Tattered Flag Brewery & Distillery - The Beer Thrillers

Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery For Sale

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

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

Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery Is Up For Sale

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

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

PennLive broke the story this morning:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sales Listing

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

Property Description

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

Highlights

Award-winning brewery, distillery, and restaurant for sale

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

Includes all bottling and canning lines

All FF&E included in sale

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

Tattered Flag Brewery – NAicir

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

The Beer Thrillers and Tattered Flag

Canning Day at Tattered Flag

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

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

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

Our Articles About Tattered Flag

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

Tattered Flag Brewery Information

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

You can follow them on the following social media pages:

Articles About YAH Brew

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

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

Brewery News

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

Thank You For Reading

If you like this article, please check out our other many articles, including news, beer reviews, travelogues, maps, and much much more. We greatly appreciate everyone visiting the site!

Cheers.

-B. Kline

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MAPS OF BREWERIES

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Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery

B. Kline — Wed, 12 Apr 2023 18:33:13 +0000

Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery Logo

The Final Four

This is the final week (the last few days) of voting for The Battle of the Breweries (2023), and I said that one per day, I would cover each of the final contestants. First up is Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery. Tomorrow we will be covering Allusion Brewing Company, and then AleCraft Brewing Company, and finally Mad Chef Brewing.

You can vote in the tournament here: The Battle of the Breweries (2023) – Finals Fatal Four Way.

In this article we are going to discuss Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery as a whole, then discuss how they did in this year’s tournament, and offer links to all of our related articles, as well as a history of the tournament this year.

Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery

Tattered Flag Brewery and Still Works – Veteran Craft

First, let’s start with the words straight from their own mouth, this is how Tattered Flag describes themselves, from their new Tattered Flag Supply Drop website:

What started as a dream in the mountains of Afghanistan has now become a brand that is recognized for quality and innovation. We are honored to have been named “Simply the Best Brewery” (2019/2020) and “Simply the Best Distillery” (2018/2019/2020) in Central Pennsylvania by Harrisburg Magazine. To check our our full website, including the individual pages for each location, please head to www.tatteredflagbsw.com.
Tattered Flag Supply Drop

(Tattered Flag Supply Drop is their Shipping Service Statewide in Pennsylvania.)

Back in September 2016, Cathy Jordan, a journalist for The Burg newspaper ran an article where she interviewed owner Pat Devlin. (Pat Devlin by the way is a US Veteran, and has even done recent deployments, and been featured on FOX News.)

Hope is a tattered flag, according to a verse by Carl Sandburg, a poem that celebrates the American spirit.

According to Pat Devlin, a U.S. Navy veteran, co-owner and CEO of Tattered Flag Brewery and Still Works, a flag—though tattered—still represents what it once stood for, but with character. And it’s that character that Devlin wants to capture within the brewery, which opened in July.

The business idea brewed inside the heads of owners Pat Devlin, Matt Fritz, Tony DeLellis and Ben Ramsay for many years. The guys have known each since high school and share a common interest in craft beer. Their goal is to provide something you can’t find elsewhere.
Hoist the Flag – Tattered Flag Article in The Burg

The article goes on to mostly discuss the building they are currently in, on Union Street in Middletown, Pennsylvania:

“I traveled a lot and visited hundreds of breweries,” he said. “After my wife and I moved back home, we actually looked at six different locations. When I walked into this building, I just knew this was the place. It was unique.”

That unique find was the 105 year-old Elks building, which means the brewery is stocked with nostalgic charm. The Elks moved out years ago, and, since then, the building has housed a variety of businesses, including a sporting goods store, a florist shop, an upscale men’s clothing store and a shoe store. Its basement now hosts an open fermentation space, a brew house, canning line and grain mill. The first floor is a tasting room, while the third floor houses three private party rooms—including the “The Penn State Room” and a three-season room—along with an open kitchen, a stage, seating for more than 240 people and a standing bar.
Hoist the Flag – Tattered Flag Article in The Burg

Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery in Middletown can be located here: 1 S Union St, Middletown, PA 17057.

In August of 2015, PennLive ran an article about the opening and starting up of Tattered Flag in Middletown.

The project received contingent approval from both the Middletown Industrial and Commercial Development Authority and borough council Monday night after an hour-and-a-half presentation and question/answer session in MCSO Hall.

Ramsay, of York, said they worked with marketing and development experts to find a location. “The three top areas were Marysville, Linglestown and Middletown,” Ramsay said.

“When we came to Middletown, the environment we wanted to create and some of the brand we wanted to be just fit with what we are, especially the inside of that building,” Ramsay said.

“All of us have memories of coming to dollar movies here when we were kids,” Ramsay said, referring to the Elks Theatre in the building, which is not part of the deal.

This will not be “just a small-town microbrewery,” Ramsay said. “There are a lot of things with the building we’re going to do.”
Tattered Flag Brewery & Still Works to be more than ‘small-town microbrewery’

They further discuss the distillery aspects of Tattered Flag:

They see themselves on the leading edge of the distillery movement, while the number of small craft breweries is already booming in the state. There are 22 distilleries in Pennsylvania, Ramsay said, and one is planned for midtown Harrisburg. There are that many craft breweries and brewpubs in York County alone.

As for brewing experience, partner Pat Devlin said their head brewer and assistant brewer each have more than 10 years brewing experience, and the head brewer has 2.5 years’ commercial experience. Devlin said he has four years brewing experience, and nine months apprenticing in Gettysburg.
Tattered Flag Brewery & Still Works to be more than ‘small-town microbrewery’

The article did discuss the four owners and partners of Tattered Flag. As far as I know, now in 2023, the only two that are still partners and owners are Tony and Pat. Their biographies from the article are:

Tony DeLellis of Marysville is an Elizabethtown College graduate who has worked three years in the mortgage industry. He was previously a teacher, and is a regional church planner.

