Town Adopts Beerwick as Name for Oktoberfest 2010

Realizing the value of promoting their burgeoning brewing and tourism industries, town elders (from the west side of town of course) today voted by bare majority to rename the town of Berwick to Beerwick for this year's Oktoberfest 2010 at the Berwick Brewing Company.

Well, not really. But they should've.

M passed this on from Saturday's Press-Enterprise.

We've been to each and every one and can attest that The Berwick Brewing Company (formerly One Guy Brewing) Oktoberfest gets better each year. So lot's of fun, good food, good friends, good music, and good beer are assured for everyone.

Prost!

Rauch Bock at Berwick Brewing Company

S and I were on our way over to Red Hill yesterday for a dinner party, and under the pretext of running an errand in Berwick managed to swing by the Berwick Brewing Company (formerly One Guy Brewing) to taste what was up and see the expanded digs.

S and I were impressed by the back room (annex?) with tables, one a very nice, very large communal table with benches. You know: For those times when intimacy is outamacy or when you and 15 of your friends want to throw down with some great beer and pizza. There's a wonderful map hanging on the back wall marking the location of each brewery in Germany's Franken region. Some 300-odd in an area the size of NEPA according to Guy. (Imagine for a minute what NEPA would look like with 300 breweries? A brewery in every town over 1000 maybe? I'm smiling right now.) Some beer garden style picnic tables, some pub tables, and a nice collection of beer bottles on thin shelves lining the walls completes the scene.

I really wanted to try the Rauch Bock which had just come on tap--maybe Friday? I had never tried this style before so I really didn't know what to expect, but I ordered up a Seidel anyway which came in the correct 0.5l clear glass handled mug. Hey: When in Berwick do as the Germans do!

The first thing that struck me as the seidel was drawn and put before me was the beautiful clarity with a color sitting somewhere between golden and amber, and a nice white 2-finger head. This is a lager after all! The next thing that struck me was the smokey aroma, which I could sense even from arm's length! Wow.

The first sip brought a not-too-subtle but not nuclear-explosive either taste of the smokiness brought out by the German smoked malts used in the recipe. I wondered aloud if for this style, the smokiness was originally a Glorious Accident of the malting process or planned a priori by the brewers and requested of the maltsters. Guy informed me that it was a byproduct of the old (ancient?) way of drying malted barley in the region: by lighting and burning a fire using wood fuel as the heat source, naturally, the smoke produced by burning wood would impart a smokey attribute to the malt not unlike how smoking on the BBQ adds taste to food.

There wasn't really that much hop aroma nor would I expect there to be much challenging the smokiness and malt flavors. From the middle, the smoke flavor started to descend with a buildup in maltiness and finally finishing with a very clean, very tasty pointedness with just the slightest hint of smoke. Actually, this beer, to me, is very refreshing and pretty light--While I don't think I have any German in me (could be wrong though), I could see myself enjoying it on a regular basis and not as just some ``specialty'' beer. I don't know what the ABV of it is, but I would say somewhere around 5%?

The taproom was quickly filling up about the time we finished our first round, but the beer was so darned good, I cajoled and fawned over S and was able to wrangle my way to one more seidel, after which we had to get going. Never underestimate the power of fawning.

Whilst I'm no Saint Michael, I do evangelize to get thee over and give this beer a try.

1st Annual Oktoberfest at One Guy Brewing

Beer from stichfass tap burbled into glass to the strains of oom-pah music; `kraut-laced Brats burst hot from the grill adorning plates of fresh hot German potato salad; old friends greeted each other bilingually in German and English; new friendships were forged over glasses of Oktoberfest beer; good conversation and laughter filled the air. Today at One Guy Brewing's 1st Oktoberfest, everything great about Oktoberfest was on display in the tap-room in Berwick.

One Guy Brewing opened their doors in celebration of Oktoberfest to the delight of hundreds of like-minded fellow Oktoberfesters, on a bright, warm, mid-October day in Eastern PA.

Three beers were featured today. On-tap was the Oktoberfest beer, a malty thirst quencher that serves as the ultimate transitional brew that gently takes the drinker from breezy summer days to the brisk Winter days soon to follow; Seasons Wheatings, the dark, mysterious stranger that tantalizes the senses with exotic spiciness and punch, and the Peach Wheat, with its hint of peaches that reminds us of the lazy, hazy, fun-filled summer days just passed.

One Guy Brewing Reprise

I had a hanker'n for some good beer yesterday and since my beer meister is empty right now I knew I'd have to do something really creative to quench that awful wildfire of a thirst that you can only get when either fighting fires or bottling a batch of home-brew. So after pondering the situation, I decided to take a drive over to One Guy Brewery to see what was on tap and get a growler-to-go.

It dawned on me when I drifted off I80 onto 11, that perhaps One Guy wasn't open this early on a Saturday, at an hour closer to a shoot-out than a bullfight. I put that thought right out of my mind--the power of positive thinking getting the better of me. My raison d'etre was clear: satiate that thirst or else! I rolled up at about 1:30 and noticed that the weekend opening hours begin at 1. Phew, that was luck.

