Iron Hill Newtown: At Long Last

I live near Newtown, Pennsylvania. I tend to tell people I live in Philly; if they're familiar with it, I say northern suburbs; if they ask where, I usually say "Langhorne," because that's my mailing address. But I don't actually live in Langhorne, and we do almost all of our grocery shopping, hardware store runs, takeout food pickup, and post office stuff in Newtown, I go to church in Newtown.

First bright tank off the truck

So a brewpub coming to Newtown, finally, after almost 30 years of living here, is a Big Deal. (No offense to Newtown Brewing, but a tasting room isn't the same as a brewpub.) It's even better that it's an Iron Hill. I've been pumped ever since I heard about it. And when I found out that the brewhouse was arriving today, well, I wanted to go see.

At least it wasn't raining or snowing. Pretty gray day, but the team was already at work when I got there, just taking the first bright tank off the truck. "The team," by the way, is all Iron Hill brewers. They get certified on the equipment, and rig it all. They knew I was coming, greeted me, got me in a hardhat and blaze yellow vest ASAP, and I was introduced to the new head brewer, Pete Corbett.

Pete was pretty stoked

Pete was the brewer at Iron Hill North Wales before. But Newtown already knows him, and not because he already lives in Langhorne. Pete grew up here; he's a Newtown homeboy. "I graduated from Council Rock [high school] in 1997," he said, and grinned. "Back when it was just Council Rock." He was referring to the school district having split into CR North and CR South.

It's not the first time he's worked here, either. Pete originally trained as a chef at the Restaurant School in Philly, and did his apprenticeship at the Brick Hotel here in Newtown. He also tended bar at Marita's Cantina (where El Barrio is now), which means he probably served me a few beers over the years. Funny how things work out. Anyway, after some more cooking ("I still like to cook, but I don't know how chefs do it. I burned out.") he turned to bartending, which is how he wound up at Iron Hill, six years ago.

Loving that mash/lauter vessel!

He worked his way up to brewing from serving, which is The Iron Hill Way. "I loved bartending, but homebrewing was a passion," he told me. "Then one morning I woke up, and realized I needed a career change. I didn't want to be a 60 year old bartender. I could be a brewer! It's like that old saying, love what you do, and you'll never work a day in your life."

Pete started sticking his head in the brewery whenever he could. His homebrewing was getting better, and he won an award with a Belgian type ale he did, Blame It On The Dog (and that's a homebrew name, right?). Iron Hill encourages homebrewing by giving employees free grain, hops, and yeast; "All I had to provide was the equipment, water, and propane," Pete said.

Then Iron Hill had a contest: the server who sold the most mug club memberships got to brew a batch on the house system, to be sold at the brewpub. Pete was motivated, sold like mad, and won. When brewer Doug Marchakitus told him they'd have to come up with a recipe and formulate it, Pete handed him the recipe for Blame It On The Dog, already scaled up. Which kind of made today inevitable, in a way.

Because today is the day that Pete Corbett takes over as head brewer at Iron Hill Newtown. He's running the brewery now, and no longer making the commute to North Wales. "It's only 15 minutes, and no tolls!" He told me with positive glee.

The beer list will have the signature Iron Hill beers like Light Lager, Vienna Lager, Philly Special IPA (a New England IPA, but we beat New England, so it's a PHLIPA), and Pig Iron Porter, but the wheats will be called Farmhouse Wheat and Farmhouse Berry. There will also be about a dozen specials. "I'm opening with a South Eagle IPA (the brewery is on South Eagle Rd.), and the Russian Imperial Stout," Pete said. "We always have five different IPAs on, a fruited sour, a pale lager, a second dark beer. Always two seasonals: I'll be opening with Lemon Cerveza, a Mexican-type lager with lemon juice and zest, not overpowering. And we'll have our Rivet Hard Seltzer, on draft." (Yes, I winced, but I did say brewpubs were different.)

The Iron Hill menu will be largely the same -- all made from scratch at the Newtown kitchen -- but there will be some changes. The menu's gotten a bit long, and they'll be trimming a few items. There will be a beer garden behind the brewhouse (away from the plaza), and roll-up windows in the bar area, which sounds wonderful.

Pete said they're currently on schedule for an April 29th opening, just two months away. If you're looking for a job, be aware that Iron Hill standards are high, and the training program for servers is intense. It works, though: service levels at Iron Hill are high. "That's the Iron Hill Way," Pete said. "Don't cut corners, no doing anything half-assed. Quality is the most important thing."

