how her son is, etc.

After Pizza Boy I stopped at my parents to also watch the rest of the election night results with my mom, something that is usually a staple for election nights for me. I always find it interesting hearing her perspective on the country’s voting. Made it home after that to find Drew was streaming with Rome on his Knights of Nostalgia page. So I put them on in the background, while I had the TV on mute, and finished writing this (literally, writing this sentence right now with the above as described).

Please everyone remember – whoever you voted for, whichever side, blue, red, yellow, green, doesn’t matter what party you represent or voted for, what you are registered as. Nobody is “the losing side” or the “winning side”, nobody is the enemy, we are all people, we are all brothers, sisters, mothers, daughters, sons, fathers, workers, teachers, waiters, writers, streamers, construction workers, accountants, etc. Nobody is the enemy. We. Are. Humanity. And that is what we always need to keep in focus. Left vs. Right doesn’t work and isn’t something we need to be seeing when we can see it as simple as HUMAN and HUMAN. No versus. Just AND. That is the key I think, if we can just look at the person who voted opposite of us, and say, “I see you as a person, as a friend, as a co-worker, as a person.” Rather than seeing them as “voting opposite, as the enemy, as wrong”, I think we can get back to National civility, to global humanity, to friendliness, to a better world, and a better humanity.

I’ll take my step down off my soap box now, and move on. My little naive rant over. Some day I hope for a better world, and I feel the change is possible, that its right there, and we just all overlook it due to the pettiness and the banalities of people’s lives and choices. But this is probably viewed as a soppy mushy weak view and sentimental by many. Shrug. This is a beer review and I’m not going to get too crazy on the politics or the human rights rant here.

Enjoy your beers and take care everyone. Cheers!

-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!

I always enjoy getting to review (and obviously drink) beers from out of state, ones that I most likely wouldn’t come in contact with. Don’t get me wrong, I love drinking and reviewing local beers and getting them some publicity, and I also love traveling and visiting breweries (just yesterday I was in Wellsboro Pennsylvania, visited the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon, and visited the restaurant and brewery – The Wellsboro House), but its also nice getting beers to review, from family, co-workers, and friends. (Hint…. hint…. for any friends, family, etc reading this…. )

A co-worker, Jam, was coming back from South Carolina, and he stopped at a bottle / can shop and grabbed a few beers for me and other co-workers. From Jam, I received a bottle of ‘Up The Creek Extreme Ale’, a can of Sidestepper (Charles Town Fermentary), a can of Pixels (Seminar Brewing), and a can of of a Red Ale / IPA by a collaboration with a radio station (the name eludes me and I left it in my friend’s fridge; but it had a tiger on it, thus why Jam got it for me due to me liking the Bengals). So this is the first of the South Carolina series of brews I’ll be reviewing. (I’ll be doing Sidestepper soon, because I just recently drank that; haven’t gotten to drink the others yet, will probably do the Pixels beer while streaming with D. Scott over at Knights of Nostalgia).

Quickly, before I go too much further, I want to throw a quick shout out to Josh; who is jumping back into the reviewing game (don’t call it a comeback son, he never left). He will have his first review since his Beer Review of Adroit Theory’s COLONIZATION back on November 11th, 2019. Stay tuned, I’m sure you won’t want to miss his newest beer review!

Also, in industry news, Howling Henry’s in Hummelstown just opened this week, as well as Rubber Soul, and Spigot Brewing in Ford City has announced they will be closing.

Now…. onto the review!

Beer: Up The Creek Extreme Ale
Brewery: Thomas Creek Brewery
Style: IPA – Imperial / Double
ABV: 12.5%
IBU: 143
Untappd Description: Up The Creek is a hoppy behemoth of a beer with its 12.5% ABV well hidden under heavy layers of malt. The hops come through powerfully in the mouth, with rich roasted malt, sweet caramel, and a burst of vinous fruit. The finish is malty sweet and fruity, while the hops dissipate. Use caution or you’ll be Up The Creek!

Ok…. so firstly, let me just say, this is the highest IBU we’ve reviewed here on the blog. Probably by a pretty far margin. The highest IBU I’ve ever had, according to the Untappd records of beers I drank is – Gyroscopes and Infrared by Broken Goblet. It was 174 IBU. After that it was the Mean Manalishi Double IPA by Hoppin’ Frog Brewery, clocking in 168 IBU, and in third place is Mango Bomb by Pizza Boy – clocking in at 162 IBU. Up The Creek Extreme Ale is number 7 on my list (according to Untappd), and if you count home brews (at a home brew event I had one that would be number 5 on my list; called Idiot Parade by McCarthy Brewing.)

IBU is a term for IPAs that means: “International Bitterness Units are a chemical/instrumental measurement of the number of bittering compounds, specifically isomerized and oxidized alpha acids, polyphenols, and a few other select bittering chemicals, that make your beer taste bitter. (Last Call for IBUs: Fact, Fiction and What They Mean in Your Beer – May 3, 2017). Overall, its a term that’s not being used as much in the industry anymore, and many brewers aren’t even bothering with testing it or listing it when listing their beers on platforms like Untappd or Beer Advocate. But its still a valuable tool and measurement when it is listed, and I still like to keep track of it, and include it when doing the beer reviews here. Its just not the be – all – end – all it used to be in terms of understanding IPAs (especially since New England IPAs seem to be more mainstream now, actually, being made more than regular old school West Coast style IPAs).

This is an old fashioned high octane ‘pushing the envelope’ West Coast style IPA. Appearance and look for this is on the malty end of IPAs (West Coast IPAs). It has a brown / amber hue, slightly transparent, but mostly opaque. Malt colored and malt looking like a malt bomb through and through. Caramel colored. It has a very rich, frothy, foamy head to it, thick, creamy looking with lots of bubbles.

Aroma is caramel, sweet roasted malt, and then pungent face-punching, nose walloping, hop explosion (can’t even call it aroma, its about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the gonads). You get the idea that this is going to be bitter just by the hop nose to it, and the malt sweetness does nothing to cover it past that initial whiff of the malt.

This doesn’t quite live up to the description provided by Untappd. The Untappd description gives you the impression there’s a bit of hype to this, that there’s more complexity to this than there really is. It starts off with the barest of traces of sweet, or caramel, malt. And then takes a very heavy swan dive off the cliff into a sea of hops. A sea of bitterness, of super hop flavor, super hop bitterness, super hop everything. Overpoweringly so. Too much so. A blend and cornucopia of hops, that doesn’t let you really even distinguish and unique hop flavors or notes. Its just straight hop bitterness in such an overwhelming display of raw power and hop (bitterness) that it doesn’t leave you tasting much of anything else. The malt taste is so minuscule and minimal you don’t taste any of it as soon as you get your first taste of the hops. Unlike the description, the hops don’t really ‘dissipate’, they stay there, punching you like a… like a… like a hop drinking punching bag…. yea… like that! There is definitely no dissipation here. I also don’t really get any ‘fruity’ ending to this. Maybe subtle stone fruit notes… but I think its so awash from the hop bitterness that its too hard to tell, and its too hard to differentiate between hop notes and fruit (stone or otherwise) notes. I think its all just a blend, and whatever notes are supposed to be in there, are so overpowered by the hop bitterness, that its too impossible to tell or to be able to pull them out and take note of them or actually savor them. Now… all of this is to say its not a bad beer; its just not… a great beer. And particularly not my style as much anymore. I do like West Coast style IPAs, and the New England IPA craze hasn’t diminished that; its just… this is too much. Too bitter, too hoppy, not enough actual flavor to it, and too hard to differentiate and tell the various hop notes apart from each other. I’m sure theres lots of ‘ultra’ or ‘uber’ hop heads or hop nerds or beer nerds out there who will love this, and all the better for it and for them, this just isn’t particularly my favorite or something I would outright pursue again.

