Rubber Soul Brewing - The Beer Thrillers

Rubber Soul Brewing to Open New Taproom Saturday

B. Kline — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 15:18:30 +0000

Rubber Soul Taproom Exterior (photo courtesy of Rubber Soul Brewing)

Rubber Soul Brewing to Open New Taproom Saturday

This Saturday – June 22nd, 2024, Rubber Soul Brewing is set to open their brand new taproom on North Hanover Street, in Hummelstown PA.

After quite a while building the brand new building (and not without some town controversy) the opening is right around the corner. The new taproom will also host their brewery in the lower level (visible from the giant parking lot). Their original location will now just be a full restaurant and taproom. (See: A Sneak Peek at Rubber Soul Brewery.)

Original Location

Rubber Soul Brewing was originally intending to open their first location in Hummelstown around March of 2020, but with the pandemic, things got pushed back, and they finally held their grand opening in October of 2020. Their current location is in the old Hummelstown Police and Borough Building, located at 136 S Hanover St, Hummelstown, PA 17036.

The current plan for the original location is that they have removed the brewing production from the location to their new brewery facility and taproom, and extending the seating and restaurant.

New Location

Rubber Soul Brewing’s New Taproom Interior (photo courtesy of Rubber Soul Brewing)

The new location is located at 17 N Hanover St, Hummelstown, PA 17036, just 0.3 miles north of their current taproom (on the same street). The new facility took over an old warehouse that formerly sat on the property, as well as Maritza’s House of Style, which they had removed for extra parking. The new taproom has their brewing facility on the lower level, and the upper level features a deck and patio area that faces the 7-11 across the street and some abandoned buildings / businesses.

Hummelstown is currently in the midst of a big tourism push, including the mayor, the governor, and other officials and board members (some of which are involved with Rubber Soul Brewing). At a town meeting where they got permission to bulldoze the Maritza House of Style (despite having full ownership technically as per law at the time), Rubber Soul Brewing stated that their parking lot would be usable by the public for events in town including the parades, carnivals, as well as parking for other Main Street square activities (2nd Friday’s, Memorial Day, etc.)

Another interior shot of the new Rubber Soul Brewing taproom (photo courtesy of Rubber Soul Brewing)

Opening on Saturday – June 22nd, 2024

Rubber Soul Brewing’s Promotional Piece for their Grand Opening

The grand opening for the new taproom and facility will be on Saturday, June 22nd, 2024.

Get ready to tap into the excitement with us at Rubber S𝗢ul’s brand new Tap Room opening weekend! We are so excited to share our newest space with the community – Stay tuned for our upcoming summer hours

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗱:

𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆: 𝟰-𝟭𝟬𝗽𝗺

𝗪𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗪𝗮𝘆 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘄𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀

𝗠𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗴𝘇

𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆: 𝟯-𝟵𝗽𝗺

𝗥𝘂𝗯𝗯𝗶𝗻’ 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘆𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗕𝗕𝗤

𝟮𝟭 𝗡 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘁 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗹𝘀𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗻, 𝗣𝗮 𝟭𝟳𝟬𝟯𝟲

Come check out the new space & grab a brew with us in celebration this weekend!

#RubberSoulBrewing #NewTapRoom #RSBTapRoom #HummelstownPa #CentralPa #OpeningWeekend #RubberSoulBeer #WeekendPlans #CelebrationTime

Rubber Soul Brewing Company – Facebook Post

A quick map from their current location to their new location: From Rubber Soul Brewery to Rubber Soul Brewing Company’s New Taproom. Their current location is still not listed on Google Maps. The old warehouse which was removed was listed as 17 North Hanover Street. As per their Facebook post their brewery’s address will be “21 North Hanover Street”.

Rubber Soul Brewing Company was originally a brewery located in Salisbury Maryland. They were bought and are now owned by Ghost Brewing LLC. They were bought whole-stock, meaning the equipment, recipes, and social media passcodes and usage were all part of their purchase.

More Information on Rubber Soul

The following comes via Untappd.

They are listed as a brew pub from Hummelstown, PA. They have 123 unique beers and over 51,000 ratings, with a global average rating of 3.77 (as of 6.21.24). Their Untappd description reads: “We are pumping the air back into the tires of Rubber Soul Brewing Company. New location, new owners, new (and familiar) beer…same old sOul! In this world of instant gratification, superficial “likes” and followers instead of friends, we think it’s more important than ever to find your sOul. See, more and more often, people are so focused on doing what’s ‘right’ by someone else’s standards, obsessed with how other view them that they forget who they are. They give and give and give, follow all of the rules and do all of the ‘right’ things, until one day they wake up and realize their empty. Spend 5 minutes on social media and you will see countless bright pictures of smiling faces, but how many of us are genuinely satisfied? We’re talking deep, within your sOul, fire blazing, satisfied. At Rubber Soul, our mission is to refuel each and every sOul that walks through our doors. Our craft beer and local vibe is the end result of people who decided to just go for it and follow their passion, regardless of the opinion of others. We look forward to welcoming you to our brewery. No judgements. No impossible standards. #NoFilter. All that we require is that you do a little sOul searching.”

You can find them on these social media platforms:

Brewery News

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

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Rubber Soul Brewing Supporting and Hosting World Down Syndrome Day

B. Kline — Mon, 21 Mar 2022 12:32:26 +0000

World Down Syndrome Day at Rubber Soul Brewing Company in Hummelstown, PA

World Down Syndrome Day

March 21st is World Down Syndrome Day, and Rubber Soul Brewing Company in Hummelstown is supporting and celebrating the cause. World Down Syndrome Day was started by the World Down Syndrome Day Organization which you can find more information about here: World Down Syndrome Day Organization (Home Page).

From their page:

‘What is Down Syndrome?’

Down syndrome (or Trisomy 21) is a naturally occurring chromosomal arrangement that has always been a part of the human condition, being universally present across racial, gender or socioeconomic lines in approximately 1 in 800 live births, although there is considerable variation worldwide. Down syndrome usually causes varying degrees of intellectual and physical disability and associated medical issues. Learn more at DSi.
World Down Syndrome Day – What is Down Syndrome?

‘What is World Down Syndrome Day?’

World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) , 21 March, is a global awareness day which has been officially observed by the United Nations since 2012. The date for WDSD being the 21st day of the 3rd month, was selected to signify the uniqueness of the triplication (trisomy) of the 21st chromosome which causes Down syndrome.
World Down Syndrome Day – What is World Down Syndrome Day?

Rubber Soul Brewing Company Supporting World Down Syndrome Day

Rubber Soul Brewing Company Hosts World Down Syndrome Day on 3.21.22 at their Hummelstown PA Brewery

Rubber Soul Brewing Company is hosting World Down Syndrome Day at their brewery in Hummelstown Pennsylvania, all day Monday 3.21.22. From 11AM to 9PM. They have a whole host of things going on for the day, which you can see here (from their Event page):

Join us on Monday, March 21st to celebrate World Down Syndrome Day for the first annual 3.21 FOR LIFE event! 3.21 FOR LIFE is a non-profit organization that was created by a group of individuals in the Hershey/Hummelstown area who have personal connections to individuals with Down syndrome. To help raise awareness and funds, we have brewed DOWN the Hatch IPA and 50% of the proceeds will be donated to 3.21 For Life! You will be able to purchase this beer on March 21st on draft and in 4 packs to-go! Throughout the day we will have games, raffles, and live bands performing. The PA Dairyman’s Milkshake Truck will also be stopping by from 12-4PM! Mark your calendar and we hope to see you there to celebrate all those with down syndrome CAN do!
Live Band Schedule:
11-11:50AM: The Riders
12-12:50PM: Thomas Emond (Tommy B)
1-1:50PM: Joe Cooney & Friends
2-2:50PM: Amber Nadine
3-3:50PM: Mr. Music
4-4:50PM: Dave Gates
5-5:50PM: Jake Mach
6-7:00PM: Hold Fast
For more information, please visit www.321forlife.com
Rubber Soul Brewing Hosts World Down Syndrome Day

You can view their event page here: Rubber Soul Brewing Hosts World Down Syndrome Day (Event Page).

On 3.14.22 Rubber Soul posted on their Facebook page:

Down the Hatch by Rubber Soul Brewing Company

1 WEEK UNTIL WORLD DOWN SYNDROME DAY AND OUR INAUGURAL 3.21 FOR LIFE EVENT! can you tell we are really excited?! because we are REALLY excited. the second batch of pre-order for our DOWN the Hatch IPA is being picked up tonight and it’s our final team meeting to iron out day-of details like our raffle items, games, live bands and more! plan to join us next Monday from 11AM-9PM to help us celebrate all of the amazing individuals with Down syndrome and their DOWN right awesome abilities!
Rubber Soul Brewing Company – Facebook

Down the Hatch

Down the Hatch is a New England style hazy IPA that will be released today on 3.21.22 and is named in honor of the World Down Syndrome Day and in support of Down Syndrome. The beer is fully called – 3.21 Down the Hatch.

You will be able to get it in 4 packs and on draft all day on 3.21, and if any makes it past the day (I am not expecting it to last too long after 3.21). This looks like another high quality New England style IPA from Rubber Soul, which has made some fantastic IPAs in the past with Nimbus, Dropout, their Frosted series, and others.

Rubber Soul Brewing Company

Rubber Soul Brewing Company is located in Hummelstown Pennsylvania along South Hanover Street in what was formerly the police station in town. They have been there just over a year, having originally started in Salsbury Maryland.

For more information on the brewery, you can check out our articles on them:

They were a finalist (made it to the final triple threat face off) in our last year’s Battle of the Breweries. This year, they are currently in Round 3 going up against Crooked Run Fermentation. You can vote for them here:

The Battle of the Breweries – Round 3 Voting

You can find out more information on Rubber Soul here:

Thanks For Reading

Thanks for reading everyone! Hopefully I’ll get to see some of you there tonight. I will be going after work to meet my mom there for dinner and beer. So I probably won’t be getting there til 7PM’ish. My mom helps teach students with disabilities and learning support issues for Lower Dauphin (the school district of Hummelstown and other nearby townships) and is looking forward to getting to support the organization.

Hopefully you all will be able to come out and support and donate as well! See you there!

Cheers!

-B. Kline

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

Rubber Soul’s One Year Anniversary Bash

BKline — Mon, 06 Sep 2021 22:55:00 +0000

Rubber Soul is Celebrating Its First Year Anniversary in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania

It’s Time to Celebrate

It’s certainly been a very interesting first year for the (new) Rubber Soul Brewery in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania. Opening amidst a pandemic, and not only just opening – but surviving and thriving in this difficult new environment for restaurants (including a shutdown around Christmas time), this past – and their first – year has certainly had its set of challenges. Its up and downs. Thats for sure.

So its time to celebrate! On October 3rd, at their Hummelstown Brewery – Rubber Soul Brewing Company is throwing their 1st Year Anniversary Bash!

Year One Anniversary Bash

On October 3rd, 2021, from 11AM to 9PM, Rubber Soul is celebrating, and their celebrating big. With live music, new beers on tap, and a loaded brewery. The brewery is located at: 136 S Hanover St, Hummelstown, PA 17036-2207, United States. The event lasts from 11AM to 9PM with the first music act kicking off at 1:30PM, and the beers going on tap at 11AM.