I'm looking forward to opening day. Cheers!


I haven't written this kind of "a new brewery is opening in our town!!!" story in decades. I realize it won't be of much interest to most of my readers, but I'll tell you: after 30 years of waiting, it's pretty exciting for me. 

Forest and Main quickie

I have an extensive post on my recent trip to Iceland coming up, but meanwhile...Thursday, the day after I got back from the Land of Fire and Ice, I tucked in a quick first visit to Forest and Main, the new brewpub in Ambler. I was headed to a private bourbon dinner I was hired for, and realized I had time to stop in on the way. Stop in I did, and found a very pleasant suburban Philly version of North Country Brewing's setup: a little house, set back from the street just enough to have a small lawn. A brewpub with a lawn: how nice!

I walked in the front door, and ran into partner/brewer Gerard Olson right there. He welcomed me, and took me into the small bar, where partner/brewer Daniel Endicott was behind the bar. Gerald brews the Belgian beers; Daniel brews the more British ones, and since I was going to be driving and drinking bourbon later...wait, I didn't have to make a choice: there were session-strength beers on both side! Of the eight beers on tap, fully half were Session Beer Project™-approved session beers. Hot damn! 


I ordered a Spring Bitter at 3.5%, and it was cool and smooth. Chockfull of flavor? No...which is kind of the point. The Spring Bitter tasted great, but didn't attempt to fill every nook and cranny of my mouth with anything screaming or pounding. It was simply...good. So good, I had another. It was pleasant sitting at the small bar, talking to the people on either side of me (without having to talk over loud music, the one fly in an otherwise wonderful ointment at my Saturday visit to Deep Ellum, where I enjoyed Pretty Things 1945X and Notch Saison...), a beautiful location. As I left, at about 5:40, neighbors were filling up the outdoor tables, and the fish and chips smelled delish. Definitely going to be back to this one.

Ernest & Scott, and Paris in London

Put some miles on the car last Thursday; drove down to Wilmington for the opening of Ernest & Scott Taproom (902 N. Market St.), the new beer bar in town. It's a whopper, too; restaurateur Scott Morrison laid down some serious bucks to outfit this large, balconied space. There's a solid commitment to cask ale, which explains why I ran into Paul Pendyck there (I had just seen Paul on Tuesday; took my mother to dinner at his Bulls Head Public House in Lititz and enjoyed two fine cask ales).

The beer engines weren't actually operating (someone had screwed up getting the breathers there), but there were seven firkins pouring, and I got stuck right into some Dogfish Head 75 Minute IPA, poured by Sam Calagione. Sam's been consulting on the beer program, and since is such a big deal for beer in Delaware, that's no surprise. The beer scene in Wilmington has been an on-again off-again proposition for years (except for Iron Hill on the riverside, and the excellent Washington Street Alehouse), and Delaware and area brewers would love to see this city in Philly's backyard pick up the pace.

It's a handsome place, solidly built (it's a former bank), and the beer engines are ready to go. The food I sampled was quite nice, and the beers... Yards ESA, in about as fine a condition I can recall; an excellent Stewarts IPA (poured by brewer Ric Hoffman himself, and thus much more tasty), and a tasty Evolution altbier that was tucked away in a neat little space upstairs.

Okay, just one other thing. I liked the place, and I wish it well, but trying to get around in downtown Wilmington just about did me in. Some idiot planner thought it would be a good idea to narrow all the streets, and push parking out to the edge of the commercial area, and just generally make it inconvenient to drive. Well, forget your suburban traffic, guys, and there's not enough city there to make this work. Wilmington's got to be more welcoming to visitors, because after this experience...I don't really want to go back, no matter how cool this place is.

Once I got the hell out of Wilmington (which wasn't easy either), I ran up to Philly (which I'd never thought of as particularly car-friendly before...) and stopped off at London Grill, where Terry Berch McNally was throwing a little fling for outgoing Sierra Nevada rep Patrick Mullin (actually, he's pretty much outgone already; he's running sales at Sly Fox now, and congrats to both of them), pouring her last keg of our Exportation porter from Sierra Nevada Beer Camp, the three SN Ovilas (Dubbel, Saison, & Quad), and the new Ruthless Rye.

