The Year in Beer 2020: Top 10 new-to-us Breweries

OK kids... here it is! While the year proved problematic for beer traveling, we still managed to get around a bit. (Brewslut even hand-made a few masks for Pleeps!) Here's our picks for our ten favorite new-to-us breweries we visited in 2020. While there's no specific equation used in determining our final list, we did take all of the following into consideration: beer quality, atmosphere, service, and general awesomeness as well as our initial and lasting impressions. With that said, we present to you the Pour Travelers’ Top 10 New Breweries Visited in 2020 (in alphabetical order).

1. Axemann Brewery - Bellefonte, PA

First visited in August 2020 - Read the original blog

Axemann Brewery began under the name of Blue Stripe Brewing as a homebrew operation situated in a milk house, a small building on a dairy farm where milk is collected, cooled, and stored. After perfecting a few different styles and gaining a reputation at local and regional beer festivals, Blue Stripe entered the big leagues, adopting the name Axemann and setting up shop at the Titan Energy Park just on the outskirts of Bellefonte. Having just opened its doors in July 2020, the site boasts a 20,000-sq. ft. production brewery and taproom including a walk-up "snack bar" and rotating local food trucks. I was pleased to learn that the folks at Axemann modeled their facility after Tröegs. They produce easy-drinking, approachable beers for everyone, and they brew them well.

Notable beers: Titan Stout; Hazy Daisy IPA

2. Burley Oak Brewing Company - Berlin, MD

First visited in February 2020 - Read the original blog

Burley Oak had been on my list of breweries long prior to our first visit in February 2020. Well, my yearning to visit Burley Oak finally got the best of me, and it turned out to be the impetus of this trip to Delaware to visit our friend Taylor. It was definitely worth the wait! We spent quite a lot of time here, and I got to work through a bunch of beers, especially its tasty IPAs and fruited sours. We're already in the process of planning a return trip in early 2021. If you like fruited sours, their J.R.E.A.M. series is off the hook. 

Notable beers: Lost IPA; anything from the J.R.E.A.M. series

3. Dewey Beer Company - Dewey Beach, DE 

First visited in February 2020 - Read the original blog

We first visited Dewey Beer Co. during the same trip as Burley Oak. DBC opened for business in May 2015, setting up shop in an old eatery called Bubba's Grill just off Coastal Highway. In addition to a full restaurant offering a diverse, scratch-made menu, the brewery side of the operation churns out some amazing forward-thinking beers on a custom 7-barrel system. Perhaps Dewey's most popular beers stem from its "Secret Machine" series of fruited sours. Everything we experienced here was top-notch, from the beers and food to the service and ambiance. There was no question that this brewery wouldn't make the list... even back in February! 

 Notable beers: anything from the Secret Machine series

4. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery - Milton, DE 

First visited in February 2020 - Read the original blog

I know... I know. You're probably thinking, "WTF? These two go to breweries all the time and they've never even been to DFH?!" Well, truth be told, we'd visited the "Brewing & Eats" location in Rehoboth Beach many times over the years, but never happened to cross paths with the production facility until this past year. It didn't hurt that our friend Taylor, who we were staying with, is a brewer there. We got the mack daddy, uber private, VIP tour experience, which definitely helped propel DFH into our Top 10 list for sure. Then there's the beer. Say what you will about DFH, but Sam & Co. are true trailblazers. You have to give them props for what they do. Speaking of which, Slightly Mighty has become a fridge beer for us in 2020, and it definitely takes the cake as far as low-cal beers on the market today. Plus we got to hang out in the treehouse! This place is like the Disneyland of craft breweries. 

 Notable beers: Covered in Nuggs; The Bellini Bambini; Knuckles, Bats And Homemade Tats

5. Homaide Brewing Company - Williamsport, MD

First visited in November 2020 - Sorry, no blog exists for Drinksgiving 2020... yet!

Drinksgiving 2020 didn't turn out as planned, unfortunately. We made arrangements to visit Knoxville, TN, with D&C, which would check another state off our brewery box. Sadly, with travel restrictions due to COVID we settled on a cabin jaunt just outside of Maryland in southern PA. Homaide is a brand spankin' new brewery situated in the original Cushwa Brewing location. Basically, they moved in, took over, and started chruning out awesome beers right from the get-go! We got to chat with the head brewer and one of the owners when we visited, and they are just awesome, chill peeps... who happen to know what they're doing with a brew kettle and mash tun. We look forward to returning so we can really dig in to the beer selection.

