Just moved to Lehigh Valley. Recommendations?

haven't been to Sage Alley in a couple years so I can't vouch for them now, but it was a cool place with decent beer.

 

Separatist Bar-Bottle and Two Rivers were always my favorite's in that corner of the Lehigh Valley. Two Rivers has a pretty good food menu, albeit expensive and the beers to match. Separatist does a good job with traditional european styles.

Heard great things about Birthright in Nazareth but have yet to go. Also Coopersburg isn't too far from Pottstown, where sly Fox is located. Definitely a good spot with good offerings at a fair price.

 

F & A Grog House in Bethlehem has a solid taplist. I plan to be there 2/2 for the Troegs Nugget Nectar event.

 

Look into Rising River and Country Club. These are both on my current list to check out.

I second Separatist and Two Rivers. The Separatist barrel room place is more kid friendly than Bar & Bottle. Neither will blow you away beer wise, but they are solid. Two Rivers has solid food. I love Bonn Place but agree its not the most family friendly, at least indoors. If your kids are used to breweries, on a not-super-busy day, you'd prob be fine though.

 

I second what @TomFoley said about Sage Alley which is right in Coopersburg.

Besides the mentioned places in Emmaus (Funk wasnt mentioned yet), Bethlehem, Easton and Allentown, there is Lost Tavern in Hellertown. Also, it wouldnt be too far for you to head south to Free Will in Perkasie.

 

If you head down to Free Will, you're only another 15-20 from Imprint, if you're into the sort of beers they make.

 

@TarheelinTN you'll see some more commentary on various breweries in the Lehigh Valley in this thread: https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/heading-to-lehigh-valley-in-july-2022.667209/

In your other post you mentioned your wife liking sours. If you guys are into high end barrel aged sours and/or spontaneously fermented stuff, if you are coming across I-78, there is The Referend in Kutztown PA. Located in an old bar (limited hours) https://www.thereferend.com/home2

 

Of places in the Bethlehem/Allentown area - I would recommend Bonn Place (just beer) and McCall Collective (beer and food). Funk in Emmaus if you want hazy IPAs. If you want to stock up on harder to find import beer, stop at Shangy's in Emmaus.

 

It's not exactly the same area, but close enough I didn't think it worth starting a new thread, but does anybody have any recomendations for the Stroudsburg area? My sister recently moved there and I've always looked for something interesting when visiting with no luck.

Even just a store that may have PA stuff like New Trail/Hidden River would be awesome.

 

I could be wrong, but I don't think Hidden River distributes their canned beer. I think just sold at the brewery (but I kind of stopping following them closely once they switched to basically exclusively brewing hazy Double IPAs. )

 

Have you checked out Shawneecraft? I was there once, beers ranged from just okay to good, but they had some outdoor seating which was nice. Plus it's in a nice area along the river.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/19321/

 

Stroudsburg is just not a great beer destination. Most people here head to Lower Hudson Valley because it’s not that far up 209/I-84(EQ, Drowned Lands) or Lehigh Valley. Shawnee Craft and Wallenpaupack are probably the best bet for taprooms. Hidden River I’ve never seen in distribution, anywhere. Giant (Stop & Shop) always has the latest New Trail core beers, albeit, warm shelf turd stee.

Try Brewskies Beverage in East Stroudsburg. The owner is well versed in what’s available and good. They carry a wide variety (New Trail, Other Half, Tired Hands, Mortalis, EQ, Schilling, Wallenpaupack, Vonn Trapp, Levante) of fresh offerings, all refrigerated, fair prices.

Best bet is to order a case from Tired Hands or Saurez a few days before your arrival or bring a filled cooler from NY/NJ.

 

Hidden River doesn't distribute, but the do ship statewide, so you could have some sent to your sister's place ahead of time.

 

Penn-Stroud Beverage, for sure. Gets all the New Trail releases fresh off the line, plus semi-regular Other Half drops and some other NE goodies and occasional Great Notion. When I lived in Pocono Pines, it was one of my two go-tos, the other being Food Express in Pocono Pines (+gas station + Dunkin'), which unfortunately doesn't refrigerate a lot of its stock. (They do, however, refrigerate fresh SoS, which I bought there on the regular.) ((They also have a fair amount of over-priced BCBS variants, if you're looking for those.))