Briefly: the Exportation is a mildly sour version of a mild Baltic Porter, and was quite tasty and easily enjoyed, not a smack in the chops or a pucker in the cheeks. Ovila Dubbel is a nice example of the style, rich but not sticky; the Saison is spicy and brisk, very enjoyable. And the Ruthless Rye was great, a battling mouthful of beer, shot full of spicy rye character that blended marvelously with the bold hops. A very nice beer indeed.

We spent some pleasant minutes talking, getting caught up (me, Terry, Exton Beverage's Greg Ramirez, Scoats of the Grey Lodge, Patrick, and Brendan from Memphis Taproom), then I asked Terry to take me to Paris. We got there in about 45 seconds; Paris is the new wine bar Terry's opened in the adjoining building. It's small, intimate, and the wine is on draft; a popular form of dispense in Europe and gaining momentum in the U.S., presumably for the same reason: freshness, ease of service, and of course, the excellent environmental advantages. This is, I believe, a first for Pennsylvania; best of luck to her!

I'd like to say I went home after this, but...I stopped at the Grey Lodge for just one more (honest, Ernest & Scott were just pouring 3 oz. samples!). It's still pleasant to stop in there, and I do it often on my way home from Philly events to wind down.

Iron Hill Chestnut Hill open

Iron Hill finally made it to Philly Wednesday night. I headed out to the 4:00 opening tap about 3, and as I rolled through Langhorne, realized that the new place was not far from my daughter's school, and she just got out...I called her: want to go to a brewpub opening? Sure! I picked her up, she got her stuff in the car, got in, and started giggling as she worked her iPhone. What's so funny? "We had a drug and alcohol assembly in school today, and now I'm going to a brewpub opening, gotta update my Facebook status!" I am such a responsible parent...

Davies, Finn, Green, Edelson & Bass raise a toast

Anyway, the newest Iron Hill opened at 8400 Germantown Avenue in Chestnut Hill, and it was a full-scale Iron Hill production. There were nine beers on draft (with more coming) from former Iron Hill Lancaster brewer Paul Rutherford, a ready-to-roll staff, and the tasty Iron Hill menu. The show included (of course) Iron Hill founding partners Kevin Finn, Kevin Davies, and Mark Edelson (all looking quite relaxed; as Mark said, "This is a great day; the money starts coming in today, it's just been going out for six months!"); and two Philadelphia City Council members, veteran Bill Green and the newly-elected Cindy Bass, who was very excited to be opening Iron Hill as her first official public duty. She even had a sip of her beer (Green and the partners had more than a sip).

Of course, she was excited. Iron Hill brings 110 jobs to her district, solid jobs that will give the employees solid experience, jobs that won't go away: Iron Hill has not closed any of their operations since the first one opened in Newark, Delaware 15 years ago. That's a great track record for brewpubs, and an even better one for restaurants, and speaks volumes about the savvy Iron Hill's partners brought to this enterprise from day one.

This new operation is a beauty, with many of the signature Iron Hill decorating touches: the retro ad mural from North Wales, the ceiling and lights from Media, the decorative ironwork from Newark. Iron Hill manages to look experienced and broken-in from opening day at their new operations, and have a fantastic employee training program that makes their service levels a high standard for competitors to meet. With room for over 250 guests (and an off-street lot), they're ready for business.

Beer's great, of course. I had a glass of Paul's English brown ale, and it was quite tasty: chocolate, smooth, mellow, and all-too-easy to drink. Looking forward to more of this (and with Nora's graduation coming up in June, I think I know where we're headed after the ceremony!). 

Susquehanna Brewing: very serious

Just got a press release from the not-open-yet Susquehanna Brewing Company (a Facebook page...don't nobody do websites no more?): they've hired Jaime Jurado as their master brewer and "operations partner."

Well...I've wondered for quite a while if SBC is serious. They've got a ton of money, and beer sales experience, and links to PA brewing (partner Fred Maier is a descendant of Charles Stegmaier), but they're leaping into this big, with a 50 bbl. BrauKon system at the get-go -- which has, I gotta say, been a harbinger of failure in the past (not BrauKon, of course, but huge start-up equipment) -- and talk of banking on what sound like cross-over, gateway beers. A risky strategy.

Stole this from Jay Brooks, and will give it back if he asks!