Notable beers: Fight Milk

6. Idiom Brewing Company - Frederick, MD

First visited in January 2020 - Read the original blog

Frederick has really blown up and matured into a fantastic beer destination over the last five years. When we first visited Idiom, they'd only just opened over Black Friday weekend 2019. Needless to say, they came out of the gate swinging! I loved everything about this place. It just felt so comfortable and inviting. Our server was friendly. The atmosphere was perfect. The beer? Freaking delicious! We get down to the Frederick area fairly often, so I'm sure Idiom will be a must-stop for us when we're passing through. We were positive these guys would end up on our Top 10 list after our first beer. 

Notable beers: Just Desserts

7. Ithaca Beer Company - Ithaca, NY

First visited in July 2020 - Read the original blog

Like DFH, here's another one that probably has you scratching your head. Well, back in my formative years, Flower Power was one of my first IPA loves. Needless to say, it was amazing to finally get to the mothership and drink this stellar IPA right from the source. During our visit, we got to meet and hang out with Mari, who founded the brewery in 1998 with her husband Dan. She was extremely kind and took very good care of us. Aside from the private tour of the facility, my favorite thing about our visit to Ithaca was spending some time enjoying its sprawling beer garden. Thankfully, it was a picture-perfect summer day, so we really got soak up the atmosphere... and beer! NOTE to readers: Don't take the old-school breweries for granted. Places like Ithaca crank out some amazing beers. 

Notable beers: Flower Power 

8. Liquid Shoes Brewing - Corning, NY

First visited in July 2020 - Read the original blog

We discovered Liquid Shoes kind of by accident. One of our long-time favorites in the region, The North, was closed for a week, so we had a vacancy in our itinerary. A quick scan of Brewery Maps revealed this new brewery in nearby Corning, NY. Founded by the Shoemaker brothers (hence the name), Liquid Shoes opened for business in July 2018. With eight beers on tap, they focus on IPAs and fruited sours, but everything here is well executed. Their mascot is also a gnome, and you can even buy a custom, hand-made Liquid Shoes gnome. We brought one home with us and named him Great Grandpa Thoughtweaver (don't ask). We liked this place so much that we just visited again a few days after Christmas. 

Notable beers: Umoja; O'Cyrus

9. Love City Brewing - Philadelphia, PA

First visited in February 2020 - Read the original blog

It was a long time coming, but this is the brewery that I felt Philadelphia has always needed since we first started visiting the City of Brotherly Love for beer many moons ago. In the early days of our infatuation with craft beer (mid-2000's), there were some amazing, world-class beer bars but only a handful of small breweries. Upon entering Love City this past February, I felt someone finally captured the vibe of Philadelphia and transformed it into a brewery. While none of the beers blew me away, this place simply embodies Philly moreso than any other we've visited thus far. The atmospheres hearkens back to a time before Prohibition when every neighborhood had its own brewery. I definitely felt a sense of Philly pride while enjoying our beer at the bar here. Plus their food truck is the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo. Bonus points! 

Notable beers: Obscura; Totally Wired

10. Ommegang - Cooperstown, NY

First visited in July 2020 - Read the original blog

This is yet another one you might be surprised to see on the list, but man, what a track record! Hennepin. Three Philosophers. Rare VOS. Some of the first Belgian-style beers I'd ever had during my formative years were these very staples from Brewery Ommegang. Many beer friends have regaled us with tales of road trips to the annual Belgian Comes to Cooperstown festival, which is held on the brewery's sprawling rural grounds. It was a long time coming, and I was estatic to finally visit this epic brewery. We got to enjoy a pleasant day outside in the beer garden. Aside from its world class Belgian beers, they also make some pretty solid IPAs and lagers as well. Sadly, we didn't get to venture inside (except to the restroom) so we'll definitely need to return once all this COVID-19 nonsense disappears.  

Notable beers: Idyll Days Pils; Neon Lights IPA

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Once again, this year's list proved to be a difficult undertaking. Here are a few "honorable mentions" that came oh-so-close to making the final ten.