My Untappd Rating: ***.50
Global Untappd Rating: 3.60 (as of 10.10.20)

Be sure to check out some of our recent beer reviews:

• Dreams of Orgonon (Human Robot)
• Unicorns Stomping Spotted Lanternflies (Saucony Creek Brewing Company)
• Griddle (Funk Brewing Company)
• Esmeralda (Ministry of Brewing)
• Out of Order: Blue Milk (RAR Brewing)

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!

Peace, cheers, and prost!

-B. Kline

Finally, a Dauphin county centralized beer trail and beer app has been released. Created by Visit Hershey and Harrisburg PA, its the first beer trail app for the greater Harrisburg and Hershey area. It launched Monday (July 13th, 2020) and its called Beer Barons Beer Trail. You can find it in the Google Play and Android stores on your phones, tablets, etc.

Back in March I met with Rick Dunlap of Visit Hershey and Harrisburg PA. We discussed many things while enjoying a lovely dinner and a couple (that turned into a few) beers at the Tattered Flag Distillery Lounge in Hershey (the former Hershey Biergarten). We discussed my blog – The Beer Thrillers – the upcoming openings of a few breweries in the area (notably Rubber Soul) and we discussed their app; which I had to keep under wraps until now.

There is a ton of features, and a lot of great things to really like about this new app, so definitely be sure to check it out and download it. I’ll break some things down here, and discuss in greater detail in an upcoming article – giving it a full in-depth review.

I’ve gotten to ‘test drive’ it a little bit, hitting three breweries so far with it and gotten to try out a few features. This weekend being off, I’m going to be trying out a few more stops and hopefully hitting the first ‘goal’ of the rewards section.

Firstly, let’s take a look at the opening screen page of the app. At the top the menu is all clickable and will redirect you to the screens you want, and on the opening screen the big blocks are clickable too – they are: How To Play, Beer Trail Hotel Packages, and Explore Hershey and Harrisburg.

First, you will need to create an account, and I recommend checking out the “How to Play” section first. This will let you create the account and learn about the app.

If you click on Beer Trail, you can see a list of the participating breweries. And it will list them by distance from your current location. (Do note, you need to have location set on for this app.) as you can see I visited a few breweries and it shows which ones I’ve checked-in at.

A great feature of the app is the map. Which shows you where each participating brewery is. This is great for new people to the area or if you want to play your own day-trip and hit several breweries in a given area. As you can see, its not directly Harrisburg and Hershey, the map and participating breweries extends to Mt. Gretna brewery in Campbelltown as well as Tattered Flag and The Vineyard of Hershey in Middletown and out to Pizza Boy in Enola and Liquid Noise in Marysville.

Something to note – Newfangled Brew Works does not appear on this because they chose not to participate in the app.

All told there is 19 locations participating, with more to come as they open. As it shows The Watershed (The Millworks soon to be opened second location) will soon be opening. Rubber Soul Brewing in Hummelstown will also be added to the list once they open soon. There is other new breweries opening soon; and hopefully they will likewise get added (The Englewood, Howling Henry, Ever Grain Farms, and Wolf Brewing).

The app was created by Jason Meckes, a craft beer enthusiast; he has dedicated quite a bit of time to creating this app and is extremely proud of it. While recently discussing the app with Jason, he said: “Some breweries, like Rubber Soul and new Zeroday locations, are in a holding pattern until they open, but will be added once they can have people inside. We are hoping to add thousands of visitors to these breweries, and we have just been waiting for the right time when a good majority of them were OK to welcome guests again. The framework with so many breweries will help spread out that demand, too.”

The app definitely has a chance to help out many local breweries and restaurants as well. Something Jason made sure to point out to me, one of his favorite little features to the app – “One of the coolest ‘hidden’ features is the restaurants tab, which lists all Dauphin County eateries, ordered by closest to you.”

There is definitely a lot to see in this app and it looks tremendous. As I have said and shown above, I’ve already gotten to check-in and visit three breweries, and looking at adding a few more on the weekend which coincides with my days off. So I will be able to give a much more in-depth review. So be sure to look for that companion piece to go along with this. That article will provide even more information and give a much more documented look at the features involved in the app.

Its fun to see new apps pop up in the beer and brewing industry, especially local ones. With the loss of HopPlotter and the Breweries in PA app not being the greatest, its really nice to see this well done, intuitive, and easy to use app pop up for the Central PA (Dauphin county specifically) area. So if you are in the area be sure to take advantage of it. There’s also some great prizes to be ‘won’ by checking in at different locations – from decks of cards to glasses, to even better swag. Which I’ll go into more detail in the next article.

For more information, you can also read The Burg’s launch release on the Brew Barons Beer Trail App, which has some more direct quotes with creator Jason Meckes.

As always, thanks everyone for checking this out. Be sure to check out some of our other recent industry news articles below, and please stay safe, keep your distance, wash your hands, and enjoy some great craft beers at some great local craft breweries! Cheers!

• A Sneak Peak at the New Rubber Soul Brewery in Hummelstown
• Boneshire Brew Works Set to Open Second Tap Room in Harrisburg
• Voodoo Brewing Closes in Lancaster
• Night Shift Brewing Cancels Expansion in Philadelphia
• Grand Opening of Hemauer Brewing in Mechanicsburg

Additional source:

• The Burg: Brew Barons Beer Trail App Launches by Visit Hershey and Harrisburg PA

Cheers!

-B. Kline

We have no idea how devastating this coronavirus / COVID-19 will be; either on a physical / societal level for people’s health and well being, or financially, especially on the mom and pop, on the small businesses, on your local craft brewery. Currently, Pennsylvania (currently as of 3.18.20) is on a two week lock-down. But this could be extended, with some discussing it going til May 1st. But here’s the thing, nobody knows. This is a time of uncertainty.

BUT – thankfully, many local breweries, restaurants, and businesses are doing what they can to a) stay afloat and b) to help us (regular people) out. Many are offering curbside to go, take out, delivery, and sales by online or phone.

In my attempt to help out where I can, I am writing up this blog article, to let everyone know what breweries and restaurants are doing what, so that people can stay informed, and be able to purchase and support their favorite local breweries. I’ve attempted to start up several coronavirus / COVID-19 posts over the last several days. But as soon as I’d get information; there’d be more information, or things would change. I tried keeping up with what local-ish breweries were closing (like Guinness and Flying Dog) but it soon became too overwhelming to keep up, especially once Governor Wolf’s mandate came down at 2PM on Monday (3.16.20). But, this is something I can do, and keep people informed. Hopefully, people will see this, and help support their local breweries.

I’m working on trying to get listed as many places as I can. This won’t be completely comprehensive. It can’t possibly be. But I will do my best to list as as much as I can list. If you feel left out, message me, and I will update and include your brewery, restaurant, etc. I want it to be as comprehensive as I can, but I just know it won’t be.

I’m going to try and do it by county / larger municipality areas. There might not be a rhyme or reason to the order of the counties, but you can do a search function and find your county / large municipality to find what you need.

