YeeHaw! Turkey Hill Brewing Company Dances

When we heard about six months ago that the Turkey Hill Brewing Company was opening, we immediately expected great things since the Inn at Turkey Hill Inn is such a fantastic place to stay and enjoy imaginative five-star cuisine. After our first visit last week, we're here to say they've delivered on every expectation.

From the outside, the building looks like a barn that's been turned into something more--exactly what you can't be certain until you get closer, but the twin cupolas on the roof ensure there's no mistaking the original purpose of this structure. Approaching from the large parking area, the sidewalk passes by windows that let you know the focus of this place is beer. The entrance: a wonderful faux timber frame that beckons and hints at what's inside.

Passing through the doors leads to a reception area where you'll find wood and lots of it. Benches for waiting patrons are arrayed around the room--their seats made of rustic slabs of timber. Wood paneling; and a well executed custom wood staircase ascends to the second floor. To the right in the reception area are windows looking directly into the brewery that is at the same level.

The staircase up places you in a room that on one side has a windowed gallery overlooking the brewery and on the other side a doorway opens into the main space of the second floor which contains a bar and dining room. Simple wooden stools and a narrow bar rail along the gallery windows will be a nice place to watch the brewery in action. Alas on this night not to be: it's time to celebrate boys!

Passing through the opening into the main space, there's a bar straight ahead and dining room to the left. Magnificent and authentic barn framing soars overhead. Well done fellows! The cupola admitting early evening light enhances the framing.

The beer menu strikes a nice balance: there are a couple or three of approachable beers reminiscent of earlier times, an intriguing Belgian Dubbel, and a few nice American-style craft beers where the brewmaster Donny Abraczinskas really displays his deft touch. A six-flight sampler was $8.50, delivered in a carpenter's wooden toolbox and well worth the few bucks. The only beer on the menu not yet ready when we visited was the NewWhirrld Vienna Lager.

The Barn Dance Blonde Ale is a German style Kölsch beer (not my favorite style) and comes in at a light 4.5% ABV. This is a beer to session over; there can be no argument on this can there? This hybrid style can be cloying to us but this one is perfectly suited to bringing to a barn dance. You can not go wrong choosing this beer even if you're more of a Bud Lite drinker.

The Belgian Blonde Ale Bamboozled in Bruges reminded me of Blanche de Bruges (RIP) and was nice and easy drinking. This beer is made for summer and is on the light side for the style at a Witbier-like 5.3% ABV. Doonie's Dubbel is a Belgian Strong Ale--darker and stronger than the Blonde, similar in character and just as easy drinkin'. This dubbel brings it, so watch out.

What impressed me the most was the Epiphany American Pale Ale. Beautiful color, enticing aroma, just the right amount of hop flavor (not overwhelming at all) and lingering lacing on the glass. This beauty squirms into that space just below an American IPA. By that we mean it's a perfect beer for someone wanting to step up to more flavor or when you needs a breather from a string of hop bombs. This one's a keeper.

The Journeyman IPA is a revelation! Crystal clear amber, a delicate yet direct sharp jab in the nose from the hops--guessin' there's C-hops in here. The taste is a bit spicy (Cilantro?) and citrusy. You won't find something like Berwick Brewing Company's Atomic Punk IPA in this beer and it's really not aiming for that. Super good.

The Lightstreet Porter is named after Lightstreet which is a small community just on the other side of I-80 from the brewery. (We haven't been through there in years since PA-487 was modernized oh, 20 years ago, to bypass the town proper. Didn't the store in town have Ma's Root Beer?). This example is served on nitrogen. It's appearance is beguiling its lightness which at 4.9% it truly is a good drinking brew.

Each and every beer was perfect in clarity.

There were a few empty tables when we arrived about 6:30, these quickly filled and there was a wait when we departed. The wait-staff was pleasant and knowledgable of the beer and quick to engage our thoughts on each of the beers. Kudos on that as it shows a real concern. The meals were very good, served quickly.

We didn't get a good look at the bar, other than to see the edge of a very handsome bar rail. We'll have to get back soon for a closer look.

Gee, they've really gotten in right here. Wonderful timber framing reminiscent of the barns I grew up in with innards like the bar and dining room booths hewn from reclaimed building materials. Locally sourced foodstuffs. Beers that are out of this world.

Congratulations to everyone involved! D: I hope you brewed plenty of beer!

