PA Breweries

So my wife and I live in Pittsburgh, but she has some friends out near the Philadelphia area that she hasn't seen much since college. She wants to go visit them next month, and since i'm not eactly thrilled at the idea of driving across the state just to say hello, we've compromised to turn this into a mini-vacation and stop at some breweries on the way.

I was originally trying to work DogFish Head into the trip, but i think that's far enough out of the way, and close enough to a beach that we could do that another year and make it the sole destination.

Right now on my list is Troegs. Last summer we went to Hershey Park and went to Lancaster Brewing's restaurant, so i wouldn't mind seeing their brewery either.

Any other thoughts?

What did you think of Lancaster one, I live in Lancaster, though I go to school in Wv) and want to check that out this summer once I turn 21

While i haven't been there yet, Stoudts is on my list of places to go. I haven't had their beer and don't know if it's any good, but there's an antique mall, beer garden, etc, that my wife would enjoy.

Victory should be right along your way. Also, Milton, DE (where DFH is) is only about 1 - 1.5 hours south of Philly if I remember correctly.

Ma2 said:

What did you think of Lancaster one, I live in Lancaster, though I go to school in Wv) and want to check that out this summer once I turn 21

Click to expand...

Wait! You aren't 21? You know you have to be 21 to be a member here right?

bknifefight said:

Victory should be right along your way. Also, Milton, DE (where DFH is) is only about 1 - 1.5 hours south of Philly if I remember correctly.

Click to expand...

I was going to highly recommend Victory.

Ma2 said:

What did you think of Lancaster one, I live in Lancaster, though I go to school in Wv) and want to check that out this summer once I turn 21

Click to expand...

We didn't get to the brewery part of it, just the restaurant. Our experience wasn't the best because the manager there was a ******, but the food was good and the beer was excellent. They had a chocolate stout and also a cherry wheat and sold a beer called a 'chocolate covered cherry' which was just half of each. I improvised with my sampler rack and took a sip of each and shook it in my mouth. It was interesting, but i wouldn't ruin a good stout by doing it with a full beer.


DFH is about 2 hours south of Philly, and i'm not even sure we'll be going all the way to Philly. Her friends might meet us somewhere toward Harrisburg. I feel like we'd be going pretty far out of the way just to stop in at their restaurant, but i really want to spend the day in the town, do a brewery tour, have dinner at the pub, etc. and since it's so close to a beach, i figured we could go some other time.

Victory is added to the list.

Victory is a very good choice.

Just across the river from Philly ( about 15 minutes from CC) is Flying Fish. They make some really good beers also.

You might also want to visit Monk's. It is not a brewery but it is one of the best beer bars in the country. Great selection of Belgians. Several on tap. Food is good too.

Thanks for the ideas. This isn't going to be a very long trip, and i know most breweries only offer tours at certain times of the day, and we'll want to check out the brewpubs for dinner also, so we'll be more limited that I'd like.

I've heard of flying fish, and i'd like to check it out. I have a feeling that the logistics of this trip will be dependant on each brewery's events, and how involved SWMBO's friends are going to be.

This was intended to be an inexpensive get-away, but I'm planning on a couple of nights in hotels and buying t-shirts/bar ware/beer to take home/etc... so the more places we go, the more money i'll spend.

Also, besides local events for the week (we'd be going April 21-24th-ish), i think a big factor will be hotel locations. I obviously want to be drinking, so walkable hotels would be a huge bonus in terms of where we go when.

Edit: You say Flying Fish is 15 minutes outside of CC. Does CC mean Center City? Because i think one of these friends lives in center city. If that's the case, does any type of public transportation go out that way?

Yards Brewery is worth going to and actually in Philly.

http://www.yardsbrewing.com/

There is nothing within walking distance of Victory.

You are going to have a hard time finding public transportation to most of the breweries.

But if you are staying in Center City then Monk's is walkable and you probably will want to walk after dowing a few Belgian beers.. It is at 16th and Spruce St.

Here is a list of Philly based Breweries:
Yards (mentioned Above)
Nodding Head
Earth Bread Brewing
Triumph
Dock Street

Brew Pubs Near Philly:
McKenzies (2 location)
Iron Hill (Many Locations)
Spring House Brewery (Just opened a tasting room near Lancaster)

Beer Bars:
Capones (Norristown, PA)
Monks (Philly)
Devil's Den (Philly)
Jose Pistolas (Philly)
Memphis Taproom (Philly)
Resurrection Ale House (Philly)
Tria (Philly)
TJ's Everyday (Malvern, PA)
Station Taproom (Downingtown, PA - Near Victory)

If you are hitting up Troegs, just a quarter/half mile away is Appalachian Brewing Company. They have some very solid beers, and I believe 8-12 regular taps, plus anywhere from 2-6 special taps.

Additionally, if you are in that area, you may want to head north about an hour and you could hit Selinsgrove Brewing (rated one of the top 10 places to have a beer in America) that make some great beers, there stout being one of my favorites.

From Selinsgrove you could go 15 minutes north up to Lewisburg to the Riverhouse Brewing Company which has 8 or so beers on tap. Then go 15 minutes east and hit Old Forge in Danville. Or from Lewisburg go 30 minutes north to Williamsport and check out Bavarian Barbarian which has a tasting room inside of its brewery, and also check out the Bullfrog brewery which is a quarter mile away. If in Williamsport, there is also Abby Wight, but I personally would not bother taking the time to go there.

Have fun... some great beer to be had in this area.

Its a shame you are not out here today, you could get it all done in one stop:
http://lewbryson.blogspot.com/2011/02/pa-beers-plenty-at-devils-den-tomorrow.html

Ryan_PA said:

Its a shame you are not out here today, you could get it all done in one stop:
http://lewbryson.blogspot.com/2011/02/pa-beers-plenty-at-devils-den-tomorrow.html

Click to expand...

That would be awesome, but things like that pop up around here, too. For the sake of this trip I'm more interested in the actual breweries with pubs/restaurants/gift shops/etc...

Ok, new plan. We are now going to be strictly going to Philly without stopping at Troeggs or Victory.

I have on the list to look into Flying Fish and Yards to see the breweries, and then Monks to down some beers afterwards.

Any other more-well-known breweries in the region? There will be a group of girls who will probably be more easily convinced if they've heard of the beers...