WADING THROUGH THE BREW

It has been said that before Europeans came to North America a squirrel could travel tree to tree for the length and breadth of the continent without ever having to go to the ground; such was the thickness of the forests. Today one can cross the United States going from one brewery to another easily holding their breath between destinations. Such is the current popularity of craft brewing.

Okay holding one’s breath is not plausible…perhaps holding your water would be a more apt metaphor?

Actually the stat I’ve read is that 80% of the U.S. population lives within 10 miles of a brewery. There are over 6,000 breweries in the country and the number is growing every month. No longer having to settle for the yellow fizzy beers of our fathers, craft brewing has become big business. Anyone with the desire and patience can become a brew master.

But, is this a good thing?

Even I made a number of batches a bazillion years ago. I had great fun brewing, bottling, designing labels and glowingly watching friends savor my home brew. It’s a lot of work though and I soon discovered it was much more satisfying to taste the craft beer made by others. My passion was in drinking and not brewing I guess.

With this incredible explosion of craft beer, seemingly everyone is trying their hand at it and new places are popping up daily. Many of the beginning stories of those entering the craft brew market are similar with a home brew kit and a big pot. Sadly though, despite the passion, there are no guarantees the results will be palatable. At the risk of sounding like an asshole; because beer really is just a wonderful extension of the day no matter the final brew, some of the stuff that’s coming out is just plain weird, some hedging on bad. Just because you call yourself a brew master and you feel the need to experiment with all kinds of ingredients and flavors, doesn’t mean you should.  And, when should home brewing transcend hobby and become a business?

WHAT IS CRAFT BEER? 

YELLOW FIZZY BEER NO MORE

When I was a young man the only exceptions to the yellow fizzy rice beers were far from me in California or the Pacific Northwest., specifically Anchor Steam from San Francisco, Sierra Nevada out of Chico, CA and Red Hook out of Seattle. Not readily available on the east coast at the time it was impossible to get a cold one unless I traveled out there. Thankfully I had the great luck to travel a bit for work and was able to imbibe. My first Anchor Steam was in the San Francisco airport waiting to board a plane to Japan. As I traveled across the country I always tried to taste the local beers. I guess I wanted to experience the local culture; that is if beer can be considered “culture driven”?

RED HOOK BEER

ANCHOR BREWING

SIERRA NEVADA  

BEER SNOB?

As I look back on the beginning of the craft beer revolution and how I have slowly evolved into the beer snob I fear I may have become, I cringe when I realize how dimwitted I was in my beer knowledge. At one time, I couldn’t find Belgium on a map. The English only drank warm bitter beer. The French only drank wine and the Germany purity laws sounded like National Socialist propaganda. My beer IQ has increased, but, my snobbery dissipates when it comes to all those fizzy beers. Of course there’s a place in this world for all that Bud, Miller and Coors and the people who chug them. You want to drink them… go ahead I won’t be snooty and look down my sparge arm at you. Personally there’s nothing wrong with an occasional PBR on a hot summer’s day, but this is an article about the unwieldy explosion of micro brews and craft beer. Has the movement tilted into haughty arrogance?

THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS

Graham Greene once wrote that converts to a religion are more devout than those raised by rote. Readers of this humble travelogue know that Team VFH is passionate about a few things and drinking a good beer is an epiphany. While we do like most of the craft, micro and nano beers that are being produced nowadays, we believe the phenomenon has with some brewers become pretentious. To what point is gained by experimenting to the point of silliness. Is it apostasy to question why strawberries, or butterscotch, or kiwi is in our beers?

Brew masters are often overly enthusiastic and try for whatever reason to make something different because they can and think they can walk down supermarket aisles to find things to throw in their beers. I’ve had beer with pronounced tastes of chocolate, strawberry, currants and grapes. Some infuse avocado, honey, pine needles, ham and bull testicles in their beers. Okay, I wouldn’t even ask for a taste for that one, but here’s a list for you to wince through.

YOU PUT WHAT IN YOUR BEER? 

ROCKY MOUNTAIN OYSTERS

YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG!

Okay, if you’re still reading I want you to know that I am not alone in my thinking about some craft brewing. Here is a fantastic article about getting it wrong…at least when it comes to brewing Belgian-style beers, including a Tripel.

YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG

TASTE BEFORE BUYING

To avoid a mouthful of yuck sloshing around your palate, the best advice is to get a sample first. Most breweries will happily offer up a sample and some even say if you’re not satisfied with a pour to hand it back. If you are unsure, get a taste before you purchase. I had once ordered a triple at a craft brew pub without tasting it first and it was a big mistake. To me it smacked of lipstick and I’m sure they served it in a clean glass. Even though all the other beers we had at this particular craft brewery were very good this one was off-tasting.

ONE AND DONE

Experimenting with different beer styles is part of the charm of craft brewing, but it can also be frustrating, especially when you find a beer you really like and it is gone when you make a return visit. You can always go to Victory for their Hop Devil, Dogfish for a 60 Minute, Triumph for their Bengal Gold or Iron Hill for their Bedotter Tripel, but those are the exceptions. Too often when a beer kicks, it is permanently gone.

WHERE TO GO?

We are truly blessed here in south east Pennsylvania with the available choices of craft brewing. Even the corner gin mill is liable to have two or three interesting beers on tap and several in bottles and cans beyond B, M, C coordinates of fizzy beers. Nearly half the Pennsylvania craft breweries listed here by Food And Wine magazine are in the general area, but there are many many many more.

30 PENNSYLVANIA BREW PUBS

Here is a quick list of some of the craft brew pubs we’ve visited in our neck of the woods with ratings of Beer, Atmosphere and Food:

APPALACHIAN BREWING COMPANY

Collegeville

Beer: you can drink them. Flagship and Seasonal selections.

Atmosphere: it’s a weird dark building; like an abandoned mall. Inside the pub it’s airy and pleasant

Food: standard fare

(Wish this small chain offered better beers because I can LITERALLY hold my breath and walk here from the house)

APPALACHIAN BREWING CO

ROOT DOWN

Phoenixville

Beer: rotating tap… Lot’s of IPAs

Atmosphere: cavernous, dark but airy

Food: Nice selection of different things… WHEN the kitchen is open. You have to order and pick up food at a window. No table service

ROOT DOWN BREWING 

TRIUMPH BREWING

New Hope

Beer: Rotating tap. Usually the award winning Bengal Gold IPA is available

Atmosphere: Sit outside to watch the steam engine train trundle into the station

Food Small plate half price specials. Excellent burgers.

(When I lived in Lambertville this was my go-to place. Great Happy Hour and Tuesday Brewski specials. Small chain... New Hope is dog friendly)

TRIUMPH NEW HOPE 

IRON HILL BREWING

Phoenxville

Beer: Flagship and specials are all very good. Look for the Bedotter Tripel or the Wee Heavy if on tap, but any will do.

Atmosphere: Lots of sunlight and friendly staff

Food Voodoo Chicken pizza every time for me, Look for burger specials

(Prices have come down a bit with the influx of competition in Phoenixville. It used to be Iron Hill cornered the city market now there’s a lot more to choose from. Originally a New Jersey brewery but there are currently 9 franchises in the commonwealth of PA)

IRON HILL BREWERY 

VICTORY

Downingtown

Beer Some places you can find a beer to drink. At Victory it’s hard to settle on which one! Golden Monkey is my friend and my enemy. Hop Devil on hand pump!!

Atmosphere Vast open noisy and family oriented. Always crowded Located in an industrial park. Friendly staff

Food Pulled Pork sandwiches, grilled chicken and burgers

(Love this place…also located in Kennett Square and Parkesburg)

VICTORY 

CROWDED CASTLE

Phoenixville

Beer Great example of not finding a beer on a return trip. Their Mod Quad kicked and won’t be made again…

Atmosphere Airy, pleasant, pretty. Sit outside and smoke your cigar with your beer.

Food Very limited menu. Can order from area restaurants who will deliver

(Janet and I like this place. The Castle though never seems crowded. We fear it won’t survive….Get out there and support them…Mod Quad be damned)

CROWDED CASTLE

STABLE 12 

Phoenixville

Beer Definitely ask for a taste before buying here

Atmosphere Nice outdoor seating area. Live music, special events like cornhole tournament

Food Very limited menu. Come for the tournaments

(It’s at the southern end of town. It’s okay. But not a steady diet)

STABLE 12 

SLY FOX

Phoenixville (and Pottstown)

Beer 113 IPA is solid. Incubus Tripel when available. Royal Weisse for a hot day

Atmosphere Phoenixville is friendly. Outside seating carved out of the parking lot. Pottstown much busier in an industrial park. Lots of outdoor seating, but no real bar. Wait in line to order food and beer. Hosts a KanJam for Octoberfest. Music and free

Food Great black and blue burger Excellent fries

(One of the original brew pubs…check their website for different events including the Maibock goat something or other)