Here's Marley's Tire Chaser IPA

A Quick Trip to Marley's Brewery and Grille in Bloomsburg

D and I and hundreds of other like-minded beer fie...err friends froze our patoochies off last night to get into Marley's to experience what this new brewery has to offer...

Through the front door (don't mind the big Harry's sign overhead out front from when this was Harry Magee's old haunt) is a large high-ceilinged taproom. There's a big chalk board just inside on the left that welcomes and entices. Straight ahead lies a wonderful u-shaped bar with oaken-plank bar-top, perhaps 40 feet long (seating for maybe 18) and lit by some nice pendants and fronted by a slick oak Chicago bar rail. The bar overhang is supported by rugged corbels underneath. There's a unique canopied back bar with shelving holding three sizes of gleaming beer glassware to the left and right of the large center mirror etched with Marley's Brewery and Grille logo. Beaded trim used throughout--bar front, backbar trim around cabinet doors, etc.

To the right and continuing down to the back of the taproom are pub tables. Half-way down the right wall is a passageway with hostess station, that leads to a more intimate dining room with booths beyond. The neat transom over the opening to the passageway depicts the equipment and stages of the brewing process.

To the beer.

In order of preference I liked the Tire Chaser IPA the most. It tastes crisply different for these parts and it doesn't snarl at ya. It's just absolutely Deeeeeelicious! (I would like to know what hops were used in this.) The aroma on this one really opens up from a shaker pour!

The Wagging Tail Wit made me want to get out and mow the lawn it's so dang good. Nota bene: I can never get enough Belgian wheat beer.

The Guard Dog Porter is almost a stout with so much chocolate that it had me thinkin' I'd time traveled to Valentine's Day and overdosed on a box.

You know what I like about US Porters? They're all different and not beholden to some antique stylings. And now we have three fine local examples: Petey's Porter from Old Forge Brewing Company, Grumpy Bill Porter from Berwick Brewing Company and now Guard Dog Porter. Deeeeeeeelicious!

We live in great times, don't ya think?

The Kong Kolsch is, well, a kolsch which I'm not a huge fan of. Very drinkable though.

Finally the Dog Runner Red is my least favorite. Too malty for me, but I ain't no Saint Michael.

The last two beers, the Rope Tug Rye (sounds good doesn't it?) and the Droopy Ear Alt won't be on until sometime next week according to our barmaid.

I may be wrong about this, but the rye may just be the first rye produced by any of the local breweries. I count local as Danville northeast along the Susquehanna to Plains.

I can't wait to try it.

If my eyes don't deceive me (and lately they have been) the beer menu lists the sugar content of the beer pre and post-fermentation in degrees Plato: °P. °P is roughly the number of grams of sugar in a 100 gram aqueous solution. Now when's the last time you saw anyone relate Plato to beer and on a beer menu to boot?

I had to look it up, but a rough conversion is to take the °P and multiply it by 4 to obtain specific gravity. This is what I'm most familiar with in homebrewing. So I took the IPA as an example and did the multiplication. It gave me an original gravity of 1.054 and final gravity of 1.0096. That sounds about right for a 6% ABV.

Speaking of barmaids, you won't find a nicer bunch. Hi Babbling B!

The canine theme continues with the pack of growlers over there. (I brought one home filled with the Tire Chaser IPA and I can't wait until The Best Part of Every Day™ to crack it!)

Marley's is located in downtown Bloomsburg on East Main Street (also known as route 11). If you're coming from the west, it's easy to reach from the Lightstreet exit (236) of I-80 by taking 487 south into town. If you're coming from the east, take the Berwick exit (241) of I-80 onto 11 south.

There's a municipal parking lot one block behind Marley's and a block north (towards the college). There are signs on East Main St. that will lead you right in to the parking.

In short, there's lots to like about this place. The beer's cold and good and there's a Happy Hour when two of the beers (brewer's choice) are a buck off. They do serve some wines too, so even those without a lusty jonesin' for a beer goin' on can be appeased. There are beer flights which we sampled. The beer can be ordered in 12, 16, and 23 ounce pours and the prices are pretty good for these parts. The service is great: attentive and quick. Can't speak for the food, other than a wee pretzel snack we enjoyed the heck out of.

It seems the staff was ironing the kinks out of the point of sale system, but they were managing to keep it all under control.