DAUPHIN COUNTY:

• BONESHIRE BREW WORKS
  Boneshire Brew Works is offering: (From their Facebook page): With the mitigation practices to fight the spread of COVID-19 we are open from 4pm to 7pm daily for to-go sales. You can come in and get 4-packs to-go as well as growler fills. For those of you that want to reduce contact even more we have set up an online ordering system to allow for Pick Up. We have knocked off up to $5 per 4-pack depending on the variety. Please be patient with us as we try this out. Again thank you for the support and remember we are all in this together! https://boneshirebrewworks.square.site/
• OFFICIAL BBQ and BURGERS
  Official BBQ and Burgers (Pizza Boy’s secondary location) announced on their Facebook: We care! We apologize for the inconvenience but we will only be open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday 12PM-9PM. In effort to protect our employees and you we will be offering two modified ways to order: Call in ordering – we will be providing carside service! Delivery within 5 miles. YES! You read that right! We want to help people who aren’t comfortable leaving their house still have access to food. (Over the phone CC payments required for all orders. No cash accepted.)
• MOO-DUCK BREWERY
  Moo-Duck is offering to-go food and beer. With precautions that only up to 10 people can be inside their brewery at once. Their hours of operation are: Wednesday-Friday 3-7PM, Saturday 11-7PM, and Sunday 12-5PM. Call: (570) 242-5658 for more information or details.
• FUNK BREWING E-TOWN
  On Funk’s E-Town Facebook page: We are Open today for take out and to go 4pks at 12. You can order online from our website www.funkbrewing.com or use this link to go straight to our menu http://toasttab.com/funk-brewing-elizabethtown New cans of Mixed Tape: Sour Peach IPA will arrive sometime in the afternoon. Call ahead or check social media for availability.
• COX BREWING COMPANY
  On Cox Brewing Company’s Facebook page: Growler and Howler fills available with amended hours. Please share and follow closely as things may change. Special shout out to first responders, nurses and doctors during this time. 💪🍻🇺🇸 #nursesrock #togobeer #lancaster #elizabethtownpa #cbc #coxbrewingcompany. Hours: Wednesday and Friday 5-8PM, Saturday 12-3PM.
• TATTERED FLAG
  Tattered Flag has options from both their brewery in Middletown as well as their Hershey location (the former Hershey Biergarten); their distillery lounge. On their brewery Facebook page: Thanks to each and every one of you who ordered take out food, beer, spirits, and canned cocktails today! You can’t possibly understand how grateful we are. Tomorrow (Wednesday), we will be open in Middletown from 11-7 (food, beer, spirits, canned cocktails, limited coffee), Hershey from 4-7 (bottled spirits and canned cocktails only), and Gettysburg from 4-7 (beer, spirits, and canned cocktails). We hear that state stores are now closed, so be sure to see us for all you quarantine needs! #grateful #community #thankyou #proudtoraiseaflagwithyou
  Their distillery lounge page posted this yesterday on 3.17.20: We will be offering Togo liquor/ can cocktail sales starting tomorrow Wednesday March 18th from 4-7pm. Check out our website for our wide variety of spirits.
• APPALACHIAN BREWING COMPANY
  This is was on their ‘overall’ Facebook page. It applies to their Harrisburg, Lititz, Mechanicsburg, and Shippensburg locations. They are all doing the same. Their Facebook page posted today (Wednesday, 3.18.20) around noon:

As restaurants and breweries everywhere work to come out strong on the other side of current closures, the National Restaurant Association has declared today #CarryOutWednesday!

Support local restaurants like our own by ordering food 🍔and beer🍺 to go; our kitchens 👨🏼‍🍳 and our phones 📞 are open and ready to take your takeout orders from 12-8 p.m. today!

Call (717) 221-1080 to order, and view our full menu online here (as well as our Irish Fest menu in the comments)! ⤵️
https://www.abcbrew.com/menu/brew-pub-menu

• TROEGS BREWING
  Troegs announced on Wednesday that starting Thursday – 3.19.20 they would be starting curbside pickup (beer and food). Their website for their curbside pick up is: http://troegs.com/curbside

MECHANICSBURG / ENOLA / MARYSVILLE AREA

• EVER GRAIN BREWING
  On March 16th, Ever Grain posted on their Facebook:

We’ve been listening to your requests and in light of the current situation have come up with the following solution to keep fresh beer and food available to you!
•
Beginning Tuesday 3/17/2020 we are implementing take out & delivery service during the hours of 11am to 7pm until further notice.
•
Delivery service will be available in the following areas:
-Camp Hill
-Mechanicsburg
-Silver Springs
-Lemoyne
-New Cumberland
-Wormleysburg
-Enola
•
We will post menus of food, and beers available in 4-pack and in crowlers.
•
In addition, we have the following specials available:
~4 Crowlers for $40, please pick from the daily posted list.
~Gift cards: buy $100 get $10, buy $50 get $5 – these can be added on to your orders.
•
We ask that all transactions are done via credit card with deliveries having 18% tip included at the time of order.
•
Please call us at 717.525.8222 to place all orders!

Be safe everyone! 🍻🙏🏼
#evergrainbrewing #hopculture #breweriesinpa #pabeer #camphill #pennsylvania #craftbeer #instabeer #beerporn #supportpabeer #independentbeer #seektheseal #hibernate #paproud #craftbrewery #craftbeerporn #beertography #pouredinpa #drinklocal #supportlocal #craftbeernation #beerthirty #brewerylife #dreambeer #pahandcrafted #pacraftbeer

• BREWHOUSE GRILLE and 2050 STATE BREWING
  Brewhouse Grille posted on their Faceook: We added BURGERS, WINGS, Buffalo Chicken Wrap as well as some delicious Salads & Kids Meals. We will be open for takeout from 11am-7pm. Just call 717-737-0030. Don’t forget you can purchase Gift Cards & 6pks! Free $5 with a $50 gift card purchase and Free $10 with a $100 gift card purchase.

• AL’S of HAMPDEN / PIZZA BOY BREWING
  On Al’s of Hampden (and their Pizza Boy) Facebook pages:

Starting tomorrow Tuesday March 17th we will be-
OPEN from 11am-8pmish all seven days.
3 types of orders
1-PICK -UP
2-DELIVERY
3-TO GO
Telephone orders (717-728-3840)
Online orders www.alsofhampden.com
And the app.

***IT IS YOUR CHOICE TO COME INSIDE, ORDER TO GO, OR GET CURBSIDE SERVICE, LET US KNOW!

Any of the orders above can include FOOD AND BEER. Yes we will deliver beer (@pizzaboybrewing products only) they will be on the online and the app. No limits. Cans, 6packs,pre mixed 6packs (no choice) cases, 750s, and crowlers.
Please bare with us as we are in uncharted territory. The app and online will be updated tomorrow morning. Wash your hands.
#getfrontsided

• LIQUID NOISE BREWING
  From their Facebook page: Hey everyone don’t forget, we are open for growler fills , Gift Cards and merchandise, from 4-7pm stop on by stock up and hunker down while you stay safe! Bring a clean growler with and we will double sanitize it just in case before you head home. #craftlikearockstar #smallbusiness #craftbeer #harrisburgpa #marysvillepa
• MELLOW MINK
  Mellow Mink announced on their Facebook page that they would be starting to-go / curbside on Thursday 3.19.20. They posted a video from Cole saying: Hi Everyone,

It’s Cole from Mellow Mink! I hope this message finds you safe and healthy. Just wanted to let you all know that tomorrow evening (3/19), from 5pm-8pm, I’ll be available to fill growlers to go.

We will sanitize and fill your own growler. Or, if you’d like to purchase a growler, we have two styles of Mellow Mink growlers available. We have both 1 liter glass ($20) and 1 liter stainless steel ($8) growlers.

We also have bottles of our Scarlet Sunrise Blackberry and Blueberry sour red ale (750mL, 6.8% ABV) available. $20 per bottle.

#mellowmink #craftbeer #growler

LEBANON COUNTY

• MT GRETNA BREWERY
  From their Facebook page: Take-out begins today (3.17)! Check-out our take-out menu and Ready-made Casseroles Menu (Casseroles start 3.18) https://www.facebook.com/gretnabrewery/menu/ We appreciate your support of local business during this difficult time. Call in time: 3-7PM, pickup from 4PM to 7:30PM.
• ROTUNDA BREWING / THE BATDORF
  From their Facebook page: We are offering our full menu for pick up and delivery! Call 717-867-0113 to place your order! Any order over $10 receives 1 free role of toilet paper! @ Batdorf Restaurant

LANCASTER COUNTY

• SPRING HOUSE BREWING
  (NO LONGER DOING CURBSIDE / TO GO / DELIVERY)
• MAD CHEF BREWING
  Mad Chef announced on their Facebook page that they are doing to-go pickups. You can order by phone or at the brewery. Their post stated on 3.17.20: Hey Mad Chef family! Like every other business affected by COVID-19, we are operating in uncharted territory and will be taking things day by day. Tomorrow, we will be open from 4 to 8 for takeout only. Orders can be placed over the phone or at the pub. We’ll be offering our full menu and you can purchase crowlers or growlers from us to go (please don’t bring in your own growlers). You can also support us by purchasing gift cards and merchandise during this time! Thank you for all your support!🍻
  (EDIT: ON 3.19.20 MAD CHEF HAS ANNOUNCED THEY ARE FULLY CLOSING THEIR DOORS FOR A FEW WEEKS.)
  