The following is their Facebook Event page listing:

Event by Rubber Soul Brewing136 S Hanover St, Hummelstown, PA 17036-2207, United StatesPublic · Anyone on or off FacebookJoin us as we celebrate YEAR 1 with live music, good beer and good food from 11:00AM-9:00PM! Live music:
1:30-3:00PM – The Faves (https://www.facebook.com/thefavesacousticpa)
3:30-5:00PM – Dave McCullough (https://www.mcculloughmusic.net/)
5:30-7:00PM – Pair of Aces (https://www.facebook.com/AcesDuo)Beer:
We will be releasing three new brews just for the party! Year 1 – India Pale Ale – 7.4%, Anniversary IPA brewed with Citra, Mosaic and Idaho #7. Citrusy, tropical and smooth. Hummelsfest Lager – Festbier – 6.1%
Notes of fresh baked bread and dry earthy undertones pave the way for a toasty clean crisp finish. Perfect for a cool Fall day. House Pumpkin Porter – Spiced Porter – 5.8%
Roasty, bold and smooth with just the right amount of pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spices. Like taking your first bite of pumpkin pie.Call us at 717-220-1741 or email us at drinkingbuds@rubbersoulbrewing.com to make a reservation! For more information, visit www.rubbersoulbrewing.com/events
One Year Anniversary Bash – Rubber Soul Event Page

Live Music, New Beers, and a Stein

Live Music For the Celebration

The above pictures show you the music line – up for the ‘anniversary shindig’. You have ‘The Faves’ kicking things off at 1:30PM, and then Dave McCullough taking over at 3:30PM, and finally ‘Pair of Aces’ takes “the stage” at 5:30PM.

They are also releasing three beers for the celebration. They are:

Hummelfest – this is a Festbier that released when they first opened and was only available for a little bit of time a year ago. “Notes of fresh baked bread and dry earthy undertones pave the way for a toasty clean crisp finish. Perfect for a cool Fall day.” 6.1%
Year 1 IPA – “Anniversary IPA brewed with Citra, Mosaic and Idaho #7. Citrusy, tropical and smooth.” 7.4%
House Pumpkin Porter – “Roasty, bold and smooth with just the right amount of pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spices. Like taking your first bite of pumpkin pie.” 5.8%

To go along with the great (and free) music, as well as three new beers on tap, they are releasing a commemorative stein you can purchase at the brewery that gives you a free fill.

The One Year Anniversary Bash commemorative stein

Rubber Soul Brewery will be selling these pretty steins for 20$ on October 3rd. If you purchase it at the brewery you get your first fill for free. (For more information and details you can check out their events page. Link provided below.) You can also order it online through their website.

Celebration

Can’t wait for the event! Its been a long, winding, arduous, fun, hard, and tough year, for not just Rubber Soul, and Hummelstown, but for everyone. It’s time to enjoy the fall weather, enjoy some great live music, wonderful food, fantastic beers, and great company.

Hopefully we’ll get to see you all there!

Cheers!

-B. Kline

Links

The Beer Thriller’s ‘Rubber Soul Articles’:

The Battle of the Breweries (2021) Winner Is….

BKline — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 12:47:54 +0000

The Battle of the Breweries (2021)

It is finally time to announce the winner of the Battle of the Breweries (2021), and what a tournament it was! Obviously, like everything else we do here on The Beer Thrillers, it couldn’t be a normal tournament. Instead of doing regular March Madness style brackets of 32 or 64 (or even smaller ones of 16 or 8), we did 48. So right off the bat, things are going to get odd – ball crazy. With the finals being a Triple Threat that saw Isle of Que Brewing vs. Rubber Soul Brewing Company vs. Troegs Independent Craft Brewing Company, in one epic showdown final!

So without further adieu…..

Your 2021 Battle of the Breweries Champion is….

Isle of Que Brewing

The Que Brew Crew themselves, the new, and possibly undisputed (we haven’t had any disputes yet) champion of The Beer Thriller’s arbitrary Battle of the Breweries (2021), and your people’s champion – The Isle of Que Brewing, straight out of Selinsgrove Pennsylvania.

A huge and massive shout out to them, as they racked up 3,744 votes in the final round to defeat Rubber Soul Brewing Company and Troegs Independent Craft Brewing Company. What an impressive final battle this was too!

The Triple Threat Cage Match

For anyone following along, voting, and checking the results, this was an extremely heated battle. Depending on what time you looked at the results on Saturday and Sunday you could have seen Rubber Soul up by two hundred, or you might have see the Que Brew up by fifty, or as they pulled ahead at the very end on Sunday, the Que Brew jumped to a nearly four hundred vote difference. The battle was extremely heated and intense between Que Brewing and Rubber Soul. Somewhere in this scuffle, Troegs Brewing was left far far and far behind, not sure how that happened, as they consistently got the most votes each round, but sadly, for the finals they only got a total of 90 votes; which in and of itself is a giant shocker.

This was a very fun finals match-up with lots of interesting Facebook and Instagram posts from both Que Brewing and Rubber Soul. Que Brew had a unique and interesting Facebook post each day hyping up the tournament and getting their votes, make sure you head over to their Facebook page to see some of their fun and interesting posts.

The final results and tallies for the Triple Threat Championship is as follows:

The Isle of Que Brewing (third seed) won with 3,744 votes.
Rubber Soul Brewing Company (second seed) came in second place with 3,353 votes.
Troegs Independent Craft Brewing Company (one seed) came in third place with 90 votes.

For a combined total of 7,187 votes.

This was the most votes of any round, and this time with only one question, versus the other rounds which all had more than one question to vote on.

Despite Troegs Brewing poor finals vote count, they were the big dogs going into the match-up against relatively unknown underdog Isle of Que Brewing and the new (opened during the pandemic, version 2.0, rebranding, and moved from Salisbury Maryland to Hummelstown Pennsylvania) Rubber Soul Brewing Company. All three breweries (competitors) did extremely well and deserve their place here in the finals.

The Battle of the Breweries (2021) Results

This was an extremely fun tournament to run and I hope all the breweries, fans of the page, fans of the breweries, and anyone reading the articles had just as much fun with it as we did here at The Beer Thrillers. Yesterday (Sunday, April 4th, 2021, Easter) broke our single day page view on the blog with a whopping 12K+ views. And for that alone, we can’t say thank you enough to everyone who took the time out of their busy lives to visit the blog and vote. Hopefully you all got to look at some of the other articles and liked what you saw here on the blog.

But let’s get to the results, how did we get here?

I already covered the full tournament (minus the finals of course) results in the previous article, where you got to vote, so you can check the results of the tournaments here: “The Battle of the Breweries (2021) – The Triple Threat Finals Match“.

But, let’s look at the road each of our finals competitors took to get to the finals match, and then lets also look at statistics of the tournament as a total.

Isle of Que Brewing Company is The Champion

The Isle of Que Brewing Company (or Que Brew Crew) was the definition of a Cinderella and was akin to a 16 seed in the NCAA March Madness tournament winning. What an incredible road they had to get to their finals victory!

In the first round they defeated Jackie O’s Brewery – as the 11th seed defeating the 2nd seed – 146 votes to 31 votes.

(After each round of voting, the tournament was reseeded, so it wasn’t a strict bracket like March Madness or others.)

In the second round they defeated Pizza Boy Brewing Company – as the 11th seed defeating the 2nd seed – 193 votes to 141 votes.

In the third round they defeated Fourscore Beer Company – as the 12th seed defeating the 1st seed – 149 votes to 115 votes.

In the fourth round they defeated Rotunda Brewing Company – as the 6th seed defeating the 1st seed – 212 votes to 79 votes.

In the finals, they were the 3rd seed vs. Rubber Soul (2nd seed) and Troegs Brewing (1st) seed, and won with 3,744 votes.

Total votes for the tournament for Isle of Que Brewing was: 4,444. Quite the impressive number!

Rubber Soul Brewing Company – Second Place

Rubber Soul Brewing Company had a fantastic run and came in second place in the tournament. They had some stiff competition along the way to their second place finals finish as well.

In the first round they defeated Breaker Brewing – as the 10th seed defeating the 3rd seed – 65 votes to 57 votes.

In the second round they defeated Moo-Duck Brewing – as the 9th seed defeating the 4th seed – 168 votes to 116 votes.

In the third round they defeated Dewey Beer Company – as the 11th seed defeating the 2nd seed – 182 votes to 65 votes.

In the fourth round they defeated Ever Grain Brewing – as the 5th seed defeating the 2nd seed – 154 votes to 106 votes.

And in the finals (as the 2nd seed) they lost to Isle of Que Brewing. They had 3,353 votes in the final.

Rubber Soul Brewing Company’s total vote count was: 4,102.

Troegs Independent Craft Brewing Company grabs the bronze

Troegs Brewing is definitely one of the juggernauts of Pennsylvania Brewing, and were a very heavy favorite for this tournament as well (which also saw breweries from New York, Ohio, Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Indiana). Despite their poor showing in the finals, they still had a very impressive tournament run.

In the first round they defeated Saucony Creek Brewing Company – as the 4th seed defeating the 9th seed – 48 votes to 9 votes.

In the second round they defeated Swiftwater Brewing Company – as the 5th seed defeating the 8th seed – 126 votes to 32 votes.

In the third round they defeated Urban Artifact – as the 8th seed defeating the 5th seed – 145 votes to 96 votes.

In the fourth round they defeated Boneshire Brew Works – as the 4th seed defeating the 3rd seed – 143 votes to 117 votes.

In the finals they came up short with third place and only 90 votes.

Troegs Craft Independent Brewing’s total vote count was: 552 votes.

Tournament Statistics

The total vote count for our three finalists were 9,098 votes. The total vote count for the entire tournament was 16,640 votes. (Out of 46 questions, which means the average vote to question was 361.7391304).

(Copy and pasted results from the previous article: The Triple Threat Match).

