Tour of the Tours - Installment SixWeyerbacher Brewery - Easton, PA

Something to consider when picking a brewery to tour is its proximity to your house. I've gone to breweries as far as 5.5 hours away, and was able to make a very nice trip out of the whole thing. If you're going the distance just to see how your favorite brew is made, do some poking around on the internet and see what else you can do in town. There are several breweries along the Jersey Shore (Kane, Carton, East Coast Beer Co), but I haven't gone to any of them yet because I'd like to make a nice beach day out of it. And I want to check out Flying Fish and Triumph on a Philly trip. I love beer, but hoofing it any farther than 30-45 minutes just for a tour is a bit much. I'm not making an 11 hour round trip just for a look around and a sample of beer.

If you're too strapped for time to drop a couple hours on a brewery trip, check out your local bars and liquor stores for when they might be sampling. I was at Freebridge Wine & Spirits in Phillipsburg, NJ a few weeks ago when Flying Fish was in town. I got to sample a few beers, talk to one of the brewers, and I even got a free pint glass with my first Flying Fish pint purchase! Of course, I didn't get to see where all the magic happened, but getting to sit down and share a brew with one of the guys that makes it every day is usually not something you get on a tour.

Few are the people who are lucky enough to have a brewery in their hometown (unless you live in Portland, OR where the breweries outnumber the citizens). I boast, and count myself amongst them, as the closest brewery is only a stone's throw away - an 8 minute drive across town. Weyerbacher Brewing Co is one of the many badges worn proudly on Easton, Pa's 260 year old chest. I admit, my loyalties lie with the town across the Delaware River, but I swell with pride when my glass swells with local beer.

Weyerbacher Brewery - Easton, PA

I tried to get the above shot without Kilroy peeking from behind the tap, but I didn't want to look like a creeper taking 12 shots (pictures - not liquor, you drunk!) just to get the one I wanted in a very, very crowded room of thirsty samplers. And such is the downside to a town that highly supports its small businesses. It's like PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWER, ity bity living space. I've been to this place several times, and it's always packed. I can never seem to try more than one or two samples when I visit, because it's not worth elbow wrestling the other patrons just to get to the bar. With only 3 hours for touring, sampling, and growler filling a week, (on a Saturday, no less) I don't even think there's a time to go when it would be relatively quiet. If you go and expect to get a taste from the taps, bring your elbow pads and stomping boots. It's going to be ugly!

If crowds aren't your thing, maybe you'd be glad to know that expansion is on the horizon! They're going to have 40% more physical space, an actual tasting room, and dearly needed extra hours for touring and the like. As it currently stands, the tasting room is a small section of the warehouse that has been cornered off by a few racks of beer bottles and swag. It's functional, but only barely with the big increase of visitors since they started brewing in South Side Easton in 1995.

The brewery is located on the far side of an industrial warehouse district, separated from the Lehigh River by a few blocks of houses. The feel of the place is a bit bland and seemingly non-permanent. The only decoration is the swag that's out for sale, and perhaps a banner or two. I don't think anyone really cares what the brewing area looks like, but the tasting room should look nice! And it should be a room. It looks like they quickly set up shop in a corner, and haven't made many efforts to enhance its appearance. But I guess there's no time for fashion when the business is busy tripling in size over a 7 year period. Now that their current space is maxed out, the much needed remodeling and expanding of the sampling area can take place (and perhaps more importantly, expansion means more beer!). Even though the tasting "room" isn't the best, I'm glad to know that the brewery's priority is beer and not appearance.

If you have ever sat down in the wrong classroom on the first day, and had no idea what the teacher was talking about once class started because the material was way over your head, then you would know how I felt on the Weyerbacher brewery tour. This is the AP Rocket Science class of all brewery tours. I've been on many tours, and I know a decent amount about the processes, ingredients, and such, but the things the tour guide spoke of made me wonder if I was in the wrong classroom. Beware: This is a tour for brewers, not drinkers! People on the tour with me were asking odd questions about equipment and techniques, and the tour guide gave them equally confusing, jargon-filled answers. I don't think every tour given here is like this, I think I just happened to jump in with a group where everyone happened to be a home brewer. It's a good thing I was touring a brewery, because I definitely needed a drink afterwards!