I did not see a whole lot of college-age kids but there were some. Not that there's anything wrong with that--beer does not discriminate based on age.

I think what we have here is a worthy addition to our now on-fire beer scene. And I hope this never ends.

Good luck Marley's.

And we'll be back.

Hey Tazio, What's in the Beer Meister (Single malt IPA, Slimy the Imposter, #homebrew)

Aah, yes....

The Meister be filled and we be whittlin' away at some fine homebrew for the past few weeks.

The Espresso Stout is about kicked, barely holding on 1/2 way out the back door of the Meister, but, no fear: we've got a new roomie lined up. More about that later. This stout was a good beer, a fine beer--don't get us wrong: chocolaty and faintly espresso flavored, with just a wee bit of hop flavor and taste. Beautiful color and a tempting chocolate-milk head. We were a tad disappointed by the espresso flavor--didn't use anything special for the espresso, just grocery store Espresso Napolitano. Will be brewing this again but will try some other espresso.

The second keg contains our first attempt at all-grain that started out as the Blackfoot River Brewing Co.'s single malt IPA clone. But sans the correct hops (Citra substituted), it turned quite good in its own right: a grapefruity vunderkind knockout which even S enjoys the hell out of. This one's a bit foamy and never calmed down much and it too's almost kicked.

But wait: there's more...

The third keg is an all-grain repeat of Slimy the Imposter, but this time with the correct hops, but the wrong yeast. (Sidebar: our starter never, um started, and in a masterstroke (not really, more like a desperate attempt to save brew day) pitched a outdated packet of Munton's ale yeast into the starter. It did the trick and this version turned very clear (the Munton's yeast perhaps?) unlike the previous ver. Fine and dry as tinder be. D loves it but T enjoyed the previous version which had Amarillo substitution and seemed truer to the real thing. Pliny the Elder really does live up to the hype.

So, if all goes according to plan, a sensational (?) little black CDA should be taking up residence in the Meister, two weeks hence. We're calling this Zeroth Degree CDA in honor of our first zero degree brew day yesterday. We hit pre-boil gravity right on a 1.06 and starting gravity of 1.07. It's percolating nicely now.

A Single Malt Exercise

Next in line is an experiment with single malt.

As in brewing, not distilling.

(Although distilling a single malt whisky like Glenmorangie is a beguiling idea.)

Specifically we're going brew a clone of Blackfoot River Brewing Company's Singlemalt IPA.

Teeming with Simcoe® and Cascade hops, stiffened by Maris Otter, using our own mountain water straight out of Glen Summit Springs, this baby looks so dang good on paper, we just had to do it.

Do or do not. There is no try. --Yoda

Best part of every day.™

Foothills Brewing

I left City Beverage with a six-pack of local NC brews to take back to PA and mused on the great times and the host of new and interesting friends made at Foothills Brewing in Winston-Salem. You know, I have not yet happened upon, during this de Tour, a nicer bunch of fellow beer drinker lads and lasses! I feel blessed in this sense. Thank you!

Wow! A whole section of the beer cooler devoted to NC brews. H, J, and M were not joshing when they said they had the best selection around. AND, mix and match to fill a six-pack. You like that? You like that?? I know I do. Egggggggggssssssaaaaaaaaaaaalentttttttttt!

The Hoppiest Fellow on Earth and his wife were kind to give me directions to City Beverage which were spot on. Rain? Not a problem. I'm floating on a velvet sea of beer foam!

Met the brewmaster Jamie, the nicest fellow--props to you and your guys on your World Beer Cup medal for Sexual Chocolate Imperial Porter. M and J implore me to backtrack east and visit Natty Greene's in Greensboro before I had west again; Jamie advises if you must do one place in Asheville make it Barley's and the Green Man; Hoppiest Fellow's wife says Bluegrass if you make it to Kentucky and the Mellow Mushroom in Asheville is good too. When do I have to be back at work? Next year?

Is it raining outside? Who knows, but the taps are raining beer in here!

Did you say you home brewed? These immortal words ushered a new era of north-south beer relations and it was with these words that I introduced myself to M and J at the bar and we proceeded to spend the next two hours ruminating over beers drank and yet to be drank--barleywines and double I.P.As a favorite of M, the merits of floral and herbal hops, home brewing, beer visits, tours, crawls and such.



