Campground Brewbound

I've written about Penn's Creek and the surrounding area many times on previous entries of The Pour Travelers, so I won't bore you with superfluous details of the region. Since we love the area so much and the chalet no longer available for our use, we decided to check in with our good friends Kramer and Chu at Penn's Creek Campground just outside Millmont, PA, about 7 miles from the chalet, for a leisurely weekend of beer and brotherhood.  

Since our summer vacation plans had been thwarted by the 'Rona, I've amassed a surplus of vacation days at work. With that in mind, I decided to take off on Friday so we could get an early start. After much deliberation, we decided to begin our day at a recent favorite of ours, Shy Bear. Prior to this fantastic brewery, I'd always thought of Lewistown, PA, as "the town with the Electric Ave. exit sign." Now when I think of Lewistown, the first thing that pops into my mind is Shy Bear. 

We arrived about ten minutes prior to the 11 a.m. opening time, but we noticed the door was already propped open. So we did our whole mask rigamarole, grabbed our phones and monkey, and headed inside. We were hoping to sit inside, as it had recently rained and everything was sopping wet outside. Plus it was kind of muggy for the late morning. Not surprisingly, we were the only people there except for staff. We were promptly seated and greeted by a varied beer menu bosting a plethora of styles and flavors. I was immediately drawn to a - wha-wha-whaaaaat?! - Lichtenhainer, a rarely seen, antiquated style that's about as common as tripping over a T-Rex femur in your backyard. But it would have to wait, because I wanted to prep my palate with something a bit more, well, not smoky and sour. 

For my first beer, I opted for Sunset at the End of the World, a delicious sour IPA hopped with Sultana, Lemondrop and Southern Cross for a pungent tropical bite and a hint of sour pucker in the finish. This was a great way to kick off the day. 

Pleeps enjoying Sunset at the End of the World.

Meanwhile, we ordered a nacho stack, which is now in the running for "best nachos ever." Except for the omission of guacamole, the ingredients served as a laundry list of everything I want on my nachos: delicious chopped chicken, pico de gallo, green onion, sour cream, beer queso, thin sliced fresh jalapêno, and cilantro. These are served in a cylindrical vessel to optimal topping dispersal. OK, I think I just made that up, but it sounds pretty cool. Seriously, these nachos are freakin' amazing! 

We had the place to oursleves.

So, back to the beer I was really excited to try - Eldritch. If you are unfamiliar with the style, Lichtenhainer is a pale beer brewed with lightly smoked malt and exposed to a lactic acid bacteria infection, which gives the beer its sour finish. If you don't care for sours and hate smoked beers, then a Lichtenhainer is definitely not for you. Personally, I love them, so coming across one on tap is a rare treat for me. (Feel free to brush up on the history of this long-forgotten style if you so desire.) Of course, Eldritch is no plain old smoked sour. The addition of key lime puree and meco chipotle peppers gives this beer an depth of flavor that is both exotic and delicious. The key lime bolsters the acidity with a hint of sharp citrus, while the chipolte peppers really help coax out more smokiness. With all of this, the balance was exquisite. I absolutely loved this beer. 

Pleeps loves Teku glasses!

While we were enjoying our visit, Jason, one of the owners, walked by and recognized us after we'd met he and his wife at Covered Bridge a few months prior. We chatted about beer and his coffee company, Rich Coast, which is right across the parking lot from the brewery. We actually decided to each get a cup of the house roast since we'd only gotten a single cup in thus far. It was very good, so we decided to head over and pick up some single serve bags to-go. 

After chatting with Jason for a while, head brewer Roger also came out and sat with us for a good 20 minutes. Roger used to be the assistant brewer at Pizza Boy a while back, and had the opportunity to climb the ladder to brewmaster at Shy Bear. And let me tell you, he's absolutely killing it. He was also stoked with the way the Lichtenhainer came out (as he should be), so we geeked out over that for a bit. He also gave us a taste of a still-fermenting Peach IPA that he recently brewed in collaboration with Robin Hood Brewing out of the Bellefonte/State College area. Turns out a friend of his recently was hired as Robin Hood's brewer, so we'll definitely have to revisit that brewery, as we weren't impressed the first time we visited several years ago. Even in its "green" state, this beer was absolutely delicious. It was so tasty that I would have bought a 4-pack of the unfinished beer to take home!

There's really nothing more I can say about Selin's Grove that I haven't already said. I mean, it's my favorite brewery. If you've never been there, stop reading, get in your car, and drive there now (unless, of course, you're reading this at 1:25 a.m. and they're closed). Seriously, I can't sing enough praise for this place. 

Upon or arrival, we were surprised to find a new beer on the menu - Blood Orange IPA. Owner and brewer Steve has recently been experimenting with fruit infusions in hoppy beers, and both Brewslut and I loved the recent Orange Mango Fat Cat NEIPA. This one is basically the standard IPA infused with blood orange juice. I enjoyed it quite a bit. The blood orange definitely provided more juiciness and a pithy bitterness that I tend to like in west coast-style IPAs. 

We were also surprised to run into so many regulars this early in the day. One of our favorite things about the pub is the people who have become friends over the years. It really is a family. Speaking of new beers, I followed up the Blood Orange IPA with Sweet Hope Blueberry Ale , and excellent addition to its stellar fruit beer line-up. This purple ale in knee-deep in blueberries with a squeeze of refreshing lemon and a slightly tart, earthy finish. This reminds me of "Kriek Lite." I hope Steve and Heather continue to brew this one annually, because I love it. Fun fact: the name "Sweet Hope" comes from an old neighborhood in Selinsgrove dating back to the 1800s.