Now let’s take a look at the round per round results…

Round One Results

Voting statistics:

Total votes for round one: 3422
Total votes for Triple H Division: 388
Total votes for Ric Flair Division: 305
Total votes for HEELs conference: 693
Total “upsets” (any higher seed defeating a lower seed) in HEELs conference: 2
Total votes for Stone Cold Steve Austin Division: 870
Total votes for The Rock Division: 823
Total votes for FACEs conference: 1693
Total “upsets” (any higher seed defeating a lower seed) in FACEs conference: 7

Upsets:

HEELs Conference:

Gearhouse Brewing Company (9) defeating Levity Brewing (4)
Desperate Times Brewing Company (10) defeating Yellow Bridge Brewing (3)
Chatty Monks Brewing (7) defeating Cox Brewing Company (6)

FACEs Conference:

Three Heads Brewing (11) defeating Idiom Brewing (2)
Rubber Soul Brewing Company (10) defeating Breaker Brewing (3)
Tattered Flag (9) defeating ShuBrew Brewing Company (4)
Rough Edges Brewing (8) defeating Wolfs Ridge Brewing Company (5)
The Church Brew Works (12) defeating Cushwa Brewing (1)
The Isle of Que Brewing (11) defeating Jackie O’s Brewery (2)
Molly Pitcher Brewing Company (8) defeating Mellow Mink Brewing (5)

Results of Round One

HEELs Conference: Triple H Division:

Fourscore Brewing Company (1 seed) (52 votes) defeated Black Forest Brewing (12 seed) (15 votes)
Urban Artifact (2 seed) (41 votes) defeated The Ministry of Brewing (11 seed) (23 votes)
Mad Chef Brewing (3 seed) (39 votes) defeated ZeroDay Brewing Company (10 seed) (25 votes)
GearHouse Brewing Company (9 seed) (39 votes) defeated Levity Brewing (4 seed) (33 votes)
Swiftwater Brewing Company (5 seed) (43 votes) defeated Highway Manor (8 seed) (18 votes)
Sun King Brewery (6 seed) (33 votes) defeated Braxton Brewing Company (7 seed) (27 votes)

HEELs Conference: Ric Flair Division:

Dewey Beer Company (1 seed) (35 votes) defeated Couch Brewery (12 seed) (16 votes)
Rotunda Brewing Company (2 seed) (37 votes) defeated Snitz Creek Brewing Company (11 seed) (14 votes)
Desperate Times Brewing (10 seed) (30 votes) defeated Yellow Bridge Brewing (3 seed) (19 votes)
Troegs Craft Independent Brewing Company (4 seed) (48 votes) defeated Saucony Creek Brewing Company (9 seed) (9 votes)
Twisted Bine Brewing Company (5 seed) (30 votes) defeated Land-Grant Brewing Company (8 seed) (17 votes)
Chatty Monks Brewing (7 seed) (30 votes) defeated Cox Brewing Company (6 seed) (20 votes)

FACEs Conference: Stone Cold Steve Austin Division:

Ever Grain Brewing Company (1 seed) (85 votes) defeated Mt. Gretna Craft Brewery (12 seed) (49 votes)
Three Heads Brewing (11 seed) (65 votes) defeated Idiom Brewing (2 seed) (59 votes)
Rubber Soul Brewing Company (10 seed) (65 votes) defeated Breaker Brewing (3 seed) (57 votes)
Tattered Flag (9 seed) (102 votes) defeated ShuBrew Brewing (4 seed) (34 votes)
Rough Edges Brewing (8 seed) (177 votes) defeated Wolf’s Ridge Brewing (5 seed) (40 votes)
Boneshire Brew Works (6 seed) (70 votes) defeated Liquid Noise Brewing Company (7 seed) (67 votes)

FACEs Conference: The Rock Division:

The Church Brew Works (12 seed) (82 votes) defeated Cushwa Brewing (1 seed) (43 votes)
The Isle of Que Brewing Company (11 seed) (146 votes) defeated Jackie O’s Brewery (2 seed) (31 votes)
Pizza Boy Brewing Company (Al’s of Hampden) (3 seed) (106 votes) defeated Taft’s Brewing Company (Taft’s Ale House) (10 seed) (29 votes)
Funk Brewing Company (4 seed) (95 votes) defeated Olde Bedford Brewing Company (9 seed) (34 votes)
Molly Pitcher Brewing Company (8 seed) (79 votes) defeated Mellow Mink Brewing (5 seed) (51 votes)
Moo-Duck Brewing Company (6 seed) (81 votes) defeated Logyard Brewing Company (7 seed) (46 votes)

For more information about the Round One Results you can read the article for Round Two and the Round One results here. The Battle of the Breweries (2021) moves on to the conference round.

Round Two Statistics

Statistics:

Total Votes: 2659
Total votes in the HEELs Conference: 872
Total Votes in the FACEs Conference: 1787
There was no upsets in the HEELs conference.
There was three upsets in the FACEs conference.

Upsets:

The Isle of Que Brewing (11) defeated Pizza Boy Brewing Company (Al’s of Hampden) (2) by 52 votes.
Rubber Soul Brewing Company (9) defeated Moo-Duck Brewing (4) by 52 votes.
Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery (7) defeated Rough Edges Brewing (6) by 46 votes.

Round Two Results

HEELs Conference:

Fourscore Beer Company (1 seed) (71 votes) defeated GearHouse Brewing Company (12 seed) (61 votes).
Dewey Beer Company (2 seed) (70 votes) defeated Desperate Times Brewing Company (11 seed) (67 votes).
Rotunda Brewing Company (3 seed) (96 votes) defeated Chatty Monks Brewing (10 seed) (51 votes).
Urban Artifact (4 seed) (79 votes) defeated Sun King Brewery (9 seed) (48 votes).
Troegs Independent Craft Brewing Company (5 seed) (126 votes) defeated Swiftwater Brewing Company (8 seed) (32 votes).
Mad Chef Brewing Company (6 seed) (117 votes) defeated Twisted Bine Brewing Company (7 seed) (54 votes).

FACEs Conference:

Ever Grain Brewing Company (1 seed) (170 votes) defeated The Church Brew Works (12 seed) (119 votes).
The Isle of Que Brewing (11 seed) (193 votes) defeated Pizza Boy Brewing Company (Al’s of Hampden) (2 seed) (141 votes).
Funk Brewing Company (3 seed) (178 votes) defeated Three Heads Brewing (10 seed) (103 votes).
Rubber Soul Brewing Company (9 seed) (168 votes) defeated Moo-Duck Brewing (4 seed) (116 votes).
Boneshire Brew Works (5 seed) (155 votes) defeated Molly Pitcher Brewing Company (8 seed) (134 votes).
Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery (7 seed) (178 votes) defeated Rough Edges Brewing (6 seed) (132 votes).

Round Three Statistics

Statistics:

Total Votes: 1,447 (six questions)
There was four upsets (out of six match-ups)

Upsets:

Isle of Que Brewing (12) defeated Fourscore Beer Company (1) – 149 to 115
Rubber Soul Brewing Company (11) defeated Dewey Beer Company (2) – 182 to 65
Troegs Independent Craft Brewing (8) defeated Urban Artifact (5) – 145 to 96
Boneshire Brew Works (7) defeated Funk Brewing Company (6) – 118 to 115

Results of Round Three

Isle of Que Brewing (12 seed) (149 votes) defeated Fourscore Beer Company (1 seed) (115 votes)
Rubber Soul Brewing Company (11) (182 votes) defeated Dewey Beer Company (2 seed) (65 votes)
Rotunda Brewing Company (3 seed) (127 votes) defeated Mad Chef Brewing Company (10 seed) (101 votes)
Ever Grain Brewing Company (4 seed) (129 votes) defeated Tattered Flag Brewery (9 seed) (108 votes)
Troegs Brewing Company (8 seed) (145 votes) defeated Urban Artifact (5 seed) (96 votes)
Boneshire Brew Works (7 seed) (118 votes) defeated Funk Brewing Company (6 seed) (115 votes)

Round Four Statistics and Results

In a shocking twist, all three match-ups from Round Three were won by the underdogs. (I re-ranked the seeds after each round.) The number six seed Isle of Que Brewing has kept their Cinderella tournament streak alive and pulled a major upset over Rotunda Brewing Company. Rubber Soul Brewing Company (fifth seed) posted a big upset over Ever Grain Brewing Company, and despite being the big dog in Pennsylvania, but ranked lower (due to ranking being based on Untappd average score) Troegs Independent Craft Brewing (fourth seed) pulled up an upset over Boneshire Brew Works.

Results:

Isle of Que Brewing (sixth seed) (212 votes) defeated Rotunda Brewing Company (one seed) (79 votes).
Rubber Soul Brewing Company (fifth seed) (154 votes) defeated Ever Grain Brewing Company (second seed) (106 votes).
Troegs Independent Craft Brewing Company (fourth seed) (143 votes) defeated Boneshire Brew Works (third seed) (117 votes).

There was a total of 811 votes for round four.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

I cannot underestimate how awesome this was, and how appreciative I am of everyone who came to the site and blog and voted. Who visited our social media pages (our Facebook, our Twitter, and our Instagram). This was such a tremendous and huge turnout, I am already thinking of March Madness 2022! Which will definitely be an even bigger Battle of the Breweries! I’m thinking of keeping it the same theme – only breweries I’ve visited, and maybe including ones that Josh has also visited, and ones that some of our writers have as well. And putting no limits on it. So by March 2022, this could be a list of two hundred or more breweries competing! Could do it state by state leading to when the states are down to their final one or two and then moving on into a bigger tournament. Not sure yet, if you have any ideas or suggestions, be sure to leave them in the comments or leave us some feedback through our contact page.

If you have any thoughts, questions, concerns, or anything you’d like to say about how the tournament was ran, made, or done, or anything at all really, you can always leave a comment here on each blog post, or you can contact us specifically using the CONTACT US page. This directly e-mails your comment to use (as well as leaving one in a specific folder only viewable to us, on the site).

I want to give a huge shout out to Isle of Que Brewing and Michael Salter who was promoting the tournament nearly daily on their media pages. Big kudos for them for winning the tournament. Hopefully we can do something with them in the future to celebrate!

Also a big shout out to Rubber Soul Brewing Company for such an impressive run in the tournament. Coming so close to winning it, with the tremendous year they had in opening, and the pandemic, and everything going on.

And of course a shout out to Troegs Brewing as well for reaching the finals. This was definitely a very interesting tournament, and was great to see one of the “OGs” – original pioneers – of Pennsylvania’s brewing scene make it to the finals.

Thank you everyone who visited, voted, and shared. We appreciate it so much. And again, big time congratulations to our champions of the inaugural Battle of the Breweries (2021) – The Isle of Que Brewing Company. We can’t wait for March 2022 and see if they are able to repeat as champions!

Cheers everyone, please stay safe, and make sure to use Uber when driving, now that bars and everyone is open more fully, and don’t have to sell food, make sure you are taking care of your liver, and more importantly, taking care of yourself and others on the road.

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.

The Battle of the Breweries (2021) – The Finals – Triple Threat Match

BKline — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 14:45:00 +0000

The Battle of the Breweries (2021)

Its Time to Find Out The Winner

This is it everyone, this is the finals, the championship, the triple threat main event of The Battle of the Breweries (2021). The culmination of a month’s ‘hard work’ of voting by you and everyone you’ve shared these posts with.

Who will take home the crown, the championship, the title bout (not a physical one mind you), of the most arbitrary beer blog Battle of the Breweries in possibly writing history?

Will it be The Isle of Que Brewing Company?

Or will it be Rubber Soul Brewing Company?

Or Troegs Independent Craft Brewing Company?

This is certainly an interesting and diverse match-up for the finals. But how did we get here?

The Results, Working Our Way Back Through the Tournament

Let’s take a look back over the tournament and see how we got here to the finals. Firstly, we started with an odd choice of breweries – 48 breweries to be exact. How did we select these 48 breweries? They had to be a brewery that I physically had been to their location. The selection of breweries comes from the states of Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. I used a random dice generator (a D4 for the fellow nerds out there) to put them into brackets, and once in the brackets they were seeded based on Untappd global average ratings.

Since March – April is WrestleMania season, I decided to give the tournament a bit of a “Wrestling” bent to it. With the two conferences being called FACEs and HEELs. With the divisions (two per conference) being named after Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, and Ric Flair.