Pat Devlin of Mechanicsburg, who completed a 10-year stint in the Navy last September, is a Penn State graduate. He has six years’ experience in the food industry, and is apprenticing as a brewer in Gettysburg.
Tattered Flag Brewery & Still Works to be more than ‘small-town microbrewery’

Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery opened their Middletown location in July of 2016, a veteran owned business, and one of only (roughly) 20 or so such breweries in Pennsylvania. They were the first brewery and distillery to open as a single entity.

Tattered Flag Brewery Information

The following comes from Untappd about Tattered Flag Brewery – they are a micro brewery from Middletown, Pennsylvania, with 632 unique beers, and a global average rating of 3.78 (as of 4.12.23). They have 117,996 ratings. Their Untappd description is currently blank.

You can follow them on the following social media pages:

The Battle of the Breweries (2023)

Here is a look at how Tattered Flag Brewery made it to the Finals Fatal Four Way:

In the Group Stage, they were in Group H of the Chinook Conference. Tattered Flag Brewery and Rusty Rail Brewing Company emerged victorious from Group H. (Tattered Flag Brewery had 76 votes, and Rusty Rail Brewing Company had 75 votes.)

In the Chinook Conference Round of 16, Tattered Flag Brewery (122 votes) defeated Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (86 votes).

In the Chinook Conference Round of 8, Tattered Flag (136 votes) defeated Sly Fox Brewing (96 votes).

In the Chinook Conference Final Four:

In the first match up we had the number 9 seed Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery taking on the number 13 seed Chubby Squirrel Brewing Company. Tattered Flag Brewery came out on top with 140 votes against Chubby Squirrel Brewing Company’s 81 votes.

In the Chinook Conference Finals:

In the Chinook Conference we had number 9 seed – Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery – going up against fellow veteran owned number 10 seed – Cox Brewing Company. Both breweries have been on a tear in the voting, putting up big numbers in each of the last several rounds.

Tattered Flag Brewery put up an absolute dominant performance this round however. (Looking as dominant as Roman Reigns did last night… ….see what I did there… no? … ok….). Tattered Flag Brewery garnered 9358 votes this round. Besting Cox Brewing Company’s 2414 votes. Thats a 6944 vote difference.

They are going to be very tough to beat in the Finals Fatal Four Way.

(See end of article for all of The Battle of the Breweries voting and results pages.)

Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery Related Articles

Here is all of our articles on Tattered Flag Brewery:

The Battle of the Breweries (2023) – Voting and Results Pages

The Battle of the Breweries (2023) – Finals Fatal Four Way (Voting Page)

Past Results:

Group Stage Voting Pages

Group Stage Results Pages

Round of 16 Voting Pages

Round of 16 Results Pages

Round of 8 Voting Pages

Round of 8 Results Pages

Conference Final Four Voting Pages

Conference Final Four Results Page

The Battle of the Breweries (2023) – Conference Final Four Results

Conference Finals Voting Page

The Battle of the Breweries (2023) – Conference Finals

Conference Finals Results Page

The Battle of the Breweries (2023) – Conference Finals Results

Thank You for Reading

I know this post and article was due yesterday, but got very busy with the beautiful weather and the yard work. So the new schedule is now – Tattered Flag (today / now / Wednesday), Allusion Brewing Company (tomorrow / Thursday), AleCraft Brewing Company (Friday), and Mad Chef Brewing (Saturday).

I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the four remaining breweries and wish them all the best of luck. I have enjoyed visiting all four of them, and they certainly all rank very highly in my opinion. (Amy has been to three of them with me, and has loved the three she visited as well.)

It is a tremendous honor to get to this point in the competition – out of 160 breweries, we are down to just 4 remaining. Thats amazing to think about, and shows the love and support these breweries have.

Even the conference runner ups put in a tremendous effort and deserve some recognition too. Cox Brewing Company, Von C Breiwng Company, RAR Brewing, and Boneshire Brew Works are all amazing breweries and have loved my (and Amy as well) visits to their breweries.

As well as I want to take the moment to thank all of the 160 breweries that shared, linked, pushed, and helped make this tournament a rousing success. You all blow me away with the love, support, and energy you pour into this – as well as what you pour into your breweries (and, by relation – what you pour into my glass). Thank you all for everything you’ve done!

This tournament has been a lot of fun, but it is also a lot of work. So thank you to everyone for your patience.

I might be getting the Map of Vermont Breweries done today, but its not looking likely due to another gorgeous day (81 degrees today!) and having lots of yard work, as well as going to Drew’s to film some Star Wars related reels for his Knights of Nostalgia page.

We have also completed the first two Maps of Breweries – Maine and New Hampshire. You can see those here:

We are currently starting to work on creating maps of all the breweries in each state, starting geographically with Maine. So be on the lookout for these great resources to soon be popping up on the blog. Hoping to get a state done every 2 – 4 days. (Some will be quicker and easier than others, but 50 states, plus Washington D.C., will certainly take some time!)

Thank you everyone for reading and please like, share, follow, subscribe, all that good stuff you see at the end of every YouTube video.

Cheers All!

-B. Kline

You can check out our different directories here: Beer Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

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If you would like to reach out to us for product reviews, beer reviews, press release writing, and other media – please contact us at thebeerthrillers@gmail.com. Thank you.

Beer Review: Life Sentence (Tattered Flag)

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

Life Sentence by Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery

Getting Hitched… Tying the Knot… A Life Sentence…

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

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

Tattered Flag Facebook post

Tattered Flag’s Can Releases

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

The Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

November

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

Cheers everyone and see you tomorrow!

-B. Kline

Tattered Flag at Hollywood Casino Opening: August 22nd, 2021

BKline — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 14:47:11 +0000

Tattered Flag at Hollywood Casino (Grantville) Logo

Tattered Flag’s Fifth Location Opens Today

Today is a big day for Tattered Flag and for Hollywood Casino. Firstly, as we’ve mentioned earlier (Tattered Flag to Open its 5th Location) today will be the grand opening of Tattered Flag’s fifth location. On top of having their brewery and distillery in Middletown, the lounge in Hershey (the former Hershey Biergarten), their Gettysburg location, as well as opening their barrel house in Lancaster, they are opening a dining room and pub in the Hollywood Casino at Grantville. Formerly the Skybox Restaurant in the casino (second floor), it is now going to be a dining room, pub, and restaurant for Tattered Flag.

