The Buggy Museum, no I did not visit the buggy museum. I only mentioned it since when you ask about Mifflinburg, the locals talk about the brewery and the Buggy Museum. Plus it made a good title for this blog.
Rusty Rail Brewery- traveling east from State College & Boalsburg on Route 45, you find yourself in the beautiful Penn;s Valley. It does not take long to pass the last of the new housing developments and you are in farm and amish country. This is a very popular bicycling route with the mostly level and straight roadway, with an exception of a short curvy, mountainous section near Woodward. As you drive, do not lose you focus on the scenery, amish buggies, wagons and more buggies are everywhere on this road. You should also keep your tires off the edge of the road to avoid the Amish horsepower waste ( these piles are a bicyclist's hazard). Ok back to the beer. You will enter the small town of Milheim after driving 25-30 minutes from Boalsburg. Milheim is a neat little German town with a few artisan stores and the Elk Creek Brewery. I visited this brewery early in my beer quest and it is worth the stop. Drive another 30 minutes and you will enter a town of Mifflinburg. Just as you are entering the town limits, look for the signs directing you to the Rusty Rail Brewery. Located in an old Buggy Factory building, the bar and seating area is very large. The brick, wood and stone provides a very rustic setting. To the right of the bar you are able to look down on the brew works. The polished fermenters look quite impressive from the seating area. You can also go up to the second floor to a gaming area with pool tables, a 22 ft shuffleboard table, dart boards and a few vintage arcade games. You will also be surrounded by numerous exotic stuffed animals. Watchout for the teethy baboon that looks down on you. The Brewpub has a full menu, I highly recommend the Grilled chicken, apple & brie salad. The Brewpub and taproom have 12 to 15 of the house brews on tap. I enjoyed Honey Almond Rye Rail Spike IPA, Rails End Pale Ale, Blue Collar Blonde, Blood Orange Pale Ale, Apple Saison, my favorite of the sampler, Wolf King Warrior Imperial stout. This is a great stop, the food is very good, the beer is good and the atmosphere is great. If you plan to visit at night, reservations are highly recommended, they are packed at night.
The Buggy Museum, no I did not visit the buggy museum. I only mentioned it since when you ask about Mifflinburg, the locals talk about the brewery and the Buggy Museum. Plus it made a good title for this blog.
0 Comments
Savor Beer Festival- Most Beer festivals tend to be very similar, located in large open fields, parks, hotel ballrooms or convention centers. Various numbers of breweries with various numbers of beers being poured by volunteers, food trucks along with bands and other forms of entertainment. So what if you wanted a different type of beer festival that maybe puts more focus on the beer and not just a party drinking many different brews. Start with the venue, Washington D.C.'s National Building Museum's great hall with a warm illumination glow highlighting the beautiful architecture and colossal Corinthian Columns. Then select 76 breweries and ask the brewers or brewery representatives to pour the beer, not a volunteer who knows little or nothing about the beer they are pouring. Food...sure ask an executive chef to build a menu that pairs with each of the beers being served. What..... you need more, ok let's ask few of the brewers to conduct a few sessions to educate us on their beer, food and cheese pairings, along with other topics. Wow....sounds like a great beer festival doesn't it. Well it is called the Savor Craft Beer Festival, held in Washington D.C. annually, they mistakenly held it in NYC one year. The 2016 Savor was my sixth time attending this festival. The brewery which I invested with and represent, Adroit Theory Brewing, was invited to participate, making it extra special for me this year. The owner, Mark Osburn, also conducted an educational session pairing adroit beer with cheese. I attended both Friday & Saturday's sessions and the Festival was tremendous as always. I had the opportunity to pour Adroit Beer during one of the sessions, which was a lot of fun talking with fellow beer lovers as they experienced Adroit beer. My good friend and retirement coach, Kathleen Dubois, attended the Friday session with me. It was her first Beer Festival and I had fun guiding her thru the maze of breweries and bringing her into the craft beer revolution. So believe it or not, I highly recommend that you attend this festival one time. Just beware it becomes addicting. I have been receiving numerous comments about the Beer Quest Slowing down and at times being nonexistent. The Quest will never end, however, family takes priority. With twin grandsons you can only imagine the support my Son & Daugher-In-Law need and as proud grandparents the Beer Wife and I cherish the time we spend with Connor and Brayden. In addition I decided to build my dream