• ST. BONIFACE BREWING
  Announced on their Facebook page that they are doing to-go orders of beer and food, Monday-Thursday 4-9PM and Friday and Saturday from 11AM-9PM.
• FETISH BREWING
  Fetish Brewing announced on their Facebook page on 3.17.20 roadside service: Here we go — roadside pick-up 4-8pm today at Fetish. We are offering all of the below in 32oz crawler cans and we’ll make you a bunch. Everything below costs $11, except Wild American Sour and Peat Scottish Wee Heavy, which are $21. Text Aaron at 717-917-0974, tell us what you’d like, come on up to Rock Lititz and we’ll get it ready for you! We still accept cash, cards, and bitcoin. See you people today!

• LANCASTER BREWING COMPANY
  The Lancaster Brewing Company’s Lancaster Facebook page posted the following on 3.16.20: !!!!!IMPORTANT NEWS – WE ARE OPEN FOR TAKEOUT & CURBSIDE PICK-UP BEGINNING TOMORROW!!!!! Dear friends of Lancaster Brewing Co – In response to the recent COVID-19 Pandemic, we are encouraging takeout & curbside pickup beginning tomorrow (3/17) – just call to place your order, and we will bring your order to your car. So whether you’re looking for a quick bite, a family dinner a growler fill or just a case of beer, we’ll be here for you. This situation is a fluid one, and we will make adjustments based on any further guidelines given by the authorities. Until then, we are working on a limited menu with takeout & curbside delivery from 12pm – 6pm every day. To prepare you the best takeout meals for your family, please give us a call at 717-391-6258. Cheers, and thank you for your support! https://www.lancasterbrewing.com/lancaster to view menus ***Takeout + Curbside Pick-up*** EVERYDAY – 12pm – 6pm

MONTGOMERY COUNTY

• ROUND GUYS BREWING
  Their Facebook posted on March 17th:

🚨 Online ordering and delivery 🚨

Delivery hours will be between 12pm-8pm. We will be adding a food menu very soon!
Four packs and crowlers available. Place your order at https://roundguys.square.site/

I am going to go ahead and post this now, and then come back in and update this blog post as I get more to add to it. (And yes, I know I have lots more to add.) (I will post a EDIT tag at the bottom with what I’ve added when I make my edits.) The original version of this blog is going live at – 3PM (EST) 3.18.20. I will put the date and time with each EDIT.

I hope this helps! Lets pull through together. Practice your social distancing, and help those in need. Spend this time reading blogs (hint hint hint), read a book, learn to cook, learn to play an instrument, take an online course, do house work, call the elderly on the phone and listen, etc, etc.

EDIT: 4:33PM 3.18.20: Updated Dauphin County. Included Appalachian Brewing Company.

EDIT: 12:16PM 3.19.20: Updated Dauphin County. Updated Mechanicsburg. Added Lancaster County. Added Montgomery County.

EDIT: 2:19PM 3.19.20: Mad Chef no longer serving.

Cheers everyone, and hope you all stay healthy and safe!

-B. Kline

Get out of work Saturday at 8PM. Frustrated, annoyed with how the day ran out at work, I quickly zipped from Grantville to Marysville, arriving at the new Liquid Noise Brewing at 8:20PM. Circling the lot once…. twice…. thrice…. I finally find a parking spot.

Having read the Facebook post, I have wallet and card in hand. I go through the sliding door and present my ID to the guy standing there. He says something. I can’t hear him over the band and I stare blankly at him. He repeats it, louder now – “Sorry, we’re at max capacity.” I kind of blink and say something to the effect of “Oh”. …. “Oh crap.” …. “Wow.” He nods. I turn and leave. Figuring out what I’m gonna do or how long I’m willing to wait, I plug some time in at the Dollar General next to the brewery, pacing through the ran down aisles with stuff laying all about. I come back out five-six minutes later to see a handwritten piece of paper on the door “Sorry, max capacity. No entries.”

Knowing the band ends at 9PM, I figure maybe I could get in after that (their open to 10PM), so I decide to head over to Pizza Boy’s in Hampden/Enola, which according to trusted Google Maps is 10 minutes away. I zip over there, and enjoy two brewskies before heading back to Liquid Noise and getting in.

But this isn’t an article about Liquid Noise. This is a beer review about Hill Farmstead’s Florence. The first of two beers I had at Pizza Boy while waiting. And this is downright a delicious beer fully worthy of a beer review. ….I mean….why else would I be writing this then right?

Firstly, anytime you can find Hill Farmstead on tap in Central PA you gotta jump on it. No questions asked, its such a rare treat, and such a wonderful treat, you need to get as much as you can and as quickly as you can since you have no idea how long it’ll last. And surprisingly this lasted from Wednesday or Thursday to Saturday (and presumably into Sunday, since I didn’t kick it). I remember past times when Al would put Hill Farmstead on tap on a Tuesday, and the kegs would be kicked by Tuesday evening. So I was definitely surprised this was still on tap Saturday evening.

And I was so glad it was!

Much like the name has significant meaning and background to the Hill Farmstead Brewery, the name Florence does for me as well. My great grandmother (paternal side) was Florence Speck. A feisty woman who lived to be 99 years old. Born Florence Edith Yeagley on July 13, 1905, and sadly passing away on January 5th, 2005. She lived a rough life on a farm growing up, with a mean father who often beat her and her siblings for not “doing enough around the farm” despite being under the age of 10. She had my grandmother as well as four other children, her youngest she was pregnant with while my grandmother was pregnant with my aunt. Before I was born, in the 70s, while her husband was driving (she never learned to drive and never had a driver’s license) they were in a horrible car accident, killing two people in the other vehicle. Her legs were broken, and while in the hospital, her husband (my great grandfather) stricken with guilt hung himself. She wasn’t even able to make it to his funeral. Years later, sadly dementia and alzheimer’s struck, and for the last several years every party she thought was her 99th birthday party, and in the cruelest sense of irony, when it was finally her 99th birthday party, she had no idea everyone was there, celebrating for her.

She was the sweetest, kindest, fiestiest great grandma one could ever had. When my father was in college and stilled live with my grandmother (and whom my great grandmother lived with) she would regularly steal his beer. Always knowing where his hidden stash was, and knowing he couldn’t say anything or do anything about it because my grandfather was so against alcohol. She was an incredible knitter and quilter making beautiful quilts for all of her children, grand children, and great grandchildren.

So, just like how Hill Farmstead has significant history, reasoning, and background in naming their beer after their great aunt, I have some significance in drinking a pint in fond memory of my own Florence. And while sitting alone at Pizza Boy, drinking this, I recalled all the great memories of my dear Florence, just like I imagine the brewers / owners of Hill Farmstead do whenever they drink a bottle of this as well.

With any labor of love, especially one in honor of someone, you know there is going to be an extra level of craftsmanship involved. And this is certainly no exception. And I will do my best to provide it with a fantastic beer review that it deserves. And with a fine beer comes a fine review (hopefully, fingers crossed, I’ll let you be the judge of that).

Beer: Florence
Brewery: Hill Farmstead Brewery
Dated: 8.22.19
Style: Farmhouse Ale – Saison
ABV: 5.2%
IBU: None
Untappd Write-Up: Florence (1915-1967) was our grandfather’s sister, and Hill Farmstead Brewery rests upon the land that was once home to her and her 13 siblings. In her honor, this Belgian inspired Wheat ale is crafted from American malted barley, Organic Vermont wheat, European and American hops, our distinctive farmhouse yeast and water from our well. It is unfiltered and naturally carbonated. Soft, cloudy, and fresh, this is the ale that I dream to have shared with Florence.