Back at the crowded, free-for-all tasting area, I sampled two brews before pushing my way out of there. Living in the same town as Weyerbacher has allowed me to try a few of their pints at local bars that I wasn't brave enough to get a sample of at their brewery. I can't quite pin point it, but they're all kind of... yeasty? No, that's not it... it's kind of a cloudy, muddy taste. Like, in the way that both make things indiscernible. I can clearly taste the beer and what it's supposed to be, but it's not crisp to me. I feel like I can almost chew it. Maybe it's Easton's water? Who knows... maybe it's just me! But it's definitely not a bad thing, just different. It's subtle at first, but the more varieties I try, the more I feel I could cut it with a knife. It's weird, and I think I like it. More tasting research is needed before I can come to a conclusion.

Another thing about their beer - it's just too flavorful! Isn't that crazy? It's like trying to finish a big piece of very rich chocolate cake. The first three bites are to die for, but the last three bites are what kills you. No, a pint of Weyerbacher isn't 2,000 calories a pop, but the taste becomes too much after a few mouthfuls. I thought it was just Merry Monks', their Belgian style golden ale, but it's almost everything I've tried so far. I admit, it's growing on me, but it's definitely no session beer.

I'm chalking all of this up to my taste buds changing. Weyerbacher beer is definitely high up there in quality, but it just isn't balancing on my teeter-totter of a tongue right now. I used to be all about the sweeter, citrusy ales and wheat beers. I still like them, but now I'm branching out to some of the less sweet pale ales and stouts. I honestly miss Sierra, a milk stout from their Brewers' Select series, which they don't make anymore. Other than Sierra, I haven't found a Weyerbacher beer that rests well on my palate. At the same time, I also haven't tried them all. I guess my best advice for myself is to keep trying, especially since the place is so close!

I know I've said some things that might make you question my loyalty, but I really do like Weyerbacher. I like what they stand for, where they're located, how they run their business, and how creative they are with their beer. Creativity can be expensive! It takes bravery to offer something different in a failing economy where people are holding onto the things they know for dear life. The brewery's impending expansion is living proof of their success, and as consumer, I'm proud to play a part in it. Definitely check them out now, or in Oct/Nov 2012 when they're fully expanded and equipped for the big crowd they always draw.


Keep Tasting!

Tour of the Tours - Installment FiveSam Adams Brewery - Boston, MA

Many existing businesses can fall into one of two types: the private owned mom and pop shop, and the widely known commercial brand. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. Mom and pop shops are cozy and personal, but sometimes have restricted hours and limited locations. Commercial business products are priced conveniently and are widely available, but the company lacks a relationship with the customer, and often takes advantage of the middle and lower classes to keep prices affordable. Mom and pop shops rely on the local community and word of mouth to support their business. Commercial businesses rely on paid advertisement through many different platforms. Breweries are no different.

The nature of breweries, however, always seems to lean toward growth, while many privately owned shops and restaurants are satisfied with staying small. Almost every brewery I've been to has either just expanded, is currently expanding, or has plans to expand. But it's not about locations, it's about output - how much beer they can make and distribute within a period of time while maintaining quality and consistency. This is how microbreweries (breweries that produce less than 15,000 barrels per year) slowly become one of the giants like Anheuser-Busch (though that destination is not always desirable). Many breweries keep their mom and pop likeness by pledging to focus on quality rather than quantity. Some are even able to achieve both. But regardless of their size and level of corporate domination, as long as they continue to produce good beer, customers will keep knocking on their door for more, and perhaps a tour!

Sam Adams Brewery - Boston, MA

The Sam Adams brand meant something quite different to me before I ventured to Boston, Mass to take their tour. My perception of their company was a product of their advertisements depicting burly, bearded men in overalls that are passionate and serious about their beer. The commercials often mention the founder and brewer, Jim Koch, who is celebrated as a pioneer of the microbrewery movement, which made me believe this brewery must be a little smaller than I thought. I'm watching all of these earth tones and crafted suds float by on my screen, and I'm feeling all cozy inside. BAM! It's that mom and pop feel, but with many times the output and availability.