Beer Cave in the basement of the State College house. This has ben a much larger time drain than I had planned for, however, the end result will be amazing.....more to come on that project. So as you can see the Beer Quest has slowed down, but has not stopped. Occasionally I find the time to get out and discover a new Brewery, so the following is a few random visits made over the past few months. Quattro Goomba Brewery: Located a few miles south of Leesburg, Va. along Route 15, was a horse farm converted into a winery. The owners then decided to join the Craft Beer Revolution and turn one of the barns into a brewery with tasting room. Virginia Law requires separation between breweries and wineries. So they are located in separate buildings within walking distance of each other. If you have a spouse who prefers wine over beer, then this is a stop that will make both of you happy. Or you can partake in both....wine before beer or beer before wine, however that saying goes.....I'm sticking to the beer. OK back to the brewery.....the day I visited there were six beers available including Dark Vadar black IPA, Rye Not DIPA, Friar Nuts Dubbel, Torque & Cranked both Milk Stouts and Brown Cow Brown Chicken.....you guessed it a Brown Ale. All the brews were good, the tasting room had the barn flare, a very nice visit. Full Disclosure....the Beer wife's second cousins work at the brewery, so please visit. The Brew Gentlemen Beer Co.- Growing up in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh, I always remember all of the Steel Mill towns that surrounded Pittsburgh creating the reputation of being "The Steel City" with all of its Mill worker bars poring Iron City Beer, Boilermakers and loving the Steelers. Then the Steel industry collapsed and now these once thriving small industrial towns were abandoned, struggling to survive and being taken over by gangs and the drug pushers. Braddock is one of these towns. The hard times in Braddock created an opportunity that has spurred the rebirth of this town. Two CMU graduates decided to turn one of the old abandoned buildings on Main Street into a Craft Brewery. This late 1800's building that once thrived during the golden days of Andrew Carnegie's Steel Empire was the perfect building for a brewery and taproom. The bar area in the taproom is very nice, when crowded there is a second room with tables to handle the overflow. During my visit there were eight brews on tap, I enjoyed three of their IPA's: Turbid Nightmare, Persica and Legendary Weapons. In my opinion their best brews were the Farmhouse ales: Runaway, Loose Seal and Inquisitive Visitor. In addition to the great taproom experience, there were 8 food trucks in their parking lot providing a nice selection of food to pair with the beer ( my visit was on a Saturday, so that may explain the large number of food trucks). Braddock is far from being the thriving town it once was, however, Brew Gentlemen has given them new life and the town is starting a rebirth using the brewery as the keystone. So for the Craft Beer Revolution non-believers, this is another example of the great positive impact the Beer Revolution can have on a community. Aslin Beer Company- The growth of the craft beer breweries in Virginia has ben amazing. Every week a new brewery appears to be opening. Aslin Brewery located in Herndon, Va, is one of the latest additions. The location is close to numerous office and shopping complexes, so they draw quite a large crowd for a small tasting room. They also fill crowlers for limited selections of their brews and that has resulted in very log lines to purchase crowlers. They also have a small brew house, so they tend to run out of beer very quickly. This has created high demand for their beer. I find it interesting how social media can create such a hype. Now I'm not saying wether the hype is deserved or not. Just be forewarned that you may be facing a large crowd when attempting to visit their taproom. Aslin has been know to brew very good IPA's. Unfortunately during my visit I was only able to sample Stellar Parallax, which was a very nice imperial IPA. Two of their Imperial Stouts were also worth mentioning, Buongiorno and Delusions of Grandeur. Great visit, if you go be prepared for a crowd. Bloom Brew- located in the small Youghiogheny River town of West Newton, PA this small brewery is located in the basement of the West Newton Volunteer Fire Department. The tasting room is more of a growler fill area in around the brew works. They will provide you with small samples in plastic cups, the main focus is filling growlers. The brewery sits on the riverbank of the Youghiogheny River and the very busy Youghiogheny Bike trail is located on the other side of the river. So this location could be a prime spot for bikers to cross the bridge and enjoy a brew while taking a break. I beleive some or all of the profit from the brewery is donated to the fire department, which is a very good thing. I sampled four of their brews, nothing really stood out for me. However, they did