December 2010
1 post
October 2010
1 post
2 tags
Villanova Seniors Beer Tasting Lineup Set
Last summer I was asked to host a private beer tasting for Villanova University Seniors through the “VU Seniors” professional development program. A professor had hosted a wine tasting in the past and it went over well. The students specifically asked for a beer tasting, and as luck would have it the event organizers were friends of mine who knew about my little “hobby” and...
August 2010
42 posts
Tour Recap: Southern Tier & The Brewerie
Posted by Mike
After we said our goodbyes to Matt Allyn, we made our way north on I-79 and into the Great State of New York for our only non-Pennsylvania stop on the tour. This location had come up several times in our planning discussions, and while we weren’t keen on leaving PA on “The Great Pennsylvania Beer Tour,” when locations like Erie Brewing Co. and Penn Brewing Co....
Recap: North Country Brewery, Hofbrauhaus, Church...
posted by Jim After two whirlwind days of tours, tastings, and talks with brewers, a day of just showing up and drinking seemed like a welcome respite. Our first stop was at North Country Brewing in Slippery Rock, PA. We showed up shortly after they opened for lunch and saw a pretty crowded pub. Three seats at the bar were waiting for us, and within minutes we had two full sampler trays in front...
Tour Recap: Voodoo Brewery
Posted by Steve
Matt Allyn just might be the hardest working man in brewing. Not only does he run his own well respected craft brewery, Voodoo Brewery in Meadville, but he’s also the guest Head Brewer at Straub in St. Mary’s and the Head Brewer at Blue Canoe in Titusville!
Back when we were initially planning this trip, Voodoo was one of the first breweries to be added to the list. My...
And so the end is near...
After nearly a 3 hour visit withour friend Ryan from Roy-Pitz, the clock (and our bodies) was telling us it was time to call it a day and get back home to our families. While we were hesitant to cut out Troegs and Stoudts, we’d all been there before and will likely be back again soon, so for now we’re going to end this trip and begin the recovery period. Stay tuned for more in-depth...
Bright Lights, Big City
After a couple days on the road in beautiful, rural NW PA, we’ve arrived in the Steel City and are enjoying litres at the Hofbrauhaus before catching an early dinner at the Church Brew Works.
WatchOur interview with Terry Hawbaker, Head Brewer at Bullfrog Brewery in Williamsport, PA. We’re down in the cellar of the brewery where he offers us a “sneak peak” at a not-yet ready barrel “Chocolate Chili Christmas Thingy” sans the ghost peppers that will be added in later.
Tour Recap: Straub Brewery
Posted by Steve
Straub Brewery was, as noted in an earlier post, the impetus for this entire trip. Jim and I had spent two years listening to Mike explain the glory that is the Eternal Tap, so to say expectations were high would be an understatement.
Mike had sent an email to the brewery during the final planning stages of our trip, and followed up with a phone call that went something like:
“Hi,...
A Quick Update from the Road
Posted by Mike
As this part of NW PA is much more hospitable to mobile wireless interwebs, I thought I’d throw a quick update out there. While Steve still owes you all a recap of our visit to Straub yesterday (as he’s now a convert/evangelist), so far today we visited both Sprague Farm & Brew Works in Venango and Voodoo in Meadville. Brian and Minnie met us at Sprague and gave us...
Tour Recap: Sprague Farm & Brew Works
posted by Jim
Friday was a phenomenal day, but we aimed to make Saturday even better. The first stop on our trek through northwest Pennsylvania was Sprague Farm and Brew Works in Venango, PA. The place was initially recommended to us by Matt Allyn of Voodoo Brewery when we first told him about the idea for this trip. Michael’s family, who live nearby on Pymatuning Lake and who graciously...
Tour Recap: Bullfrog Brewery
posted by Jim After an amazing kick-off to our trip at Bavarian Barbarian, we took a short walk over to Bullfrog Brewery where we were set to have lunch and meet up with brewmaster Terry Hawbaker. Terry has quickly built up quite a reputation for his barrel-aged beers and even has a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival in the category. Needless to say, we were stoked to check out what...
WatchOur interview with Mike Hiller, owner and Head Brewer at Bavarian Barbarian
Tour Recap: Bavarian Barbarian
Posted by Mike
“The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men, Gang aft agley” -Robert Burns
SO, I know we had planned on typing up these reports point-to-point as we traveled from one location to the next, but unfortunately our wireless hotspot, which is 3G/4G only, didn’t get along so well with the beautiful Pennsylvania country we were driving through yesterday, and as...
“It’s impossible to be both an entrepreneur and a Communist.”
– Mike from Bavarian Barbarian
I-80 Stinks
I don’t know what it is about Interstate 80, but I’ve NEVER had luck on this road. We just hit yet ANOTHER traffic jam/construction slow down.
St. Mary's Bound
After an amazing morning in Williamsport, we’re headed westward to Straub and the Eternal Tap. If the wireless hotspot holds out we’ll be posting details of the Bavarian Barbarian and Bullfrog visits. Needless to say they set the bar VERY high.
The Barbarian Rules!
Mike at Bavarian Barbarian was quite possibly one of the coolest guys ever. More to come!
Baseball & Beer
I find it interesting that throughout my Little League career I wanted nothing more than to come to Williamsport, PA…and 20-some years later it was BEER that finally brought me here.
1 tag
What to do about Pittsburgh?
Well, as we had feared, some of our destinations seem to be falling through. We knew we were taking a chance when we scheduled Pittsburgh on Sunday, as both East End and Penn don’t advertise any Sunday hours. We thought that the chance to be part of our little tour might be incentive enough for them to be available to us, but we received this very nice note from Scott at East End...
1 tag
The Great Pennsylvania Beer Tour
What is all this about?
On my way back from hunting camp in the Fall of 2008, I took a detour in order to stop at the Straub Brewery in Saint Mary’s, PA. Home of the “Eternal Tap,” and listed as one of the 5 Best Places in America to Drink American Beer. My experience was so interesting and unique that upon returning home and relating the story to several of my like-minded...
Welcome to phillybeerguy.com!
You’ve been following me on twitter for months. Perhaps you’ve even met me at a beer-related event or a local bar. Now you can continue to stay up-to-date on my suds-related exploits online in a more interactive fashion. Unlike other websites I manage, phillybeerguy.com is powered by Tumblr, a “microblogging” platform that facilitates easy posting of not only text, but...