But I have to tell you, this is a strong move. I've known Jaime for almost 20 years, and the man's one of the strongest technical brewers I know. He's brewed all over the world -- including a stint at The Lion! -- and has strong family ties to the Wyoming Valley. He's leaving a position he's held since 1997 as director of brewing operations for Gambrinus: that's Shiner, BridgePort, and Trumer, all excellent breweries (and if you're laughing at me for including Shiner in that, first off, get over your geeky self, and second, have a couple of their recent Ofests and get some of their excellent Export before you say another word...geek). The improvements he made at Shiner (funded in large part by Gambrinus's position as importer for Corona in the eastern US and Texas until recently ("Banco de Corona," as Jaime put it when we toured the eye-poppingly modern and well-equipped brewery)) alone are impressive, but the man's a published brewing chemist with references out the ying-yang. I'm very much taking Susquehanna Brewing seriously this morning.

That said, I still have concerns. I saw Independence ("Get it while it lasts!") buy big, get a good brewer, and fail with mainstreamy beers and no clue on how to sell beer. I also worry about a press release that has WTF paragraphs like this in it:

SBC represents a new direction in the exciting trajectory of American craft brewing. Founded by the former beer distributors of United Beverage in Pittston, PA, with a rich history of significant regional breweries in one family, as well as a multi-generation beer distribution enterprise in the other, this is the first successful beer distribution company to take up brewing… but being from brewing across generations, there already exists hand’s-on experience from running a regional brewery in the organization in its President.

I'm sure the beer will be better, I'm dead certain of it. The question is, with The Lion already making some pretty good crossover stuff that no one in the Wyoming Valley seems to want to buy, where's the market, especially when you've got 50 bbls. at a time? I guess we'll see. Best of luck, truly, because I'd like to see this succeed. NEPA deserves it.

Mudhook Brewing hopes to beat The York Curse

York, Pennsylvania has had several microbreweries. There was York Brewing -- failed -- and Freedom Brewing -- failed -- and the Brick Oven brewpub -- failed -- and several breweries that were planned, discussed, and trumpeted...and never opened. York County hasn't done much better; we're still waiting on Hanover Brewing. We talk about The Curse: opening a brewery in York just doesn't seem to work.

Two days ago, on Tuesday, Jeff Lau took his shot: Mudhook Brewing opened (at 34 N Cherry Lane, York), as reported here. Sounds like opening night was a success. To officially beat The Curse (and by "officially," I mean in my eyes...), Mudhook will have to still be in operation in January of 2013. Best of luck, Jeff and company!

Revolution House: off to a nice start

Got an invite to a press opening at Revolution House (I know, Facebook link, but the website they did have up appears to have been temporary...) last week, and I gotta say: it is probably the reason I failed to lose any weight on my Weight Watchers' weigh-in on Friday, despite 70+ miles of hard biking last week. My God, the food! Lemme tell you how it happened.

I invited my buddy Rich Pawlak to go along with me, because he doesn't get out much, because he's good company, because he knows everyone in the Philly food/PR community...but mostly because the invite mentioned a pizza oven, and he's berserk for good pizza. We were going to meet there around 5:30, 6:00, so I headed down to Philly about 4:30. No way I was going to park in Old City, so I stuffed the bike in the Jetta, parked on the block of N. 2nd between 700 and Standard Tap, helmeted up and rode down to 2nd and Market; mostly downhill, so I wasn't really sweating much in the heat.

Turned out I was early, so, well, haven't been to the re-done Khyber Pass yet: stopped in and got lucky. They still had some Deschutes Black Butte Porter on tap, and I killed a glass of that toot sweet. The Khyber is cleaner (especially the floor), and has gone for food in a big way, but the bar? Still great beer, still a bit scruffy, still laid-back sassy.

Sorry the bartender stepped out of frame: she was quite cute!

Back up the street, past the State Store (which of all the ones in PA, looks most like a corner liquor store; they must hate it in Harrisburg...), and into Revolution House. That's the first thing I saw, to the right (okay, the first thing I saw was the pizza oven; more on that later, and to be honest, the first thing I paid attention to...was the bar), and that's an antique back bar out of western saloon; they bought this one and the one upstairs out of Oklahoma. Very nice, and the original mirrors. Beer selection, as you might be able to make out, was nice: a good portion of locals -- Victory, Yards, Tröegs -- plus away beers like Great Lakes Dortmunder, Allagash White, Hennepin: clearly a summertime lineup, and quite welcome. I started with a Philly Pale, and took a look around.