have a very brisk growler business with the locals. I hope they are successful, they have a very good location for an outdoor tasting area. So if you find yourself on the Youghiogheny Bike Trail, take a break, cross the bridge and enjoy a brew. Retirement has been great, however, you do miss the people that you had worked with over the years, So I was given an opportunity to represent a firm at an Industry group that I had spent many years working with. In addition to spending a few days at the Ritz Carlton in Key Biscayne, Florida, Joann and I a chance to reconnect with some friends. Plus we decided to drive which opened the door to more Brewery visits. Parkway Brewing Company: It was time for a break and Salem, Virginia was close by, and how convenient.....there was a brewery in town. The brewery is located on the outskirts of town and can be easily missed. The original tasting room was located next to the brew works. They quickly outgrew this area and expanded into a warehouse style portion of the building and installed a second bar with a large area containing numerous picnic tables. The original tasting room is now used for overflow crowds on weekends. I ordered the sampler flight and as you can see in the picture the sampler tray is a tree limb. Not a twig, a heavy tree limb, could call it a log. So do not attempt to carry the sampler tray if you are under the influence of the enjoying brews previously or you have a 10 lb. lifting restriction. My favorite brews on the flight were Raven's roost Baltic Porter , Get Bent Mountain IPA and Four damn Fights for a Pint - Double IPA. The brewery appears to be gaining in popularity and is expanding its distribution in the Mid-Atalntic Area. Be sure to stop in and lift a log that is a sampler tray. Tomoka Brewery: Finally made it to Florida, just outside of Daytona Beach in Port Orange ( lots of Orange in Florida) you will find the Tomoka Brewing. Located in a modern shopping plaza, the brewery is also a very popular restaurant. Just beating the lunch crowd, we enjoyed a very nice surf tacos. The beer selection was good with about 10 in house brews on tap. You can build your own flight from 4 to all of their available brews, which was very nice . I enjoyed eight of their brews with Brewer's Breakfast, Mint Julep Southern Sour and Twist of Cane Double IPA topping my list. During my visit I was able to meet the General Manager who informed me the Owner and Brewer were meeting with some Bankers to discuss opening another brewery in the Orlando Area. I wish them the best as they grow. Florida Beer Company: When you think of Cape Canaveral, NASA, Rockets and Space Shuttles usually come to mind. Well come back to earth, there is beer in the Space Port. Florida Brewing Company conveniently located next to Port Canaveral which has daily cruise ships docking. Yes, the cruise ships have a popular lad excursion which stops at the brewery for a tour and tasting session. I quickly learned that when you see a ship dock, be sure to get your beer early.....the cruise ship passengers quickly fill up the tasting room and they are thirsty. The tasting room is very nice with a circular bar with an ocean theme...surprise..surprise. The brewery is operating a 90 bbl system and they have distribution on the entire east coast. I enjoyed a sampler flight of 6 brews plus they gave me a taste of their nice Passport 20 Tripel. The Sweet Stout, Surplus Honey Citrus Ale and Devils triangle were my favorites of the flight. So if you are visiting the Spaceport and ned a break from low earth orbit, be sure to stop by Florida Beer Co. and they can put you back in space if you so desire. Funky Buddha Brewery: since starting my adventure into the craft beer world and heading down the path of beer geekism, you quickly learn there are a few breweries that become must visits if you want to have a complete beer quest. Funky Buddha is one of these breweries that beer lovers flock to and wait in long lines at beer festivals to sample their brews. Since I was in Florida it was a must stop. The original brewery is located in Boca Raton, However, I decided to visit their larger ( with more beer selections) Brewery in Oakland Park, FL. For you Pittsburghers, Pirmanti Brothers was just down the road, which was the first Pirmanti Brothers located outside of Pittsburgh. The tasting room was very large and I soon had a dilema to deal with. TOO MANY BEERS TO CHOOSE FROM. Yes the their tap list was quite large so I had to limit myself to 12 selections, I know only....12. The beer wife had to pull me away so we could travel on to Key Biscayne. All of the brews were good, the Muy Bonita Brandy Aged Brown Ale, Vanilla Espresso Porter and Small Axe IPA were the brews I would put on top of the list. Well it was time to leave....yet so many brews that I wish i could have tasted. Well I'll be back and I'll be sure to stop at the Orgianal Funky Buddha Lounge and Brewery. This was a great brewery to end the Florida trip with and yes I get to check another Beer Geek brewery off my list.