Now let’s take a look at the round per round results…

Round One Results

Voting statistics:

Total votes for round one: 3422
Total votes for Triple H Division: 388
Total votes for Ric Flair Division: 305
Total votes for HEELs conference: 693
Total “upsets” (any higher seed defeating a lower seed) in HEELs conference: 2
Total votes for Stone Cold Steve Austin Division: 870
Total votes for The Rock Division: 823
Total votes for FACEs conference: 1693
Total “upsets” (any higher seed defeating a lower seed) in FACEs conference: 7

Upsets:

HEELs Conference:

Gearhouse Brewing Company (9) defeating Levity Brewing (4)
Desperate Times Brewing Company (10) defeating Yellow Bridge Brewing (3)
Chatty Monks Brewing (7) defeating Cox Brewing Company (6)

FACEs Conference:

Three Heads Brewing (11) defeating Idiom Brewing (2)
Rubber Soul Brewing Company (10) defeating Breaker Brewing (3)
Tattered Flag (9) defeating ShuBrew Brewing Company (4)
Rough Edges Brewing (8) defeating Wolfs Ridge Brewing Company (5)
The Church Brew Works (12) defeating Cushwa Brewing (1)
The Isle of Que Brewing (11) defeating Jackie O’s Brewery (2)
Molly Pitcher Brewing Company (8) defeating Mellow Mink Brewing (5)

Results of Round One

HEELs Conference: Triple H Division:

Fourscore Brewing Company (1 seed) (52 votes) defeated Black Forest Brewing (12 seed) (15 votes)
Urban Artifact (2 seed) (41 votes) defeated The Ministry of Brewing (11 seed) (23 votes)
Mad Chef Brewing (3 seed) (39 votes) defeated ZeroDay Brewing Company (10 seed) (25 votes)
GearHouse Brewing Company (9 seed) (39 votes) defeated Levity Brewing (4 seed) (33 votes)
Swiftwater Brewing Company (5 seed) (43 votes) defeated Highway Manor (8 seed) (18 votes)
Sun King Brewery (6 seed) (33 votes) defeated Braxton Brewing Company (7 seed) (27 votes)

HEELs Conference: Ric Flair Division:

Dewey Beer Company (1 seed) (35 votes) defeated Couch Brewery (12 seed) (16 votes)
Rotunda Brewing Company (2 seed) (37 votes) defeated Snitz Creek Brewing Company (11 seed) (14 votes)
Desperate Times Brewing (10 seed) (30 votes) defeated Yellow Bridge Brewing (3 seed) (19 votes)
Troegs Craft Independent Brewing Company (4 seed) (48 votes) defeated Saucony Creek Brewing Company (9 seed) (9 votes)
Twisted Bine Brewing Company (5 seed) (30 votes) defeated Land-Grant Brewing Company (8 seed) (17 votes)
Chatty Monks Brewing (7 seed) (30 votes) defeated Cox Brewing Company (6 seed) (20 votes)

FACEs Conference: Stone Cold Steve Austin Division:

Ever Grain Brewing Company (1 seed) (85 votes) defeated Mt. Gretna Craft Brewery (12 seed) (49 votes)
Three Heads Brewing (11 seed) (65 votes) defeated Idiom Brewing (2 seed) (59 votes)
Rubber Soul Brewing Company (10 seed) (65 votes) defeated Breaker Brewing (3 seed) (57 votes)
Tattered Flag (9 seed) (102 votes) defeated ShuBrew Brewing (4 seed) (34 votes)
Rough Edges Brewing (8 seed) (177 votes) defeated Wolf’s Ridge Brewing (5 seed) (40 votes)
Boneshire Brew Works (6 seed) (70 votes) defeated Liquid Noise Brewing Company (7 seed) (67 votes)

FACEs Conference: The Rock Division:

The Church Brew Works (12 seed) (82 votes) defeated Cushwa Brewing (1 seed) (43 votes)
The Isle of Que Brewing Company (11 seed) (146 votes) defeated Jackie O’s Brewery (2 seed) (31 votes)
Pizza Boy Brewing Company (Al’s of Hampden) (3 seed) (106 votes) defeated Taft’s Brewing Company (Taft’s Ale House) (10 seed) (29 votes)
Funk Brewing Company (4 seed) (95 votes) defeated Olde Bedford Brewing Company (9 seed) (34 votes)
Molly Pitcher Brewing Company (8 seed) (79 votes) defeated Mellow Mink Brewing (5 seed) (51 votes)
Moo-Duck Brewing Company (6 seed) (81 votes) defeated Logyard Brewing Company (7 seed) (46 votes)

For more information about the Round One Results you can read the article for Round Two and the Round One results here. The Battle of the Breweries (2021) moves on to the conference round.

Round Two Statistics

Statistics:

Total Votes: 2659
Total votes in the HEELs Conference: 872
Total Votes in the FACEs Conference: 1787
There was no upsets in the HEELs conference.
There was three upsets in the FACEs conference.

Upsets:

The Isle of Que Brewing (11) defeated Pizza Boy Brewing Company (Al’s of Hampden) (2) by 52 votes.
Rubber Soul Brewing Company (9) defeated Moo-Duck Brewing (4) by 52 votes.
Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery (7) defeated Rough Edges Brewing (6) by 46 votes.

Round Two Results

HEELs Conference:

Fourscore Beer Company (1 seed) (71 votes) defeated GearHouse Brewing Company (12 seed) (61 votes).
Dewey Beer Company (2 seed) (70 votes) defeated Desperate Times Brewing Company (11 seed) (67 votes).
Rotunda Brewing Company (3 seed) (96 votes) defeated Chatty Monks Brewing (10 seed) (51 votes).
Urban Artifact (4 seed) (79 votes) defeated Sun King Brewery (9 seed) (48 votes).
Troegs Independent Craft Brewing Company (5 seed) (126 votes) defeated Swiftwater Brewing Company (8 seed) (32 votes).
Mad Chef Brewing Company (6 seed) (117 votes) defeated Twisted Bine Brewing Company (7 seed) (54 votes).

FACEs Conference:

Ever Grain Brewing Company (1 seed) (170 votes) defeated The Church Brew Works (12 seed) (119 votes).
The Isle of Que Brewing (11 seed) (193 votes) defeated Pizza Boy Brewing Company (Al’s of Hampden) (2 seed) (141 votes).
Funk Brewing Company (3 seed) (178 votes) defeated Three Heads Brewing (10 seed) (103 votes).
Rubber Soul Brewing Company (9 seed) (168 votes) defeated Moo-Duck Brewing (4 seed) (116 votes).
Boneshire Brew Works (5 seed) (155 votes) defeated Molly Pitcher Brewing Company (8 seed) (134 votes).
Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery (7 seed) (178 votes) defeated Rough Edges Brewing (6 seed) (132 votes).

Round Three Statistics

Statistics:

Total Votes: 1,447 (six questions)
There was four upsets (out of six match-ups)

Upsets:

Isle of Que Brewing (12) defeated Fourscore Beer Company (1) – 149 to 115
Rubber Soul Brewing Company (11) defeated Dewey Beer Company (2) – 182 to 65
Troegs Independent Craft Brewing (8) defeated Urban Artifact (5) – 145 to 96
Boneshire Brew Works (7) defeated Funk Brewing Company (6) – 118 to 115

Results of Round Three

Isle of Que Brewing (12 seed) (149 votes) defeated Fourscore Beer Company (1 seed) (115 votes)
Rubber Soul Brewing Company (11) (182 votes) defeated Dewey Beer Company (2 seed) (65 votes)
Rotunda Brewing Company (3 seed) (127 votes) defeated Mad Chef Brewing Company (10 seed) (101 votes)
Ever Grain Brewing Company (4 seed) (129 votes) defeated Tattered Flag Brewery (9 seed) (108 votes)
Troegs Brewing Company (8 seed) (145 votes) defeated Urban Artifact (5 seed) (96 votes)
Boneshire Brew Works (7 seed) (118 votes) defeated Funk Brewing Company (6 seed) (115 votes)

Round Four Statistics and Results

Results:

Isle of Que Brewing (sixth seed) (212 votes) defeated Rotunda Brewing Company (one seed) (79 votes).
Rubber Soul Brewing Company (fifth seed) (154 votes) defeated Ever Grain Brewing Company (second seed) (106 votes).
Troegs Independent Craft Brewing Company (fourth seed) (143 votes) defeated Boneshire Brew Works (third seed) (117 votes).

There was a total of 811 votes for round four.

So this now brings us…. to the final… to the main event…. to the triple threat match, for all the marbles, for the championship, for the fake title belt that doesn’t really exist (except inside our heads and hearts), the whole shebang, the whole enchelada…. the Triple Threat to Determine the Winner of The Battle of the Breweries (2021)……. (insert dramatic drum-roll).

The Triple Threat Main Event

The Triple Threat Main Event, is pitting the Cinderella Isle of Que Brewing, vs. newly opened – rebranded Rubber Soul Brewing Company vs. The Big Dog of Pennsylvania Craft Beer – Troegs Independent Craft Brewing. This should be a very interesting match-up. Three interesting contenders. One hailing from Selinsgrove Pennsylvania, one from Hummelstown Pennsylvania, and then a hop skip and a throw over the third hailing from Hershey Pennsylvania. In the coming days I will be posting an article detailing each brewery, and giving readers some kind of information on how main event participants.

Let the battle commence!

Triple Threat Main Event Voting

[perfect_survey id=”7464″]

Just as a reminder, voting will end on Sunday April 4th at 11:59PM – Midnight (EST). So make sure you get your votes in before then!

Sharing is Caring

To help your favorite breweries win, be sure to share this page as much as you would like. Using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Myspace, your own sites, your local newspaper…. whatever you like. Also, be sure to follow us on our social media accounts to stay up to date on the tournament and our other articles, which include brewery reviews, beer reviews, travelogues, hiking trips, brewery news, events, and much much more!

Thank you everyone for making this tournament such a rousing success. It has been a blast running it. Can’t wait to see who the winner will be and who will walk away as the Most Arbitrary Battle of the Brewery Champion in the History of Beer Blogging!

The Battle of the Breweries (2021) – Round Four – The Sweet Six

BKline — Tue, 23 Mar 2021 00:30:00 +0000

The Battle of the Breweries (2021)

Round Three is done and over with, and now we are getting down to the nitty gritty. We’re down to the final six breweries / competitors in the most arbitrary March Madness tournament possibly in beer (and maybe even writing) history. Like the previous Round (Round Three) the first segment will be going over the results of the previous round, and then we’ll be getting into the actual voting. Make sure to like, share, and pass this page around so everyone can vote for your favorite brewery!

Round Three Statistics

The amount of votes and enthusiasm for this March Madness breweries bracket has been incredible, so let me once again say thank you to all the voters, fans, readers, and breweries posting and sharing.

Statistics:

Total Votes: 1,447 (six questions)
There was four upsets (out of six match-ups)

Upsets:

Isle of Que Brewing (12) defeated Fourscore Beer Company (1) – 149 to 115
Rubber Soul Brewing Company (11) defeated Dewey Beer Company (2) – 182 to 65
Troegs Independent Craft Brewing (8) defeated Urban Artifact (5) – 145 to 96
Boneshire Brew Works (7) defeated Funk Brewing Company (6) – 118 to 115

Results of Round Three:

Isle of Que Brewing (12 seed) (149 votes) defeated Fourscore Beer Company (1 seed) (115 votes)
Rubber Soul Brewing Company (11) (182 votes) defeated Dewey Beer Company (2 seed) (65 votes)
Rotunda Brewing Company (3 seed) (127 votes) defeated Mad Chef Brewing Company (10 seed) (101 votes)
Ever Grain Brewing Company (4 seed) (129 votes) defeated Tattered Flag Brewery (9 seed) (108 votes)
Troegs Brewing Company (8 seed) (145 votes) defeated Urban Artifact (5 seed) (96 votes)
Boneshire Brew Works (7 seed) (118 votes) defeated Funk Brewing Company (6 seed) (115 votes)

Round Four Now Begins

And unleash the competitors into the final round of one on one competition! There is six breweries / competitors left, and they are facing off to see who goes on to the final match – a triple threat to decide who is the best brewery in this arbitrary and random tournament! So lets go! Its time to vote everyone! Voting will last until Sunday, March 28th, ending at 11:59 PM / Midnight.