Since I typically get three cups of coffee in per day, I opted for a pour of Snake Drive Stout with cold brew coffee. An assertive, fairly bitter dry irish stout, this beer is not as thin and definitely beefier for the style thanks to copious amounts of black roasted malt. This beer is usually unveiled around St. Patricks Day, because legend has it that St. Patrick himself drove all the snakes out of Ireland. Man, I'm a fountain of knowledge today! Speaking of Cold COFFEE , the pub serves up some amazing cold brewed coffee from a nitro stout faucet. It's strong, aromatic and frothy, and you can enjoy it on its own or add to any beer for a shot of coffee flavor. The pub recommends a coffee porter or stout or coffee & cream with its flagship cream ale. They use an Organic Ethiopian Yirgacheffe roasted locally by Fresh Roasted Coffee. 

I closed with the tried and true American Pale Ale, a classic take on the style that started the craft beer revolution. This beer features a citrus-forward hop aroma and sweet malt backbone with a vivid Cascade hop finish. The regulars' beer of choice at the pub is far and away the APA. 

My apologies for the lack of photos. I never take pictures at the pub because I always get lost in conversation. We obviously came for the beer initially, but aside from the world class beer, we keep coming back because of the people too. 

One place I'd been missing deeply through all of this has been Elk Creek. Although their cafe has been closed for several months, I recently discovered that they had opened a "Creekside Cafe," a makeshift beer garden behind the Millheim Fire Company just around the corner. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't cooperating, and it was looking like we were soon in for a downpour. So when we arrived, we quickly secured our beers, ordered a snack, and found a table under one of the large tents in the grass. 

As anticipated, the beer selection was light. With that said, I was pleased to find Weather Rock IPA on tap, which I'd enjoyed a while back on one other occasion. This old school west coast IPA is on the malty side, but there's plenty of citrusy and grassy character thanks to generous additions of Cascade and Palisade hops. While I tend to gravitate to brewer Tim's English style ales, it's refreshing to know that he's not a one-trick pony and can brew other styles like pilsners, porters and IPAs competently. Come to think of it, I don't think I ever had what I'd call a "bad" or "flawed" beer at Elk Creek, which speaks volumes about why I love this place so much. 

The Pleeps before the storm.

Meanwhile, the sky was looking ominous so we decided to quickly get a second round. I opted for one of the aforementioned English-style ales, a simple Mild. Elk Creek's rendition of this classic malty English session ale definitely hits the mark with its hints of caramel, molasses and dark dried fruit. While I missed sitting inside at the comfy bar, it's always a pleasure to return back to Elk Creek for a beer or two. 

It's also worth pointing out that I've noticed several new beers (many packaged in cans or bottles) from Elk Creek popping up on its social media channels. In addition to 6-packs, they also offer 25oz and 32oz cans/crowlers via curbside to-go as well as pre-orders and pick-ups at a few local farmers markets. 

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Like Shy Bear the day before, we'd been looking forward to getting back to New Trail for quite some time. We enjoyed our initial visit very much, and even ran into our friends Dain and Jill from St. Boniface. We arrived shortly after opening time, and there were already a decent amount of people sitting outside. A parking attendant waived us in, and when we got out of the car the heat smacked us in the face. I was hoping for some inside seating, which in retrospect wasn't much cooler since New Trail is situated in an old warehouse and therefore doesn't have air conditioning. At least it was shady and not too bright.  

We queued up for our beers and I spotted SOB Hill on tap. I'd had this American IPA before and enjoyed it better than the majority of its hazy NE-style beers. Brewed with a mixture of pilsner and caramel malts as well as wheat, this generously hopped west coast-style IPA features a combination of newer American varietals paired with some tried-and-true classics to elicit an abundance of citrus and pine with a moderate bitter finish.  

I decided to follow up the west coast IPA with a pair of NEIPAs. It's hard not to, because New Trail makes so many of them. The first one, called Up the Creek, is a hazy IPA featuring oats and light caramel malts and hopped assertively with Centennial, Idaho 7 and Amarillo. This one was quite tropical with a hint of grapefruit pith, white pine and juicy apricot. 

I followed it up with Rock Run, a hazy Double IPA brewed with a slew of oats and wheats and hopped with plenty of Amarillo, Motueka and Mosaic. This one boasted lots of mango and citrus. Both of these hazy beers had lots of hop flavor and low bitterness, with a soft, silky texture. With that said, I still prefer SOB Hill over these two... or pretty much ANY hazy IPA I've had from them thus far. Call me old fashioned. With that said, plenty of folks swear by them so they must be doing something right. As long as the keep brewing SOB Hill for geezers like me, I'll be a happy camper. 

Brewslut also shared a bit of her Heliocentric: Berry Berry Lemonade, a collaboration with Foreign Objects and Discord (a subsidiary of Foreign Objects). The resulting beer is a tart ale featuring a wheat malt base and a profusion of raspberries, strawberries and lemons. This one was moderately tart with a prominent berry character and a slightly odd lemon note that stuck out from the pack a bit. Still, it was quite enjoyable overall. 

...and now for something completely different.

Since food and beer are pretty much a requirement these days, we opted for a chicken taco platter with a hefty portion of rice and beans on the side, courtesy of the on-site taco truck whose name escapes me at the moment. On our way out, I picked up a 4-pack of Sunrise, a Baltic Porter brewed with coffee and vanilla. More on that later. 

After spending some time at New Trail, we made the short drive northward to nearby Montoursville for a quick stop at Sonic Ascention Records. I decided to squeeze in a visit since we'd be checking out a new-to-us brewery in the same town... well, kind of in the same town... er... I mean, vicinity. More on that in a few shakes. This cool little record shop has a solid rock collection as well as an entire dollar bin room in the back, where I always find some great deals. This time around, I found bargains from Dusty Springfield to Joni Mitchell to Missing Persons, so I suppose it was a female vocalist kind of haul.  

However, the impetus for this little excursion was to hit up a new place in Montoursville - at least that's what their mailing address indicates - Therapy Brewing. I'd heard good things about this new brewery that had just opened in May 2019, and the photos looked promising - basically a rustic wooden barn tucked away on a quite country road overlooking lots of trees. See?