Evolution Brewery: I first discovered this brewery at the Savor Beer Festival in Washington DC. They were brewing some very nice stouts and coffee stouts and at that time were located in Delaware. As with most brewery's that become popular and in demand, they out grew their space and needed to expand. Evolutions expansion resulted in relocating the brewery to Salisbury, MD. The Brewery is very large building with a tasting room and bar area on one side and a nice brewpub on the other side. Between the Tasting room and Brewpub there is a large room that is used for party's and private events. During our visit the party area was hosting a Bachelor Party. Some celebrity WWE wrestler was entertaining the guys with displays of his strength and wrestling stories. Wow what happened to the Bachelor parties that had strippers, poker and cigars. Well let's get back to the brewery and whats on tap. My dilemma too many brews to choice from, I'm not complaining, I just didn't have the time to taste them all. I could not pass up the Rise Up Stout and the Russian Imperial Stout, they did not disappoint. I also enjoyed the LOT 6 Imperial IPA and the Spring Rum Barrel Golden Ale which is part of their Migration Series. The Lucky 7 Porter and the Seacrets TropicAle Blonde were also very good. Since we were in the fall season I tasted the Jacques Au Lantern Pumpkin Ale which was surprisingly good for a guy who is not that crazy about pumpkin beer. Great stop and I'm glad I finally had the opportunity to visit the brewery..........I look forward to seeing them at Savor next year. 3rd Wave Brewing Co.- Just north of Salisbury across the state line in Delmar , DE, yopu will find 3rd Wave Brewery located in the former Evolution Brewery building. 3rd Wave not only took over the location, but also bought the entire brew works from evolution. The tasting room is very small and keeping in theme with their name it has a beach like atmosphere. THe tasting room was packed during our visit, we were lucky to find a small high top table. THe beer selection was heavy on the IPA's and Pale Ales.........good beach beers. My favorite was the Bombora DIPA, I also enjoyed the 1st Wave IPA, Barrel Aged Imperial IPA and the Paddle Out #136 Belgian Strong Pale ale. Oh yes the beer wife enjoyed the SunSet Peach Wheat, a beer for everyone on this visit. If you are visiting Evolution I highly recommend that you make the very short drive to into Delaware and enjoy 3rd Wave Brewery. One of the first things I discovered during my many brewery visits is the relationships that most craft breweries develop with each other. Yes, there is competition, however, the vast majority of the breweries support, promote and help each other. I recently had the opportunity to experience the fellowship between craft breweries.
Adroit Theory Brewing, as I have mentioned, is a small upstart brewery with a 1/2 barrel system soon to grow to a 10 Barrel system. Dogfish Head Brewing was once the size of Adroit Theory and now ranked as the 13th largest craft brewer in the U.S. brewing close to 200,000 bbls per year. Brian, Adroit's assistant brewer had the opportunity to give Sam Calagione, DogFish Head's founder, samples of Adroit's beer. Sam was impressed with the beer resulting in a visit to Adroit Theory's Brewery by one of Dogfish Head's designers. More beer exchanged hands and a relationship developed resulting in being invited for a private tour of Dogfish Head's brewery. Joann and I caught up with the Adroit crew at Rehoboth Beach, DE, and we met two of Dogfish Head's graphic designers for dinner at the Pickled Pig Pub ( Dogfish Heads brewpub's grille in Rehoboth was out of commission). The evening was a great , good food, great beer and many beer and brewing stories, very educational for me. The next afternoon we traveled to Milton, De to visit the brewery. The beer wife opted to stay in Rehoboth to enjoy the beach and boardwalk, OK..I still have some work to convert her to craft beer. Jeremy Inzer, one of Dogfish Head's 13 brewers met us at the tasting room. We then spent the next 2 hours touring the brewery. It is amazing how they have developed from a 10 gallon system to what they are today. After the tour we spent the next hour and a half in the tasting room. Believe me you appreciate 60 minute and 120 minute IPA's so much more, when you can enjoy them fresh at the brewery. I also enjoyed Palo Santo Marron, Burton Baton, Kvasir and Namaste. Unfortunately, I had volunteered to drive so I had to limit the consumption. If you have the opportunity, be sure to stop by Dogfish Head and enjoy one of the public tours....with a nice finish in their tasting room. As the quest continues on, I have enjoyed visiting, tasting many unique brews, meeting many people and listening to many stories about operating a brewery and brewing beer. I started to have this growing desire to become more involved with a brewery. Thanks to my son who introduced me to Adroit Theory Brewing, located in Purcellville, VA (visit #33 during the quest). Adroit Theory is brewing some very unique beer with a 1/2 Barrel system and is contract brewing most of their beer. Their popularity started to grow after their first year and it was time for expansion. So let's just say the timing was perfect and after a few discussions with owner, Mark Osburn, I made a small investment to help them purchase a new tap system for the tasting room. The initial dance went so well, we have recently increased the investment significantly to purchase a 10 barrel system for the brewery. This has been a total blast getting to know the Adroit Theory Team and learn about craft beer from the inside. They even gave me the title of Sr. Brand Ambassador. So if you haven't visited or tasted Adroit Theory brews, do not deny yourself any longer. This Brewery is on the way up, so stay tuned.
Hey... I even get to brew a beer with them, this should be very interesting. Yes, it has been a few months since I visited a new brewery. No, that does not mean that I have taken a break from Craft Beer. With all the traveling over the past year, the beer Cellars ( PA & WV) have accumulated quite an inventory. Some inventory reduction has been required. In addition Jeff introduced me to a brewery not far from his house, Adroit Theory Brewing. Located in Purcellville, VA., I have become a little involved and will brew a beer with them on October 9th. So if you are into barrel aged, small batch experimental beer.....Adroit Theory is a must stop for you. OK..enough of the commercial.......
|