I got to try this on tap / draft at Pizza Boy – Al’s of Hampden. Normally this comes in the large bomber style bottles. I will have to pick up a bottle of this to try it that way as well (as well as to keep a bottle of it for the office shelf).

Appearance is a light yellow golden sun coloring. Its bright, its yellow, and its lovely looking. It looks like a farmhouse ale, a saison, or berliner weisse. There is a thin head to it with nice carbonation that left beautiful lacing on the glass. The head had good retention and small thin bubbles. The bright yellow sparkled in the lighting on the patio area of Al’s. It’s cloudy, obviously unfiltered, and not transparent at all.

Aroma was full of various notes. Wheaty, hoppy, yeasty, notes of the tartness, you can smell the tart, you can smell the wheat, you can smell the hops, the distinct house yeast strain of Hill Farmstead, you can smell the grain, the well water. All extremely distinctive and noticeable. Some slight spice notes, like coriander, almost witbier esque. There is quite a bit of a Belgian nose to this, with the coriander and other spices note. Belgians have such a distinctive and quantifiable nose to them and this is certainly no exception.

First sip is an exquisite joy. You get saison. You get Belgian. You get witbier. You get wheat blonde. You get so much and more, all straight out of the gate, first sip, explosion, 0 to 60 in .00001 seconds. You immediately get a rich, full beer in the first sip. You pick up the Belgian in-house yeast strain, the organic wheat native to their farm, all with the underlying tart funkyness that comes with the saison. Slight tartness. Whole lotta farmhouse. You pick up some of the Belgian spices, coriander, orange rind, you get some deep wheat, barley, and a great water backbone to it. Nothing thin or light about this. Its full bodied, unfiltered, and its powerful. For only 5.2% you get a ton of taste. Remember folks – ABV does not equate taste. Low ABV can be still full of high octane taste, and with some (lesser) breweries high ABV doesn’t mean full taste or body either. (Sadly.) But thats not the case here, this is low ABV and high taste. A perfect combination to let you enjoy a TON of these bad boys while hanging around a farm, just taking in the view, and talking about old times with older family members. This would be the perfect backporch sipper with family listening to old family stories, of a great grandma or a great aunt, their tales of growing up on a farm, getting up at 6AM to milk the cows, feed the chickens, get the eggs, etc.

This beer is why you hear so much about Hill Farmstead Brewery. Why its a top destination and even more so a top brewery. Why they are so proclaimed and why people are so enamored with them. You can tell the level of care and love that goes into their beers just by sipping this beer, by reading its description, by seeing the presentation of the bottle.

My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 4.22 (as of 1.30.20)

Today is my last day off (Thursdays are my Sundays, Wednesdays are my Saturdays), so I will probably do the next of the Tree House beers before going to D. Scott’s to do the next podcast tonight. So far in the Tree House Series, I have done Sap, Autumn, and Haze. This evening I’ll (hopefully, fingers crossed) do Julius, and perhaps tomorrow will do my final one – Doppelganger.

I also welcome you to check out some other recent articles we’ve done – like our massive Brewery Review / Visit to Mellow Mink and the subsequent beer review of Scarlet Sunrise: Blackberry and Blueberry.

Also, in sad news, I did a recent article about Crystal Ball Brewing’s (from York, PA) closing. Sadly it seems we’re due for more of these happenings in the upcoming year. I hate to seee breweries close, people lose money, dreams, and jobs, but sadly it seems we’re heading for this in a fair bit of time.

I was just at Boneshire Brew Works last night playing Rad 80’s Trivia with my sister and brother-in-law to celebrate his birthday (so shout out to Amado, happy birthday). They had a new stout on, and I might be doing a review of that soon. Or Pink Hippo, another new beer of theirs. Or maybe both. But either way, you can check out some beer reviews of theirs I have done: The Hog, Dillston, Harrishire, Tried and True (Mango), and Iscariot.

I might also do a small write-up about the Hummelstown Winter Fling that me and Lily (my 10 year old daughter) went to, where I got to try some beers, and the Liquid Noise goings-on Saturday night. But I might save that, since talking with Brad Moyer, we might be doing a bigger, more in-depth article, so I might just wait for that.

Either way, lots of stuff going on here at The Beer Thrillers, so please be sure to like, subscribe, follow us, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Cheers everyone!

-B. Kline

Want to take a trip with us? A journey along Harrisburg? C’mon, it’ll be fun. You get to hang out with me, and my buddy, and we basically do nothing but chat about Star Wars, The Mandalorian, Coen Brothers movies, how we were so disappointed by the sequel trilogy, about the blog, about the podcasts, we run into other friends, chat with bar patrons, and generally have a good time.

So why not join us? We hit several stops in the Harrisburg area. Not as many as originally wanted, and not all of the places we wanted, but we jumped around, had some fun, and called it a day and were happy. So no complaints there! Can never be upset with a day out with friends, beer, and no stress. Plus…. we got to pet a baby corgi… so there’s that too!

I have written a bit, here on this blog, and for Breweries in PA, as well as the Let Us Drink Beer blog about the breweries around Hershey and Harrisburg and Hummelstown Pennsylvania. Mostly recap articles on the locations, taps, places, atmosphere, beers, etc. The bigger – main article can be found here: “Breweries Around the Outskirts of Harrisburg“. The blog post that is primarily a link to the Breweries in PA article with a few bits of new information can be found here: “Touring Through the Breweries that Surround Harrisburg“. The actual Breweries in PA article is here: “Breweries Around Harrisburg (BiPA)“. And of course, the last article of the series, the larger one yet – that also delves into the breweries of Hershey PA can be found here on the blog Let Us Drink Beer: “Breweries Around Hershey and Harrisburg PA.” I do guest work and contribute to the Let Us Drink Beer blog, so make sure you check them out and my other articles there, like my review of the Pretoria Fields Collective Walker Station Stout. (I also did a review of it here for my blog: Walker Station Stout. For more information on Let Us Drink Beer’s Blog and to just check them out, their blog home page can be found here: “Let Us Drink Beer“.)

Lets start off with the pre-adventure details. First off, the events of this day occurred on December 27th, 2019. A Friday – and my day off (my days off are Thursdays and Fridays for now, before they change soon after the new year). Having worked the week, including Christmas, and spending the night of Christmas with family, and then spending Thursday with more family, Friday was a day for me and friends. I still got some crucial stuff done pre-noon, I finished reading a chapter book with my youngest daughter, I got the Autumn beer review blog up, did some minor editing on the Sap Beer Review and The Hog beer review (website formatting changes) and I walked my dog. So, noontime, dog home, I shower up, and head out to Boneshire Brew Works to meet up with Drew for the first leg of our trip.

(A final in-line, late note, just before publishing this, instead of listing the beers with the brewery we had them at, I decided to put them at the end, categorized by brewery / location and gave bare-bones information from Untappd on them. I’ll leave my rating with them as well, but not go into a full break-down beer review of them. So if you wish just to see what Drew and I drank, you can jump to the end of the article.)

As anyone who knows me and has read this blog, Boneshire Brew Works is typically home base of operations. Its about three-five minutes from my house, right by Rutter’s, right off of Nye’s Road and on Derry Street. Close enough for my friend Drew to meet us there, and its also not too far out from where Dan lives (near Breski’s Beverage). A lot of other friends are close by too, from the Hummelstown, Middletown, and Harrisburg areas. Even from Hershey – its not a stretch of a drive. So its always a great place to meet up; plus the beer is superb, the atmosphere is nice, the bartenders and beertenders all know us, and its just a great place to hang out.

I got there about five minutes before Drew, and ordered the newest beer on the menu – The 2019 Holiday Reserve. A tradition now, at Boneshire, its always a glorious beer to end the year on. One of a handful of great NE-IPA style beers in the area, its usually one of the best, and always fantastic straight from the tap. And this year’s was no exception. After Drew gets there he orders the same, and we spend a good twenty minutes nursing our first beer of the day at lunch-time while discussing the intricacies of Star Wars; including The Mandalorian’s season finale (which had just dropped that morning), as well as how bad Rise of Skywalker was and the sequel trilogy as a whole, how bad the prequel trilogy was, how there’s now more bad to good movies in the Star Wars canon, how some of the books fit into the movies, etc.