Round Four Match-Ups

Round four sees some interesting match-ups. Will Isle of Que Brewing continue is Cinderella run? Which of the Harrisburg – Hershey – Hummelstown breweries will move on?

Rotunda Brewing Company (1) vs. Isle of Que Brewing (6)
Ever Grain Brewing Company (2) vs. Rubber Soul Brewing Company (5)
Boneshire Brew Works (3) vs. Troegs Brewing Company (4)

Who will advance on to the triple threat match?

Round Four Voting

[perfect_survey id=”7445″]

Past Articles and Results

For more information on The Battle of the Breweries (2021) – The Beer Thrillers version of March Madness; you can scroll through the previous articles and voting results.

Information Articles:

Voting Pages:

Share, Share, Share, Share

Looking for good local stouts or green beer this St. Patty’s Day?

BKline — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 11:25:00 +0000

Liquid Noise’s “A Little Extra – Goin’ Green”

Ready to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day 2021? Since… well… we really didn’t get to last year? Suddenly got an extra 1,400$ in your bank account on St. Patrick’s Day morning and not knowing what to do with it? Why not help out those restaurants that have been hurt for this past year!

Its incredibly crazy to see how its been a year since COVID mitigation efforts started, since shut downs were instituted, and we were all locked inside our homes watching Tiger King on Netflix. Looking back at the memories of the blog and my own and seeing just how little we were all prepared for everything happening… how things unfolded, watching event after event get cancelled, shut down or lock down after shut down and lock down, protocols instituted, changes to restaurants, etc…. its so crazy and surreal and unbelievable to look back on. What a time to be alive?!

Reminds me of Frodo and Gandalf discussing “crazy times to be alive in”:

Frodo: I wish it need not have happened in my time.
Gandalf: So do I, and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.

But here we are, a year out from all those shenanigans (ahh, what a great word to use on St. Patrick’s Day), and its time to celebrate. So what do you do? Let’s help out our local craft breweries instead of just jumping into the Guinness and Irish Car Bombs, let’s look at some of the great craft brewery offerings!

Stouts

There is no shortage of amazing stouts in the area; and by area, I am speaking of my area – which is the Central PA area. Think Hershey, Harrisburg, Middletown, Hummelstown, Annville, Palmyra, Mechanicsburg, etc.

There are plenty of great stouts and we can look at some of them right here. Let’s start with my home town of Hummelstown.

Rubber Soul’s 317 Stout
Rubber Soul just released a brand new coffee stout to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, and its named 317 (…if you can figure out why they named it that, please let our intern know, he’s very confused about the name, because the area code is 717).

317 Stout by Rubber Soul Brewing Company

Click here to read our Beer Review: 317 Stout (Rubber Soul Brewing Company).

It is a lovely, roasty, toasty, coffee stout. Its a Stout – Irish Dry, and its only 4.9%. The Untappd listing for it is:

Beer: 317
Brewery: Rubber Soul Brewing Company
Style: Stout – Irish Dry
ABV: 4.9%
IBU: None
Untapped Description: Roasty and smooth with a cold coffee finish from the Elementary cold brewed coffee.
Global Untappd Rating: 3.81 (as of 3.17.21)

This would make for a lovely chaser to some Jamison Whiskey, or possibly even could be a wonderful substitute for a Guinness in a Irish Car Bomb.

Troegs Independent Craft Brewery
Let’s stroll over to Hershey now and see just how many different offerings Troegs has in the stout division. (Hint – there’s a few).

First up: JavaHead Stout:

JavaHead Stout by Troegs

Beer: Java Head
Brewery: Troegs Independent Craft Brewery
Style: Stout – Coffee
ABV: 7.5%
IBU: 60
Untappd Description: JavaHead is like a day at Tröegs; it’s hard to tell where the coffee ends and the beer begins. This creamy oatmeal stout is infused with locally roasted, cold steeped coffee through our HopBack vessel, releasing subtle hints of cocoa, roasted nuts and dark mocha.
Untappd Global Average Rating: 3.7 (as of 3.17.21)

They also have two versions of their Chocolate Stout; regular and on Nitro. My preference is the Nitro (but I also tend to prefer Nitro most times in general, so take that for what it is). They are the same beer.

Troegs Chocolate Stout

Beer: Chocolate Stout
Brewery: Troegs Independent Craft Brewery
Style: Stout – Milk / Sweet
ABV: 7.1%
IBU: 41
Untappd Description: Our lush and layered Chocolate Stout showcases the best of an anthology of malts and grains: the soft, coffee-like bitterness of roasted barley, the rich caramel notes of Special B, the subtle sweetness of chocolate malt, and the silkiness of oats. Cocoa nibs add the depth of dark chocolate, and a touch of Madagascar vanilla puts a bow on this roasty winter warmer.
Global Untappd Average Rating: 3.79 (as of 3.17.21)

The Nitro version has a different description:
Six different malt varieties, cacao nibs, dark chocolate, lactose, oats, and vanilla combine to produce a decadent Chocolate Stout. Dispensing via nitrogen yields a lush, velvety texture and rich, smooth finish.
It also has a higher global rating – 3.94. (As of 3.17.21)

Grand Cacao by Troegs

This is their latest newcomer to their stout market, and it is possibly my favorite. You can see our review of it here: Beer Review: Grand Cacao (Troegs Craft Brewing).

Beer: Grand Cacao
Brewery: Troegs Independent Craft Brewing
Style: Stout – Milk / Sweet
ABV: 6.5%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Welcome to Grand Cacao. This deliciously decadent stout is built on a foundation of rich chocolate malt, caramel malt and roasted barley. Cold-steeping on Peruvian cacao nibs and natural vanilla doubles down on the smooth symphony of chocolate, and a splash of milk sugar delivers a velvety sweet and creamy finish.
We taste: milk chocolate, roasty grain, hints of sweet cream.
Global Untappd Average Rating: 3.63 (as of 3.17.21)

Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery
Lets bounce over to Tattered Flag in Middletown now, who have never had any shortness of wonderful stouts on their menu. Just looking at their Untappd menu they currently have at their brewery in Middletown:

Leprechaun Wraith
Peppermint Wraith
Coconut Stout
War Bonds Breakfast Stout
Black is Beautiful

And they have a guest tap of Our Town Brewery’s “Bar Room Hymnal”. Which, I was just at last Friday. You can check out my trip to the Lancaster Breweries in one of my latest travelogues here: “Hiking Turkey Hill Point and Visiting Lancaster’s Newest Breweries – Cartel Brewing, Our Town Brewery, and Big Dog Brewing”.

Let’s look at Leprechaun Wraith:

Leprechaun Wraith by Tattered Flag

Beer: Leprechaun Wraith
Brewery: Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery
Style: Stout – Other
ABV: 12%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Our Pastry stout base aged in ex Irish whiskey casks for months before conditioning in stainless over marshmallow cream and vanilla. Its like an Irish Car Bomb in a bottle!
Global Average Untappd Rating: 4.01 (as of 3.17.21)

Sounds perfect for tonight’s at-home festivities!

Boneshire Brew Works
Boneshire Brew Works has a wonderful stout of their own that they have for March each year, called Grattan Irish Stout. This is one that is definitely worth a pickup of a 4-pack every year, or at minimum a pint on draft.

Grattan Irish Stout by Boneshire Brew Works

Beer: Grattan Irish Stout
Brewery: Boneshire Brew Works
Style: Stout – Irish Dry
ABV: 4.5%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: This stout is traditionally dry and super drinkable. Beware of the Leprechaun while drinking this one.
Global Untappd Average Rating: 3.9 (as of 3.17.21)

Be sure to read our review of it here: Beer Review: Grattan Irish Stout (Boneshire Brew Works).

Rotunda Brewing Company
We would be amiss if we didn’t mention Rotunda Brewing Company’s stout – aptly named: IRISH CAR BOMB. We got to have this before their Kegs and Eggs event last year; right before the shut down (just mere days before the shut down). You can read about the event here: Kegs and Eggs (2020) at the Batdorf – Rotunda Brewing Company.

And you can read our review of the beer here: Beer Review: Irish Car Bomb (Rotunda Brewing Company).

Irish Car Bomb by Rotunda Brewing Company

Beer: Irish Car Bomb
Brewery: Rotunda Brewing Company
Style: Stout – Irish Dry
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: On Nitro.
Global Average Untappd Rating: 4.17 (as of 3.17.21)

Rotunda’s Brewery Pub in Hershey also has a few other stouts on hand if you want to give them a try:

Lady Morrigan Nitro Stout
Grasshopper Brownie Imperial Stout
Death by Decadence
Car Bomb: Imperial Stout (not the same as the one above)

Green Beer

Maybe you don’t want a stout, maybe you don’t like doing Irish Car Bombs and don’t feel like dropping Jamison and Bailey’s into a local craft brewery’s stout. Maybe you just want a good… old fashioned…. green beer?

Well, you are still in luck!

Staying with Rotunda, they released a green beer at their brew pub in Hershey called Green Goodness.

Green Goodness by Rotunda Brewing Company

Beer: Green Goodness
Brewery: Rotunda Brewing Company
Style: Sour – Fruited Gose
ABV: 6.9%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Kettle sour with lactose and conditioned on 7 fruit and vegetable purees.
Untappd Global Average Rating: 4 (as of 3.17.21)

Liquid Noise
Now let’s head across the river to Marysville and see what they have to offer for St. Paddy’s Day. They’ve gotten quite a bit of buzz lately about their recently released green beer in celebration of St. Paddy’s Day. They were even featured on ABC27 News: Liquid Noise on Good Morning ABC27 News.

Liquid Noise’s St. Patrick’s Day beer: A Little Extra – Goin’ Green

Beer: A Little Extra – Goin’ Green
Brewery: Liquid Noise Brewing Company
Style: Blonde Ale
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: 30
Untappd Description: Light in body, green in appearance. What else Do you expect on St. Pattys Day?
Global Untappd Rating: (No Average formed yet. Not enough check-ins yet.) (3.17.21)

So let’s celebrate St. Patrick’s Day

Ok, now its time to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day! And lets do it safely everyone. Still obey precautions and rules and laws. What is everyone planning on doing today? What are your big plans for the day? I’m thinking low-key for myself, as I have a lot of writing to do, and not sure on what all to do tonight. But I might be persuaded to go out and enjoy myself some St. Paddy’s beer. Where at? Maybe a nice dinner with bangers and mash? Or Shepherd’s Pie? Who knows! I have about 2% Irish in me, but on St. Patrick’s Day we’re all Irish for the day! So let me know in the comments what you are planning to do for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day!

As always, be safe, be careful, and use Uber or Lyft if going out and celebrating too excessively. Be sure to mind the precautions, and rules, we’re almost there. The light is at the end of the tunnel. April 4th we all will be back to a far more normal world (I cannot wait to drink at a bar again!). Until then everyone, cheers and slainte!

Slainte!

-B. Kline

Be sure to keep following the March Madness and our Battle of the Breweries (2021) Brackets. We are down to the remaining 12 breweries, so hop over and vote!