It was hard to believe that this was the old Snow White Diner, but it was. Wow, what you can do with money, hey? This is the work of Panorama's Luca Sena (Snow White owner John Poulos is in with him, and was there, looking quite calm) and designer/photographer Dominic Episcopo. Notable bits were the see-through steel staircase up to the second floor, the antique bottles over the second floor bar (see below), the massive chandelier over the stairs, and the outdoor deck.

The antique bottle lighting 2nd floor bar: brilliant.

But enough about the design: how about that food? As I said: pizza oven. Why you'd have a pizza oven in a place in Philly called Revolution House beats me, but damn, it was cranking. Rich started quizzing the chef about it: the oven came from Naples, and a Neapolitan pizza expert worked with them for two months, making pizza pizza pizza (Episcopo confirmed this to me, "Yeah, we ate a lot of pizzas!") until they got it. Sena said he was concerned that people "wouldn't get" the Neapolitan-style crust, which is not crisp, but more elastic, flavorful, chewy; if they don't get it, screw 'em, it was awesome. We had slices of margherita, and a proscuitto and arugula one (with bits of fresh fig) that was excellent.

That wasn't what broke me, though, it was the parade of goodies. Great grilled vegetables, cheese/sausage-stuffed cippolinis, piles of fried onion straws, cheeses, soppressatta, sliders on golden rolls with what looked like free range fried eggs on top, and more, more, more: I swear, few things were repeated, they just kept bringing out new stuff. You know, even if you just have a little! It's still a lot!

So we repaired to the deck -- nice, above the traffic -- and sipped beers, surrounded by the hoi polloi (as I tweeted, though, at an Old City VIP opening, you get mostly hoi, not so much of the polloi). And, finally, it was time to go...and Rich says, "Have you been to the Blind Pig yet?" I knew he wasn't talking about the famed bar in NYC, he and I have been there together, so I asked. New place in Northern Liberties, he said, and explained where it was...hell, I was parked right in front of it! So I saddled up and rode north, and sure enough, there it was. Well. Had to have one...since this was apparently my night for new gastropubs.

Blind Pig was nice: sidewalk dining, good beer selection, food smelled excellent, service was quite correct. I had an O'Reilly's Stout and relaxed. Or tried to, as three obnoxious women at the end of the bar just totally harshed my mellow. Lord, each trying to outdo the other with how much their cars cost and how 'the best' they were, and the new places they'd been, and how bad the service was there, and how much they were going to spend on vacation -- not where they were going to vacation, but how much it would cost! -- and it was to make you ill. I wanted to take a flash picture of them and tell them how much I was going to blog about them, but...piff. Anyway, I'd like to say they drove me out, but actually, I was done. Nice place, but go when it's a bit more busy! That stretch of 2nd is getting crazy cool, and to think it used to be a place I was nervous about parking the car.

Again: the beer scene in Philly is expanding into the mainstream. Good beer at all these places, and people expect it. Keep it up, folks: it's working!

More on ABC Collegeville

Uncle Jack made it out to the new ABC Collegeville; he posted here. I am jealous of his proximity to so many good places...looks like ABC really took advantage of the potential of the space like New Road never did.

Stephen Starr auf Deutsch

Stephen Starr steals ideas from NYC again...his beer garden, Frankford Hall, opens today (saw it at FooBooz, so go read it there).

It's about time we got a beer garden, dammit. (Ummm...as Craig pointed out in comments, there's a beer garden at Memphis Taproom now. And I've been there, and you should go too. I feel dopey. Sorry, Brendan!)

ABC Collegeville is open

The fourth Appalachian Brewing has opened in Collegeville (in the old New Road space, for those of you gray enough to remember (I'm looking at you, O'Reilly)). If only I had some spare time this week...

Closing -- no, staying open!

It's been a whirlwind 12 hours for fans of Tap and Table, The Bookstore, and Fork and Barrel. First came this post on FooBooz saying all three were closing (but the new Farmer's Cabinet) would stay open; then Lehigh Valley fun/food site The ElVee said yes, but The Bookstore would stay open, and then we got a statement from partner Matt Swartz that confirmed that, and added some stuff...

But you know what? Uncle Jack posted the statement, and added some good backstory, so why don't you go read it there? All I have to add is thank God the Bookstore stayed open...and I have to wonder if everyone who works at the places that remain open are now putting their resumes in order...