It wasn't until I walked into the brewery that I realized my skewed perception was a result of expensive, well done advertisement. Their claims are all true, but the things they said with everything but words were a lie. Through their ads, they veiled their gigantic commercialism with that mom and pop feel, which was completely vacant from the reality of their brewery. It seemed their ads were reminiscent of how the brewery was years ago. But that coziness had long since been chased out by the cold wind of corporate apathy.

The brewery is smack-dab in the middle of a Boston suburb, as a grand meatball amongst the spaghetti of many one way streets. Walking up to the brewery, I realized the company has spent a lot of dough on this place. It was crowded with tourists from other states and countries, but not so much that movement was inhibited. My eyes were overwhelmed with the sight of countless banners and displays of beerchievements, history, and interactive screens that blared ads and informational blips. The amount of money they spent on making this place look nice has got to be at least six figures long. The earth tones, beards, and honest-sounding quotes weren't fooling me anymore. This place is sooooo commercial.

Luckily, my new found perception didn't change how their beer tastes, and I was still enjoying myself very much. The tour was free, but started out with a voluntary donation to a local charity. They may have a lot of money and come off a bit impersonal as a company, but they're definitely not greedy. We proceeded to a room where the guide explained the brewing ingredients, and actually had barrels full of hops and two kinds of barley to pass around for smelling/tasting. Very unique! We continued to the brewing room testing laboratory. Turns out, this brewery tour isn't even of an actual production brewery, but of the place where they invent/perfect their beers. The guide mentioned the lab workers and a bit about their processes. It was all a bit weird, but cool nonetheless. This also meant there were no bottling/canning lines to watch, and that lovely, malty scent I so look forward to was absent from the air. It was saddening, but the promise of free, delicious beer kept me interested.

The guide was friendly, funny, knowledgeable, and well rehearsed, but seemed a bit insecure when someone asked questions that were out of the ordinary. He would choke up a bit, and say "uhhhh" a lot, but he was able to get through the answer. There was also a group of incredibly obnoxious 20something women that he allowed to walk all over him in the tasting room. He wasn't the best at controlling the crowd, but such is the product of a volunteer. When he wasn't being talked over by rude women, or spooked by weird questions, he was a great tour guide (and handsome too!). 

The tasting room was furnished with several tables surrounded by chairs, and a large, ornate bar. The excitement built as we watched one of the workers fill pitcher after pitcher of beer, all for our tasting pleasure. The guide continued his spiel by teaching us how to properly taste beer. We were all given a tasting glass to keep, and were allowed to fill them family style, as we shared a pitcher or two per table. We tasted the Boston Lager, Harvest Pumpkin Ale, and Alpine Spring. I was surprised they were giving us pumpkin ale in late January, but I couldn't have been happier! I've tried probably six different pumpkin ales in my life, and this one is now my top favorite. I would accustom the experience to something like taking a giant chomp out of a pumpkin, and then that chomp magically turning into delicious beer in my mouth. It actually tastes like pumpkin instead of just a bunch of pie spices. The flavor is rich, but not overbearing. Everything is balanced and perfectly flavored. I was sad it was January and not October.

Though it wasn't actually part of the tour, we were told that if we took their free trolly to Doyle's Cafe and ordered a pint of Sam Adams, we would get to keep the beer glass. I'm a sucker for a good deal, so I indulged. The trolly was like a party bus, and the driver was hysterically funny. If you ever go on this tour, the trolly ride to Doyle's is a must!

Ok, so the brewery tour isn't at an actual production brewery, and the feel is a bit corporate, but I think they've done a good job of not forgetting their roots as a little microbrewery. They're not greedy, and they spent a lot of money on giving out free beer, free tasting glasses, and free tours of their expensive facility. I had a blast, and found a new favorite beer. A trip to Boston is not complete without a tour of the Sam Adams... uhhh... brew-atory! 

Happy Touring!