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

BKline — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 01:45:00 +0000

The 1000 Steps Trailhead

Its now been a week since I’ve returned from my trip (my last day of my vacation and trip was last Saturday – November 14th, 2020; and today is now November 22nd, 2020). Each night I posted a quick recap of each day, and you’ll be able to find the links to that at the end of this article, as well as the links to the full articles as well.

I was debating how I wanted to do this, if I wanted to do them daily, with a new article for each day, or if I wanted to break it up into two or three day chunks (like day one through day three being one article), or just one giant article with all seven days in one. I’m not sure whats best, but I last second decision, I’m doing them as daily articles, and might do one long combined one as well (just copy and paste of the seven articles into one with some added post-scripts) for ease of readers who prefer one larger article.

I can’t easily break into geographically, because I go from Pennsylvania through West Virginia into Ohio, to Indianapolis, back to Ohio, jumping into Kentucky, to West Virginia, back to Pennsylvania – with days in between each state, so doing it geographically wouldn’t work; so I was left with just doing this chronologically.

For those of you used to my beer reviews and other articles, these travelogues are more rambling, more stream of consciousness remembrances of my trips and how they transpired. I keep things chronological, and I remember and recall them in order of how they happened, but I’m more prone to digressions, discussions of what happened, and I do a little less editing, so some of this might seem like rambling, or like George R.R. Martin writing a feast. But hopefully, you find it entertaining, and at least enjoy the read.

Firstly, an overview of my trip. I was given six days off – Monday through Saturday (with my natural days off work being Thursday and Friday; so I was really given Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday – four days off). I called off Sunday (day one of this trip) to give myself a full seven days off. Ironically, due to having to ‘quarantine’ when returning, I got myself an extra ten days and it turned into a seventeen day vacation. But I’ll get to that later, probably at the end of the whole series.

Work has been hectic with vacation days due to how COVID-19 and the shutdown / lockdown and quarantine earlier in the year screwed up pretty much everyone’s vacation days. Once coming back we weren’t allowed vacation days or even PTO / requested days, and once they posted when vacation days were allowed, everyone jumped on them before I could even get to it. Despite being top twenty seniority, I was low man on the totem pole due to not signing up right away.

So, I was only given four days off rather than the standard week (whatever your week is, since we have different weekend off days). My plan was to drive out to Indianapolis, to be at the Vonnegut Museum and Library, on November 11th, Veteran’s Day, Armistice Day, Kurt Vonnegut’s birthday. And then drive back home. I wanted to stop out and do some hiking trails on the way out and back. And hit up a lot of breweries too of course. Planned hiking trails were Hocking Hills in Ohio, 1000 Steps Trail in Pennsylvania, and Ohiopyl in Pennsylvania.

I am not much of a driver, not a huge fan of it. Not really a big fan of driving for an hour just to get somewhere, and I think its one of the main reasons I’ve never been a huge traveler or even brewery jumper; I mean, I’ve hit every brewery near by, but unlike these guys in some of the beer groups and beer trading groups and such on Facebook / Twitter / etc, I’ve never been the most willing to drive an hour and a half to a brewery just to pick up a four pack (or a ton of four packs and mule them back) and then turn around and drive an hour and a half back home. The breweries I’ve visited were usually a result of being in the area for some form of vacation, trip, etc, especially when I was married and with my daughters. Go to the beach, hit a brewery in the area. Go to the Crayola Factory, hit a brewery in the area. Etc.

But, now that I am single (…hey ladies….) and divorced, and by myself, I have found I’ve been driving a bit more. Could be the single-ness and being by myself, could be COVID and having a lot more free time this year, but I’ve found myself driving an hour to go find a hiking trail and walking a hiking trail, like going to Pinnacle Overlook and Pulpit Rock in Hamburg, and then stopping at 1787 Brewing (check out my Hamburg Travelogue for more on that).

Last year, I had taken my daughters, just me and them, out north and west in Pennsylvania. Going up to Elk Country, to Kinzua Bridge, to Pittsburgh, to Bushy Run, and Johnstown, and back home. Was a way to escape and get away from the divorce that was beginning and happening, and the separation that wasn’t separating (hard to really call it a separation when she asks for the divorce and still stays in the house and lives in the same house for a while), and we had a wonderful time. You can check out those stories in the travelogue section as well. So this trip was going to follow a similar pattern, but instead of having with, it was just me. Not even my faithful canine companion Leela. Just me. On a six – now seven – day trip out to Indianapolis and back.

I did very little mapping for this, and did a lot more of the ‘winging’ it variety. Looking up some places in the morning / night before at hotels, and figuring out what I wanted, where I wanted to go, what I wanted to see and what I wanted to do. Typically I tried to break up my driving so I never drove more than an hour and a half at a time, and I would hit a small walk path or hiking trail or a brewery, just something to break up the monotony of driving, especially once you get into Ohio where its just all flat land.

Realizing that just Monday and Tuesday would probably not give me enough time to get to Indianapolis and hit some hiking trails, and do some drinking at breweries, I called off work Sunday, and started my trip a day early. I had to go to the Hershey Library and drop off some books, and so my trip started pretty much where it will end. Rubber Soul Brewing for a quick snack breakfast and wake up, then Hershey Library, and then on the road. Rubber Soul is right in town (Hummelstown) and will be the beginning and end to this trip, to give you some indication of my trip.

Google Maps recap of Day One

The above map shows you my first day’s trip and travel. Rubber Soul to Hershey Library, to Thousand Steps, to Juniata Brewing Company, to Ghost Town Trail, to Levity Brewing, and then right next to Levity (right across the street) was the hotel I spent the night in.

I typically tried to find a hotel / motel right (a block or two, or three at most) from the brewery I was last visiting, for many reasons, time, travel, safety, etc. Figured it was the best idea and limited issues that could pop up.

So, after dropping off books I had to drop off at the Hershey Library, I was on the road, about an hour or so to get to the Thousand Steps trail.

The parking lot / area for this hike path, is right along the highway. You pull off into a parking area and pull into parking spaces, and then walk about forty to fifty feet to the trailhead right alongside the highway. It was a gorgeous day, and I must say, I got extremely lucky for my entire trip. The first several days were the hottest, warmest, sunniest days of November that I can ever recall in my thirty five years of existence in Pennsylvania. The place was packed, so while everyone immediately went up the stairs, I turned left and took the Standing Stone Trail (North), which connects with the Thousand Steps trail.

Standing Stone Trail

This was a relatively simple trail, just at high altitude, and was off the beaten path of the Thousand Steps trail (which is primarily what everyone comes for). Didn’t pass a single soul on this two – three mile trail (a back and forth trail). Once back to the crossing with the Thousand Trails, I then went up the stairs.

I thought I was in shape. Really, not…. well, not “in shape” in shape. But at least not, dying any second, morbidly obese, shape either. Thirty five, I walk my dog a lot, I hike, I lift weights, but…. a thousand stairs / steps up, is pretty damn brutal, I won’t lie. I felt it. I think I gained one of those “booties” everyone is always talking about getting, just from walking up all the stairs.

My favorite quote, was, around the ledge, at I believe it was just over the 400 step mark, a rather rotund younger boy (probably 10 – 12) huffing, and puffing, leans against a tree, and says: “Thank god…. I’m never gonna do this again!” To which his dad then proudly points out that they are kind of at the halfway point. The look of pure dread and despair that crossed that poor boy’s face…. oh my.

Standing Stone Trail, Thousand Steps Trail, Overlook, Dinky Shed – gallery

These were all the pictures I took on the Standing Stone Trail, the Thousand Steps Trail, the various overlooks at the top, and the Dinky Shed at the top. (Its a large gallery, so you can either space your way through it or skip it.) (Yes, let this be your warning, that these travelogue posts will be including lots of pictures, and thankfully none of me, but lots of nature, waterfalls, lakes, parks, and of course… beer.)

While at the top, my internet kicked back in my phone, and as all the notifications and texts and everything pinged and pinged and came in, it was while sitting there at the top, that I got the notice that Alex Trebek passed away. I obviously never met him, and he never knew me or heard of me, but, I did grow up watching Jeopardy with my father, with my grandmother, and he always seemed like a person and a spirit that made the world better for having him in it. This is an unfortunate loss, to many, but he did fight, and he put up a good hard fight in the battle against Cancer. Hopefully some day we will defeat it, but in the meantime, its a fight that a lot will take on, and its not an easy one.

All told, my hiking was about 6 miles, and by the time I made it back to my car (where I nearly got hit by a dude flying on the highway, because I had to walk around a large SUV that didn’t want to fully pull up into their parking space) my legs were pretty tired. Nearby was Juniata Brewing Company, so that was my first brewery stop of the trip (outside of counting Rubber Soul at home).

Juniata Brewing Company

This was a very nice location. Small, with a nice outdoor seating area. They had their own hops growing by the picnic area where you sat. And they did flights (which is my preferred method when traveling and trying new breweries for the first time). I got a flight of five.

My flight consisted of:

Standing Stone Stout
Rowdy Viking
GAPA IPA
Oktoberfest
Raspberry Wheat

Standing Stone Stout

Beer: Standing Stone Stout
Brewery: Juniata Brewing Company
Style: Stout – Other
ABV: (None Listed)
IBU: (None Listed)
Untappd Description: A delicious stout brewed with Huntingdon’s own Standing Stone Coffee.
My Untappd Rating: 3.75
Global Untappd Rating: 3.98 (as of 11.22.20)

Raspberry Wheat

Beer: Raspberry Wheat
Brewery: Juniata Brewing Company
Style: Wheat Beer – Other
ABV: 5.4%
IBU: 15
Untappd Description: Lightly tart, slightly sweet. A good springtime companion!
My Untappd Rating: 3.75
Global Untappd Rating: 3.78 (as of 11.22.20)

Oktoberfest

Beer: Oktoberfest
Brewery: Juniata Brewing Company
Style: Marzen
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: 25
Untappd Description: A classic marzen with light toasted and roasted flavors and a slight bitterness. Dark amber in color.
My Untappd Rating: 3.75
Global Untappd Rating: 3.96 (as of 11.22.20)

GAPA IPA

Beer: GAPA IPA
Brewery: Juniata Brewing Company
Style: IPA – Black / Cascadian Dark Ale
ABV: 5.4%
IBU: 40
Untappd Description: This Black IPA balances caramel notes and a slight rye spice with the resinous aroma of Chinook hops and a pleasing bitter finish. Collaboration brew with Our Culture Brewing out of Atlanta GA.
My Untappd Rating: 3.50
Global Untappd Rating: 3.98 (as of 11.22.20)

Rowdy Viking

Beer: Rowdy Viking
Brewery: Juniata Brewing Company
Style: Brown Ale – American
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: 20
Untappd Description: A honey brown ale: malty, roasty, with a dry finish. Notes of honey and floral hops.
My Untappd Rating: 4
Global Untappd Rating: 3.94 (as of 11.22.20)

On Untappd, Juniata Brewing Company is listed as a Micro Brewery from Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. They have 22 unique beers, 1,100 ratings, and an average rating of 3.89. They have no description on the site.

After leaving Juniata Brewing Company, I drove to the Ghost Town Trails at the Hoodlebug connection. Apparently, this is much more of a bike path and trail than it is a walking path, especially at this conjuncture – if you want to see anything. It was also starting to get a bit darker (one of the problems about this trip being in November, was that by 4:00PM it was becoming dusk, by 4:30PM it was near dark, and at 5:00PM it was completely dark). There is a lot to see on the Ghost Town Trail, old abandoned buildings and such, but not where I walked. I walked the path for about 2-3 miles, and did the loop of the playground, and went back to my car.