Outside Therapy's century-old farmhouse.

After we parked, we made our way down to the building. There were several people toting growlers and getting in line. Hmmmm. I guess folks are stocking up for a Saturday night at home. Nope. Sadly, we had missed Therapy's notification only 24 hours prior, announcing that it had changed over to growler fills due to the Governor's recent decision to require food purchases with alcohol sales. Since Therapy doesn't have on-site food, they were forced to limit sales to growler fills only. Thanks Rona! Luckily for us, we decided to throw a pair of growlers in the back of the CRV "just in case." Good thinking, Brewslut. So we took our places in line and decided what to get. 

Brewslut had her eye on a milkshake ale called Creamsicle brewed with milk sugar, vanilla, and "an orange twist." I opted for Back 40 Porter - Toasted Coconut, a porter brewed with toasted coconut. But more on these beers later. Unfortunately, we didn't get to sample anything else while we were there. Sadly, this was a really quick visit, so we didn't really get to experiencing anything other than the building itself and the scenery. Next time, we'll be sure to stay extra long and soak in the atmosphere. 

After twisting through the backroads of Montoursville and the surrounding area, we headed back to familiar territory - Northumberland County. Our next stop was the new Pineknotter Brewing Company, located just a few blocks from where Brewslut and I celebrated our wedding reception, The Front Street Station. 

Outside Pineknotter in Northumberland, PA.

When we arrived, the tasting room was already at capacity, and it was excrutiatingly hot outside. Much to our chagrin, all of the shady tables on the patio were also occupied. I shrugged and went back to the car to get my safari hat and sunblock. The reflective silver tables weren't helping, either. However, we decided to stay since we had gotten positive reviews from Deuane and Carolyn, and had also enjoyed some early beers two years ago at the Selin's Grove hops and vines festival. Thankfully, the server (also one of the owners) mentioned there was shadier seating out back under a tree, so we quickly took him up on his offer. 

After the bombardment of hops at New Trail, I decided to easy back with something malty and opted for Illusion White, a tasty blonde stout with notes of vanilla, fresh roasted coffee, and mocha. I found this to be well done, so we were off to a good start at Pineknotter! 

This is not an illusion. Actually, it is!

I'd be remiss if we visited a brewery for the first time and didn't try its signature beer. In this case, it happens to be Knotty Juice, a hazy IPA with tons of tropical flavor. A strong whiff of juicy fruit greeted me, and I knew I was in for a treat. Turns out this beer is way more up my alley than most NEIPAs (at least the local ones), as it displayed a juicy, heavy-handed mango character. It also featured that smidgen of spicy pepper that's common with mango that I tend to enjoy. I was surprised to find that this beer gets all of its fruit flavor from the hops. Lots of breweries infuse beer with fruit and even juice to get the desired flavor. This one is all about the hop combo. I was pretty impressed with this one... and you know me and hazy IPAs by now. Wink wink nudge nudge, know what I mean? 

Pleeps tryin' to wheez the ju-uice!

Brewslut and I decided to share a pour of another IPA on the beer list. A traditional American-style IPA, Born on the 4th of July is more of an old-school "hop bomb" (remember that term, geezers?) IPA featuring three tried and true hop varietals: Columbus, Simcoe, and Cascade. To my surprise, I actually enjoyed Knotty Juice a bit more, although this beer was solid as well. 

Pleeps posing at Pineknotter.

During our visit, we were amused by a curious, young raccoon in the tree above our table. According to testimony from an older woman who witnessed the event, the little guy apparently jumped down out of the tree and grabbed a partially eaten container of beer cheese left behind by a customer literally moments before we arrived. This critter kept us occupied and entertained while we enjoyed our beers at a liesurely pace. Eventually, he jumped over to another tree, then the roof of the brewery, took a few sips out of the rainspout, and he was off on his merry way. 

"You gonna finish that cheese?" - Rocky

Speaking of beer cheese, we decided to order a soft pretzel with a side of beer cheese. I was beyond excited to find that Pineknotter orders its pretzels from the same bakery as Selin's Grove! Turns out the owners of Pineknotter are also big fans of the pub. So it goes without saying that the pretzel was fantastic. However, the beer cheese was pretty amazing as well! Rocky Raccoon wholeheartedly agrees. All in all, we experienced a wonderful first visit to Pineknotter despite having to endure the heat. 

Pleeps concurs: "Drink Knotty."

As we were heading to New Trail earlier in the day, we actually drove right by Jackass Brewing, our final stop of the day. I was surprised by the size and decor of the place. Like nearby Rusty Rail, it seemed like the owners had some serious monetary backing for this brewing endeavor. New to the area's craft beer scene, Jackass broke ground in May 2019 and had only just opened its doors on March 11, 2020... literally days before the COVID-19 shut-downs began. Talk about bad timing! 

Outside Lewisburg's Jackass Brewing Company.

After waiting for about 20 minutes for a table inside, we were seated at a hightop table for two near the bar. Our server was friendly and attentive (and masked... which is more than could be said for about 80% of the patrons during our visit). I should have known better than to open with a NEIPA, but sometimes I abandon good judgement for reasons unbeknownst to me. This was one of those times. The beer in question, Foggy Doo, was undrinkable. Yes, folks, occasionally we run into a beer that just should have been dumped down the drain. This was one of those times. Touted as a "traditional New England IPA with a spotlight on Citra hops," I struggled to decipher any flavors remotely suggesting an IPA. As a matter of fact, the dominating flavor (and Brewslut concurred) was wet cardboard, which is a common off-flavor found in beer caused by how the beer is aged. I won't bore you with the details of how beer can transform into a liquid resembling used bath water, but feel free to read up on your own. There will be no quiz following this blog post... I assure you.