Through the front doors awaits a spacious (30' x 30') dining room with a wood floor. The original wall to the left is brick. Straight through the dining room to the back though awaits the real treasure: A high trussed-ceiling taproom with what must be a 40' bar running down almost the entire length of the left wall with the brewery beyond that behind glass windows. There must be space for at least 20 beer drinking stools at the bar. The bar-top is constructed of laminated maple strips and must be 30 inches wide and sports a large Chicago-style bar rail. The back bar is impressive: a lower section of storage spans the length of the bar; at bar-height three wide sections delineated by square columns constructed of what looks to be cherry house deep shelves for glassware and liquor, also spanning the length of the bar. An impressive mirror dominates the center section of the back bar etched with Foothills Brewing. AND, crowing each end section and extending to the ceiling are wine lattice with storage for perhaps 300 wine bottles. WoW!

The Foothills Brewing building was at one time a Plymouth car dealership. After that a garage and a night club just prior to being converted to a brewery.

The day began overcast with scattered beer showers and stayed that way most of the day across North Carolina.

Altitude Chophouse and Brewery--Laramie Wyoming

You know, it's hard work watching the snow drift fences swirl by alongside I-80 in Wyoming. Countless numbers of them, mile after mile, arrayed like regiments of soldiers guarding I-80. You build a ferocious thirst. You might not think so, but you do--and hunger for that matter.

I can't honestly say that I didn't mean it to happen this way, but just about lunch time we got within a stone's throw of Laramie which I knew had a brewery/restaurant. So we stopped in for a bite and a pint, just to make things interesting on this milestone journey.

The milestone of not having kids at home anymore. It feels like what walking across the billowy tan head resting atop a pint of Hop Devil might feel like. Or passing through a doorway opening to a new, spicy, flavor of life, that lifts with each unencumbered taste. I love kids. And anyone who has kids knows you never stop being a parent. But for a change, for the first time in 20 years, no kids equals freedom. At least I like to think so. But I digress.

The Altitude Chophouse and Brewery is easy to find and the townspeople are mighty friendly. Just ask and they'll point you to the colorful side of town where the exotic brewery and tempting grill smells come from.

The mirrored windows facing the street are an interesting touch. Although unnecessary as this isn't your ordinary dive bar where you don't wish to be seen. Inside we found a very nice rustic themed restaurant and bar with the brewery off in the distance. It's nice to see rustic--something about the interior reminds me of the hemlock in Rickett's Glen SP. It must be the log bar stools. There was a nice crowd for a weekday lunch.

Our waitress S (I'll call her S-squared) was shadowing a new employee. Didn't get his name but with S-squared as his guide, he'll turn out alright.

Altitude has a wonderful selection of every-day beers as well as a bank of seasonals on draught. Just as it oughta be and ever should be. We perused the beer menu to see what tasty treat we might find to accompany our meals--my eyes settled on the Grizzly Whisperer IPA. Think about that one for a minute. What comes to mind: Dangerous? Powerful? Grizzly Man? Would you whisper to a Grizzly? Well, S-prime does, every morning and she lives to tell about it. So I tried one and I'm here to tell you that it was worth it. A nice balanced IPA with just enough kick and freshness to take the growl outta me after the aforementioned drive across southern Wyoming. S the real deal, I'll call S-prime, ordered up a Tumbleweed Wheat, one sip of which I was allowed to enjoy. This is their best-selling beer and I can see why. If I was in the mood for something lighter today, this would be the beer for me!

For dinner, I ordered a Brew Burger, medium rare, with waffle fries. Excellent on all counts and as S-squared reminded me, it's buffalo and healthier than beef. S-prime, ordered a bowl of bacon corn chowder which she let me try a bit of and pronounced excellent. With that she had a prime rib sandwich with waffle fries. Natch.

This place has a lot of variety in their beers and they fill growlers and sell kegs to boot. I'm a bit surprised how their keg prices can be so low. At least by the standard of what we pay in NEPA. And pitchers? Hmmm. Does One Guy offer pitchers? I don't think so but I could be wrong. I do think it's a good idea though. My place would.


















Altitude Brewery and Chophouse serves some mighty fine meals and beer from their own on-premises brewery. Very reasonably priced too. Service was friendly. Unfortunately I only had a chance to try one of their beers--I was driving after all. It is well-worth a visit if you're in town.