Ghost Town Trail and Hoodlebug

After this, I drove up the fifteen or so minutes to Indiana and visited what was a wonderful brewery. Top three breweries of my entire trip, and in all of my travels, probably a top ten brewery I’ve visited (total, out of all the countless breweries I’ve visited) (thus far).

Levity Brewing Company

I absolutely loved my time here, had two wonderful flights, got to talk to Eric, who was a fantastic bartender, and as it turned out, was a co-owner, who even sent me on my way with some free beer. (Without even knowing about my blog, after my flights, and when I was leaving, he was asking me what my favorite beer from the flights were, and I told him, and he gave me a can of it to go.)

Eric was top notch, talking to me, coming by to check on me, asking about my trip, the book I was reading, etc. I cannot recommend this brewery enough.

Levity Brewing

Firstly, I’m not a foodie, I’ve mentioned this several times here on the blog, food is an afterthought to me. Much to the chagrin of many of my fellow brewery travelers, who go to visit breweries just as much for the food as they do the beers. (Deuene being a prime example.) But, these Yolo Dogs from Levity, are absolutely phenomenal, and if you are ever at the brewery, they are a must buy. Two hot dogs, covered in bacon, beer cheese, scallions, onions, and a ton of potato chips, go perfectly with two flights of amazing beers. You can’t go wrong with that.

I had gotten two flights, watched the Dallas – Steelers game, which being near Pittsburgh country, I was inundated with Steeler fans (ugh…. as a Cincinnati Bengals fan, coming out to Pittsburgh and through the area is always rough, especially football season), read my book about the President’s office (The Hardest Job in the World: The American Presidency by John Dickerson), and enjoyed amazing food and drinks.

My flights included:

ICFC Straight Red
Hoodlebug Brown Ale
Headlamp Stout
Knock and Howl (2019)
Debacle Doppelbock
Haze Frehley
End of Haze
Punky Bruiser

Levity Brewing Company (according to Untappd) is a brew pub in Indiana, Pennsylvania. It has 65 unique beers, with 34, 226 ratings and a global average rating of 3.76. The Untappd description for the brewery reads: “Levity Brewing Company is a small brewery and pub in Indiana, PA-about an hour east of Pittsburgh. We aim to brew clean, crisp, and dry examples of style and bring a diversity of beers to our community. At any time we offer a variety of IPAs, kettle-soured fruit beers, oak-aged wild beers, etc, etc, etc..”

ICFC Straight Red

Beer: ICFC Straight Red
Brewery: Levity Brewing Company
Style: Red Ale – American Amber / Red Ale
ABV: 4.9%
IBU: 18
Untappd Description: This soccer club amber ale – initially developed for the Indiana County Football Club – is an easy drinking but flavorful pick me up after the big game. Lovely amber, bready, nutty, crisp. Toss one back with your team, the competition, maybe even the referee.
My Untappd Rating: 4.25
Global Untappd Rating: 3.64 (as of 11.22.20)

Hoddlebug Brown Ale

Beer: Hoodlebug Brown Ale
Style: Brown Ale – American
ABV: 6.8%
IBU: 34
Untappd Description: This easy-to-love beer is loaded with caramel malts and is gently hopped. Well-rounded, great with your dinner, not too filling. This beer has hit a sweet spot with our customers making it one of our best sellers. Named after the Hoodlebug Trail – a popular rails-to-trails path right next to the brewery. And a portion of sales are donated to trail maintenance!
My Untappd Rating: 4.25
Global Untappd Rating: 3.76 (as of 11.22.20)

Headlamp Stout

Beer: Headlamp Stout
Brewery: Levity Brewing Company
Style: Stout – Imperial / Double
ABV: 8.9%
IBU: 53
Untappd Description: Just like the coal mines under us in Western PA, this beer is deep, dark, and complex. Cherry cordial sweetness shines through the dark roast and chocolate creating a fascinatingly rich, desert-like beer
My Untappd Rating: 4
Global Untappd Rating: 3.83 (as of 11.22.20)

Knock and Howl

Beer: Knock and Howl (2019)
Brewery: Levity Brewing Company
Style: American Wilde Ale
ABV: 7.3%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Our wild brown ale aged in well used bourbon barrels. Roasted oak and cherry pie on the nose. Sour cherry and caramel candy flavors with a Concord red wine finish
My Untappd Rating: 4
Global Untappd Rating: 3.83 (as of 11.22.20)

Debacle Doppelbock

Beer: Debacle Doppelbock
Brewery: Levity Brewing Company
Style: Bock – Doppelbock
ABV: 7%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: (Blank)
My Untapped Rating: 4
Global Untappd Rating: 3.52 (as of 11.22.20)

Haze Frehley

Beer: Haze Frehley
Brewery: Levity Brewing Company
Style: IPA – New England
ABV: 6.7%
IBU: 42
Untappd Description: Hazy, juicy, grapefruit flavors out of this world. If you like IPA’s you are sure to enjoy this one. Bravo, Citra, & Mosaic, hops. You can smell the big tropical grapefruit aroma a mile away.
My Untappd Rating: 4
Global Untappd Rating: 3.79 (as of 11.22.20)

End of Haze

Beer: End of Haze
Brewery: Levity Brewing Company
Style: IPA – New England
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Sabro and Moutere hops are our secret weapon to defeat the powers of darkness invading our world. Combined, they hyper-blast out a fruity, tropical, citrus beam of pure energy.
My Untappd Rating: 4.25
Global Untappd Rating: 3.65 (as of 11.22.20)

Punky Bruiser

Beer: Punky Bruiser
Brewery: Levity Brewing Company
Style: Porter – Baltic
ABV: 7%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Baltic Porter is a lager that’s smooth, clean, and delicate from a long cool fermentation. Plum floats perfectly with the dark chocolate, and toffee flavors, but never overpowers.
My Untappd Rating: 4.5
Global Untappd Rating: 3.66 (as of 11.22.20)

Overall, both Levity and Juniata Brewing were great breweries. Levity Brewing gets my nod for being my favorite of the two, and Punky Bruiser gets my gold star for favorite beer of the day. Out of my hiking for the day, I really enjoyed the Thousand Steps trail. Was a beautiful trail, hard, but not impossible, with amazing, gorgeous views at the top.

I almost forgot to mention, that, I ran into a group of hikers all in various brewery / hop logo attire (shirts / hoodie), and I was wearing my Boneshire Mug Club shirt, and we were talking about Boneshire Brew Works, and the one was saying he had a roommate who worked there, and the woman was saying how she kept going back to their tent at the Gettysburg Brew Fest they went to. I had ran into the brother-in-law of Matt Trevan, a bartender at Boneshire Brew Works, when I went to Hawk Rock (you can read about that in the travelogues section).

After leaving Levity, and talking to some bikers (cyclists), and Eric, and Nathan the other bartender, I made my way over to the Wyndham across the street, got my room for the night, and promptly crashed. I believed I started watching some of the Sunday Night Football game, and I can’t even recall who it was, if it was the horrible Tampa Bay / Saints game or if that was the Monday night game, I don’t even remember, because I was soon fast asleep.

The next update on this series, will take me into Pittsburgh and to Washington, and then day three begins my trip into Ohio.

I hope you enjoyed this. You can read more about the individual days in quick recap form below, and you can read and see the many other travelogues I’ve done. You can also check around the site for beer reviews, brewery reviews, brewery news, brewer interviews, and what have you. Please comment, follow, and subscribe, I always love hearing from you guys.

Thanks for reading, and please stay safe out there everyone, as we get near the Thanksgiving season, this has certainly been a trying and difficult year, hopefully everyone stays safe for the holidays, and we all make it to 2021 safe and sound.

Cheers!

-B. Kline

The Trip to Indianapolis – Full Articles:

Day One: Thousand Steps Trail, Juniata Brewing Company, Ghost Town Trail, Levity Brewing
Day Two:
Day Three:
Day Four:
Day Five:
Day Six:
Day Seven:

The Trip to Indianapolis – Recap Articles:

August (2019) Road Trip Series:

Rickett’s Glen (2020) Road Trip Series:

Monocacy Battlefield Road Trip:

Visiting Reading Pennsylvania:

A Visit to Reading
The Birthday Trip to Reading Pennsylvania – The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

A Road Trip to The PA Grand Canyon:

Visiting Wellsboro PA and the Grand Canyon

Hiking Hawk Rock

Hiking Hawk Rock and Visiting Liquid Noise Brewery

Hiking Pinnacle Trail and Pulpit Rock

Hiking to Pinnacle Overlook, Pulpit Rock, Visiting 1787 Brewing and Schaylor Brewing

Hiking Around Ephrata Pennsylvania:

Hiking Around Ephrata Pennsylvania – Pour Man’s Brewing, Black Forest Brewery

Hiking Sunset Rocks and Checking Out Maxie’s Brewhouse:

Hiking Sunset Rocks and Checking Out Maxie’s Brewhouse in Shippensburg Pennsylvania

Other Brewery Hopping Articles:

My Article for Breweries in PA:

Touring Breweries Around Harrisburg

My Podcast About Breweries in Central PA:

Beers with Strangers – A Beer Thriller in Hershey

Some other brewery tour and road trip articles:

Also, be sure to check out some of our other beer reviews in recent history:

Beer Review: The Pandalorian (Tattered Flag)

BKline — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 14:36:43 +0000

Its another Friday, and we all know what that means – another episode of The Mandalorian. So of course, I waited til today to drop this review. As soon as I heard them announce this, I had to grab a four pack of this.

First, Tattered Flag is one of my favorite local breweries, and secondly, its a Mandalorian themed beer, and thirdly…. Pandas. Seriously, what could go wrong here?

Absolutely. Nothing.

The Pandalorian by Tattered Flag

So, since I am still doing some ‘at home’ quarantining after my trip out to Indianapolis from work, yesterday I did a bit of day drinking and had to make sure this was one of the several wonderful beers I had, and as you can see, I made sure to use my new glass I got from the Vonnegut Museum and Library.

On The Beer Thrillers we have done several Mandalorian and Star Wars themed beers before, so it should be obvious to any reader of ours that I am a huge Star Wars fan. You can see our Mandalorian themed beer reviews here:

And our Star Wars themed beers here:

Space Balls themed beer:

Beer Review: Moon of Vega (Equilibrium Brewery)

If you use our search function on our blog and type in STAR WARS, these are some of the various articles where I mention Star Wars in them: STAR WARS on THE BEER THRILLERS.

Rotunda Brewing Company in Annville (and their brewpub in Hershey) are re-releasing their Chewbacca beer this weekend, a black IPA which I have had before. I am going to be getting a can and doing a review for that as well. (Can never have enough Star Wars themed beers to review on here, believe me. So if you know of any, or have any and would like to see me review it, contact us through the CONTACT US page.)

As you can see, like I said above, I am also using my brand new Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library glass. It has such a great quote of Vonnegut which he also used in Slaughter-House Five:

“I have this disease late at night sometimes, involving alcohol and the telephone.”

Story had it, he would drink and call people, just to basically yell something poignant and quick to them over the phone, and then slam the phone down. Not to strangers or random numbers, but to his friends and colleagues. I can certainly relate to some late night drunk texts (I think a lot of people can actually). So I see where he is coming at with this.