Tap handles at Jackass.

Foggy Doo promised aromas and flavors of lime, grapefruit, orange and mango. Cue that beautiful tumbleweed footage, Pleeps. Nope, not this time. Shame on me for making a NEIPA my first impression of a brewery. I should have known better. Thankfully, I went with an 8oz pour rather than the full pint. 

Meanwhile, Brewslut was faring slightly better than I with her selection, Pink Rubber Duck . A light sour ale brewed with sweet cherries and lime, this one had a decent flavor but was very thin and only slightly tart. I wouldn't necessarily describe it as sour, but it wasn't undrinkable either. This one could benefit from more carbonation, a heftier body and smoother mouthfeel. Not bad, though, for a second attempt. 

Since we were getting dinner, I thought I'd try and recover from my first mistake and order a second beer. I decided to keep things safe with Dumbass Porter (perhaps as an ode to my previous blunder). It's pretty hard to mess up a porter, so I was hoping for the best. This was a marked improvement over the NEIPA. Served via nitro, this porter was pretty solid overall with a roasty flavor hinting at chocolate and light coffee. It went well with my chicken and waffle sliders. 

No bar seating during 'Rona's reign, unfortunately.

Speaking of dinner, the food was delicious across the board. Brewslut enjoyed her poke tuna sliders, and we shared a heaping pile of seasoned shoestring fries. The food, ambiance, service and branding were all solid here. They just need to work on the beer. Also, some people I've talked to have an issue with the name Jackass, but I think it's all in good fun. I mean, donkeys are awesome (second only to goats in my personal pantheon of animal heirarchy). And with that, it was time to retire for the day.

Back at Campground, we cracked open a few cans and one of the growlers from Therapy to share with Kramer and Chu. Here's the lowdown:

Sunrise by New Trail - Baltic Porter brewed with Coffee & Vanilla. Brewed in collaboration with our friends from Sprinkled Sweet & Alabaster Coffee. We brewed this beer with a plethora of dark malts and aged it for a substantial amount of time on freshly roasted coffee from Alabaster and Madagascar Vanilla Beans from Sprinkled Sweet. It was brewed to compliment a very popular Ice Cream from Sprinkled Sweet aptly named Sunrise! Show Less

Passion Blaster by Shy Bear - This sweet and sour seductress will stimulate your senses. Saturated with passion fruit and silky milk sugar the tartness provides a supremely sexy symmetry. One sip and surely you’ll be under her spell.

Back 40 Porter with Toasted Coconut - Therapy growler. A silky porter brewed with a heaping amount of hand-toasted coconut to lend a sweet tropical flavor to this otherwise dark, roasty porter. While the body was silky, it was a tad thin. Also, the coconut came across as slightly artificial. It was pretty solid all around but not one of my favorite coconut porters. (Editor's note: We drank the Creamsicle growler about a week later and enjoyed it much more than the porter. While the aroma was strange at first, the flavor was unabashedly creamsicle with a swirl of orange and vanilla cream with very minimal hop presence. 

We changed our plans on Sunday and stuck around Selin's Grove at Aunt Carol and Uncle Rick's to get in a few games of Minki Ball in the pool. We swung by the pub for a quick one - the tried and true IPA, one of my favorites - before heading to the pool, where I pounded a few cans of Naturdays, a strawberry lemonade version of... clears throat and mumbles... Natural Light. Hey, it's a great pool beer and actually tastes more like a juicy cocktail. Don't judge me!

We'd planned to hit the newly opened Hemauer in Mechanicsburg and check out Mellow Mink since we hadn't visited in a while. My nephew has been raving about their sours lately, so we need to get there pronto. I guess we'll have to leave it for another day. Until next time...

Son of Campground Brewdown

After my cousin sold the chalet, I felt a void in my life. Not only am I a sucker for nostalgia (my family purchased that land back when I was about 3 years old), but over the years Brewslut and I have grown to love the Penn's Creek region. A huge part of its endearing quality is the proximity of a few of our favorite breweries in the region, the most obvious being Selin's Grove. Thankfully, my good beer buddy Kramer owns Penn's Creek Campground just a few miles down the road from the chalet. He's been kind enough to offer accommodations to us on a few occasions, so it would appear that we'll be able to continue visiting the area we enjoy so much! 

Entrance to Penn's Creek Campground.

As with any weekend retreat to this area, we always begin on Friday evening with a (usually lengthy) stop at Selin's Grove for dinner and drinks. In addition to the Kriek - which was still hanging in there - I was elated to find the 2017 vintage of bourbon barrel-aged St. Fillan's Wee Heavy (aka barleywine) on the beer engine. We were about to set up shop at the bar when Brewslut noticed two of our good friends - Uncle Rick and Aunt Carol - occupying the corner table in the main dining room area. They were with two friends - Jeff and Beth - visiting from Charlotte, NC. They asked us to join them, and of course we obliged. They'd just finished dinner, but it's our MO to eat at the pub on Friday, so we ordered our food and drinks. The corn chowder was sold out, so I opted for a chicken chipotle wap with a side of po-sal... one of my go-to menu items. I started off with a Kriek because I knew it would be disappearing soon, and followed it up with two BBA Wee Heavy pours, because... well, why not? We had a great time getting to know our friends-of-friends, and we talked about everything - yes, even Rush! - but mostly the conversation included tales of beer, bourbon, and traveling. To our surprise, Jeff and Beth stealthily picked up the tab when none of us were looking, and we didn't even know it until an hour later when we were ready to settle up. What a nice surprise! With that, we finished up our drinks and headed to the campground. 

When we arrived about forty minutes later, the key to the house wasn't where it was supposed to be. After a brief panic and a stroke of luck, we actually stumbled upon the guy with the key at his campsite. Turns out the water main was struck by lightning in a bad storm and one of the regular campground residents had the key to try and get everything fixed up. With key in hand, we turned in for the evening.