Penn National Gaming and Hollywood Casino has recently been on a big push with their ‘myheroes’ promotion, to honor the heroes of America. Military veterans, EMTs, nurses, and other front line heroes. They have recently built a massive stage near the employee parking lot called the “myheroes stage” and tonight kicks off the start of their “Outdoor Concert Series” with Journey. Other acts include Larry The Cable Guy, John Fogerty, and Jeff Dunham.

But first, a look at the dining room and pub that Tattered Flag is opening today:

An inside look at Tattered Flag’s newest restaurant at Hollywood Casino (photo credits – Tattered Flag’s Facebook page)

Hollywood Casino

Hollywood Casino at Grantville, Pennsylvania (photo credits – Hollywood Casino and Tattered Flag’s Facebook pages)

The Hollywood Casino in Grantville is located at 777 Hollywood Blvd, Grantville, PA 17028. It is considered a “racino” because it has both a race track and a casino. It is 240,000 square feet, and has slots, table games, a poker room (which has been closed since the COVID outbreak), an indoor stage, a race track, several restaurants, a Top Golf, and now an outdoor stage. The track first opened August 30th, 1972, and the casino itself opened on February 12th, 2008.

Formerly, prior to COVID, the upstairs restaurant at Hollywood Casino was a sportsbar themed restaurant called The Skybox. After the first COVID shut – down, it did not reopen, and following the second shut – down Hollywood Casino instead turned their H Lounge area (near the indoor stage) into a quasi eatery / restaurant using the Skybox themed menu (though slimmed down). Now, finally, on August 22nd, 2021, the restaurant is reopening, but also completely rebranded as “Tattered Flag at Hollywood Casino”.

Tattered Flag at Hollywood Casino will boast an impressive 8,900 square foot restaurant and kitchen that overlooks most of the casino floor from the second floor. You can access it from the elevators or the main stairway near the one entrance.

Stairs leading to the second floor of Hollywood Casino (photo credit Hollywood Casino Facebook page, Tattered Flag Facebook page)

The new restaurant will be serving the distinct craft beers and spirits created at their Middletown location. They are still operating and brewing (and distilling) from just their Middletown location. For more information on Hollywood Casino, the myheroes promotions, the outdoor concert series, Tattered Flag at Hollywood Casino, and much more, see the links at the end of the article.

Journey at the myheroes Outdoor Stage

Journey at Hollywood Casino’s outdoor stage “myheroes stage”

Tonight also kicks off the Outdoor Concert Series for Hollywood Casino in Grantville. With the first band performing in their series – Journey. Future concerts are John Fogerty, Larry the Cable Guy, and Jeff Dunham. The stage was just finished construction yesterday, and is located near the main drive – in entrance by the employee parking lot. (Impossible to miss as you drive in the main entrance.)

This is the first ‘big’ concert that Hollywood Casino in Grantville has scheduled. And its all a big part of their ‘myheroes’ promotion, to give back to military veterans and frontline workers who have been indispensable , especially in recent history with COVID and everything else that has gone on in the world and in America. This is Penn National and Hollywood Casino giving back. Tattered Flag’s rebranding of the upstairs restaurant also ties in with the ‘myheroes’ promotions.

For more information and links, please check out the following:

Our past articles about Tattered Flag:

Thanks For Reading

Thanks for reading, as always, be sure to stay safe, don’t drink and drive, and make sure you keep coming back here for great content. Hit the follow buttons, check us out on social media pages (and give a like and follow on there as well). And be sure to check out more great content from The Beer Thrillers!

Cheers!

-B. Kline

Brews and Bands for Bart

BKline — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 22:00:00 +0000

Brews and Bands for Bart

Block Party of the Summer

How do you recognize one of the baddest and coolest party throwers around? By throwing one of the biggest and baddest bashes ever in his honor! Thats just what’s in store this Saturday at Tattered Flag. We’ve discussed Bartley Kaminski here on the blog before, in numerous different ways, but recently with his passing, and with the event here and various events in the distant past.

This event has been planned out for quite a while now, but has really blown up with Bart’s passing. Tons of breweries adding their names to the list, and lots of other additions, and add – ons and groups adding to it and showing up in various ways to help the cause. It looks to be one hell of a bash, and one hell of a way to salute, and remember Bart and to throw one final rad party in his honor and memory.

Bartley Kaminiski

We talked about Bart before here, and talked about his passing previously here: Farewell to Bartley Francis Kaminski. He founded Kollision Media, Hop Hedz Gear, and has been referred to as “The Willy Wonka of Beer Events”. I could go on and on about him here. He was just a great guy, the life of the party without being too much, and everyone who knew him, or even just met him at one event or the other has amazing memories or stories to tell about him. My buddy talks about Bart’s green – suit or green – man appearance at the Atlantic City Brewfest all the time. There was very rarely an event in the Central PA area where you didn’t see a Hop Hedz Gear stand or Bart himself. And I guarantee you there was at least one person walking around in a tee shirt or hoodie that he made.

I can’t do him justice here discussing his amazing life, but we can do him justice by having one heck of a party in his honor.

Brews and Bands for Bart

The final brewery list for Brews and Bands for Bart posted today (Wednesday 8.11.21)

Look at that line-up! And word is there might be more additions to come and stuff, even though this is the “finalized” list. And I’m sure some might have their own little additions or add ons or secret hidden stashes too.

Here is a full list with all of their Untappd links:

Word is also Lancaster Brewing Company, North Country Brewing, and maybe one or two more will be unofficially added. That is one hell of a lineup right there! With breweries from out of state like Tripping Animals (Florida) and much more.

And let us not forget the bands part of this event as well!

The music lineup for Brews and Bands for Bart at Tattered Flag this Saturday (8.14.21)

Also, as posted by Hop Hedz Gear on social media:

In addition to the 40+ breweries that will be attending the fest, we would like to thank our group of vendors who will be a part of the event! Thanks so Whimsical Wonders By Kris, Thicc Bois Glassware, D&S Cigar Lounge, Dutch Country Soft Pretzels, and Feathers Feed and Jerky. Be sure to stop by these booths, as all sales will have a portion of proceeds donated to the cause!