Alright, now that we’ve established the background for the beer and for the glass, let’s actually review this beer shall we.

The Pandalorian by Tattered Flag

Beer: The Pandalorian
Brewery: Tattered Flag
Style: IPA – Imperial / Double New England
ABV: 7.5%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Hazy Imperial IPA made from a blend of base malts, generous wheat addition, oats, and flaked maze bring forth a sweet backbone complimented by Sabro in the kettle and a massive Sabro Cryo dry hop. Expect sweet coconut ? up front followed by citrus lime and a sweet creamy finish.

As you can see above, this is hazy, but on the lighter, softer orange – yellow – golden scale. Not the deep heavy dank, but a lighter, softer looking hazy New England style IPA / DIPA. Justin, the head brewer for Tattered Flag does a lot of New England style IPAs (and a lot of sours) and does them all very well, making them different from each other too, which is sometimes hard to do with the style. You have some that look bright orange to golden with a very dank and heavy haze, and then you have some that are lighter softer yellow to golden like this, with some haze. There is some orange here, but I would say its mostly yellow and golden. There is a thin head to it, and great carbonation, and left nice lacing on the glass.

Aroma is a blend of hop, mainly a blend of coconut, tangerine, the fruity and citrus hop aromas. Sabro is a pretty strong hop and gives this a very strong hop presence and nose. On the nose you get coconut, tangerine, hint of cedar and mint, with some cream, some lime.

This is a very smooth and drinkable DIPA. At 7.5% its in a middle ground of ABV for IPAs and DIPAs. In comparison, Troegs Brewing’s Perpetual IPA (their flagship West Coast IPA) is a 7.5% (and right there is where the comparison between the two of these stop). 7-8% is a good middle ground area for IPAs and DIPA’s I feel. Its enough to get you to notice the ABV, but not enough to make it boozy, to heavy, or to get you too drunk. A nice general buzz is all that is needed and required. This looks and tastes similar to New England IPAs, but its not a generic New England IPA / DIPA. The Sabro hops gives it a very different taste than most New England IPAs, as Sabro isn’t really a much used hop, especially in the Cryo style. This gives The Pandalorian an interesting start with a different finish to it. It has a coconut, tangerine, citrus, taste at the beginning, but it ends on more of a zest lime, cream flavor. Overall its a silky smooth drink that is very easy to drink. There is a bit of an ending bite as you get to the bottom of the glass, but that is typical for most IPAs especially as you get closer to the finishing last sips. Despite the Sabro hops and the nose, there isn’t much of a cedar or mint flavoring that I was able to pick up on, but I did get tangerine, coconut, lime, and cream. My one friend suggested grapefruit, but I wasn’t able to pick up any grapefruit, and thats also not typically a characteristic of Sabro hops either. I very much enjoyed the smoothness of this, and the flavor profile, the aroma was on point, and the ABV was nice for a good buzz, a four pack is nice for sharing with buddies while streaming (which me and my friend did during the Konami games live stream we did on Knights of Nostalgia). This adds to the growing list of good and great New England IPAs that Tattered Flag has put out over the recent year. Definitely make sure to check this out, either for namesake or for the beer itself. Not sure how much longer the four packs will last at the brewery, so if you want the great can art be sure to pop in soon, they also have it on draft which will probably last a bit longer. This is a good smooth, tasty New England DIPA that will certainly not disappoint.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 3.84 (as of 11.20.20)

You can check out more beer reviews I’ve done from Tattered Flag below:

Also, Tattered Flag now does statewide shipping through their SUPPLY DROP. Make sure to take advantage of that if you live anywhere in Pennsylvania and are unable to make it to their brewery.

On Black Friday they are doing a big bottle release at their upcoming Lancaster Barrel House location. More details can be found on their Facebook page – Tattered Flag @ Facebook and Tattered Flag Barrel House @ Facebook. I will be doing an article covering that shortly as well.

As I’ve mentioned earlier, I got the pint glass from the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library. You can visit them and donate as well as order online, and if you are a big fan of Kurt Vonnegut, I highly recommend it.

You can read about my trip (in recap form) to Indianapolis and back through the following:

The Trip to Indianapolis:

My time in Indianapolis is covered specifically in the Day Four recap.

The books behind the beer in today’s blog post are: “Happy Birthday Wanda June” by Kurt Vonnegut, “Armageddon in Retrospect” by Kurt Vonnegut, and “Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron” by Alexander Freed.

Also, be sure to check out some of our other beer reviews in recent history:

Star Wars themed articles:

You can check out the tabs at the top of each page to visit our BEER REVIEWS, BEER EDUCATION, TRAVELOGUES, etc. Be sure to check out all the latest beer reviews, as we’re pumping a lot out in recent time.

Thanks for reading everyone, please stay safe out there, I know cases are on the rise and spiking, so make sure to wash your hands, stay distant, enjoy your craft beer, and wear a mask. Cheers and May the Force Be With You!

-B. Kline

The Trip to Indy – Day 7 Recap: There and Back Again – A Drunk Hobbit’s Tale (WhiteHorse Brewing LLC, Gearhouse Brewing Company, Rubber Soul Brewing)

BKline — Sun, 15 Nov 2020 04:30:00 +0000

Cucumber Falls at Ohiopyl State Park

Started the day waking up in Morgantown West Virginia to the full cacophony of noises one can only hear at an Econo Lodge at 5AM. After getting situated, getting gas, mountain dew for the drive, basic necessities, I made the hour and a half trek to Ohiopyl Pennsylvania. There I made landfall in the state park at 10:30AM.

I started at the parking lot by the Cucumber Falls (pictured above) and took the long yellow trail. It was about 6 miles out and back to get to Flatrock and then Cascade Falls. (I’ll post pictures of them in the full recap.) This was a more difficult hiking trail than some I’ve done on the trip. The Meadow Run rapids and the Cascade Falls were equally beautiful.

There was a few other things to do in Ohiopyl, but since this was my last day, and by 3PM (the time I finished the hike), I figured it would be best to head home. It was roughly a 2.5-3 hour drive home, so I wanted to get moving. If I took the turnpike (and selected tolls) on my Google phone GPS maps whatever, it was going to be 2 hours and 15 some minutes (plus stops). If I did no tolls, it had me drop into Maryland just below the Mason-Dixon line and then come back up and be 3 hours and 34 minutes. Or something like that (don’t quote me on it exactly, I didn’t write it down).

But, I didn’t take either of these routes. I wanted to at least try a brewery in the area, since I most likely won’t be in this area again. So the closest, most local brewery, was Whitehorse Brewing LLC in Berlin. So off I went. Forty minute or so drive there.

Whitehorse Brewing LLC

I was a bit surprised by this place, because it looked like a typical development / suburban house and garage. (And I’m pretty sure it was, just converted into a brewery.) Inside was the brewer and a bartender and they were extremely nice, generous, and talkative about the area. I got an Apple Butter Cream Ale and enjoyed it outside by the fire before moving on.

Instead of driving for 2-2.5 hours straight home, I decided to break it up and hit another Pennsylvania brewery I hadn’t been to yet….

Gearhouse Brewing

Gearhouse Brewing in Chambersburg. I’ve heard nothing but good things, and know the brewers and many people who frequent it, unfortunately, getting down to Chambersburg hasn’t been in the cards until now. So I stopped there, had a flight, a delicious hamburger, and then it was ontowards home.

Sort of.

Earlier in the day my friend Drew texted me saying if I was home by 5 he’d be at Rubber Soul; well that didn’t work out, but my mom had wanted to go to Rubber Soul to try their Italian Wedding Soup (as did I; being a huge huge huge fan of Italian Wedding Soups), so I drove to my parents place, and we walked over to Rubber Soul for dinner.

Rubber Soul flight

And while I was gone, they had released four new beers I hadn’t had yet, so I got a flight of the beers I’ve missed (enjoyed all of them by the way, especially the blueberry pomegranate IPA and the sticky stout). Showed mom the pictures of my trip, the museums, the waterfalls, etc. Discussed how her grandmum (pure 100% Italian) made wedding soup, and my mom even went so far as to say this was her favorite Italian Wedding Soup she’s had not made by her family. Which for her would be extremely high praise.

Finally got home, and got to be reunited with my dog who I hadn’t seen since Sunday morning when I left. My ex-wife took good care of her, but she was still so super eager to greet me and take another walk that she basically pulled me the entire way.

Leela at home

The above picture doesn’t do justice to how excited she was to see me, and I have to say the feeling was very mutual. I sure missed my pup.

After taking her for a long walk, came home to see that I had a beer mail package from a buddy out in Bristol PA.

Beer Mail

We did a trade 2 cans for 2, and he threw in the extra – 12 oz can of Dulachan by Lavery – for me to review for the blog, free of charge. Thanks Steve! So be on the lookout for all three of these being reviewed soon.

Well, it is 11:30, and I am exhausted and its been a long seven day trip and I can finally rest and sleep in my own bed, so that is exactly what I am going to do.

Goodnight everyone and cheers, and thanks for following along on the trip!

-B. Kline

The Trip to Indianapolis:

Rubber Soul Brewing - The Beer Thrillers

Rubber Soul Brewing to Open New Taproom Saturday

Rubber Soul Brewing to Open New Taproom Saturday

Original Location

New Location

Opening on Saturday – June 22nd, 2024

Other Rubber Soul Articles

More Information on Rubber Soul

Brewery News

Thank You For Reading

Rubber Soul Brewing Supporting and Hosting World Down Syndrome Day

World Down Syndrome Day

‘What is Down Syndrome?’

‘What is World Down Syndrome Day?’

Rubber Soul Brewing Company Supporting World Down Syndrome Day

Down the Hatch

Rubber Soul Brewing Company

Thanks For Reading

Rubber Soul’s One Year Anniversary Bash

It’s Time to Celebrate

Year One Anniversary Bash

Live Music, New Beers, and a Stein

Celebration

Links

The Battle of the Breweries (2021) Winner Is….

Your 2021 Battle of the Breweries Champion is….

The Triple Threat Cage Match

The Battle of the Breweries (2021) Results

Isle of Que Brewing Company is The Champion

Rubber Soul Brewing Company – Second Place

Troegs Independent Craft Brewing Company grabs the bronze

Tournament Statistics

Round One Results

Results of Round One

Round Two Statistics

Round Two Results

Round Three Statistics

Results of Round Three

Round Four Statistics and Results

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

The Battle of the Breweries (2021) – The Finals – Triple Threat Match

Its Time to Find Out The Winner

The Results, Working Our Way Back Through the Tournament

Round One Results

Results of Round One

Round Two Statistics

Round Two Results

Round Three Statistics

Results of Round Three

Round Four Statistics and Results

The Triple Threat Main Event

Triple Threat Main Event Voting

Sharing is Caring

The Battle of the Breweries (2021) – Round Four – The Sweet Six

Round Three Statistics

Round Four Now Begins

Round Four Match-Ups

Round Four Voting

Past Articles and Results

Share, Share, Share, Share

Looking for good local stouts or green beer this St. Patty’s Day?

Stouts

Green Beer

So let’s celebrate St. Patrick’s Day

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

Beer Review: The Pandalorian (Tattered Flag)

The Trip to Indy – Day 7 Recap: There and Back Again – A Drunk Hobbit’s Tale (WhiteHorse Brewing LLC, Gearhouse Brewing Company, Rubber Soul Brewing)