Next Up: Weyerbacher Brewery - Easton, PA

Tour of the Tours - Installment FourRiver Horse Brewery - Lambertville, NJ

I think it's safe to say that in any classroom situation, the teacher/professor can either make or break the class. Profs that teach subjects you hate, but they themselves are absurdly awesome, create a classroom atmosphere you can't help but love. The same can be said for tour guides giving brewery tours. Even if you don't like beer, the tour guide has the ability to make it an awesome experience for beer lovers and haters alike.

Tour guides are always the unknown in the touring equation. You know there's going to be beer, and you can probably find a bunch of pictures of their brewery online, but the tour guide is almost always a surprise. Some breweries, like Yuengling, don't really need a great tour guide. The place sells itself. But others (remember Brooklyn Brewery?) need a guide that can convince a crowd of 100 tipsy, elbow-bumpin hipsters that they're having a great time, even without any free samples. The job is tough, and the crowds are thirsty, but put the right man or woman on the job, and the result will be customers that swear by the beer they've just tasted.

Unfortunately, giving free beer away can be costly for a brewery, so most rely on volunteers that may or may not be all that great at the tour giving gig. I've experienced situations where I thought they should be paying the guide a salary, and where I thought they would be better off letting the beer sell itself instead of having some boring, soft-spoken clown babbling on and on about things they don't fully understand. I'm no expert by any means, and I'm not saying I could do a better job than the worst of them, but it doesn't take an expert to know when someone is talking out of their ass! Needless to say, mediocre tour experiences result in the beer or brewery atmosphere needing to be really amazing for me to feel like I had a good time. And even though I'm not paying for the experience, it's in the brewery's best interest for me to enjoy myself so I continue to buy their beer. Tour guides, in a way, are the company's way of making a sales pitch to the public. A bad pitch won't kill sales, but it definitely doesn't help them. If you're going to make a sales pitch, make it a damn good one, or don't make it at all. No one wants their company to be remembered as mediocre.

River Horse Brewery - Lambertville, NJ

Lets get some of this terminology out of the way. For those of you that don't know, "river horse" is another name for a hippopotamus. And the name is fitting because the brewery is wedged between the Delaware river and the canal (though there aren't any hippos around). The two bodies of water make a nice cradle for this rather small place at the end of a quiet street. The brewery carries the quaintness of the town, and makes for a lovely stop on an afternoon jaunt. Even the interior is very fitting. The decor is tasteful and even a bit classy. The size of the tasting room, however, is very tiny. Twenty people in there would make a can of sardines feel more spacious. On this particular Sunday, it was full, but not cramped. And luckily so, as the rest of the brewery offered a similar amount of standing space. If there was one thing I could say about this brewery, it would be that they did not waste any room! They spoke of expansion within their current space (additional fermentation tanks), but they clearly need a few more rooms or buildings! I suppose such a thing would be difficult when you're the oreo cream of a canal-river sandwich. 

Having arrived several minutes before the next tour, we decided to grab a few tastes first (more on those later). The tour was ready go before we were, so we quickly sloshed down our beer and shuffled after the tail end of the beer-enthusiast train. Our tour guide, a middle-aged, timid man who seemed a bit out of his element, lead us from room to room and explained all of the regular processes you hear on every brewery tour. He gave us the lowdown on River Horse history, and explained what an IPA is. (India Pale Ale - originally dubbed as such during the 1700's for it's popularity in India. The higher hop and alcohol content kept the beer fresh on it's trip from England to India, while other beers would spoil and go flat.) He spoke slowly and took great pauses between sentences. It wasn't anything drastic or incredibly awkward, but it definitely induced several yawns. I couldn't help but stare at the remaining two ounces of beer left in the glass he was walking around with, wondering if he was ever going to drink it. There were more than enough opportunities and moments minutes of silence to knock them back. I was more interested in those two ounces than in what he was saying, not because I don't like it when people don't finish their beer, but because of the way he was dishing out the information... boooooooorrrringgggggggggg. He did his job, and knew a whole lot about the ins and outs of the brewery and brewing processes. But above all else, 

I was ready to lean back 

against a pallet 

of grain 

and 

catch 

a 

few...