When, Where, How

When is this amazing block party bash? This Saturday, from noon to 4PM. Where is it? At Tattered Flag Brewery on South Union Street in Middletown, Pennsylvania (Dauphin County). How do you get tickets? Check out Hop Hedz Gear, or go here: https://shop.hophedzgear.com/products/brews-and-bands-for-bart

(UPDATE: Tickets have sold out. On the day of, they will have roughly 100 tickets for purchase at the door. This will be the only way to attend the event now.)

Tattered Flag and Breweries of PA Collab

“Hard Pills to Swallow” Tattered Flag and Breweries in PA Collab

Make sure to check out the Breweries in PA tent to find the special Hard Pills to Swallow Tattered Flag collaboration that they made just for the event. It is also available in cans, and you can purchase it through the statewide shipping “Supply Drop” that Tattered Flag offers.

More Information, Facebook Event Page, and Beer Thriller Links

For more information, you can read the event page description here:

“

“As you may know, in late February, Bart Kaminski was diagnosed with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer with Sarcomatoid DIfferentiation. A rare form of cancer that quickly spread to his adrenal gland, lymph nodes and surrounding bone marrow.To support Bart’s growing medical expenses, we are throwing a unique brewfest! It will take place on Saturday, Aug. 14 in the block in front of Tattered Flag Brewery and Still Works in Middletown. The event is $40 (in advance) or $45 the day of the event and that gets you a pint can glass and unlimited samplings. Food will be available for purchase.This event is co-sponsored by The Beer Busters Podcast who will be recording live at the event.We are going to have a fantastic line-up of bands! Noon – 12:45 p.m. – Shannon Bobb acoustic
1:00 – 2:15 p.m. – Colt Wilbur Band
2:30 – 3:45 p.m. – The Martini Bros.Breweries will be announced every few days. Here are the breweries that have already been announced:Artiface Ales & Mead
Big Dog
Boneshire
Breweries Of PA (TF Collab)
Chatty Monks
Dancing Gnome
Englewood
Evergrain
Fahnestock & Baer
Four Score
Funk
Human Robot
Lovedrafts
Levante
Lions Head
Liquid Noise
Mad Chef
Moo Duck
Naked Brewing
Our Town
Pilger Ruh
Pour Man’s
Raney Cellars
REHAB
Root Down
Rotunda
Samuel Adams
Seven Sirens
Shy Bear
St. Boniface
Stickman Brews
Stolen Sun
Tattered Flag
Tripping Animals
Troegs
Wingcraft
Wolf
Workhorse
Yards
Zeroday

Please help us do everything we can to support Bart!

Location: Tattered Flag Brewery
1 S Union Street, Middletown

The Capital Region’s first co-branded and co-located Craft Brewery & Craft Distillery.
@tatteredflagbsw
www.tatteredflagbsw.com“

The Event Page can be visited here: Brews and Bands for Bart Event Page.

Some previous links to articles on The Beer Thrillers where we discuss Bart Kaminski:

Some Tattered Flag related articles:

Thank you everyone for reading! And hopefully see you all out and hope everyone finds it in them to contribute and donate. It really does go to a good cause and will help the family immensely. Cheers all!

-B. Kline

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.

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!

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

Beer Review: Tattered Soul (Tattered Flag and Rubber Soul)

BKline — Fri, 01 May 2020 16:32:00 +0000

Tattered Soul – a collaboration between Tattered Flag and Rubber Soul Brewing. This marks the new Rubber Soul’s first beer.

This was meant to be enjoyed at one of the marquee Harrisburg Beer Week events – Tattered Flag’s collaboration event. This was meant to be drank on draft at Tattered Flag’s brewery, as well as the by-now opened Rubber Soul brewery in Hummelstown. Sadly, none of this happened, instead its May 1st, and Rubber Soul finally got the green-light to start back up on construction of their brewery as per Governor Wolfe’s newest rules / orders / laws / allowances / mandates / ordinances / whatever you wanna call it.

Coronavirus – the novel COVID-19 virus – has certainly thrown everything for a loop here in Central PA (as well as in the world). This was supposed to be the end of Harrisburg Beer Week, an annual event that celebrates all the great breweries and bars in the greater Harrisburg area (Harrisburg, Hummelstown, Hershey, Middletown, Elizabethtown, and surrounding areas). Every year there’s great events like Little Big Beer Fest, Little Little Beer Fest, Collaboration Week at Tattered Flag, Stouts Night, Stouts and Stilleto’s Lady Night, etc, etc, etc, (the list is extremely long lets just say), and a premier event for the Hummelstown area this year was going to be the opening of Rubber Soul’s new brewery in Hummelstown at the old borough building. (For more information on that, see my article: A Sneak Peak of Rubber Soul Brewery).

But at least one really good thing has come out of it all; and that’s this great beer. The first with the new Rubber Soul, and the first of the collaboration between Tattered Flag and Rubber Soul (I’m sure we’ll see plenty more down the road). Justin, the brewer lives in Hummelstown (and depending on the way he drives to get to Tattered Flag is going to have to drive right by the Rubber Soul Brewery), and the new head brewer for Rubber Soul comes directly from Levante Brewing – which has done a few collaborations with Justin at Tattered Flag. So I definitely don’t foresee this being the last time these two all-star breweries hook up.

Speaking of the coronavirus / COVID-19, you’ll notice a little nod to the troublesome meddler of 2020 on the can-art. (Which is beautiful can art by the way.) With the sneaker stepping down on the virus. Lovely can art that encapsulates both Tattered Flag and Rubber Soul.

Alright, enough yapping, lets get to discussing the beer!