SLY FOX 

TIRED HANDS

2 locations in Ardmore

Beer DON’T FRUIT THE BEER AND IF SOMEONE ASKS FOR THE ONLY DIPA ON YOUR MENU DON’T CORRECT THEM WITH THE “PROPER” NAME… JUST SERVE IT

Atmosphere Pretty building…beautiful patrons… staff is haughty snooty pretentious and I’ll never go back to this place

Food For Goodness sakes… DON”T ask to alter the menu item…THAT”S how the chef created it…Piss them off ASK FOR KETCHUP

(Beautiful place …I’ll never return)

You want the website…look it up yourself

HIDDEN RIVER BREWING

Douglassville

Beer They never make the same batch twice, which can be frustrating. Still good IPAs and DIPAs. Always a number of good selections

Atmosphere Located in a 300 year old supposedly haunted building. Live music. Outdoor deck. Located on a river. Very pleasant staff … Limited hours… close early on Sundays

Food Limited but interesting selection. Great pulled pork sandwich.

(I can never get the same beer twice. But don’t worry I always find something to drink!)

HIDDEN RIVER BREWING

STICKMAN BREWS

Royersford

Beer Rotating taps Lots of choices DIPA, IPA, Tripel. Everything is good

Atmosphere At best it’s a warehouse with the vats right next to the wooden benches

Food Sometimes there’s someone serving food there…

(A hidden gem. I love this place)

STICKMAN BREWS 

STOUDT’S BREWING

Adamstown

Beer Excellent Tripel and DIPA.  Flagships and seasonals

Atmosphere A bit of a tired country feel, but clean. Ornate bar, great service a lot of dining areas

Food Full menu, raw bar. Cheese plates, black and blue burger

(A little far, but worth the trip. They have an Octoberfest celebration each fall that features lot of lederhosen and people dancing with a roasted pig on the shoulders to the music of an Oompah band.)

STOUDT'S

This is only a very small sample of the brew pubs in the area as well as across the nation My list is far from complete and I'm always discovering new places. If you're looking for an area or a state here are a couple of resources to plan your trip .

If you have a suggestion as to where I should wet my whistle... drop a suggestion here or at greg.dunaj@yahoo.com

Thanks for reading.

50 STATES ... 50 BEERS

FIND A BEER

Visiting Dover

This is the third in the series of New Jersey towns that feature a once popular statue honoring veterans from World War I. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the conflict and the mass produced "Spirit of the American Doughboy" is a pressed copper statue designed by E.M. Viquesney. Brochures from Viquesney's company boasted 300 of the Spirit statues were erected during the 1920's and 1930's and that there was at least one in every state although these numbers are now considered inflated. The Smithsonian has a list of approximately 150 statues still standing and the Garden State has eight of them.

Today's visit is to Dover in Morris County. So far this is the most picturesque memorial I have seen in the series. Set in pastoral Hurd Park on the western edge of Dover, the Spirit of the American Doughboy statue is set up high atop a cairn of roughly hewn stones accenting its dramatic pose. The memorial is well tended and not an afterthought or relic. The statue is brilliantly polished and a fence surrounds the cairn and a stone wall provides a seating area. Lights cut deep crevices on the Doughboy at night giving him an ethereal, battle-ready appearance. During the day idyllic hills and cherry blossoms of Hurd Park lend serenity and soberness to this memorial to our fallen soldiers.

Sadly, despite its beauty the statue and memorial were victims of many acts of vandalism over the years. At one point the statue was ripped from its pedestal and thrown into a nearby creek. Extensive renovations involving the entire community eventually replaced the statue to its current glory. On the stones forming the pedestal are 38 bronze plaques, each bearing the name of a soldier from the community who gave his life in the war.

Hurd Park, Dover, NJ

THINKING of VISITING?

LOCATION

Several highways serve Dover. Routes 80 and 10 and 46 travel east/west through the city and Route 15’s southern terminus is in Dover at Route 46. In fact, Hurd Park is right on Route 46 and the statue can be seen from the roadway, but you’ll want to get out and walk up to the memorial and perhaps stroll the idyllic grounds.  You can’t park in front of the memorial. Look for spots on Park Heights Avenue, West Blackwell Street, or perhaps Princeton Avenue; just be careful with the latter though because you’ll have to cross Route 46 to get to the memorial.