Big Oyster Brewery - Lewes, DE

First visited in February 2020 - Read the original blog

Notable beers: Then; Mango Dreamsicle

Bonesaw Brewing Company - Glassboro, NJ

First visited in February 2020 - Read the original blog

Notable beers: Peach, Love & Happiness

Dew Point Brewing Company - Yorklyn, DE

First visited in January 2020 - Read the original blog

Notable beers: Rubick's 3

Pineknotter Brewing Company - Northumberland, PA

First visited in July 2020 - Read the original blog

Notable beers: Knotty Juice

Wilmington Brew Works - Wilmington, DE

First visited in January 2020 - Read the original blog

Notable beers: Par Avion - Pineapple Cream

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So, how did we fare in 2020 amidst all of the shut-downs, virus scares, and travel bans? Not too shabby, I'd say. All in all, we hit 76 new-to-us breweries in 2020 compared to 79 in 2019. I'd say that's a pretty impressive number given the state of the country during this past year. Of course, a few of these include breweries I visited during a handful of "dudes' weekends" with the guys, as well as one or two satellite locations of breweries we'd visited previously (i.e. St. Boniface's Tied House in Lititz, PA). We were off to an amazing start in 2020, hitting an unprecedented 46 new breweries in January and February alone! If COVID hadn't hit, I'm confident we would have cruised past our impressive number of 110 new brewery visits in 2018. To put things into perspective, we named our 2021 calendar "Pleeps vs. The 'Rona." That about sums it up for us. Oh well, there's always next year.

Here's hoping that 2021 allows for safe beer travels for us all. See you in 2021! 

Cabining

Living in Pennsylvania, we're blessed (or depending on your perspective, cursed) with experiencing varied weather as a result of the changing seasons. Out of the four of them, autumn is - without a doubt - my favorite. Perhaps it's because I always feel the cozy blanket of nostalgia wrapping around me during this particular time of year. Memories of school starting back up after summer break, marching band practice, hanging out with friends, and meeting Brewslut all come to mind. Then there's the natural beauty of fall. We're blessed to have some stunning foliage during this time of year, when plain green leaves turn to bright hues of orange, yellow and crimson. Add in cool, crisp air (I'm a jeans and hoodie kind of guy) and the smell of decomposing leaves, and you've got pretty much a perfect season. 

So what does this all have to do with fall?

Perhaps I was just reminiscing. But around this time of year, we typically enjoy a weekend retreat to one of Deuane and Carolyn's many rustic cabins. They don't OWN them; they're part of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC). We've gone on many weekend beer excursions over the years, and it's always as fun as it is relaxing. I love to come back to a warm fire after a long day of "beer hunting" - a term I'll use so as not to come across as an alcoholic. This weekend, we were off to Little Cove, one of the many quaint cabins that is available to members of the PATC. It's situated on 160 wooded acres just west of Mercersburg, PA, in Franklin County.

On a Friday afternoon (after some pesky GPS issues), I met up with Brewslut in Mechanicsburg and we set off to nearby Chambersburg to meet up with the group at GearHouse. In addition to D&C, our friend and DFH brewer, Taylor, would also be joining us. (You may remember him from our trip to the Delaware beaches earlier this year as referenced in "Cape Crusaders" parts 1, 2 and 3.)

It's always great to visit GearHouse. Not only does David make some fantastic beers, the place is just flat-out cool. It's one of the perks of staying at cabins with D&C... most of them are in the same general direction and we usually have to drive past Chambersburg to get to them. So while our visits aren't often, we do seem to get there at least once or twice a year. 

When I'm gearing up for the weekend, I typically crave hops for my first beer. I didn't have to look further than Ninja Boots, a beefed up version of Hoppy Socks session IPA. Brewed with a hefty grain bill of oats, barley and crystal malts, this flavorful DIPA features no bittering hops in the boil. However, the recipe calls for almost 5 lbs. per barrel of Mosaic, Idaho 7 and Vic Secret added to the whirlpool as well as dry-hopping. This one straddles the line between hazy and West Coast, with an aromatic nose and moderate bitterness. This is definitely one of my favorite IPAs I've had from GearHouse thus far. 

