Suggestions in the Lancaster, PA area

a couple i know of within about 30 minutes

Columbia Kettle works
Liquid Hero
Stoudts

 

Spring House Brewing (the new location on Hazel street) is great all around. Cheap flights too.
Hunger -n- Thirst has a pretty great bottle shop, but expect to leave hungry if you're eating there. It's not just a clever name.

 

If you are in Lititz, the Bulls Head Public House is a good spot for good beer and food. English style pub.

 

The Fridge had decent bottle selection for the size of the place.
There's a Federal Taphouse in Lancaster as well. Very few bottles, but around 100 taps.
Lancaster also has an Iron Hill Brewing location

 

best bottle shops:
The Fridge: decent selection, pricier for large format, rarer bottles, awesome taps, get some TH
Friendly Greek: largest selection and best prices, probably
Hunger 'n Thirst: great tap selection, decent European beers

as mentioned above, Bulls Head is a great pub, draft selection is usually among the best in the area

breweries:
Spring House: in Lancaster, nice atmosphere and some good beer
ABC: in Lititz by Bulls Head, average beer
Kettle Works: ehh
Troegs: ~20-30 min from Lancaster, but a worthwhile trip

 

Another twenty minutes away brewery is St Boniface in Ephrata. They can be a bit inconsistent, but when a good batch of Libation DIPA is made its one of my favorites. They are renovating right now but are still open.

 

I second The Fridge, Hunger n Thirst and the new Springhouse brewery on Hazel St.
Just skimming through St. Boniface in Ephrata as well as the new Funk brewing taproom in Elizabethtown haven't seemed to be mentioned

 

I didn't realized they now have a 2nd location, besides Emmaus. Good to know

 

Spring House has two locations, and often the beer lineup is different to some degree, one from the other. I like their stouts and porters, some flavored (chocolate, coffee), some not. Fridge usually has some interesting taps, and as mentioned, a big to go selection. I like the pricing of 12/16 oz there much better than bigger bottles. Friendly Greek has a surprisingly big to go selection. It's a bit gangster looking, pricing seems to be fair. Hunger N Thirst also has a good selection with fair prices, along with a unique tap selection. Taps and food a bit pricey--a more upscale vibe. Federal Tap has the biggest selection, also a bit pricier than some of the other taprooms. Thistle Finch is a distillery with some good product, if you're into the booze thing. Enjoy!

 

I think in the same building as Finch is Wacker Brewing, some nice German style beers. Also in Ephrata is Black Forest, a small place behind a B&B just a couple blocks from St Boniface.

FWIW, I enjoyed Columbia Kettle Works, nice beers, cool crew. At least when we were there.

 

And for what it's worth, Fed Taphouse's to-go fridge is stocked with great bottles, every once in a while. I snagged some Russian River Damnation there a little while back, somehow.

 

If you're ever in the Philly suburb area, Damnation is the one RR beer that is regularly sitting on shelves at bottle shops, Wegman's, etc.

 

7$ a bottle at the Collegeville Wegman's.

 

Another possibility might be Swashbuckler Brewing Co. on the grounds of the Mount Hope Estate and Winery where they have the PA Renaissance Faire. Beers are only available at the brewery but the website says they are breaking ground on a brew pub and will have brewery tours and a tasting room in the near future. I'm partial to the Plankwalker IPA and Red Beard's Irish Red ale. Swashbucklers Gold is a nice Kolsch style offering. As far as I know beers are available to go by the growler or 22oz bottles.

 

Just two stops? Too bad; we're awash in great drafts. Based on how you are coming in (and heading out) and whether you want some good lagers, there are good options.

 

You'll get plenty of opinions about which brewery is the best in the area. My preference is Spring House, but I know a few beer drinkers that aren't the biggest fans of their beer.

Columbia Kettle Works is solid, as is St Boniface. Lancaster Brewing Co. has good food, and decent beer. I tend to prefer their seasonals/limited availability stuff to their regular offerings. Iron Hill is along the same lines as LBC. Good food and decent beer, though I'd put them ahead of LBC. There are some other breweries around (Mad Chef, Wacker, Rumspringa, Moo Duck, Joboys, etc.) but they aren't really worth it if you're only around for a day.


Best bars/shops for beer, in the area of the city anyway, are Hunger N Thirst, The Fridge, Friendly Greek, and Federal Taphouse. You could probably add Pour to that list as well.

 

The Dispensing Company still around? I used to drink Bass Ale there in the eighties.

 

Pizza boy brewery in Enola. About 30 minutes from Lancaster but worth the trip. Over 100 beers on tap and great food

 

While I agree that Pizza Boy is certainly worth visiting it is definitely not 30min away, it is about an hour each way and that's without traffic. That makes a big difference when they don't offer flights.