We also talked about the next jump on the tour – The Vegetable Hunter, about them teaming up with the Harris Family, and other things beer related in the area. We discussed maybe checking out the BBQ place that is home to Pizza Boy’s secondary location; but decided to skip it, and decided to skip Newfangled Brew Works since with Drew, thats basically home number two. I’ve been to The Vegetable Hunter one time, but quite a long time ago, soon after they added the mini-micro-nano-brewery part to it. So I settle up the tab with James behind the bar, talk a bit about heading on some brewery jumping, and then we’re off to the city proper.

Now, it should be noted, number one, I am horrible at getting to any place. I’ll get there. No doubt about it, but it won’t be right, will consist of wrong turns, driving on one way roads, and being a bit late…. but I’ll get us there. And case in point was getting here. Next thing we know, we’re crossing the bridge and the river and turning around on Erford Road and heading back, finally finding a parking spot in front of the restaurant turned brewery.

I don’t know much about The Vegetable Hunter unfortunately. I do know its a super tiny micro / nano – brewery, and I know that Tim Myers is the head brewer. He is also the head brewer for River Bend Hop Farm – you can check out a review of their Dry Irish Stout I did. I was there at their brewery a year ago (on the 28th, it came up in my ‘memories’). Fantastic brewery and facility and the beers were great. Tim definitely produces some great beers.

I’m not vegan or vegetarian, and neither is Drew. So we didn’t order anything to eat. (Not saying you HAVE to be vegan or vegetarian to eat there, but its more likely to appeal to those who are.) Not sure if they do flights of beer there or not, I think they might, but the two kids behind the food counter who were finishing up an order for the family that was in the place eating (six or seven people with a small child) and doing a lot of cleaning (dishes / glasses) didn’t mention it. We each ordered a pint. I ordered the Brother of Thor! and Drew ordered Today’s Tom Sawyer. Their on-screen board listed only four beers. But their Untappd app lists six. I have also heard (after the fact) that they have an upstairs. Not sure if that was open when we got there or not, but they probably have more taps up there.

Brother of Thor! was tasty and delicious. Drew also said the Today’s Tom Sawyer was also good. Both are IPAs and were neither super hoppy or super bitter, but also not NE-IPAs. We would both recommend them to anyone traveling in the area. Can’t say anything about the food (sorry), but we both enjoyed our beers, the relaxed, hipster, like atmosphere, and overall thought it was a pleasant time there. We didn’t stay long, (not long enough to use our full hour of parking meter time – 3$, right in front of the restaurant), but we enjoyed our beer, and chatting, and stayed for probably twenty – thirty minutes.

After leaving, we decided the next stop would be The Millworks, since its close by. Did a few turns here and there and parked next to the Market. And went inside to the Millworks, which even at 2:30-3PM was pretty full with the bar nearly packed (luckily found two seats together) with lots of people eating.

Sidled ourselves up to the bar and plopped down. Ordered myself a flight, Drew ordered a pint, and got himself the brisket pizza. Drew typically always does pints rather than flights, and I typically will do flights whenever possible – to try as much as I can. Especially if its a venue I’m not likely to get to all that often.

My flight consisted of Winter Saison, Cherrywood Rauchbier, Kiwi Berry Gose, Triple IPA. Drew ordered the Market Day Session IPA.

Once we ordered and he ordered his food, the pizza arrived pretty quickly. I enjoyed the Saison, the Rauchbier was a nice, smokey, malty tasty drink, the Gose was a little bland, and not quite as interesting as I’d hope, but the Triple IPA made up for it and was very tasty, juicy, and hoppy. Drew enjoyed his Market Day IPA (I had it once before and found it enjoyable myself).

Drew said the brisket pizza was delicious. While here, we discussed various ongoing TV shows that we are still watching and looking forward to of upcoming seasons, like Fargo, HBO’s Righteous Gems, and of course still The Mandalorian. We broke down Coen Brothers movies, like A Serious Man, The Big Lebowski, Fargo, and talked about how interesting it was for that show to be made (the Fargo show). We also talked about upcoming podcasts including me and Esteban doing one about LOST, a show which Drew had never watched.

While closing out and debating how far to stray from Harrisburg and getting texts from Dan Arndt that he’s getting off work and wants to jump in on the festivities, the bartender pointed out that it was 4:15PM and that The Sturgis Speakeasy was doing their happy hour from 4-6. So since Dan usually likes to meet up at ZeroDay when in the city, we figured we’d stay local, hit up Sturgis, then meet him over there. So off we were to a “pit stop” on the brewery tour.

A hop skip away from The Millworks we found ourselves good parking beside The Sturgis Speakeasy and headed in. They had a nice tap list including several noticeably good beers, quite a few New Trail Brewing Co. beers on tap, and a pretty good bottle and can listing. Drew asked for one of the bottles on the list and was told they just sold out, and so he then settled on the New Trail Porter – Sunset. I ordered the NE IPA Goggles from New Trail which everyone has been raving about in various Facebook beer groups I’m in.

You can’t go wrong with New Trail, they seemingly haven’t made a bad or even mediocre beer yet (at least that I’ve had). I’ve had several from them before – Broken Heels, Double Broken Heels, Corvus, and I believe a sour of theirs that name eludes me at the moment. Goggles was another fantastic New England style IPA, this time a Double Imperial New England IPA. At 8.8% ABV it does give you a good punch and with the large pour at Sturgis it was really good. For my second beer I got the Porter, which was a very nice chocolate porter. Not too overpowering, not too heavy chocolate, pretty much just the right amount. A nice mixture of flavors and complexities to keep it tasty.

On the background TVs was an English Premier League soccer (or “football”) game. A roar went up at one point from the denizens of the bar as the one team scored, and me and Drew talked about my years playing and coaching soccer. Also discussed Christian Pulisic a bit and how I grew up knowing the family due to his father – Mark Pulisic – and his days playing for the Harrisburg Heat. Christian is a great kid, and Mark was a great player, coach, and all around guy. His wife (and Christian’s mom) Kelly is also a wonderful person. So its so great to see the family achieve so much success. Hopefully it also translates to the US Men’s Team finally getting better and possibly winning a World Cup some day (obviously not the next one…. ….since we didn’t even qualify….. ugh……). Side note here: if you ever want to discuss soccer – make sure you see Owen, bartender for Boneshire Brew Works, the men has forgotten more about soccer (due to concussions) than most people will ever know. Plus he’s a great dude, especially after a few.

Nearing our end at the speakeasy a nearby bar patron started chatting us up about local Harrisburg politics, and all kinds of manner of other things. Now, me and Drew will often get chatty about politics, philosophy, religion, etc – but only with ourselves, and more quiet, …and usually when we’re a lot more drunk. We tend to not jump into these kind of conversations with people we don’t know, because well… you never know how the conversations are going to go, and typically we like to follow the bar rule of “No Religion. No Politics. No Gender.” discussions. But we allowed him to talk to us about it, and we stayed neutral and listened. (Always remain neutrality when listening, always the best case scenario.)

We paid up, said goodbye to the friendly bartender lady who was very nice, and chatted to us a bit about The Mandalorian (noticing a theme with our day yet?), as well as Netflix and other TV in general, thanked her for the good beer, and we were on our way to ZeroDay.

We park back behind Midtown Cinema and head into ZeroDay. Finding a spot at the bar we jump up, Drew orders the Financial Panther, and I get myself a flight. I also try their hard seltzer, one of the first craft brewery hard seltzers I’ve had. And I just have to say…. the style does nothing for me. No White Claws for me, no Truly Hard Seltzers, just… nope. White Claws mean no Laws is BS and I stand by it. I’ve never been a fan of carbonated water or seltzer to begin with, so making it slightly alcoholic doesn’t do enough for me. The first time I tried a hard seltzer was at Ffej of July this year from Karl Larson’s group. This was my first time trying it from a craft brewery.

