Lancaster, PA beer scene

I'm going to be in Lancaster, PA in late October on a business trip. Does anyone have any recommendations on pubs/breweries in the area? Or just good places for beer and food?

Also, does 3 Floyds distribute there? If so, any recommendations on where to find it (bottle or draft)?

Thanks!

I lived in Lancaster for 5 years while in college so I know a little about their beer scene. You have the Lancaster Brewing Company, which actually brew a few of their beers on premise. Some of their small batch brews are pretty delicious. There is also an Iron Hill Brewery Pub, which also has a decent selection of house beers. Lastly, I recommend the Dispensing Company. It's a small Victorian themed bar located in the Old Central Market district. They always have a few excellent beers on tap accompanied by a nice environment. There are also plenty of other bars to visit, but those would be on the top of my list. As far as 3 Floyds being available, I've never seen it on tap at any bar in Lancaster.

There are somethings I miss about Lancaster, but I'm glad to be out of that town. Most of the locals belong in an insane asylum. With that said, have fun.

If your in the area. Not to far from Lancaster is Union Barrel Works in Ephrata and Stoudts in Adamstown. Both nice places w/ good beers.

spring house's taproom is about 50 feet from the dispensing company...definitely recommend it.

http://www.springhousebeer.com/news.htm

iron hill is pretty good as is lancaster brewing (already mentioned).

if you feel like making your way over to york, stop at bube's brewery in mount joy. http://www.bubesbrewery.com/

once in york we have liquid hero and mudhook. good beer bars are holy hound taproom and cobblestones.

http://www.liquidhero.com/
http://mudhookbrewing.com/
http://www.holyhoundtaproom.com/
http://www.cobblestonesyork.com/

i also recommend trying to get up to troegs in hershey.

and no... 3 floyds is not available anywhere around here (that i know of)

Go to The Fridge on Mulberry st. http://beerfridgelancaster.com/
Thin crust pizza is over priced and just ok for me, but they have the best beer selection in the area. Always some very good beers on tap along with about 400 bottle selections.
You can get a good sitdown meal at Lancaster Brewing Co. and if you happen to be there on the last Wed. of the month, our homebrew club meets downstairs amongst the fermenters.

CoalCracker said:

If your in the area. Not to far from Lancaster is Union Barrel Works in Ephrata and Stoudts in Adamstown. Both nice places w/ good beers.

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......except for UBW. Their beer sucks. I live half a mile from it and never go there. Stoudts is much better.

Lancaster Brewing is a really nice place. Kinda small, but last time I was there and ordered the sample 'flight', I got at least 12 beers. Each one a great example of their respective styles. Food wasn't to shabby either. Stoudts isn't too far away, but hey....about an hour away is Victory. Now that's a place.

Thanks for all of the suggestions! Sounds like I won't go thirsty on the trip

Well ... I made it to a few of the recommended places.

Iron Hill ... decent beer, but thought the food was a bit over priced for what it was.

Dispensing Co ... great atmosphere, but the food was so-so and only had 7 beers on tap (but did have some good local stuff).

Lancaster Brewing... the best of the ones I visited. The beer was great (I liked their Octoberfest the best) and the food was spot on for the atmosphere and price. If I lived in Lancaster, I'd probably spend too much time there

I had some Stoudts in bottles (a double IPA: thought the alcohol was a bit 'hot', and the Octoberfest which (IMO) was much better balanced.

Also tried the Troegenator double bock from Troegs ... nice caramelly notes and deceptively smooth at ~8% ABV. I'll have to try more of their beers next time I'm in PA.

Bummed that it's hard to buy less than a case at a time in PA ... would have liked to hit some bottle shops to explore more local brews.



Thanks for all the recommendations!