While we were there, I also tried Big Ring, a barleywine/strong ale hybrid clocking in at 10.8% ABV. To be honest, I can't remember if this was barrel-aged or not, but it definitely had some boozy heft to it... in a good way!  I also sampled These Sheep are Making Me Thirsty, a traditional German Maibock. Usually, it's pretzels that make me thirsty, but I suppose sheep might make goats thirsty. I honestly don't know why, but anything makes goats hungry so I supposed the same could be said about their thirst factor. Anyway, I'll shut up now. Brewed with German noble hops and a very specific German lager yeast strain, this malty lager boasts notes of toasted bread and a crisp, slightly sweet finish.

Pleeps is kickin' in to second gear!

On Saturday, we actually got to add two new breweries to our ever-expanding list. The first, Rough Edges, recently opened in Waynesboro, PA, just two miles above the Mason-Dixon line (although I would have sworn we were officially in the south based on the majority of the folks I saw meandering around the downtown area for a street fair). Deuane had visited recently and had given this new place thumbs up, so I knew it would be legit. 

Located right on Main Street, Rough Edges is situated in the former Waynesboro News Agency building. Boasting eight rotating beers on tap, Rough Edges operates on a 5-bbl brewhouse and features an adjoining tap room with seating for about 80 patrons. In addition to its house beers, the brewery features a small food menu consisting of light snacks and pizzas. The owners, husband-and-wife team Wes and Casey Phebus, are Waynesboro natives, and like most brewery owners, they started out by getting their hands dirty with homebrewing as a hobby. Fast forward to the spring of 2020, and the pair opened Rough Edges right at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Perfect timing, huh?

I was pleasantly surprised with the beers we sampled during our visit. I started off with Questionable Ethics: Homeschooling, a PB&J oatmeal stout. This one had a pretty heavy roasted nut character with a hint of grape-like sweetness to balance. Despite the fact that peanut butter is one of the greatest inventions ever, I must admit that I'm not a huge fan of peanut butter in my beer. With that said, this one didn't offend me. Next on the list was Dutch-Oven Pumpkin Pie Haircutted Freak, a kettle sour conditioned on a variety of fall spices to evoke "pumpkin" notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar and a hint of clove. This sounded odd on paper but turned out to be my favorite of the bunch. It really was quite delicious and forward-thinking. Kudos on that! Last but not least was Main Street Cred, an easy-drinking lager, which I found to be malty, sweet and crisp. It also happened to be Rough Edges' charity beer of the month, so $1 of my pint benefitted the Main Street Waynesboro organization. 

Wes and Casey are extremely friendly people, and it was like talking to old friends with them. I decided to share some Tröegs love and grab a few goodies from the trunk. On the way back to the car, I decided to pop into this tiny store that had a few tables of records for sale out on the sidewalk. I wasn't expecting much, but I hoped they'd have a few rows of vinyl to dig through. To my surprise, I ended up finding the last Alice Cooper album I needed to complete my full run of his discography through the original "vinyl era" of the late 80's. I was more than stoked! Editor's note: I was expecting the album, DaDa, to be pretty bad, but I freakin' loved it! 

While Rough Edges was situated right downtown on the proverbial "main street," Upper Stem is a farm brewery located in rural Washington County, MD, northeast of Hagerstown. Owned by a friendly retired couple, the site features a small nano-brewery and adjacent farm, where they produce grain, hops, herbs, and fruit that they use in its small-batch beers. Upper Stem also has a spacious, cozy beer garden area with plenty of picnic tables scattered about for additional seating on pleasant days. The weather was cooperating, so we decided to hang out in the beer garden. 

I'm usually wary of beers brewed with hops grown on-site at a brewery, but something in me said to try this pale ale called Rel 2.oh! Hops aren't the easiest thing to grow, and most crops generally take three years or more to fully mature. Hops are a finicky flower, and they need a specific climate and soil type to really thrive... things that make them such a bitch to grow outside of, well, Yakima and some areas in New York state... the original hop hotbed of the United States. 

But back the beer. Described as a "hazy yellow table beer," this one boasts coriander and fresh Cascade hops grown on the brewery's tiny hop field. It was a no-frills pale ale with clean, crisp notes of tangerine and grapefruit backed by a sweet maltiness and hints of toasted grains. It drank effortlessly with no textbook vegetal notes that are common when hop bines haven't fully matured. I was pleasantly surprised with this beer!  