My flight consisted of: Accidental Fluffer, Grievance, Smooth Metal, Mister Bubz, North St. Stout, and ZeroDay Dunkel. With an additional taster of plain Automatic Refresher (the hard seltzer).

We hung out inside for about fifteen minutes before our friend Youngblood and his girlfriend arrived. After about another five or so minutes Dan arrived, but had to stay outside because he had his corgi with him – Domino Thunderthighs. And yes, thats its actual name, and yes, the dog is totally a babe magnet and the most adorable thing since Baby Yoda – The Child. So we went outside and hung out at the picnic table, and watched the slow human avalanche of people finding out theres a nine month old corgi outside as they all came out to pet him and either go back in or head to their cars. Even the bartenders took turns coming outside to pet the dog.

Outside was a nice brisk evening, and we stayed out there til 9PM. Youngblood does stand up comedy work for various places, so we chatted some about that, his upcoming shows, some bits, we talked with Dan about his work (lung respiratory nurse), talked about our jobs (Drew as bartender, me at the casino, etc.), we talked about dogs (my border collie Leela and my new pitbull / black lab mix – Tink), Dan’s two dogs the corgi Domino Thunderthighs and his other dog Indiana Bones. Dan talked about his latest trip with his fiance Kat at Tree House Brewing Company where he brought back the beers I’ve done reviews of – Sap and Autumn. Talked about the places we stopped at today – Boneshire Brew Works, The Vegetable Hunter, and The Millworks. Talked about local breweries in general, places like Iron Hill, Troegs, Moo-Duck, Cox Brewing, The Vineyard and Brewery at Middletown, and Spring Gate.

We got into our normal shenanigans and revelry and had a good time hanging out together. Killing an afternoon / evening. At about 915 or so, we discussed evening plans, I had to take Drew back to Boneshire Brew Works for him to get his car and I was gonna head home, Dan, Youngblood, and Youngblood’s girlfriend were going back to their apartment after Dan dropped off his dog. As usual partings go, we cleaned up and took our glasses back in, gave our goodbyes to each other, walked to our cars and left. Knowing we’ll all be doing this again in a few days most likely, just chilling, relaxing, hanging out, having a good time, and drinking beers at places like ZeroDay or Boneshire or Troegs or at bars like Chick’s, Sturgis Speakeasy, The Manor, Gin Mill, The Boro, Warwick Hotel, etc. There is few things on this planet that are better than hanging out with friends, having fun, laughing, not being stressed by life or cares and just taking care of each other through communal friendship and just being with each other as we drink and bond. Its easily one of the best things about craft breweries is the communal nature of the small local craft breweries. The atmospheres and the venues and the way it brings people together to talk, hang out, have fun, and drink good delicious beers. Not even macro beers at big time bars can deliver the same kind of intimate friendship and kinship that craft breweries can give you, just based on the structure of how different the two are.

After we departed, took Drew back to Boneshire Brew Works and let him get his car. It was 9:45PM and Boneshire was soon closing for the night. Made our safe returns and trips, and had ourselves a fantastic trip basically over Harrisburg and the suburb of it a bit. We got to drink at Boneshire Brew Works, The Vegetable Hunter, The Millworks, The Sturgis Speakeasy, and ZeroDay Brewing. Had great beer, Drew had some great food, lots of great conversations, lot of fun, and much laughter. Was a fantastic day, and a nice leadup to the end of 2019 and the end of a decade and to the start of a new year, new decade, and certainly many more adventures.

As a final note before listing the beers, I started writing this up Sunday December 29th 2019 early in the morning before work, had to go to work, wanted to finish it after work, but had a retirement party for a co-worker at Thoroughbred’s, and after that it was late and I was unable to finish it. So I am now finishing this up (started at 5:30AM when I woke up, and now finishing it at 7AM). And since its December 30th now, I can safely say to Drew happy birthday, as the old man is now 35. So in his honor, make sure you listen to some of his podcasts and mentally give him a shout out and happy birthday.

And now onto the lists!

Boneshire Brew Works:

Beers:

• 2019 Holiday Reserve
• The Hog

Beer: 2019 Holiday Reserve
Brewery: Boneshire Brew Works
Style: IPA – New England
ABV: 8.5%
IBU: None
Untappd Write-Up: What we have here is a small Christmas miracle! This year’s batch of Holiday Reserve is a NEIPA brewed with 12 varieties of hops and copious amounts of Flaked Oats, Wheat, and Barley and clocks in at 8.5% abv. This batch is brewed with Apollo, Cashmere, Columbus, Simcoe, Warrior, Motueka, Amarillo, Azacca, Lemondrop, Citra, El Dorado, and Mosaic. This NEIPA is sure to please everyone for the holidays.
My Untappd Rating: 4.25
Global Untappd Rating: 3.98 (as of 12.30.19)

Beer: The Hog
Brewery: Boneshire Brew Works
Style: IPA – Triple
ABV: 9.8%
IBU: 51
Untappd Write-Up: Our collaboration with Muggers of the year 2018-2019. Mike Luckovich and Dan Ploch dreamed up this big hoppy fruit forward IPA. Brewed with Simcoe, Amarillo, Zythos, and Citra hops.
My Untappd Rating: 4.50
Global Untappd Rating: 4.16 (as of 12.30.19)

The Vegetable Hunter

• Brother of Thor!
• Today’s Tom Sawyer

Beer: Brother of Thor!
Brewery: The Vegetable Hunter
Style: IPA – American
ABV: 6.5%
IBU: 27
Untappd Write-Up: Hoppy IPA with the Viking/Norwegian yeast strain Loki.
My Untappd Rating: 3.50
Global Untappd Rating: 3.67 (as of 12.30.19)

Beer: Today’s Tom Sawyer
Brewery: The Vegetable Hunter
Style: IPA – American
ABV: 5.6%
IBU: 70
Untappd Write-Up: West Coast IPA – Slappin’ da bass hops! Nugget, Equinox, Citra, Amarillo, and Columbus hops.
Drew’s Comments: Good, hoppy, tasty.
Global Untappd Rating: 3.45 (as of 12.30.19)

The Millworks

• Market Day Session IPA
• Winter Saison
• Cherrywood Rauchbier
• Kiwi Berry Gose
• Triple IPA

Beer: Market Day Session IPA
Brewery: The Millworks
Style: IPA – Session / India Session Ale
ABV: 5%
IBU: 30
Untappd Write-Up: Light body, hop forward ale. Orange-golden in color. Floral and citrus in the aroma and flavor. Restrained bitterness that is noticeable but not overwhelming. Easy drinking, lower alcohol session ale.

Malts: Pale, Vienna, Cara Pils

Hops: Nugget, Cascade, Chinook, Crystal
Drew’s Comments: Tasty, crisp.
My Untappd Rating (from previous time): 3.50
Global Untappd Rating: 3.66 (as of 12.30.19)

Beer: Winter Saison
Brewery: The Millworks
Style: Farmhouse Ale – Saison
ABV: 7.9%
IBU: 30
Untappd Write-Up: Medium body, dark spiced farmhouse ale. Deep mahogany in color, lightly spiced with cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, vanilla, and french oak chips. Fermented with spicy belgian saison yeast.
My Untappd Rating: 4.25
Global Untappd Rating: 3.69 (as of 12.30.19)

Beer: Cherrywood Rauchbier
Brewery: The Millworks
Style: Rauchbier
ABV: 5%
IBU: 20
Untappd Write-Up: Classic Rauchbier brewed with local PA Cherry Wood smoked malt. Mild smokiness balanced with sweet bready malt
My Untappd Rating: 3.75
Global Untappd Rating: 3.87 (as of 12.30.19)

