Pocono Brewing Company

Went to the brewery for some beer and food with my brother-in-law.

Vibe is pretty chill. It was a little quiet the day we went since it was early afternoon, but you could tell it's a spot people like to check out. Pretty low-key atmosphere with a designated dining and bar area.

Food and drink was pretty good. not going to lie, it was nothing crazy to write home about, but it was pretty good overall.

Service was very good; they were quick with food and drink orders and very friendly and attentive. Could have to do with the fact when we went it was pretty quiet, but, still, I felt the service was good.

Beer selection was pretty good. They had some flagships available, as well as new and rotating beers that it seemed like they were just testing out. They had a few different flight options available with limited overlap, so a pretty decent selection of their beers.

Food was ok. We just tried the appetizer sampler since we were having dinner with the family later that night. Food was good, but, again, nothing overly impressive.

 

 

Up until like last week I thought the Poconos were some sort of island chain in the Caribbean. Turns out they are actually a picturesque mountain range in Pennsylvania and people visit them during the fall because the leaves get real pretty. They got big resort hotels and indoor waterparks and wineries and a surprising number of hibachi grills, for some reason. And also several breweries.

One note: the official Poconos website omits a large number of places. I don't know if they're pay-for-play or whatever but Pocono Brewing Company was not listed, I only went there because I just happened upon it.

It's a big facility with a two-tiered restaurant and a large, roofed patio with its own bar. I had my dogs with me, so we sat on the patio. It was early afternoon on a Saturday, and the crowd was slow and lazy. The outdoor bar had a single TV playing college football if you managed to turn your head away from your phone there was actually some pretty nice foliage about.

The staff was friendly. The vibe was upper middle-brow and very touristy, but that's to be expected from the area. My only complaint is they played bad contemporary music intermittently and it was really loud, which kind of spoiled the early autumn vibe.

The house-made beer wasn't great, but it was a lot better than I expected it to be. They also had a good number of craft taps, which isn't typical for the area. The prices were pretty good, too.

So, overall, a nice joint. If you're looking for craft beer in the area, you really can't do any better.

 

 

 

 

 

As far as the Pocono Brewing Company goes, I will not be writing a lot about it. My honest opinion, it is a tourist trap. They had 5 different "house made" beers, and 2 seasonals. Although the beer was average, they price it right out of tasting good. An overpriced flight at $15, $8 pints. If you want to bring it home, they have the gall to charge $5 for the growler and $22 for the fill constituting a $27 growler of average beer. This is for the all year round beer and the seasonal, there was no distinction. We didn't stay long, and I even forgot to take pics because I was so put out. Trust the reviews online. This will not be a place we come back to, and don't say we didn't warn you.

 

 

This is a stop for me when meeting up with some friends once in a while. Their house beers are usually pretty good and their draft selection is good for the area. Their food is not that great and their service is really lacking. Its worth a stop if you want to try some new beers or a good meeting place in the poconos.

Located in the Poconos, in Swiftwater near Sanofi Aventis, Caesars Brookdale and the State Police Barracks.

The place is rather expansive. As you walk in you can step up to the bar straight ahead. There are seats to the right and left of the bar and on the other side of the bar there is a big seating area. Nothing spectacular but the place is clean.

The service is pretty friendly and prompt. They did exactly what you would expect.

I was surprised at the tap selection when I was there. While they have your standard Miller Lite, Coors Light and Bud, they did have some Bells, Yuengling, Stone, Victory and Sierra Nevada. In addition, they did have some homebrews there, but I do not think they were made onsight. While you will never be blown away by the selection, it has more craft beers on tap here than other bars in the area.

The crowd is a mix between your blue collar folks and your white collar professionals from Sanofi with a sprinkling of tourists.

A better option if you are in the Pocono's but I would not go out of my way to get to this place.