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Since I didn't prepare an itinerary in advance, we ended up switching gears and re-routing our trek. I'd originally planned to start the day at Shy Bear and work our way up to State College, then finish up back at camp. Turns out Short Bus (one of the other new places we planned to hit) didn't open until 3 p.m. so we decided to "Tarantino" our route and go in reverse. But first, breakfast! We decided to hit up the nearby (and recently re-opened) Boomerangs, a bar and grill located outside of Millmont not too far from the campground. The place had burned down a while ago, and they rebuilt and remodeled it. The cheese omelet, home fries and toast provided a nice layer of starch and protein in our bellies upon which we would be laying plenty of beer. 

The slight change of plans was fine by me, because it meant we could swing by Inglebean for a quick iced coffee before grabbing a beer at one of my favorites in the region: Elk Creek Cafe & Aleworks. We actually arrived about twenty minutes before Elk Creek opened for the day, so we decided to use our time wisely and get some coffee before our visit. Typically, we like to swing by Inglebean after a beer or two and get it to go, since State College is another half hour or so from Millheim. We grabbed a pair of iced coffees and decided to sit out on the back patio with the resident dog, Eddie Murphy (yup, that's his name). Sadly, he was pretty drained from a week of running and playing back home, and was happy to lie lethargically during our entire twenty-minute visit. 

Pleeps with my pour of Elton's ESB...

We easily procured two seats in our usual spot at the bar (right under the "food specials" chalkboard) and I immediately noticed that they had four seasonals and no Winkleblink, their lightest offering. Usually, they only have two or - at most - three seasonals. I was torn between two of my favorites: Elton's ESB, which was on cask, and Yarrington's Best Bitter. I ultimately decided to go with Elton's ESB since it was on the engine. Tim (Yarrington, head brewer) is one of the best traditional English style brewers in the area, and these two beers are stellar takes on these classic English ales. Brewslut opted for the Summer Session Ale, a light, crisp thirst-quencher that doesn't skimp on flavor. 

...and with the wife's Summer Session Ale.

After a pleasant commute to State College, we arrived at Happy Valley, which has always been a reliable stop on the itinerary. I don't really recall having a "bad" beer there. As a matter of fact, I enjoyed a Triple IPA called Grand Wazoo (bonus points for the Zappa reference) last March that turned out to be one of my favorite PA beers of 2018.

Happy Valley has had pretty much the same flagship line-up of four beers since opening in 2013, but they always have one or two seasonals that we hadn't had before. I'd likely hang out here quite a bit if we lived in the area, as they host live music several nights each week as well as a Vinyl Night on Tuesdays. My kind of place, indeed! 

Monkeying about the tap handles at Happy Valley.

Beer-wise, I decided to go with something new, while Brewslut chose something more familiar. The new beer in question was Haymow Mango, a DIPA hopped with Amarillo, Bitter Gold and Ekuanot boasting tropical notes of papaya as well as ripe melon and a hint of lime. Of course, this one was also finished with juicy mango. However, the mango didn't dominate the flavor or add too much sweetness. It was a nice little dollop of mango. This one drank more like a West Coast style with a little hoppy grit and bite to it. Nicely done! 

Brewslut revisited ZZrbert, a beer we'd first tried back in 2015. Brewed with a raspberry, blackberry, Tahitian vanilla and lactose, this refreshing, slightly tart beer is heavy on fruit and finishes smooth with a creamy mouthfeel. It comes off as liquid gelato or raspberry sherbet. Tasty, indeed, but I was in the mood for hops, so I was pleased with my decision. 

We'd recently checked out the new Voodoo tap room in Lancaster, which is situated in a local butchery. Upon checking out its web site for details, I also learned that Voodoo had a location in State College. Wha-wha-whaaaaat?! 'Tis true! So we made it a point to swing in for a beer. Turns out Voodoo State College is two doors down from Happy Valley.

Our view from the bar at Voodoo State College.

The tap room is situated on the lower level of the Barn at Lemont, a small plaza on the same side of the street as Happy Valley (only a house divides them). I'm sure that particular resident is thrilled that he or she is sandwiched betwixt two breweries in a college town. I personally think it would be awesome, especially since I love these two breweries. I could do without the 22-year-olds, though. At any rate, the Barn at Lemont is home to a collective of local businesses focused on sustainable, healthy living. For example, there was a seafood vendor on-site slinging salmon burgers, lobster rolls and the like, and I quickly regretted filling up for breakfast at Boomerangs. Upstairs in the courtyard, there appeared to be a mini farmer's market taking place.

But back to Voodoo. The tasting room is situated along Slab Cabin Run, a tributary of Spring Creek, and it boasts a patio as well as seating along the water for added ambiance. The outside area was pretty packed, so we decided to set up shop at the small inside bar. In addition to the usual six or so year-round offerings, there were a variety of other seasonal and one-off options. I settled on Unrefined, a hazy IPA hopped with Azacca (one of my favorites) and Cashmere (one you don't see all too often). This one had a tropical fruit flare similar to other IPAs in the same genre. While it hit the spot, I will give the nod to Happy Valley's Haymow Mango as far as being more in line with my particular IPA palate.

Pleeps with a plastic cup of Unrefined.

Overall, this is a great addition to the growing craft beer scene in State College, and it's good to have another reliable option when we roll into town. Before we left, Brewslut picked up a 4-pack of Hazy Vibes to enjoy at the pool and at home. And with that, it was time to move on and check out a pair of new-to-us breweries. We set the GPS for Lewistown, PA, and hit the rocky road.

I hadn't really been in or around Lewistown since my days of driving between Shamokin and State College during my later college years. We'd been meaning to visit Shy Bear for about a year (more on Shy Bear shortly), but when we caught wind of another brewery less than two miles away, we felt it was time to bite the bullet and cross two more breweries off our ever-expanding list.