Up next, we decided to do a side-by-side tasting of a Coffee Imperial Porter and its bourbon barrel-aged counterpart, BA Coffee Porter. The standard offering weighs in at 8.6% ABV and features local coffee from the Hagerstown-based Pura Vida Coffee. Sadly, I wasn't able to get the scoop on what kind of barrels were used (aside from them being bourbon barrels) for the BA version, but the bourbon character was fairly subtle, imparting hints of vanilla and charred oak; nothing too complex, but tasty nonetheless. Both of these were solid and enjoyable. 

Our final stop before heading back to the cabin steered us into more familiar territory: Williamsport, MD's Cushwa Brewing. This was probably our fifth visit to Cushwa and first to its recently expanded Tasting Room. The new tasting room is probably triple the size of the previous location, which happens to be right around the corner on the other end of the Bowman Business Park. To refresh your memory, the name Cushwa refers to the Cushwa Basin on the C&O Canal. The canal features an almost 185-mile towpath that's now popular with locals and tourists alike who enjoy its varied recreational activities. So I suppose you could add "drinking some kick-ass beer" to that list of activities. They now also have an adjoining eatery, Rad Pies, which makes just that: insanely good and outside-the-box pizzas. 

There's always a lot to be had on tap at Cushwa. The first thing that jumped out at me was a beer called Insider Trading, a 14.5% ABV pastry stout. Go big or go home, right? Conditioned on River Bottom Roasters cold brew coffee, vanilla, and maple syrup, this rich, full-bodied imperial stout is sweet, roasty... and boozy! The body is plump and mouthfeel is slick and warm. This sucker just envelopes the entire palate with that familiar after-dinner liqueur character one craves after a classed-up dinner on a special occasion. 

From one extreme to the other, I opted next for Cush Claw Peach, a hard seltzer with peach. I think this may be the first time I'd ever ordered a seltzer at a brewery. However... peach! Readers of this blog certainly are more than aware with my infatuation with this fleshy, succulent stone fruit. While the peach flavor nudged itself to the forefront, I just find seltzers to be too dry and carbonated. I'm not really into them. I think I'll stick to beer from here on out. Still, like our parents used to tell us... it's ok to try new things from time to time.

Up next was Velvet Robe, another stout. This bold oatmeal stout is brewed using flaked oats to lend a creamy body and soft mouthfeel. Dark-roasted coffee and Belgian chocolate notes abound with this one, and in the end it finishes semi-dry and roasty with a pleasant complementary sweetness. 

My final beer was a doozie! Enter ElectroSchmooj – Strawberry Amaretto Cake. Just the name "ElectroSchmooj" is evocative enough to provide a hint of what's in store for you with this beer. Brewed in collaboration with Imprint, this heavily fruited, lactose kettle sour was inspired by the classic decadent dessert. However, Cushwa always throws in a twist, this time by adding massive amounts of strawberries and mixing in amaretto flavoring as well as a few dashes of vanilla to create this dessert in a glass. We've had a few other ElectroSchmooj offerings in the past, and this one did not disappoint. Some folks might not even call it beer, but whatever it is... it sure is delicious!

Pleeps get in on some Insider Trading.

And with that, it was time to head back to the cabin for a nightcap. With two guys who work at breweries and one who's a self-professed "beer hoarder," we had more than enough to keep us libated for the rest of the evening. Around the campfire, we enjoyed (among others) the newly-canned OG version of Impending Descent from Tröegs... FINALLY! I'd been waiting patiently for us to release the original version of this beer for about 5 years, and it tasted exactly as I'd remembered it! Back inside, the beer of the night was Cushwa's Coconut Cream Puddin', an imperial "island" stout brewed with copious amounts of coconut. This beer was so incredibly delicious, it's up there with the best of the best coconut beers I've ever had. We were all blown away and named it our favorite beer of the night. Another contender was Ever Grain's Sorbetto #16, a sour ale brewed with plum, apricot and blackberry. Ever Grain has been making a lot of Sorbetto variants lately, and they've been knocking them out of the park. 

Well folks, sorry it's taken me so long to get this one up for you all. It's always nice to get away to one of the cabins for a weekend of leisurely brewery hopping with friends. Stay tuned for my annual Year of Beer review as Brewslut and I pick our Top 10 new-to-us breweries visited in 2020. Until next time...