Tattered Soul by Tattered Flag and Rubber Soul

Beer: Tattered Soul
Brewery: Tattered Flag
Collaboration: Rubber Soul Brewing Company
Style: IPA – Session / India Session Ale
ABV: 5%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: We teamed up with our buds from Rubber SOul brewing Co to bring you a full flavor, crushable Mid-west style IPA. Using a base of american 2-row, pilsner, and a bit of caramel pils we hopped this beer in the kettle with Cascade, citra, and amarillo in style with a traditional or west coast IPA, then hit it in the whirlpool with a matching hop addition much like a typical NEIPA hop schedule. Later, we dry hopped with a generous Citra dosing and followed up with a very cold amarillo and Cascade drop. We feel this is a fantastic representation of Rubber Souls roots with a Tattered Flag twist!

This was a wonderful beer to crush by the fireplace while social distancing. Only 5% so a four-pack was easily handled with just the slightest buzz. I’ll take that any night by the firepit!

It pours a beautiful golden yellow / orange. A sweet looking IPA coloring, it has a full body appearance, not super hazy or completely clear, but with a wonderful golden glow. Slight appearance of orange juice but still a complete IPA look. Somewhere in the middle of a West Coast IPA and a New England IPA look to it. You can tell its hoppy but no crazy amount of ‘floaters’ or ‘weird stuff’ floating about in this beautiful beer.

They called this a “Mid-West” IPA, because it takes characteristics of the typical West Coast style IPA and characteristics of the New England IPA. The aroma gets a big kick from the dry hopping. The citra and amarillo really pop and burst at you in this, as soon as you crack the can and the foam comes up over the lip you are hit hard by the citrusy nature of the citra hops, then mellows into a bit of piney, earthy, grassy, but still citrus, tropical notes of the cascade and amarillo. I’m really digging this combination of hops and I think it goes really well together, especially in this beer.

This is pretty much the definition of a session beer. Light, hop bursts with a citrusy taste and feel, slightly creamy so it goes down easily with no real discernible hop bite, only 5% so it won’t get you hammered, this is everything you are asking for in a crushable session IPA. Perfect for firepits, backyard BBQs and parties, and baseball games. Once (not *IF* – *WHEN*) baseball comes back, this would be the perfect stadium beer. (Hint, hint, for say… a Harrisburg Senators game…. hint…. hint). The pilsner malt and the caramel pils gives this a great body. The more golden hue is due to the combination of the two, and provide the backbone for this super tasty beer. The hops give it the burst and kick to provide the true entertainment to the beer. Citrus notes from the cascade and amarillo hops really provides a strong burst, you get orange peel, zest, hint of lime, and then you get some more mellow notes, slight pine, slight earthy grass, from the cascade. These three hops really work well in tandem here, playing off each other, and it tastes phenomenal (and smells amazing too) because of it. This was just a great, easy, sipping, tasty, beautiful brew.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 4 (right on the nose) (as of 5.1.20)

If this is what we have to look forward to from Rubber Soul Brewing, I cannot wait! And bonus points for only being a half mile walk from my house (and a mile back…. the difference is staggering) (….yes…. another dad joke….)

Thankfully as the restrictions begin lifting, Rubber Soul can get to finishing their brewery and soon be opened. I will keep you all updated on when that happens (hopefully soon, fingers crossed!)

To read more about Rubber Soul – check out my article on them here: A Sneak Peak at the New Rubber Soul Brewery in Hummelstown, PA.

Also, today is the grand opening of Hemauer Brewing in Mechanicsburg, check out my article on their grand opening here: Grand Opening of Hemauer Brewing.

Peace everyone, cheers everyone, stay safe, and take care of your loved ones everyone!

-B. Kline

Beer Review: $#!+ Ton (Turning Point Beer)

BKline — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 16:38:55 +0000

$#!+ Ton by Turning Point Beer, a barleywine from Bedford, Texas.

Yesterday, I received my Texas beer mail package. It was packed full of goodies from breweries like Turning Point Beer, Martin House, Celestial Beer Works, Panther Brewing, HopFusion Ale Works, etc. Yesterday saw me already dive into three of the beers (the barleywine, the spicey pickle beer, and then the Fur Slipper milk stout to wash that down).

My Texas Beer Mail Package from Spencer. Thanks Spencer!

I came up with a plan during this lockdown to both help local breweries and get to try new breweries that I can’t travel to. So I set up a few ‘local for local’ trades with some guys online (I have a box coming from South Florida shortly). I went around to local breweries – Boneshire Brew Works, Pizza Boy Brewing, Tattered Flag, and Ever Grain Brewing and grab some four-packs, broke them down to make mixed packs to send off. Its a win for everyone. My local breweries get patronage, their local breweries get patronage, and we both get to try beers we most likely never would get to try otherwise. Plus it also gives me some unique beers to review here for the blog which further spreads the word.

So lets check out the first one I tried out.

Beer: $#!+ Ton
Brewery: Turning Point Beer
Style: Barleywine – English
ABV: 11.8%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Our first English Barley Wine, made entirely with English ingredients.

This beer comes from the Turning Point Beer (brewery) – Bedford Texas. Untappd lists it as a Brew Pub, with 153 unique beers and a global average rating of 4.1 (as of 4.23.20). Their Untappd description reads: “We make cool beers for cool people. 1307 Brown Trail Bedford Texas 76022.” You can find their Untappd page here: Turning Point Beer.

After a long day of ….quarantining … and walking the dog for a long walk, and doing things for three young people under my care, and finishing Module Five (Yeast), I needed this. It was just a barleywine kinda night. Slight chill, almost sunset time, about 7PM…. I’m halfway through my glass when my youngest asks to go for a bike ride. I don’t ride bike, so that meant I had to jog along with her while we did about a mile (+) bike loop. With half of a 11.8% barleywine sloshing around my gut. Do. Not. Recommend.

Anway… onto the actual review.

This poured a lovely caramel brown color, with a very frothy full foamy head. The head is a nice off-white (slightly brown) creamy looking head with great bubbles, varied sizes and disperse. It left nice lacing on the glass. It was a sweet looking brown with a hint of amber, clear, and well carbonated.

Aroma is malty, bready, with a bit of a banana smell. It has a slight sweet odor, but not vanilla. Slight spices smell but all very subtle, the predominant aroma was the malty bready biscuity backbone to this beer with everything else being subdued and subtle.