Gettin' ready to ride the short bus!

Short Bus Brew House, situated in Lewistown's neighbor, Burnham, recently hoved onto our radar when Deuane gave us a can of its Bus Stopper DIPA back in April. It was pretty solid, so I could sense some promise with this new kid on the block. Other than this singular experience, we'd never had any Short Bus beers. When we arrived, we were surprised to find the place was pretty large. Brewslut mentioned on the way in that the building looked like an old car dealership.

Since we'd only had that one beer from Short Bus, we decided to dip our toes into their beer and share a sampler flight. If they were up to snuff, we'd get an additional full pour to share. Here's the skinny on the sampler flight:

• Field Trip Peachy Day - light blonde ale brewed with peach puree.
• Straight A'zzzzz - Single hopped New England style IPA brewed exclusively with Azacca.
• Hot for Teacher - Belgian style Tripel with hints of coriander, clove and pepper. Finishes pretty dry with a hint of sweetness and touch of hop bitterness.
• Black Goat - NE-style black IPA with plenty of roasted malt character and an earthy hop presence with a touch of citrus.

Pleeps proudly ridin' the Short Bus!

All in all, everything was solid across the board, although Brewslut didn't care for the Black Goat. This didn't surprise me, as she's not a fan of black IPAs. My favorite was the Field Trip Peachy Day. I just can't seem to get enough of them peaches! Since we were adequately impressed, we decided to share a pour of Hazy Dazy, a triple dry-hopped NEIPA with Citra, Mosaic and Vic Secret. This one was pretty tasty and had a fruit-forward aroma and flavor with a sticky hop finish.

It's just a Hazy Dazy for this little monkey.

Great conversation with older local guy, met the owner, suggested some cool school-inspired beer names. Place bigger than I thought it would be.

From Short Bus, it was a quick five minute drive down the road to Lewistown and our next destination, Shy Bear. We first sampled their beer at the Selinsgrove Hops, Vines & Wines festival last year and were pretty impressed. We'd heard from a few friends that the food was excellent, so it has been on our list for a while. I knew we'd get there sooner or later, and now was the time to check out Shy Bear. 

Inside Shy Bear's tasting room and restaurant.

In retrospect, I'm glad it worked out so we could visit around dinner time, because the food WAS spectacular! The menu is pretty upscale and forward-thinking with a variety of non-traditional dishes using fresh, seasonal ingredients. After some deliberation, we each ordered an Aloah Tower featuring ponzu vinaigrette marinated sushi-grade tuna marinated in a ponzu vinaigrette with seaweed salad, Hawaiian salsa, tobiko (aka flying fish roe), fried wonton strips, and a citrus hoisin glaze. We also shared the Nacho Stack as an appetizer. Check out the laundry list of ingredients in this puppy: house-made corn tortilla chips with pico de gallo, firehouse-style grilled and chopped chicken, green onion, smoked beer cheese fondue, pickled jalapeno, sour cream, and cilantro. As predicted, the food here was outstanding!

Me posing with a not-so-shy bear.

Pleeps ain't afraid of nuthin'!

Beer-wise, the board looked rather enticing, I must say. We felt another shared sampler flight was in order, so we decided on an a la carte sampling of several beers. Here's the lowdown:

• Osoveza Especial - Mexican style lager brewed with flaked corn and pilsner malt and featuring a classic German hop profile. Crisp, clean and flavorful! 
• Seabreezy - Inspired by the classic beach cocktail, the Seabreeze, this Berliner Weisse features cranberries and fresh pink grapefruit for a tart, citrusy finish.
• Blue Hen Crush - Session IPA showcasing El Dorado and Simcoe hops.
• Shifty Please - Key Lime Pie Sour IPA. Dee-freaking-licious!!! 
• No Ducks Given - Pina Colada DIPA. This one was a very close second to the Shifty Please, but gets the award for favorite beer name! 
• Alpine Swift - Pale Ale hopped with Ekuanot, Summit, Citra and Cascade featuring flaked rye and Ekuanot dry hops. This one is fermented with Norwegian Kviek yeast, a traditional non-phenolic farmhouse yeast passed down through the generations.
• Chief Logan - Citra dry-hopped Pilsner.

Pleeps is ready to dig in to this lot!

I really liked the presentation of the sampler flight board. Each beer was accompanied by a card indicating the name of the beer, and the cardholders stuck to the board magnetically. Each sample featured a generous 6-ounce pour of beer, which is 1-2 ounces more than typical sample size glasses.

Alternate angle of Pleeps with the flight.

 

Overall, the beers here were above average, with our favorites being Shifty Please (especially Brewslut) and No Ducks Given (mostly me). The Blue Hen Crush was perhaps a bit lacking in flavor, but otherwise a stellar line-up from Shy Bear. Factor in the food and this place is a goldmine. Looks like we'll be back in Lewistown sooner than later!

Pleeps gives at least a few ducks.

We still felt like we had one more stop in us before heading back to the campground. We hadn't been to Rusty Rail in a while, so we decided to swing by for a late night one-and-done. They were in the process of closing up the main floor, but the second floor bar and game room was still open until midnight. We decided to head upstairs (even though I deplore all of the taxidermied animals occupying the walls) for a beer. The free classic video game sit-down consoles kind of cancel out the taxidermy, so I just suck it up and focus on the beer and video games. We both opted for the same beer this time, a tart peach and passionfruit ale called Tasting Colors. This is a great beer with a great name; one of the best I've had at Rusty Rail to date. I'm glad to see Rusty Rail is finally coming around and churning out some great beers. They have always been hit and miss with us, but recently I've been routinely pleased with everything I've had from them. And the place really is a gem of a brewpub. 