Zzzzzzz.....

But maybe my expectations are just too high. Here I am, getting this free tour and usually free beer, and I'm also expecting to be entertained. A bit too much? I don't know. I just want to be excited about their beer! That's really hard to do when the tour guide's demeanor better lends itself to calming sugar-filled children with ADHD to sleep. I know he was a volunteer, and I know you can't pick the people that work for free, but tour giving is a pumped, caffeine-injected, people-person's world. Get me excited about buying your product or I'll buy something else!

The best part about my last statement is that it's not entirely true. If your beer is good, I'll buy it anyway. But every time I do, I'll remember the tour I took and wish it was more interesting! And then I'll think about tours that actually were interesting. And then I'll smile and buy some of their beer, too. Aaaannnd...

BEER!

That caught your attention, didn't it? Let's talk more about beer, and less about sleep-inducing tour guides. $1 got us 4 different 4oz samples. The two most notable were the Oatmeal Milk Stout, and Hop-A-Lot-A-Mus (double IPA). When I think milk stout, I think River Horse, and also about that adorable, little hippo with utters pictured on the side of the six pack. The beer and the box art are equally fantastic. This near-black stout is smooth and creamy, and has a bit of milk sweetness to it while being all malty-oatsy on my tongue. If there was ever a cow that ate oatmeal and drank beer all day, this is what the milk would taste like. Mmmmmm... ooooooooooooooo!

Hop-A-Lot-A-Mus is unlike any beer I've ever tried. I mean this in the way that I have never been so repulsed by the amount of hops in a particular beer ever before. By now, you should know that I'm no hophead, but this might have enough bitterness to scare away the lesser devout hop lover. It may have been that the flavor profiles were given to us in reverse order (in my opinion, it should go by color from light to dark - similar to tasting white wine before red). We had the sweeter, darker beer first, and this lighter, intensely hoppy beer last. I couldn't even finish the little, 4oz sample. I honestly almost got sick, and for this, I salute River Horse. Such an abominably hops-crammed beer has probably made several hop enthusiasts happier than a tot on Christmas morn'. I, however, will stick with my oatmeal milk stout! 

They also have a beer called Hop Hazard. I've always made it a point to try IPAs when I go on tours, but given the history, I don't think I'd ever put myself through the trouble with this one!

It was a good time, and they really do have some tasty beer. A little improvement on the tour-giver, and they've got gold! Better yet, tastier beer! (Good times make beer taste better!) They're small, they've got heart, and they have my dollar. If you love hops, you're now bound to stop by and try this Hop-A-Lot-A-Mus nonsense. Just grab a cup of coffee before you go in case you take the tour. ;)

Hoppy Touring!

Next Up: Sam Adams Brewery - Boston, MA

Tour of the Tours - Installment ThreeYuengling Brewery - Pottsville, PA

Keeping with the flow of offering tips before sips, here are a few about what to expect on an average tour...

There are several things consistent through just about every brewery tour I've taken. They're going to discuss the four essential ingredients for making beer, the two main types of beer and what makes them different, and how various kinds of yeasts eat the sugars in the wort. They'll point to their fermentation tanks and make exaggerated hand gestures to illustrate the aforementioned facts and processes. And at some point, you'll probably wish you were getting some hands on experience with beer consumption rather than beer production. But you need not fret! Most tours are less than a half hour long, so the highly desired tasting is never too far from taste-bud ecstasy.

The best and most memorable tours are those that have what others do not. While most tours have a guide that is frothing at the mouth with brewery know-how, only one has bragging rights to say they're America's oldest brewery. If there's one thing you could add to a tour to make it better and more interesting, it's history. And Yuengling has more history than a world civilizations text book (ok... maybe not quite!). Breweries are not unlike a finely aged wine or cheese. Treated properly, they only get better as they get older.

Yuengling Brewery - Pottsville, PA

Having survived the prohibition era, 183 years of existence, and five generations of family ownership/operation among many other achievements, it's not surprising that Yuengling continues to grow as a staple beer on the East Coast of the US. I love trying new beer, and don't often buy the same beer twice. But Yuengling lager is definitely an exception. Businesses like this don't survive so many hardships and rough times without good reason.