First off, there aren't too many places in the Poconos to visit if you're a BA. But this place was a welcome surprise. They've got a bunch of top shelf beers on tap, including Delirium Tremens, Stone IPA, Bell's Kalamazoo Stout, Victory Hopdevil, and others that I can't remember right now. Unfortunately, they were out of their Porter and some of the other IPAs that I was interested in. I tried their homebrew IPA and it was definitely acceptable. I had their 6-beer sampler, which turned out to be around 36 oz. of beer, for $12. Not too bad, considering you could get all of the top shelf stuff in the sampler.

Service was good, the waitstaff made the rounds every few minutes. And the waitresses were good looking, which didn't hurt.

Can't speak for the food, but overall I wouldn't mind visiting this place again. A solid B+.

When there are 6 people in a restaurant at the peak of lunch time you probably should take the hint. Went with 6 friends and only one ate their food. Everything was dripping grease and/or cheese. Their appetizers were pretty good though. The beer selection is good for the Poconos but unimpressive. I tried their 3 house beers and found them to be mediocre at best. I ended up drinking soda. Their saving grace is that its the only place around with any sort of craft beer selection. Service was good and there is plenty of parking.

I was up in the Pocono's over the weekend and decided to try this place out before we left. Don't let the name fool you. I'm not too sure about the "brewing" part of it. They only have 3 locally brewed beers available and when i was there they were out of 2 of them. I had the ball and chain lager. it was o.k. nothing to write home about. They had about 12 taps all dedicated to craft brews and were out of the first 4 that i ordered. i ordered the french onion soup and ranch burger. The soup was good but the burger was a hockey puck. The atmosphere of the place was nice. they have a couple of cool game rooms with pool tables and what not and it looks like the outside is really nice during the warmer months. I don't think i'll be back though.

This place is difficult to judge. If I base it on being a brewpub/brewery it fails. They only have a couple (2 or 3) "locally brewed" beers and I don't recall what they were. The one that sounded interesting they were out of. The others didn't sound too tempting. The waiter described one as like Yuengling. Not being a huge fan of Yuengling I tried it anyway and it did taste like it (I wouldn't be surprised if it was). But their bottle selection is very good so as a beer bar it gets good marks. The food and service were also very good. I only stopped in once while on vacation in the area but the place is quite large with an outside deck and a sushi bar (I think). If I'm in the area again I would like more time to check out the place. Overall though I'd say it's still worth a stop. This is a case of where the whole measures up more than just the sum of its parts.

After moving to the area for business, this was one of the places that really catches your attention. Beautiful building, and a nice outdoor, cabin like feeling. My wife and I went on a Sunday, and were really dissapointed. One appetizer, fajitas and ribs for an entree, and two Stone Ipa's cost us just shy of eighty dollars! And if the food was good, maybe, but the ribs were all fat and tough,and the fajitas bland. We did give them another chance because we did go on a Sunday night and they were kind of slow. So we went back on a Saturday night when it was packed, and had the same results. Great selection of beer for the area, and a beautiful building, nothing more.

So over new years we went to a cabin in the Poconos. I had no illusions we brought in two cases of two hearted plus about a case of bombers.

This place was a welcome surprise. Everything else in the area tries to compete as to who has the coldest light beer on tap. I got a dogfish 60. Nowhere else in the area had the selection of craft beer on tap that they did. The food was decent bar food but nothing to really seek out. Basically if you find yourself in the middle of nowhere in this area this is THE place to go to have a draft beer.

This place has good points and bad. It's selection is good considering the other available options in the area.. Though it's not nearly as impressive as they think it is, I guess. The only really surprising or good things to see are Delirium Tremens and Salvator.. Tried their Porter, wasn't really too impressed. Other than this, the atomsphere is too Applebees-ish. Very sports bar-like and BMC-propoganda on the walls. I can't imagine they serve too much of anything other than bud light and such.. The buidling itself is nice, though too bright. And the outfits the waitresses wear are sexually objectifying at best. But, again.. It's the only place to find something as good as DT in the area. Even if that's the only option

Pocono Brewing Company is a few miles from the Camelback ski area and has one of the best selections I've found in the local area. They have about 30 beers on draught and 50-60 in bottles. Compared to a city establishment, the selection is average.