Brewery news: East End expands, farm brewery opens in New Jersey

Still want to tell you about my trip to Boston last week, but in the meantime, a quick post about  (relatively) local breweries. Pittsburgh's East End Brewing is expanding as soon as they ink a deal with the city's redevelopment authority, according to what Scott Smith told a Tribune-Review reporter here. Scott implied (or the reporter inferred, see the comments) that the increased sales from their growler outlet at the Pittsburgh Public Market pushed the expansion.

The building will have quadruple the space for brewing, increasing its capacity and leaving room for eventual canning or bottling lines. The tap area will be larger and heated, with access to a restroom that doesn't require customers to wind their way through an active brewery.

So that's great news. Meanwhile, from New Jersey, Jeff Linkous reports (at his Beer-Stained Letter blog) that a new brewery will be opening: Suydam Farms, in Somerset County, has debuted their Great Blue Brewing operation, and as you might guess from the parent name, they're going to be focusing on the local-sustainable angle, and growing at least some of their own hops. Great Blue (named for the herons that light in the area) is a nanobrewery, a cobbled-together collection of equipment (by their own admission!), and they're tweaking the mechanics after brewing their first 2-barrel batch, a "scarlet ale."

Initial plans call for distributing to a trio of select restaurants – Steakhouse 85 and Stage Left in New Brunswick and Sophie's Bistro in the Somerset section of Franklin. The three restaurants already buy produce and other commodities from Suydam Farms.

Great news: craft beer is still rocking on.

ABC taking a New Road to Collegeville

Uncle Jack is reporting on the Beer Yard site (here) that Appalachian Brewing Company hopes to be opening their third satellite operation this May at the former site of the New Road brewpub in Collegeville (that would be the brewpub where Brian O'Reilly began his local career). According to what Artie Tafoya told Jack, the plan will be like that in the Camp Hill ABC brewpub: small (5.5 bbl.) system to do specialties, main beers coming down from the massive mothership in Harrisburg, total of about 15 beers available.

Ah....karma. It will be good to have that building cleansed of the dopey crap that took place (outside the brewhouse!) there under the New Road regime. Kick ass, ABC.

Another new brewpub opens in PA's hot corridor

I've been telling people for the past three years that the hottest brewing area in PA is the arc from State College to the Wyoming Valley along the Appalachian ridges -- Otto's, Elk Creek, Bullfrog, River House, Bavarian Barbarian, Old Forge, Berwick, Breaker, and more to come, like Marley's in Bloomsburg, which opens Thursday! -- and another brewpub just opened this week: Yorkholo Brewing in Mansfield (19 N. Main St., 570-662-2920). It's pronounced "york hollow," from the name of brewer Jarrod York's grandfather's local dairy farm; according to the website, there were restrictions on the number of letters in naming a farm back in the day...well, whatever: it's not "[insert town here] Brewing Company", at least! York did the American Brewers Guild program and interned at Ithaca Brewing, so he should know what he's doing.

I'll be honest: I just found out about Yorkholo today, and they just opened Monday (and started legally selling beer today!). So I don't have much else to tell you. Just thought you'd be interested in a new brewery. I'll be visiting at my first opportunity. Congratulations to York and partner Ashley Rodgers!

Lots more going on in Lancaster

Lancaster County already has more breweries than any other county in Pennsylvania (Lancaster, Stoudt's, Iron Hill, Union Barrel Works, Spring House, Swashbuckler, Bube's, and JoBoy's)...and they're piling on. Check out this news. Spring House is opening their taproom in the Hager Arcade (25 W. King Street) tomorrow (no brewing on-site, but a much bigger outlet for the beer, and the Conestoga tasting room will be closing...too bad!), and St. Boniface Craft Brewing has their beer on sale for the first time tonight at their nanobrewery (100 N. State St., Ephrata). Yeah, that's right: a brewery in Ephrata. Blows my mind. They'll only have growlers of their imperial stout...heh, only...but more beers are coming.

More breweries coming, too; more here shortly. GO PA!

More Terry/Grainery news

It just keeps leaking out... From PhillyBeerScene:

Its going to be located [at] 1113 Walnut St and he’s calling the place The Grainery. The highlight of the new concept has to be the arrival of former Bullfrog brewmaster Terry Hawbaker. The Grainery won’t be a brewpub but Terry will have 4 of the bar's 24+ taps for his beers that he’ll be brewing on an extremely small, artisan scale. 

How much would you pay for that?! But wait, there's more!