I sauntered into the cool tap room and slipped onto a stool next to an old-timer sipping on a Berwick Lager. After looking at the beer menu, I started to map my liquid plan. I'd start with the Pilsner, then move to the Hefeweizen, and leave the growler fill for the brainstorm that I knew would come after drinking good beer.

The shaker of Pilsner went down easy. A delightful beer, crystal-straw colored with just the right amount of hops taste and aroma. So that's what Saaz hops taste like! No sooner had I finished this gem, I asked for the large Hefeweizen. Large. In the weizen glass. Sans lemon. Prost! What a wonderfully different flavor experience from the Pilsner. Now Pilsner's are as accessible as a Starbucks in NYC, taste-wise, and a Hefe takes some getting used to, but WoW! This one transported me back to Frankfurt, circa 2005. What a fantastic summer beer. I'm here to tell you that this is one for the archives, friends. I dare say, you won't find a nicer Hefe this side of the pond.

After the Hefeweizen, my choice was clear. A growler of the Hefe to go, please, and make it quick the world's about to end.

I was just about to get up and take my liquid gold home, when the guy next to me, ordered the Christmas in July special and that offered that this treat was his second favorite to the Cinnamon Boldy. He convinced me with about 8.2% probability that I would not dislike this warmer and having missed the Cinnamon Boldy, the last time, I didn't want to make the same mistake twice. So I ordered a glass. Having aged for 10 months this marvel arrived a bright ruby red, with a nice aroma of gingerbread. Now, I'm not one for spiced beer, this one having been complemented with honey for sweetness, but there was no mistaking the power of this beast. A great warming reminder that in a few short months we'd be enjoying the Christmas season again.

I made my way home, in reverse, having put out that fire and reminding myself to go back again soon for another visit.

One Guy Brewing Grand Opening

Me, my brother John and Dad rushed over to the One Guy Brewing Company on 328 West Front St. in Berwick PA on Saturday January 26th to participate in the opening of a new brewery owned and operated solely by one guy, Guy Hagner. The name of the brewery is One Guy Brewing.

The brewery and taproom is located in a oldish brick building that was formerly a bakery (Vaughn's?). The taproom is oh about 16' by 32' or 40' and simply and tastefully decorated with various original and reproduction artwork adorning the walls. There's an especially nice, large, vintage Pabst Blue Ribbon metal sign gracing the white back wall. On the front wall to the right of the front door as you enter is the bar and behind the bar is what looks like an original sliding wooden door the type you might see in an old warehouse that's painted a nice blue (Prussian blue?) that leads to the brewery and kitchen. Oh, there are about 10 bar stools and a few tables and chairs arrayed around the room as well. There's warm wooden flooring spreading across at least half and perhaps all of the taproom--I didn't get an especially good look at the other side of the seating area due to the mass of beermanity present. I didn't have a chance to anything but peek behind the blue door to see what was back there. Maybe next time?

There were a good 30 people there when we arrived on the scene just before 1 p.m. and by 2 p.m. I would say the taproom was thick with beer bellies that made it difficult to get around...perhaps 75 people packed the place by the time the ceremonial first keg was tapped. Guy himself was helping out behind the bar along with a couple of friends and were they ever busy pouring their savory brew into glasses, shakers (pints), and growlers! Word to the wise: there are growlers available for takeout and while we were there, I saw a number of them being filled.

We stood at a bistro table in front of the PBR sign and enjoyed the company of Uncle Sam who was present to officiate at the opening. Uncle Sam (a.k.a. Terry) was of course dressed in his Red, White, and Blue finest including stars and stripes top hat. What a sight! As it turns out, Terry put in the suspended ceiling for Guy.

I would say for the first hour there wasn't a letup from the customers queuing up in front of the bar to sample the various brews, but eventually it slowed down enough for Guy and his friends to bring out the wooden keg. But before tapping the keg Guy thanked everyone for coming and made a point that it couldn't have been done without a lot of his friends. I didn't catch anyone's name or know anyone personally, but he listed various friends who: helped find equipment for the brewery, put up the suspended ceiling, plumbed the placed, and helped behind the bar. He thanked his mother and father who were there, his sister and brother-in-law to be who traveled in for the opening from Boston, and finally his family kids and wife. Then, Guy himself, holding the mallet pulled his arm back and thunked a mighty blow that drove the tap home into the barrel to a roar of approval. Quickly he filled glasses, steins, and pints and raised them to shouts of Prost!

One Guy Brewing (Guy) has about six or seven of their own beers on tap including: Beer Number One (the first beer he brewed and served out of a wooden cask--a firkin?), Berwick Lager (faintly reminiscent in the finish of Yuengling Lager to me, but not corny tasting), a wonderfully light, refreshing Pils, a Peach Wheat (sorrowfully, I didn't taste it), a Rauch Bock (regretably didn't get a chance to exploit this one either), and one or two other beers I didn't taste. One Guy Brewing seems to have a definite German influence in their beer selections. Each beer was unique in character, like the brewery--I'll try to review them all later when the excitement dissapates a little!

I will most definitely go there again to savor all of the beers and perhaps get a chance to talk to Guy. If you're in the area and want to have a great pint or two you should stop by. You'll also have the chance to see first-hand one guy's fulfilled dream.

Contact Details
Guy Hagner
One Guy Brewing Company
guyhagner@aol.com
570-709-1056