This was a delicious barleywine, one of my favorite styles. It had a very nice kick, but was very easy drinking, and like a good barleywine. Unlike some (most) barleywines you don’t even take notice of the 11.8% on this bad boy. It is definitely malty, and it has a slight appropriate bitterness to it. You get your dose of ‘English’ ingredients in this that rounds things out nicely. Some spices, some herbal elements. As with the aroma, there is a fine feint hint of banana. Nothing too ripe, but it might be where some of the sweetness comes from. This does go back and forth on being ‘sweet’ to ‘not sweet’ as you drink it down, which is interesting how it bounces back and forth between the two so much. There is a nice breadyness and biscuit flavor profile that goes with the high malt on this, giving it a full thick mouthfeel. Its not cloying, nice mouthfeel but not too heavy, no off flavors, just all around a well made barleywine that is amazingly easy sipper.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 3.92 (as of 4.23.20)

After this, I ended up meeting up with Drew and finishing part two of our run through of Zelda – A Link to the Past. Once we get the YouTube channel up and running, you’ll be able to see it on there. (Coming shortly). I poured myself a sampler (like half a shot) of the Spicy Pickle Beer, and gave Drew the rest of the pint. It took me some courage to even drink that shot. Not. A. Fan. D. Scott loved his glass of it though. I washed it down with HopFusion’s Fur Slipper (Imperial Milk Stout).

Still working through my online beer course, you can check the series out by starting at the beginning and working your way through it here: Beer Education: The Series. Also, look for a post about the grand opening of Hemauer Brewing, that should probably be posted tomorrow.

Stay safe, take it easy, be kind, and cheers everyone!

-B. Kline

Supporting Local Breweries and Businesses

BKline — Wed, 18 Mar 2020 19:05:25 +0000

In times like this, when everything is so unprecedented, things are nothing if not an uncertainty. No one right now knows anything with any level of certainty about what’s going on, or what the future holds. Except for one thing – we need to help each other. As the old saying goes: “United we stand, divided we fall.” Or as Jack Shepard said on LOST: “Live together. Die alone.” The mentality of unity, and helping each other out, is the backbone, of not just the United States, but of humanity as a whole. It is one has sustained human culture from the dawning of civilization; what has separated us from the animals.

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

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

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

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

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

DAUPHIN COUNTY:

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

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

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

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

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

MECHANICSBURG / ENOLA / MARYSVILLE AREA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#mellowmink #craftbeer #growler

LEBANON COUNTY

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

LANCASTER COUNTY

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

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

MONTGOMERY COUNTY

ROUND GUYS BREWING
Their Facebook posted on March 17th:

🚨 Online ordering and delivery 🚨

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-B. Kline

Valentine’s Day Beers

BKline — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 15:32:34 +0000

Chocolate Cherry LazaRIS by Boneshire Brew Works from their firkin tapping last night at their brewery. Happy Valentine’s Day!

In the Hershey – through Middletown and Harrisburg area, you go to a brewery, you can find yourself a chocolate covered…. strawberry or cherry something or other. Tattered Flag, Rotunda Brewing Company, Troegs Independent Craft Brewing, Boneshire Brew Works, and you can even make a variant at Lancaster Brewing Company. So, I’ve gone and done the legwork for all of you. I’ve traveled to the places, seen the sights, experienced the sounds and the smells, and I drank the beers, so you don’t have to …. or so you can know which ones you might like best. Or, so you can too. Either way…. whew, this is a tough gig. But I guess I’m the only one man enough for it.

So what all beers are we going to be taking a look at today? We’re going to be taking a look at: Chocolate Cherry LazaRIS by Boneshire Brew Works, Beautiful Trauma by Rotunda Brewing Company, Chocolate Cherry Stout by Troegs Independent Craft Brewing, Because I Was Inverted (Chocolate Cherry) and Because I Was Inverted (Chocolate Strawberry) by Tattered Flag, and finally Double Chocolate Covered Strawberry by Lancaster Brewing Company.

This is going to be a multiple-beer-review article posting. It’s a total of six beer reviews; and from five different breweries. All from the Hershey-Middletown-Harrisburg area. (Hershey’s contributions are Troegs’ Chocolate Cherry Stout, and Rotunda’s Beautiful Trauma [Rotunda Brew Pub in Hershey], Middletown’s contributions are the Tattered Flag beers, and Harrisburg’s are the Boneshire and Lancaster Brewing beers.) Most of these will still be on tap today. And possibly even the firkin at Boneshire Brew Works might not have kicked and still might be available. The Troegs Chocolate Cherry Stout was also canned yesterday (2.13.20) and still might be available in cans as well. Beautiful Trauma is still available in cans, and you can get it on draft and in crowlers at their Rotunda Brew Pub (as well as at The Batdorf attached to their brewery in Annville).

Let’s start with Middletown and break down the two beers from Tattered Flag. They have two offerings for us, and both are somewhat similar. Because I Was Inverted is their signature line of Milkshake IPAs, that they’ve done with a variety of different flavors (or adjuncts). Some notables were Mango, Kiwi, Plum, and they released two recently – Chocolate Covered Cherry and Chocolate Covered Strawberry. Both were canned and put on draft.

Because I Was Inverted (Chocolate Covered Strawberry)

Beer: Because I Was Inverted (Chocolate Covered Strawberry)
Brewery: Tattered Flag
Style: IPA – Milkshake
ABV: 7.2%
IBU: None Listed
Untappd Write-Up: Because I was Inverted (BIWI) black milkshake IPA blends sweet lactose with midnight wheat to bring you a subtle bitterness followed by a silky finish and earthly yet fruity notes of Mosaic. Conditioned with cocoa and strawberry puree just in time for Valentines day!

This looks like its a stout, but it tastes so much different. Appearance for this is dark black with a light foam head. Its Razor Ramone hair black (ahhhh, a term I haven’t gotten to use in a long time, been a while since I’ve reviewed a black / dark beer), fully opaque, and looking nothing like an IPA, let alone a milkshake IPA. Good carbonation, good head, and it leaves good lacing.