On top of having a great beer program, they are also bringing in Damon Dyer, an extremely talented mixologist from NYC, to put together a Victorian style cocktail menu....As for food, the details were brief but look for rustic fare with lots of house cured meets and game dishes.... Look for the new bar to open around April.

Oh my...Victorian cocktails? Different than the speakeasy stuff, maybe more punches, raw eggs, and Old Tom? Woo woo!

"...this state's very first brewery-operated Growler Shop."

Pennsylvania's wineries get all the breaks. They get those nice roadside signs telling tourists where they are, they get to be the only wines sold outside the State Store System (although the State Store System repays the favor by largely ignoring them (of course they do: they're not part of the monopoly, so they must be punished!)), and they get to have winery stores, off-premise stores where they can sell their wines without the PLCB running the show. Up until now, Pennsylvania's brewers didn't do anything like that. Up until now, Pennsylvania's brewers were just selling at the brewery.

Up until now...or rather, up until last Friday, when East End Brewing opened their Growler Shop at the Pittsburgh Public Market in the Strip. They're filling growlers Fridays 12-6, Saturdays 9-5, and Sundays 12-4, from four taps: three of the year-round beers -- Big Hop, Monkey Boy, Black Strap Stout, Fat Gary, or the Session series -- and a seasonal. There may be more taps coming in the future, but for now, it's just those four; no bottles, no kegs. They also have East End shtuff: caps, shirts, glasses, and yes, Black Strap cake mix (how about some more of that coffee?). (Yes, if you've seen this post before...that's a new picture, and that really is the Growler Shop; thanks to Douglas "Father Spoon" Derda of Should I Drink That? for the pic!)

I like this idea. Local beer at the local market. What could be better? Well...local beer and your favorite beer writer at the local market! It looks like I'll be doing a signing at the Growler Shop on Sunday afternoon, November 14th. Hope to see you there!

Gamble Pays Off

I hate putting unopened breweries in my books. I've been burned in the past when brewers swore they were in great shape, 'Yeah, you bet, we're gonna open!", only to have the whole plan collapse in a heap, leaving a ghost entry in my nice new book. So I was apprehensive when I did up an entry for Gamble Mills, a restaurant in Bellefonte, Penn., that was adding a house brewery. I wasn't optimistic, but I did it because I have a weak spot for this beautiful little town.

My optimism is rewarded: According to the Centre Daily Times yesterday, Gamble Mills' beers are just about ready to start pouring. The only thing holding them up -- tell me if you're surprised -- is a "minor licensing issue" that they hope to have cleared up by this Friday. That's when brewer Mike Smith -- late of Dogfish Head and Ithaca Brewing -- hopes to open the taps on HB 48, a golden session-strength ale named for the bill the restaurant's owners (Dave Fonash and Paul Kendeffy) had to hire a lawyer to shepherd through the state legislature to overcome their other problem. According to the article, "An old Pennsylvania law prohibited existing restaurants from converting into breweries." News to me, but given the crap that fills The Almighty Liquor Code, I'm not surprised. 

 

That's all taken care of now, though, and Smith will have HB 48, a saison, and a pale ale ready to roll on the 15th...assuming the PLCB manages to get their act together and get the licensing cleared (actually, that's not fair -- I don't know that it's a PLCB issue; it might be local). Best of luck...and thanks for making the book look good!

Roseisle: huge new Scottish distillery about to come on-line

Diageo is about to start pumping out 10-12 million liters of spirit a year out of their new, huge distillery at Roseisle. Take a look at this BBC report (and spot Whyte & Mackay master blender Richard Paterson nosing a dram at the end).

General Lafayette closed, to change hands; brewing continues

Just got this press release direct from Chris Leonard at the General Lafayette Inn:

The General Lafayette Inn & Brewery in Lafayette Hill, PA is ceasing its restaurant and guest house operations effective immediately. A sale has been pending for close to a year. During the continued sale negotiations, the current brewers will continue to operate the brewing facilities to produce craft beer for wholesale distribution. Once the buyer is able to complete the purchase, the current brewers will retain operating rights to the brewery and resume providing General Lafayette beer for on-site consumption via the Copper Crow Beer Company (Crow). The Crow shall also begin wholesale production at an alternate site in North Wales, sometime in October. (emphases added)

After rumors of the General closing over the past months, rumors that intensified over the past week, it's good to get some kind of resolution, even if only a confirmation of the intentions. I hope things work out the way Chris lays them out here. Never had a problem with his beer at the General at all.

Uncle Jack has more here.