Beercation in Lancaster

Battlefield Brew Works was pretty awesome. Stop at UTZ in Hanover (potato chips and pretzels) and Victory is incredible.

 

Spring House. They brew in an old barn in Conestoga (nearby), but I don't think it's open to visitors. Their Taproom location is in downtown Lancaster, though. Easily better than Iron Hill or Lancaster Brewing. Way better.

Avoid: The Fridge. Unless you want to pay fairly hefty markups on bottles. If you're already going to Al's do your bottle shopping there.

Non-alcholic: just drive around the rural roads outside of the city and look for signs advertising homemade root beer. Seriously, the Amish know what they're doing. It's one of the things I miss about living there.

Suggestion that I haven't actually been to myself, since they opened too late for me: Federal Taphouse in Lancaster. Something silly like 100 taps.

 

How are you heading in? Turnpike? If so, you may want to hit Stoudts ( http://www.stoudtsbeer.com/ ), it's about 5 min off the pike at exit 286 (Ephrata). If you're going Route 30 to Victory, you might consider Tired Hands in Ardmore as well ( http://www.tiredhands.com/ ).

If you want to make the trip out to Carlisle, Cafe Bruges has the best Belgian beer selection in the area and the food is good too.

In Harrisburg there's Federal Taphouse (100 taps) and right across the street is Anthony's Micro which, along with a good tap list, has free pizza during happy hour on Saturday's.

 

Tired Hands

 

Stoudt's, St. Boniface, Taproom (Springhouse), Iron Hill (the middle of a delightful walk from Hunger & Thirst to JJJeffries/The Fridge), Bube's (and Zuckfoltzfus, if open), are the breweries that come to mind and are also near one another or on the way somewhere. If you are staying downtown, there are numerous tappies worth a visit, particularly if you are interested in tasting some Millbock beers, who are production only. Best bet, contact one of us Lancastrians for more details when you dates and locales are firmed up..

 

Stoudt's is off the 22 exit from the Turnpike and is cool. Then come one exit farther, get off at Route 72 and go South to hit Joboy's on your way into Lancaster.

York is a short drive and you can hit Liquid Hero, Mudhook and the Holy Hound Taproom.

Seems like everything else has been pretty well covered.

 

Definitely check out The Taproom when you're in Lancaster. Lancaster Brewing Co. is alright, but nothing special. Iron Hill has good food, but mostly average beer.

If you just want craft in general, go to the Federal Taphouse while in Lancaster, or Harrisburg. They have one in both cities. It can get expensive, but it's hard to beat 100 beers on tap.

 

Hunger 'n Thirst for great food and great beer selection...Owner Andrew really knows his stuff.

 

In Lancaster County, you can't miss Stoudt's (Adamstown - nice restaurant, bread/cheese shop, and more antiques than you can shake a stick at), St. Boniface (Ephrata), and Springhouse Taproom (downtown Lancaster). Hunger & Thirst and The Fridge are excellent bets for bars. JJJeffries has a limited selection of beers but they are all good...and also serves as a higher end restaurant/art hotel with outstanding all-local food. The Federal Taphouse is less high brow, but at least 50 of their 100 taps are interesting! Bube's Brewery is a real gem for ambiance. Agree you can skip LBC.

 

This.

Maybe I am wrong but it seems that since Hunger and Thirst opened the Fridge's bottle prices seem more in line with the rest of the area.

 

This should say the "222" exit. The one for Reading.

 

Swing by JoBoys in Manheim for the best ribs in the area and a Manheim Red.

 

There are actually 2 exits for Reading. It's easier just to give the exit number, which is 286.

 

Yeah see, the problem with Hunger-n- Thirst's prices is that while a lot of the stuff is "very reasonably priced".. a good chunk of it totally isn't. Anyone want an $8 Aventinus? You basically gotta know what you are buying if you don't want to get ripped off.

 

I completely agree.

 

Maybe that's changed since I moved near the end of summer. But last time I popped in, some reference points for bottles at The Fridge:

-Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 12 ounce: $3.00 (or was it $3.50?)
-Alesmith Speedway Stout: $20
-Southern Tier Pumking: $13

If the OP is interested in sixers of anything, the Fridge doesn't sell them. You can make your own, but something like SNPA would come out to about $16 for a sixer even after the discount.

I don't think HnT was even open when I lived there - or maybe they opened up while I was out of town for work and I missed the news.

 

The Fridge isn't really the best option for carry out beer, due to the prices. If you're drinking on premises, you're not really going to find better prices at any bars in the area. That's the way I look at it anyway. Most of their bottle/can/tap prices are better or the same as you'd pay at most other bars in the area, so if you're looking for a place to hang out and drink it's a good choice.


Just to take from the post above me, show me a bar that charges less than $3-4 if you order a bottle of SNPA to drink at the bar. I doubt you'll find many/any. Obviously that's expensive for carry out, but for on site consumption I'd say their prices are in line with what you'd expect to pay elsewhere.

 

Glad you had a good time.