Aroma is pretty interesting. You definitely get notes of chocolate, and faint notes of strawberry. You get vanilla, and you get slight faint fruity hoppy notes. Nothing outstanding on the hoppy notes, nothing that blows you away, its all very subtle letting the chocolate come out much more prevalent in aromas.

This is very smooth, very tasty, very creamy. Its a bit heavy on your tongue in a way most IPAs aren’t. Strong chocolate, strong malt backbone, very vanilla and lactose and creamy, with some strawberry. The strawberry is probably a bit too subtle given that it should be more prominent, but its not too bad, and you do know its there. Strawberry can also be an overpowering addition that sometimes makes a beer far worse. There is no hop presence in taste. No bitterness, just smoothness and creamyness.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 3.69 (as of 2.14.20)

Because I Was Inverted (Chocolate Covered Cherry)

Beer: Because I Was Inverted (Chocolate Covered Cherry)
Brewery: Tattered Flag
Style: IPA – Milkshake
ABV: 7.2%
IBU: None Listed
Untappd Write-Up: Because I was Inverted (BIWI) black milkshake IPA blends sweet lactose with midnight wheat to bring you a subtle bitterness followed by a silky finish and earthly yet fruity notes of Mosaic. Conditioned with cocoa and sweet cherry puree just in time for Valentines day!

This might sound a lot like deja vu, but nearly everything for the above beer can be said for this one as well. Appearance is the same as the above, dark black, jet black, Razor Ramone hair black, nice foamy small head, nice lacing, good carbonation. Interspersed bubbles.

Aroma is pretty much the exact same as well. Instead of faint strawberry, you get faint cherry. Still heavy chocolate, some vanilla, faint faint faint hop, with the cherry a bit more prominent than the strawberry, but only barely, and it could just be my nostrils more open to that particular smell.

Taste is again similar, and again the only real difference is cherry puree rather than strawberry puree. Its noticeable the difference, in the same way you can notice mango instead of peach, or orange instead of kumquat. Heavy chocolate notes, vanilla notes, no hop presence, no bitterness, just super smooth, with a heavy mouthfeel. Slight cherry, possibly lighter than the strawberry, which is odd because I felt there was more of a nose of cherry on this than the strawberry had, but could all be tricks of the mind.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 3.72 (as of 2.14.20)

Lets move on to Hershey and their offerings, we’ll start with Rotunda Brewing Company’s Beautiful Trauma.

Beautiful Trauma

Firstly, let’s do a big shout out to Steve Glick for the great artwork on this. If you’ve seen the artwork from Rotunda Brewing, its all courtesy of Steve Glick, and he is absolutely killing it. Fantastic artwork.

Beer: Beautiful Trauma
Brewery: Rotunda Brewing Company
Style: Stout – Pastry
ABV: 8.9%
IBU: None Listed
Untappd Write-Up: Imperial stout conditioned on strawberry puree, cocao nibs, and milk sugar.

Rotunda has been making some beautiful beers and this is no exception. Its dark black like a stout pastry should be. Fully opaque. A nice foamy head that did go away pretty quickly, but had the interspersed bubbles. There was nice lacing on the glass as you drank (or gulped) this beauty down.

Smell is fantastic. Its pure pastry. You get wonderful notes of cocao, lactose, vanilla, it smells like pastries. It smells creamy, it smells sugary, it smells sweet. Then you get hit with the strawberry under it all, and it comes up pretty strong at you, stronger than in some other versions of this beer (from other breweries).

Tasting this, you almost want to finish it all right away… but have to pull yourself back so you don’t over-indulge and drain it too fast. This is like drinking a chocolate covered strawberry pastry. You get strong grain, strong chocolate, strong vanilla, strong sugar, strong strawberry, in an absolutely wonderful blend. Its heavy on your tongue but not cloying. Its super smooth and hides its 8.9% ABV rather well.

My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 3.83 (as of 2.14.20)

Moving on to the next Hershey beer….

Chocolate Cherry Stout by Troegs Independent Craft Brewing

As you can see I drained this one a bit too much before taking a picture of it. (Ran into my cousin while at Troegs, and quickly got to drinking and talking more than taking a picture of it.)

Beer: Chocolate Covered Cherry Stout
Brewery: Troegs Independent Craft Brewing
Style: Stout – Milk / Sweet
ABV: 7.8%
IBU: None Listed
Untappd Write-Up: This special Valentine’s release starts with big, vibrant, red Balaton cherries. They’re sweet. They’re tart. They’re juicy. Now wrap those thoughts in a warm, roasty chocolate stout and drizzle with vanilla. It was this cherry cordial daydream that set our brewers on this path, and lo and behold, dreams do come true.

As similar to all of the above, this was a dark beer. Fully opaque. Outside of the firkin from Boneshire Brew Works, this had the biggest and most resilient head to it. Foamy off-white (leaning towards brown) creamy head that retained for quite a while. Nice full looking body. Dark black but with a hint of brown to it.

Aroma on this one was far more cherry than any of the others so far. Most likely due to the usage of real fruits rather than purees. This had a sparkling cherry smell to it. You get good notes of chocolate and you get vanilla and sugary notes as well. The malts are a roasted sort that you pick up on as well, with almost a caramelized smell to them.

This one is tart but stout tart. You get a tartness from the cherries up front that then transitions into chocolate and its heavy. Some vanilla, some cream, some sugar, but the chocolate, kind of a bitter, cooking chocolate, is the most heaviest after the tartness of the cherries subsides. Its a very nice juxtaposition between the two that works very well into a blended stout here that makes its sum far more than its parts. This is re-drinkable easily, but not a full four pack by yourself in one sitting type. Two at most I’d say, but at its 7.8% ABV thats probably a good thing. This has a full thick body like a nice brickhouse (if you know what I mean, and if you’re having a good Valentine’s Day, hopefully you do) and it has a wonderful mouthfeel. Nothing cloying. The bitterness works nice with the creamyness. The tartness works great with the chocolate.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: (as of 8:30AM, 2.14.20, there isn’t enough of a global Untappd rating yet, when there is, I’ll edit this and add it in).

