Beers of PA

[le qwak]

Not to be bragging or anything. But there are some fine brews
and breweries in the Commonwealth. Just sampled the latest
incarnation of Victory's St.Victorious Bock. It kicks ass!! As fine
as any bocks I've had.(including our German friends)My only problem with it is that I don't believe it's bottled I'm not sure
why. Another brew sampled was Erie Brewings Red Ryder a very malty & smooth & warming Scotch ale very tasty though probably not a beer for the hardcore hophead. Another good brewery is
Troegg's I espiciallyl ike their pale ale and as mentioned earlier
Victory is in my opinion a top-notch brewery that makes an outstanding line-up of brews. Alot of good beer being made in my home state.

[threecb]

Troeg's Hopback Amber is in heavy rotation for me lately. I dig their beers big time.

I'm definitely jealous of PA's depth in the brewery/brewpub dept.!

[chazwicke]

I have heard that the Stoud's Fest tickets go on sale Monday morning the 12th of April. I'm going to be on road that day RVing it. I hope my cell reception is good. My plan is to also camp up in the Adamstown area the weekend of the fest 6/12 . There is a very nice facility called Lake-In-Wood nearby. Anyone else attending the fest this June? The number to call for tickets is 717-484-4386.

[threecb]

I think I'm still leaning towards the Harrisburg Fest on 6/19. But I'll let you know if things change.

[sallad]

stoudt's has a few nice brews too! (also a few i'm not too fond of though..) their APA is fantastic, as are all of their brews labeled as "bottle conditioned." http://www.stoudtburg.com/

my favorite pennsylvania brewery, though, has to be yards! they have a fantastic IPA thats a rather big beer at 8%ABV. (although, it is rather dark in color by most IPA standards) plus, yards brews shows up on cask quite frequently in the philly area! http://www.yardsbrewing.com

[chazwicke]

I agree that Yards IPA is wonderful. Had it bottled but I have had other of their beers on cask.

[hops99]

Don't forget Penn Brewing out of Pittsburgh - GREAT lagers, some of the best in the country.

Also, Erie's Railbender Ale is one of my favorites.

[chazwicke]

been by there too. Had some good beers and a dynomite liverwurst sandwich too.
Thick slabs of liverwurst, thick slices of onions mayo on some fresh bread. The sandwich almost eclipst the beers! Had several of the beers bottled. The Penn Pilsner is quite good.

[threecb]

Yeah, I like the Yards brews too. The Love Stout on tap is nice. My wife loves the Saison. I had a swingtop bottle of the Trubbel de Yards last year, though, and wasn't terribly impressed.

I've been to Penn, too, for last year's fest in June. I love the Pilsner. And there was another lighter beer they were serving that I thought was very nice.

How 'bout Weyerbacher, while we're at it? The standards are OK, but the Big seasonals are excellent. The Merry Monks and Quad Belgians are my favorites. The Rasp Impy Stout is an great dessert beer, too

[le qwak]

Stoudt's beers are good stuff.I've always liked the Honey Maibock
& the triple are my fav's.The APA is a good pale ale. Yard's
also has some good stuff. Their IPA is tasty & I've also liked the
Saison. Weyerbacher's I've tried but just never aquired the taste
for. For my hometown Penn Brewing they are good for style but
not awfully exciting(for me). Though I certainly enjoy a cold Kaiser Pils or Weizen in the summer. Speaking of festivals I've always
wanted to checkout theStoudt's Festival but never made it yet.
The one PA event I can highly reccomend is the Penn Fest held at
Penn Brewing in Pittsburgh. It's in the begining of June. I think the
details are available on the Penn Brewing website. They have
around 30 microbreweries/brewpubs & no corporate swill like
some other "beer" events.

[chazwicke]

I heard good things about the Penn Fest. Some day I will make it to that one. I have a framed poster from Penn that shows the old brewery llithograph hanging in my office. I convinced one of the Penn guys to let me have it at last years Stoudt's fest. I have about 28 other framed brewery picts hanging in my office as well and more at home. The Weyerbacher beers that I have sampled were good. Both Penn and Weyerbacher usually come to Stoudts Fest and I know Stoudts goes to Penns fest.

[Theakston]

The wife's family live in Phillie so we go there quite often. The in-laws now quite look forward to our side trips to the brew pubs.

Victory is fantastic I had cask hop devil (amongst other things) and picked up a few bottles and a growler to go, also nearby is the Sly fox brew pub - they have some awesome brews.

Last time we went up to the Weyerbacher brewery in Easton (also home of the pez museum!) Mckenzies ale house is next on the list - I hear great things about their Belgian style beers.

There are also some fantastic pubs that don't brew, but carry a great selection - Monks, Standard Tap, Eulogy and the Grey lodge to name but a few.

I don't really understand how the state with some of the most ridiculous beer distribution laws gets to have some of the best breweries and pubs on the planet!

[chazwicke]

I enjoyed both The Sly fox and Victory. The last time I was at Victory was Halloween night. Mistake! I was staying up there for a breweriana show and thought I'd go over and enjoy a few brews. The place was packed with costumed revelers. I went back the next afternoon and picked up a growler.

[threecb]

I've been to McKenzie's twice and enjoyed it both times.

Not too far from there in DE (10 minute drive) is Brandywine Brewing Co. They were decent enough.

The Brandywine Valley is a great area for a weekend getaway with the brewpubs, museums, mansions and gardens in the area.