Back at the campground, we had our own little "Campground Brewdown" with a circle of Shamokinites around the campfire. Chu, one of my friends from high school who is now the Schuylkill County rep for Durdach Distributors, was spending the weekend at his little cabin and introduced a bunch of people to us. Some actually lived mere blocks away from my mom's house (where I grew up) and another guy, Russ, is the sales manager at Durdach and has been slinging Tröegs since the very early days. He regaled me with tales of - among many others - driving around Northumberland and Schuylkill Counties with Chris Trogner trying find ANYONE who would take a chance and buy Tröegs to put on tap. We shared a few beers around the fire, ate cheese, potato cakes and soupie, tried some freaking amazing homemade limonchello and root beer liquor, and got pretty drunk. Luckily, we had a short walk back to the house (thanks again, Kramer)! 

On Sunday, it was once again a Selin's Grove sandwich within a sandwich. Wait... huh? The Selin's Grove sandwich is a term I coined to describe visiting the pub on a Friday night and again on Sunday before we headed home. Well, this time we visited the pub for lunch, then joined Uncle Rick, Aunt Carol and company for some pool time and MinkiBall (patent pending), then headed back to the pub for dinner and a few more beers. The Kriek had finally kicked, so I settled for a Shade Mountain Oatmeal Stout, which I hadn't had in a while. I really wanted another pour of the St. Fillan's but knew I had to drive over an hour to get home. See? I can be responsible every now and then. 

Well folks, that's a wrap on another enjoyable weekend of brewery hopping! Until next time...

Where's Clearfield? You'll wanna know after reading this!

Since we had so much fun extending the boundaries of our last trip to the chalet, we decided to go this route again and explore uncharted territory with a visit to Clearfield, PA. More on that in a bit.

Like every trip to the chalet, the weekend began with dinner and drinks at The Pub (that's Selin's Grove Brewing Co. for those who aren't regulars). Although we live over an hour away, I think we've solidified ourselves as "regulars" here. We've met so many people at the pub whom we now consider our friends. This was an especially fun night, as Mayor Reed was parked in his usual spot, and a few other friends were in attendance as well. Typically, I limit myself to three beers during any given visit to the pub. Occasionally, I one-up myself and have a fourth.

Well, on this particular evening, I was feeling the quintessence.

Yup... it was a five-beer night, beginning with one of my favorites, the IPA. I followed up with a pint of the Pilsner (an underrated beer at the pub, in my opinion). Next was a Snake Drive Stout, a dry Irish stout. I opted to infuse it with the delicious cold brew coffee on nitro, which is always a good decision. For dessert, I went with a pour of Framboise. Anyone who knows Selin's Grove has likely had one (if not all) of the fruit beers (the other two being the Phoenix Kriek and Saison de Peche). These three beers form the trifecta of the pub, in my opinion, and are world-class beers that should be uttered in the same breath as New Glarus Raspberry Tart and Wisconsin Red. Yeah, they're that good! I finished up the night with a pour of Stealth Triple... my kryptonite! Brewslut always has to take the keys to the CRV after I've had one of these bad boys. Somewhere in the midst of all of that, I managed to crack open a bottle of the latest Tröegs Splinter Series release, Freaky Peach, a bourbon barrel-aged peach and nectarine sour ale, to share with our friends. It's pretty damn yum-tastic! Although we brought a few beers with us to enjoy at the chalet, by the time we arrived, it was already pretty late and I was feeling a bit schwilly (my new favorite term for "drunk") so we hit the sack. We knew we had a longer day than usual in store for us on Saturday.

Saturday began like every trip to State College from the chalet - with a stop at Elk Creek. I was excited to see a brand new IPA on tap called Crickwalker. Since this was a one-and-done stop for us today, I obviously went with the newbie. I've enjoyed both the Double Rainbow and Hairy John IPAs from Elk Creek, but this was easily my favorite IPA from them thus far. This one struck me as more of an American style IPA (The Double Rainbow is an English style and Hairy John, while a DIPA, is fine but a bit malty for my preference) with a nice balance of citrus, earth and pine amid a cleaner yeast character than English yeast. This one is a winner and I hope to see it on tap frequently during subsequent visits.

Pleeps concurs: Crickwalker is a winner!

After a quick visit to Inglebean (just down the street from Elk Creek) for an iced coffee to go, we headed off for Happy Valley. However, we'd be skipping Happy Valley Brewing Company this time in lieu of a brand-new-to-us brewer called Race Street. More on Race Street in a bit.

We opted for Otto's over Happy Valley this time only because of the tap lists. Checking both in advance proved that Happy Valley didn't really have anything new or exciting on at the moment. Otto's, however, featured the new Red Wheat IPA as well as Jolly Roger (a fantastic Russian Imperial Stout) on cask. Looks like Otto's wins out this time!

When we arrived, Brewslut made a B-line to the front bar, which I thought was peculiar since we typically sit in the back bar area. Of course, it wasn't quite as crowded as it typically is during our visits. We always tend to get the same seats every time we sit at the front bar. We opted for 10-ounce pours of the Red Wheat IPA (me) and Night Owl Coffee Stout (Brewslut). For a snack, we went with our go-to: tofu wings with spicy peanut sauce. Pleeps enjoyed some admiration from nearby patrons after we plunked him down on the bar shortly after we arrived. Since Jolly Roger was on cask, we couldn't pass it up (despite its high ABV%) so we split a snifter. Ross, the friendly neighborhood bartender, kindly gave us separate snifters to enjoy. He must have assumed that Brewslut didn't want any of my "Jeffrey Germs" as my brother used to tease me about many moons ago.

Sorry for the lack of pictures thus far, but I tend not to take a lot of pictures of places we'd been to many times. (Our next stop will more than make up for it, I promise.)

I'd stumbled upon our next stop after consulting the trusty beermapping.com web site prior to the weekend. I was surprised to find a brewery situated in Clearfield, PA. Additionally, I was excited to learn that Clearfield was less than 40 miles west of State College. After enjoying our last road trip to Mansfield and Horseheads, NY, we were game for another extended venture this time around.