Now let’s go into Harrisburg, and start off with Lancaster Brewing Company.

Double Chocolate Covered Strawberry by Lancaster Brewing Company

Beer: Double Chocolate Covered Strawberry
Brewery: Lancaster Brewing Company
Style: Stout – Imperial / Double Milk
ABV: 5.75%
IBU: 29
Untappd Write-Up: Mixture of Double chocolate milk stout and strawberry wheat

Firstly, you won’t typically see this on the menu at Lancaster Brewing Company in Harrisburg (off of Eisenhower Boulevard). But if you ask for it, they’ll make it. Short story on it, is that its 50/50 Double Chocolate Stout and Strawberry Wheat. Then on top they drizzle strawberry sauce. (Thus the appearance in the picture.) Troegs used to do something similar with Mad Elf and their Chocolate Stout as well as Mad Elf and Dreamweaver (Chocolate Elf and Mad Dreams respectively). Cuvees or mixing beers has been a long practice with varying results.

Appearance for this is going to be odder than most. The beer itself is fifty percent Lancaster Brewing’s Strawberry Wheat and fifty percent Lancaster Brewing’s Double Chocolate Stout. It also has the drizzle of strawberry sauce on top. So it almost has the look of a large mixed drink rather than a beer. The chocolate stout overpowers the wheat beer and makes this a black, dark, stout looking beer. Its not quite fully black due to the wheat beer, but it is still fully opaque. The mixture makes a head that doesn’t retain once the drizzle eats through it.

Smell is all over the place too due to the mixture. You get strong strawberry, strong chocolate, strong milk, strong strawberry drizzle, strong wheat. You get a lot of strong aromas all hitting you at once. Their all attacking from all sides with strong fronts and your nose has no combat for it, no defenses, and no way to guide them correctly to their proper places. Its just all a bit much.

Taste is interesting. I’m a fan of their Double Chocolate Stout, but not a fan of their strawberry wheat (at all, just one of the beers I’ve never enjoyed). But this is actually a pretty good mixture of the two, and the stout does away with the flavors and reasons I’m not a fan of the strawberry wheat. The drizzle makes it super sweet and super strawberry, but the stout provides a nice dark backbone, a nice chocolate malty support structure for the strawberry to play on. Lancaster Brewing could probably make a good strawberry stout that would be better than this rather than having to use the subpar strawberry wheat to make the mixture.

My Untappd Rating: ***.75
Global Untappd Rating: 4.19 (as of 2.14.20)

And finally, our last Harrisburg, and our last beer on the list:

Chocolate Cherry LazaRIS

Beer: Chocolate Cherry LazaRIS
Brewery: Boneshire Brew Works
Style: Stout – Russian Imperial
ABV: 9.5%
IBU: None Listed
Untappd Write-Up: Our Russian Imperial Stout, LazaRIS, with chocolate and cherry added.
Firkin.

Firkin. Firkin. Firkin. Firkin. Firkin. Its just such a wonderful word. I don’t know (or remember) if the last time Boneshire produced this variant of LazaRIS if that was in a firkin as well; but this time it was.

I will admit, I love LazaRIS and there hasn’t been a variant of it yet that I haven’t loved either. I had this variant (Chocolate Cherry) first back in March 2017, and now again on February 13th, 2020.

Appearance is dark black like all of the above. Fully opaque, but with probably the biggest and most profound head of all of them. Could be because of the firkin or the beer, either way, it had a nice white brown foamy creamy head with interspersed bubbles and wonderful lacing on the glass as you drank this down. This is jet black, Razor Ramone hair black, Snoopy writing about a dark and stormy night black, black like the souls and hearts of some on Valentine’s Day. (Ooh, I like that last one, might have to remember to use that one more often!)

Aroma is heavy stout, heavy Russian Imperial Stout. Lots of deep dark malts. Lots of heavy grain, but it gets tempered with by the addition of the chocolate and cherry in this. You get strong cocao, strong chocolate, strong cherry that rounds out the usual smell of LazaRIS. This is just an extremely aromatic beer in all of its variants. Which I think is one of the biggest reasons I love this beer so much, I love smelling, inhaling, and savoring a beer before I even take that first sip, and LazaRIS is perfect for that.

Taste is immediate dark, immediate heavy, powerful malt, powerful dark grain, roasted, caramelized to a degree, and then you get the new additions, the chocolate, the cherry, the cocao, the heavy hitters come out firing on all cylinders and punching in every direction like the Tazmanian Devil. A whirling dervish of flavors assaults you suddenly, you get the chocolate, the cherry, the malt, the rich roasted notes, and they get you and hit you hard. There is so much to enjoy in this beer as you get all of these flavors in spades.

My Untappd Rating: ****.50
Global Untappd Rating: 4.08 (as of 2.14.20)

Ok, so lets break down the beers I reviewed here, and give some stats on them. First, my Untappd Ratings for all of them:

* Because I was Inverted (Chocolate Cherry) – ****
* Because I was Inverted (Chocolate Strawberry) – ****
* Beautiful Trauma – ****.25
* Chocolate Cherry Stout (Troegs) – ****
* Double Chocolate Covered Strawberry – ***.75
* Chocolate Cherry LazaRIS – ****.50

By style:
* Because I was Inverted (both variants) – Milkshake IPA
* Beautiful Trauma – Pastry Stout
* Chocolate Cherry Stout – Milk Sweet Stout
* Double Chocolate Strawberry – Double Milk Sweet Stout
* Chocolate Cherry LazaRIS – Russian Imperial Stout

ABV:
* Because I was Inverted (both variants) – 7.2%
* Beautiful Trauma – 8.9%
* Chocolate Cherry Stout – 7.8%
* Double Chocolate Strawberry – 5.75%
* Chocolate Cherry LazaRIS – 9.5%

So thats the breakdown of all of the Valentine’s Day beers in the Hershey / Harrisburg / Middletown area. Did I miss any? Let me know! Hopefully you’ll have as much fun finding these and trying them out as I did.

Cheers everyone!

-B. Kline