Beer: Kiwi Berry Gose
Brewery: The Millworks
Style: Sour – Fruited
ABV: 4%
IBU: None
Untappd Write-Up: PA Preferred beer brewed with Deer Creek Malt and 350 lbs of Kiwi Berries from Threefold Farm
My Untappd Rating: 3.75
Global Untappd Rating: 3.81 (as of 12.30.19)

Beer: Triple IPA
Brewery: The Millworks
Style: IPA – Tripel
ABV: 11.5%
IBU: 80
Untappd Write-Up: Full bodied IPA brewed with Amarillo, El Dorado, and Idaho 7 hops
My Untappd Rating: 4
Global Untappd Rating: 3.96 (as of 12.30.19)

The Sturges Speakeasy

• Goggles
• Sunset

Beer: Goggles
Brewery: New Trail Brewing Co.
Style: IPA – Imperial / Double New England
ABV: 8.8%
IBU: None
Untappd Write-Up: Goggles is a Hazy Double IPA focussing on some of our favorite hops. Brewed with a mixture of wheats and oats. Heavy handedly hopped with Galaxy and Citra. Goggles is excessively fruity and dank.
My Untappd Rating: 4.50
Global Untappd Rating: 4.21 (as of 12.30.19)

Beer: Sunset
Brewery: New Trail Brewing Co.
Style: Porter – Other
ABV: 6%
IBU: None
Untappd Write-Up: Sunset is a Chocolate Porter brewed with layers of dark and chocolate malts, rested on Cacao Nibs from Ghana. Expect a rich porter layered with deep chocolate flavor reflecting both dark and milk chocolates. Brewed for the early winter sunsets and long dark nights.
My Untappd Rating: 4.25
Global Untappd Rating: 3.67 (as of 12.30.19)

ZeroDay Brewing

• Automatic Refresher
• Financial Panther
• Accidental Fluffer
• Grievance
• Smooth Metal
• Mister Bubz
• North St. Stout
• ZeroDay Dunkel

Beer: Automatic Refresher
Brewery: ZeroDay Brewing Co.
Style: Hard Seltzer
ABV: 5%
IBU: 0
Untappd Write-Up: Hard Seltzer brewed for you! We brewed a blank Hard Seltzer and provide the flavors for you to add how you please!
Global Untappd Rating: 3.87 (as of 12.30.19)

Beer: Financial Panther
Brewery: ZeroDay Brewing Co.
Style: IPA – New England
ABV: 6.5%
IBU: 47
Untappd Write-Up: Inspired by the hard work it takes to not only make the beer, but the prowess required to run the business, we are excited to release Financial Panther, our newest IPA double dry hopped with copious amounts of Motueka from New Zealand. With notes of crushed lime and bright citrus, it’s sure to start your weekend right.
Drew’s Comments: Had this before, second favorite from ZeroDay behind Mango Hab
My Untappd Rating (from previous time): 4
Global Untappd Rating: 3.77 (as of 12.30.19)

Beer: Accidental Fluffer
Brewery: ZeroDay Brewing Co.
Style: Malt Liquor
ABV: 6.7%
IBU: None
Untappd Write-Up: A Zeroday holiday classic, Accidental Fluffer is one of our most creative libations. Peppermint flavor and aromas shine in this malt beverage from the addition of pounds of candy canes in the fermenter. This fresh, minty characteristic is complemented by a sweetness derived from a light grain bill, milk sugar, and copious amounts of Marshmallow Fluff.
My Untappd Rating: 3.25
Global Untappd Rating: 3.36 (as of 12.30.19)

Beer: Grievance
Brewery: ZeroDay Brewing Co.
Style: Winter Warmer
ABV: 8.5%
IBU: 15
Untappd Write-Up: (Blank)
My Untappd Rating: 3.75
Global Untappd Rating: 3.83 (as of 12.30.19)

Beer: Smooth Metal
Brewery: ZeroDay Brewing Co.
Style: Red Ale – Other
ABV: 7.3%
IBU: 50
Untappd Write-Up: Smooth Metal showcases a balance between a smooth caramel malt backbone and an assertive floral hop bitterness. The American grown Nugget and Cascade hops provide a classic hop character for this full-bodied ale. Smooth Metal is soft spoken at first, but definitely has a lot to say.
My Untappd Rating: 3.75
Global Untappd Rating: 3.65 (as of 12.30.19)

Beer: Mister Bubz
Brewery: ZeroDay Brewing Co.
Style: Dunkelweizen
ABV: 5.6%
IBU: 16
Untappd Write-Up: Our dunkelweizen is brewed to the traditional German style. This dark wheat ale (“dunkel” means “dark” and “weizen” means “wheat” in German) is a wheat-based beer with dark malt components. While the malt supports a smooth backbone, the yeast is what shines in this beer. Banana and clove aromas and flavors really standout in this dark brown easy-drinking wheat beer.
My Untappd Rating: 3.75
Global Untappd Rating: 3.46 (as of 12.30.19)

Beer: North St. Stout
Brewery: ZeroDay Brewing Co.
Style: Stout – Coffee
ABV: 8.3%
IBU: 5
Untappd Write-Up: A vanilla-latte inspired Stout brewed in collaboration with the Elementary Coffee Co.
My Untappd Rating: 4
Global Untappd Rating: 3.98 (as of 12.30.19)

Beer: ZeroDay Dunkel
Brewery: ZeroDay Brewing Co.
Style: Lager – Munich – Dunkel
ABV: 4.2%
IBU: 20
Untappd Write-Up: Light in body, dark in color, this Munich Dunkel brings forth notes of roasted malts and chocolate.
My Untappd Rating: 3.50
Global Untappd Rating: 3.45 (as of 12.30.19)

Hopefully you enjoyed this travelogue of our jumpings and hoppins around of Harrisburg. Was a fun day for us, and we do this somewhat often (less now as we get older though). Hopefully there will be more articles like this in the future of more different / diverse places like Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, etc. I’m looking forward to 2020 and hoping it has a lot more great breweries in store!

For some other articles and beer reviews and brewery reviews, you can check out these past written articles:

• ZeroDay Beer Review
• The Millworks Beer Review
• November Recap
• Cushwa Brewery Review
• Battlefield Brew Works Brewery Review
• Official BBQ and Burgers – Pizza Boy’s Secondary Location
• The Trip Day 1
• The Trip Day 2
• The Trip Day 3
• Going On The Road
• Midwest Coast Brewery Opening
• Rotunda Brew Pub Opening
  

As always, there is tons of things to see, read, and do here on the blog. You can also head over and listen to the podcasts me and my friends – Drew, Esteban, Dan, Andrew, and Andy all have done and created. We talk about beer, movies, pop culture, TV, you name it. You can see the podcast listings here: So a Mexican and a Scot Walk Into a Bar…

Please help us out with word of mouth, share, like, comment, re-tweet, re-blog, whatever works for you. We love to hear from you guys, so please leave a comment. There is still time to get in what you think was the best beer or breweries of 2019, as I’m hoping to have that article fully done and up before the end of 2019. Fingers crossed!

Thank you for reading this long, rambling, blog post. I know its a bit different than some of our past articles. I’m looking to try and expand what all this blog has to offer, so there’ll be tons of different times of articles to read in the future. Not just beer reviews, but brewery reviews, beer related book reviews, home brewing articles, hop growing articles, beer event reviews, news, brewery opening news, travelogues, and so much more!

I have a packed schedule coming up. Looking like at the end of the day on New Years Day I’ll be doing a LOST podcast, Seasons 1 and 2, and then on January 2nd, me and Josh are traveling to Mellow Mink to do a write-up and have some fun with the head brewer Matt Miller. So be on the look out for that. That should be lots of fun!

I also just want to give a shout out – we just hit 100 Followers on Twitter. Thank you all so much for subscribing and following us on Twitter! If you aren’t following us already, you can click here: The Beer Thrillers on Twitter and follow us. That way you won’t miss any great announcements, pictures, and updates! You can also follow us on Facebook at: The Beer Thrillers on Facebook. Thank you everyone!

As always, thank you everyone for reading, and cheers, and Happy New Year!

-B. Kline