When we arrived, it appeared that the brewery was situated on some kind of military compound or industrial park. We spotted the sign for the brewery and pulled into the parking lot, which was huge and completely empty. A car pulled in after us and looked on as we were now doubtful if the place was even open. Brewslut moseyed up to the door and, thankfully, it was unlocked.

Entrance to Race Street Brew Works.

Upon entering the building, we were greeted by a long hallway leading up to what we'd hoped was the brewery. I immediately commented that the inside reminded me of an old school. The sign above the entry way confirmed that we were on the right track.

On the right track...

The somewhat long drive warranted a quick pit stop in the bathroom, and I had to chuckle when I came across this old-school communal fountain:

Quick pit stop

I hadn't seen anything like this since elementary school when I was a kid. Another point for my "this place is definitely an old school" theory.

Along the way, we encountered some old lockers, which lent credence to my theory that this was, in fact, an old school building. as we approached the brewery, the decor turned more festive with strings of lights and paper machete decorations akin to flowers, lawn orbs and umbrellas. I had a feeling I was going to dig this place.

Better... closer... warmer...

My instincts were correct, for when we turned the corner and entered the tasting room, we were greeted by one of the coolest, most eclectic-looking places we'd ever encountered.

Inside the dimly lit Race Street Brew Works.

Deuane had already given me a head's up (and thumb's up) on this place a few days prior to our visit, and he suggested talking to Bob, the owner and brewer. Turns out Bob and his wife are pretty much the entire staff at Race Street. Bob turned out to be one of the friendliest, coolest, and talkative owners we've encountered over the years. His personality mirrored the decor of the space as well as the music that was playing (all groovy funk music from the 70s and 80s). After our introduction, it was time for beer. But first, a few more pics of the interior, with which I was enamored!

Cool awning and wall adjacent to the kitchen.

First floor seating area.

The room I dubbed "the tarot-reading room."

With at least 16 beers available (including a pair of Pizza Boy guest taps), we each opted for sampler flights. Here's the low-down on mine:

• Polish Pilsner - a Czech-style pilsner
• Susquehanna Pale Ale - dry-hopped with Citra and Amarillo
• Loud Mouth Oaked IPA - barrel-aged IPA
• 10 Pound Torpedo - DIPA
• Rauch Street - classic German Rauchbier aka smoked lager

While none of the beers carried me off to beervana, they were all solid, well-done, and enjoyable. My favorite was probably the 10 Pound Torpedo, and we joked with Bob about getting a cease and desist letter from Sierra Nevada. 

Pleeps got tangled up in our sampler flights!

Later, Brewslut and I shared a pour of Comrade Conrad, a tasty Russian Imperial Stout aged in rye whiskey barrels. However, by then we had encountered two couples sitting at the bar next to us. Of course, we began chatting and they asked about Pleeps. Turns out they also traveled with a "mascot," in their case a severed baby doll head they dubbed "Creepy Baby Head." I was immediately intrigued. Much like our own Pleeps, turns out Creepy Baby Head was also into beer, as evidenced by this photo:

Pleeps meets his match: Creepy Baby Head!

Half a Comrade Conrad and a sample of Hop Hash Brownie (a tasty hoppy brown ale,) later, this happened:

One of my favorite pics EVER!

All in all, it was a memorable first-time visit to this fun, eclectic brewery. We'll definitely be back to Clearfield on future visits to the Happy Valley area. Of course, I need to get a pic of me with the group and Creepy Baby Head herself.

Me and Pleeps with Creepy Baby Head's caregivers.

We had to swing back into State College for a stop at Zeno's. Since it was later in the day than when we typically visit, it was more crowded. After getting carded (gotta love it!) and finding spots at the bar, I spotted Fat Head's Head Hunter IPA on tap, one of my favorites! Brewslut opted for a pint of Man Full of Trouble Porter from Dock Street, a brewery we seldom see on tap outside of the Philly area. By this time, we were pretty hungry (despite each having a panini at Race Street) so we ordered dinners (me, the salmon and Brewslut, the turkey dinner). I forgot how awesome the food is at Zeno's! This doesn't surprise me, though, because they share a kitchen with The Corner Room, known in Happy Valley for its simple yet tasty cuisine. The prices are really reasonable too! For dessert, I ordered a pour of Coconut Mudbank Milk Stout from Neshaminy Creek. Turns out I kicked the keg, so it was free. It'd been quite some time since I got a "spider" (that's Shamokin slang for a drink on the house when the bottle or keg kicks). 

Back at Chalet, we were able to split a pounder can of the newly released Pizza Boy Bourbon Barrel-Aged Vietnamese Coffee edition of Sunny Side Up (thanks Jamberg), which caused Brewslut to fall gently asleep on the couch shortly thereafter (a kind way of saying she passed out). I followed suit shortly thereafter.

On Sunday, it was time for another lunch-time stop at the pub for what I call the "Selin's Grove sandwich" (bookend visits on Friday evening and Sunday afternoon). The temperature was in the upper 60s, so we hung out with Dalton & Co. outside, who was on his way back home after repping Tröegs at Bloomsburg's Taming of the Brew beer fest. American Pale Ale was back on, so I snagged a pint and followed it up with more Framboise. Gotta have it while it lasts! Afterwards, it was time for more Snake Drive Stout with cold brew coffee and a soft pretzel to ease the pangs of hunger.

On the way home, we stopped at Pizza Boy to pick up Sunny Side Up cans, but the Rush podcast I was doing went long, so I sat in the car and finished up my interview while Brewslut enjoyed a beer and a slice. We had to jet back home to head on down to the Vette for Rock Music Trivia, where I enjoyed a few pints of Sunshine Pils and capped off the night with a Bell's Java Stout.

Thanks for reading! Until next time...