phillybeerguy.com

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 a great tour of the facility, and we enjoyed samples of all their beers over lunch. Our visit with Matt was touch-and-go for awhile, as he’s a difficult guy to get ahold of, but our guide at Straub (where he’s the Guest Head Brewer) managed to contact him and help set something up for us. We had an extremely interesting conversation with Matt about not only what he’s doing at Voodoo but also what he hopes to do with Straub, and after a growler fill straight from the fermenting tank, we’re now in the State of NY on our way to Southern Tier. Sadly we missed the 5:00 tour time, but we should have plenty to do there regardless.

More to come when we have time to download video and photos!

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 put us up for two nights, had also heard of the location via word of mouth. Let’s just say that it didn’t disappoint.

After winding our way through a seemingly endless maze of back roads, we pulled up to the brewpub which is situated inside an old barn. As we made our way inside, we were struck by the massive amount of breweriana that decorated the establishment - old beer signs, vintage advertisements (including one from a long-since defunct brewery in Manayunk), and even an unopened can of Iron City. But as cool as the decor was, the space we were in was even better. The vaulted barn ceiling towered over us, and the exposed beams told us that the owners didn’t want to lose any of the farmhouse atmosphere they had to work with. Just as we were finished admiring our surroundings, we we’re welcomed by Brian Sprague. In addition to being proprietor and head brewer of the establishment, Brian also has another interesting hobby: chainsaw carving. His work decorates the grounds of the farm, as well as neighboring homes and businesses, and he looks every bit the part. His pleasant and hospitable demeanor stand in stark contrast the imposing figure of a seasoned woodsman. We chatted a bit about our trip before he invited us to have a look at the brewhouse. A pint of beer served in a Mason jar for each of us (with the exception of the growlers, all of the glassware in the brew pub is of the farmhouse variety…right down to the mini jars used for the samplers), and we were off.

We learned that the pub portion of Sprague Farm was a recent addition and that until the beginning of this year, beer was served for free in their tasting room. And as if free beer isn’t cool enough, it was served on taps that extend from the front of a vintage piano situated in a room littered with more breweriana. Through the tasting room and around a corner, we were led into the brewery.

Now we’ve seen some small breweries on the tour, but this one was certainly the most modest. A hot liquor tank, a boil kettle, and a mash tun that resembled a milk churn more than a piece of brewing equipment were all jammed inside of a room that couldn’t have been much bigger than a standard college dorm room. One pump was the only automated piece of equipment in the entire space. Brian told us that this equipment was the original equipment Dan Weirback used to start Weyerbacher Brewing Co. After boiling, the wort is sent by gravity down to the fermenters in the basement which is where we went next.

It was another tiny room packed with five open fermentation vessels. Brian indicated that he was definitely giving some thought into letting a beer ferment with whatever wild yeast is floating around in the barn. On our way back upstairs, we were introduced to Brian’s wife, Minnie, and chatted a bit about Sprague Farm’s distribution. They had been sending their been to the Philadelphia market for a few months, but pulled out so they wouldn’t overextend themselves and to develop their distribution more locally. I don’t blame them. Minnie also briefly discussed the farmhouse that sits on the property. It is available to rent for the night (the entire house, not just individual rooms), but is often mistakenly referred to as a “Bed and Breakfast.” Minnie prefers to call it a “Sleep and Leave,” because in her own words, “I don’t f@#$% cook.” (classic!)

There was one final stop on our tour and one that many people aren’t afforded the opportunity. In the far corner of the barn, a door led to a staircase on the exterior of the building which led right up to the roof of the old grain silo. A few chairs had been set up there and the view was breathtaking. Brian said it was one of his favorite places to sit down with a beer, and I can’t argue with that.

Brian and Minnie had a family event to get to, so we thanked them and went back to the pub to grab some more beers and some lunch. A sampler was ordered and came with eight excellent beers. The porter was one of the best I’ve had and the Scotch ale was good enough to be our growler choice. After polishing off the beer and some really good sandwiches, it was unfortunately time to leave.

The one topic that kept coming up between the three of us was why we don’t have places like this at home. The Philadelphia area is ripe with world-class beer and great breweries, but is sorely lacking in a place for locals to go and just “hang out” with a beer made on the premises, listen to some live music, and chat with friends in a casual, take-your-time-there’s-no-rush atmosphere. I’m sure an enterprising person could come up with a phenominal site like this with great beer, but capturing the atmosphere that Sprague Farm has would be doomed to being an exercise in futility.

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 the pub would have in store for us.

Upon entering, we were greeted by a bustling Friday lunch crowd and an absolutely sick tap list.  Three seats at the bar had our names on them, and I asked the bartender if Terry was around.