There is a sports bar and a restaurant in the establishment; although brewing equipment can be observed, there is no brewing that happens here. The sports bar atmosphere is what one would expect, with several televisions tuned to various sports programs; the other part of this is the over-the-top marketing collateral of the macro brewers (i.e. neon signs, banners) that clutter the walls like you would see in any sports bar (additionally PBC calls it the "Coors Light Sports Bar"). The restaurant is a cozy, comfortable area. My review knocks the atmosphere because of the macro appeal but this would not dissuade me from visiting again because the other factors are more favorable.

Service is prompt and somewhat knowledgeable even on busy evenings. The bartender was not knowledgeable about the two beers I ordered (Delirium Tremens and Blanche de Bruxelles), but after I ordered each, she tasted a bit in a shot glass and we had a short discussion on the fine points of the beer (I was impressed by the desire to know the products she was serving).

Selection does not rival the big cities but it is impressive in the Poconos. While all the usual suspects/macros/"normal" micros are available, there are between 5-10 draft beers and 10-15 bottled beers that are the more difficult to find variety--Delirium, Blanche de Bruxelles, Ommegang, Rogue, several German weissbiers included in these.

I only sampled the quesadilla but it certainly fullfilled my expectations. Food menu is typical pub fare.

Expect to pay a little more here, but if in the Poconos and looking for a good beer, you can find it at PBC.

Finally had a chance to sneak away from the in-laws and try this place. We were seated in the non-smoking area, though I was able to give the bar area a quick glance as we walked by. Filled with cig smoke and football fans, it seemed pretty small compared to other sports bars I've been to. The non-smoking area really reminded me of a ski lodge. Big floor-to-ceiling fireplace on one wall, along with lots of vaulted ceilings and wood beams. It looked like this area also could serve as a performance stage, as there was a raised area with lights, etc.

Very non-crowded when we were there. Very quiet, though not too many tables in our section. Wait staff was quick and efficient, though they had barely any idea of what the differences between the beers were. Tap list was extensive, though uninspired. Obviously, someone put *some* thought into the list, as there was SNPA, Paulanier hefe, and a few other locally-brewed micros on the 30+ taps. Lots of macro and "brand name" micros (3 varieties of Sam Adams, Harp, Guinness, Stella Artois, etc.). Bottled list was slightly more impressive (a lambic and Samuel Smith's oatmeal stout stand out) and numbered 50+. Prices for draft pints were $4.

Food was OK. Standard pub fare, though they did have a nice dinner menu. The bacon cheeseburger served its purpose nicely to be washed down with the beers.

Overall, not a bad place. However, given the distance from the in-laws, and the fact that several other places are better and closer, this is not a place I'd have to stop at every time we hit NEPA.

Not bad, not great. Decent selection of imports and some local stuff. The name is deceiving because they do not brew here any more, but when they did the beer wasnt that great anyway. The food is good for the most part, and the service has picked up as well. Still though, Id rather go to barley creek which is only 5 minutes away from pbc. One thing ot note however they do have a kegs and eggs breakfast special on sundays for all the football fans out there.

The name is a misnomer...although there is some nice brewing kettles and equipment displayed in the upper windows, they don't brew ANY beer here! I couldn't get a straight answer out of the waitress. The building & interior is nice and spacious with a lot of bare wood. Anyway, the food isn't bad...standard pub-grub with some nice specials. The tap selection was the usual Macros & Macro-micros. Botted selection was nice, had a fresh 3 Floyds Xtra Pale Ale, and a Bigfoot, which was a plus. If you're in the Pocono Mtns., it's worth stopping in for a bite and a brew.