There is a quaint little nook up on the hillside of Pottsville, PA that the Yuengling brewery likes to call home. Driving to the brewery, you might think you've taken a wrong turn into a residential area, but you're actually in the right place. Something as simple as walking in and finding where the tour starts is almost impossible without the signs that tell you where to go.
It's obvious there has been addition after addition to the building, which effectively created a maze of rooms for confusing guests into thinking they should have made that left turn at Albuquerque. But alas, the sound of voices and that wafting, beckoning scent lead me to the right place.

The tour started seconds after we arrived. About 30 of us were lead single file through each floor of the almost ancient brewery. Each wall, window, and piece of equipment or art had it's own unique story. The room with the fermentation tanks and mash tuns has a beautiful stained glass ceiling, and also murals that further illustrate the history of day to day operations. We snaked between tight spaces from room to room until we arrived outside. Lucky for us, they were bottling on this particular Monday. The tour guide said they mostly can at this location, so it was certainly a rare treat.

Walking into the bottling/canning room was almost my favorite part of the tour (free beer is always #1). If I could have drank in the air, I would have. It was a luscious smack in the face of buttery, malty, bliss I've only ever known to belong to Yuengling. I would have paid to stay in that room for the remainder of the day. Beyond the smell, watching the equipment do its thing was entrancing. The flow of our single file through the building was lost to the hypnotizing machinery and stunning scent of beer. People pushed past those snapping pics with their iphones and then found themselves being passed by once their own gaze was caught. The game of leap frog ended once the tour guide coaxed us from our dreamlike state with rumors of an underground cave.

Going down there was like the fellowship of the ring was being lead through the depths of Moria (minus the orcs and other baddies, of course). It was a real, honest-to-goodness, water-dripping-down-from-the-ceiling rock cave! Some of the brick still exists from when it was walled off during the prohibition. Pretty dang neat!

We surfaced shortly after our venture to the center of the earth to enjoy the fruits of so many years of labor.  But before I go into the beer, I'll say a few things about the lovely tour guide. She was great, and took care of the crowd like a mom does her brood of children (but not in the wiping-dirt-off-our-cheeks-with-her-spit kind of way). She kindly watched after us to make sure we didn't get lost, and taught us everything we needed to know about life at the brewery. She was funny, and incredibly knowledgeable of the business. She was clearly not someone hired from the outside just to babysit the tour guests. The brewery itself was so captivating that we probably could have had a poor tour guide and still had a great time. But her expertise was all the more helpful. Plus, she's the one that gave us free beer!

The sampling room (pictured above) was called the Rathskellar, and has been serving up fine brews since 1936. The walls and shelves are lined with an entire evolution of bottles and historic decorations. It even holds a cuckoo clock in homage to the German heritage of the Yuengling family. I was excited to enjoy a beer here as so many did before me. I didn't bother trying the lager, as it is a taste very familiar to my palate. Instead, I tried the porter and Lord Chesterfield Ale. The porter is really what you could expect from just about any porter, but with that buttery, Yuengling-y taste that comes from their signature use of corn grits. The Lord Chesterfield Ale is probably their hoppiest (really not THAT hoppy, though), and just plain delicious. Most of their offerings taste like different permutations of their lager, but the Chesterfield Ale really stands out on its own. Arlo and I even bought two Chesterfield Society mugs to enjoy at home!

If the tour wasn't enough history for you, you can gander through the gift shop/museum. It's the perfect place for any history buff, even if beer isn't your cup of tea. Those that enjoy both, as I do, are in for a big treat! Of all the brewery tours I've been on, this was my absolute favorite. Maybe I just lucked out with the fact that they were bottling, we had a great tour guide, and it wasn't too crowded. Or perhaps it's just the fact that so many years of existence and history make for a good time, anytime. Either way, I urge you: if you ever visit a brewery, make it this one! Disappointment is nearly impossible.

Here's to another 180 years of great beer!



Next Up: River Horse Brewery - Lambertville, NJ