“It depends.  Are you the guys from Philadelphia?”
“Yes.  Yes we are.”
“Well then yes he is.  He stepped out for a bit but will be back shortly.”

We’re at the right place.

A couple of beer flights were the first order of business, and they quickly arrived containing 10 glasses of Bullfrog’s intoxicating elixir.  The highlights included Extra Stout (a foreign-style stout), Thai PA (a Belgian IPA with lemon grass, ginger, and Thai lime leaves), Rogg n’ Roll (an authentic German roggenbier), Citra-delic (a summer wheat beer hopped with the best hop of all time, Citra), El Diablo (a Belgian golden ale aged on French oak), Knotty Kilt (the day’s Kegs Gone Wild - a scotch ale innoculated with the kitchen sink of bugs), and of course the old standby: Edgar IPA.

Our growler fills were decided (Extra Stout, Citra-delic, and El Diablo), lunch was inhaled (very tasty), and by that time Terry had returned and suggested we begin our look around.

The first thing that struck me was that the shiny copper brew kettle and mash tun in the front window was it.  That’s the whole brewery right in the center of the restaurant.  Terry has to come in well before the ass-crack of dawn to brew and make sure he’s finished by the time they open for service at 11am.  When we commented on how nice and shiny the copper was he remarked, “Yes, but my assistant doesn’t really like it.  Or should I call him my ‘Chief Polisher’.”  But was that it?  That was literally a 20 second tour of the brewery space.  Now what?

The cellar is what.  Terry escorted us down a flight of stairs into a narrow corridor filled with beer and magic.  Four barrels filled with various ales greeted us at the bottom of the stairs, but it proved merely a harbinger of what was to come.  Around every nook and cranny, another rack of barrels sat.  All filled with amazing beers; most spiked with a bacteria cocktail to satiate even the most discerning sour beer palate.  Some highlights included Chocolate Chili Christmas Thingy, this past year’s Christmas beer which had been aging sans ghost peppers in the barrel since December.  Also notable was Hublonius Maximus, described as a quintuple-IPA that clocks in at above 14% ABV and has enough hops to remove the enamel from your teeth.  Both beers were quite young, as Terry indicated he prefers to leave the sour beers in the barrel for 18 months to 2 years.  Despite that, I have it on good authority that the beers are maturing quite nicely (the word ‘wine thief’ may or may not have have been involved in there somewhere.)

Terry was a really great guy, and he’s lucky that the ownership gives him such free reign to brew whatever he pleases.  It’s clearly paid off as Bullfrog is an immensely popular brewpub with gold-medal-winning beers to it’s name.  But on this day, it was the three of us who we considered the lucky ones.  It was an unforgettable experience and one that we’re likely never to experience again.

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 such we were limited in posting what we could from our phones (well, Steve and I were…Jim’s circa 1997 cell phone isn’t so “smart”).

Our first day began with a leisurely 153 mile drive up the Northeast Extension and west on Interstate 80 to the town of Williamsport, PA, home of the Little League World Series and destination location for baseball fans and beer geeks alike. We arrived at the door of Bavarian Barbarian at around 10:45 AM, where we were welcomed by owner/head brewer/all-around-nice-guy Mike Hiller. He showed us into the combination Brewery/Tasting Room (complete with doggie treats made from spent grains) where we were able to conduct a little interview with him on how he got into the business, what his goals are, and where he sees the brewery going in the next few years.

We were served samples of his Hammerin’ Ale (a 4.5% session beer), Headbangerz Brown Ale (5%), and the 2x4 IPA (7%). Tasting his IPA at Opening Tap of Philly Beer Week was what put him on the map for us. It’s a beautifully crafted beer hopped with Columbus, Nugget and Amarillo that’s at once spicy (from the addition of a small amount of rye flakes), citrus-y, and pleasantly sweet with a bitter finish. We left with growlers of both the IPA and the Brown Ale (as well as some treats for our pooches back home), but not before he took us into his cold storage room to show us a collaboration beer he had brewed with Terry from Bullfrog. Aging in 5 bourbon barrels from Kentucky was an Imperial Smoked Dark Lager that he and Terry plan on releasing around Halloween. He popped the bung on one to let us take a whiff of the contents, but all I could smell was booze (this is a good thing). Mike has some pretty cool plans for the naming and labeling, but I’ll let him release that information when it’s appropriate. Supplies are going to be scarce, as those 5 barrels was all there is. Keep an eye out and let us know if you get to sample any!

All-in-all we couldn’t have started this trip any better. Mike was a great host who’s brewing some great beers that are both tasty and accessible. If this is any indication of how we’re going to be treated the remainder of the trip, we’re in for a great weekend!