HISTORY and ATTRACTIONS

Once a port on the Morris Canal, an engineering marvel that used water driven inclined planes to carry coal over the northern New Jersey hills, Dover is around 25 miles west of Newark. The canal was abandoned in the 1920’s and subsequently filled in, including the boat basin in the town which is now called JFK Commons Park. There are preserved sections though and it is possible to hike along the canal in nearby Wharton at Hugh Force Park to glimpse and stroll along a bit of American commerce history.

HUGH FORCE PARK

For further reading on the technology of the Morris Canal: 

THE MORRIS CANAL

On Saturday, August 23^rd the Wharton Canal Day will be held at the park. The well attended event offers music, arts and crafts, food, fireworks, a Civil War encampment and blacksmithing demonstrations and free boat and kayak rides on the canal. Wharton’s Hugh Force Park is a little more than 2 miles north of Hurd Park in Dover. 

CANAL DAY AT HUGH FORCE PARK, AUGUST 23rd

Iron ore was once so plentiful in the area that it could be collected off the ground. In sporadic operation for nearly 300 years dating from the early 1700’s the mines and forges in the Dover vicinity once supplied much of the iron used as shot and ordnance in the American Revolutionary War. The Hibernia mine was the name given to a series of independently run mines all along the same ore vein and tons of ore were taken from the earth through mines like: Andover, Beach Glen, DeCamp and Wharton. If you’re interested in reading more:

VISITING NEW JERSEY SKYLANDS

MINING INFORMATION

It is possible to visit some of these mines, but if you’re neither a spelunker nor a caver your best bet is to visit the Sterling Hill Museum in nearby Ogdensburg, NJ about 16 miles north along Route 15. They offer tours. The Sterling Hill Museum was a must visit during my grammar school days.

STERLING HILL MINING MUSEUM

There is a military presence in the area as Picatinny Arsenal is a few miles outside of Dover north on Route 15. This research facility “specializes in the research, development, acquisition and lifecycle management of advanced conventional weapon systems and advanced ammunition.” Begun as a powder depot in the 1880’s, Picatinny Arsenal has been important to the military effort throughout its history evolving as needed and was integral in the testing of rocket engine technology. Sadly as civilians visits to Picatinny are prohibited, although I once camped there as a Boy Scout. In 1926 there was a devastating explosion that leveled the joint.  PICATINNY ARSENAL

In  February, 1977 I was fortunate to see the Ramones at a joint in Dover called The Showplace. The Ramones only had two albums in their arsenal at the time and we got to hear Sheena is a Punk Rocker, perhaps for the first time as that would not be released until Rockets to Russia in November of 1977. Well, the Showplace is no longer a concert venue, but there is a strip joint as well as a recording studio at the South Salem Street address. The strip joint isn't well received by some; a recent review on google+ said: "Smells like a rotten corpse soaking in tuna blood."

Joey Ramone would be pleased.

FOOD AND DRINK

In the 2000 census over half the population of Dover was listed as Hispanic, with Mexican, Colombian, Dominican and Puerto Rican as the prevalent nationalities in the town. Thankfully all of their tasty cuisines are equally prevalent in town, mostly along the main business district area of Blackwell Street.

Near Blackwell is a good honest Irish bar with normal fare and beer selections. The Quiet Man is at 64 East McFarlan Street.

THE QUIET MAN, DOVER, NJ

If you don’t mind driving out of Dover, there are several good places to eat and drink in the nearby towns of Wharton and Randolph.

On North Main Street in Wharton is Hot Rods Real Pit BBQ. According to the Star-Ledger and Forbes Hot Rods has some of the best ribs in NJ and the place also has a respectable list of craft beers.  
HOT RODS BBQ, WHARTON, NJ

The Knotty Pine Pub is a great dive bar in Wharton and serves honest food at great prices. They are up on Route 15 near the Costo’s.

THE KNOTTY PINE PUB, WHARTON, NJ

In Randolph along Route 10, but less than 10 miles away from Hurd Park are two destination-worthy places, at least for beer. Both offer food at “normal” prices. Go for the beer and perhaps the small plate selections.

The Morris Tap and Grill offers a dazzling array of beers, foreign and domestic and Nicole’s Ten boasts 100+ craft beer, mostly in bottles.
THE MORRIS TAP AND GRILL

NICOLE'S TEN

Thanks for reading. I hope you find this interesting and informative. Feel free to leave a comment here or send me an email perhaps detailing your travels and if you send pictures of your visit to any of our suggested destinations we'll try to include them in our future entries at VACATIONS FROM HOME. And, always remember to like us on Facebook!

love
greg and Janet