Lancaster PA

I'll put in a plug for my hometown, Lititz. Within an easy one block walk you'll find the St. Boniface tied house, Collusion brewing, and the Bulls Head. The first two are very solid breweries and the latter is a world-class beer bar with a dozen well curated taps and a wonderful t.v. free atmosphere. Most of the breweries in Lancaster opened after I had kids so I'm way behind on the beer scene. Plenty to do, have a great time!

 

Wacker
Mad Chef
Columbia Kettle Works

There's also Spring House

 

Sorry to be a downer, but personally I don't find a ton in Lancaster (brewery-wise) to write home about. I'd put three of them a small cut above the rest, however:

St. Boniface: been around for a while, well-rounded, have locations both for dining (Tied House) in Lititz and a brewery in Ephrata.
Mad Chef: similarly well-rounded and decent location/food.
Our Town: fairly new, located in Lancaster city, and seem to focus more on IPA-centric stuff.

That being said, Lancaster does have a few top notch beer bars and shops... Bull's Head, The Fridge, and Hunger N Thirst are my favorites.

 

Lancaster Brewing has been around for about 25 years and has decent food. A lot of beer snob will turn their noses up at Lancaster, but it's a local classic that is worth a stop if you're in the area.

 

Agree, most of the beer I drink was not made in Lancaster. But there are places with a combination of good beer, food, and atmosphere that make for a great time. Mad Chef is one of them.

 

Does Ephrata count? If so, I hear Pour Man's Brewing Company has a nice lager program, However, I personally have not tried any.

https://pourmansbrewingco.com/home

 

We've really gravitated to Cartel. Love that place. Small, unassuming room with maybe 10-12 on tap. A few hazy types, but a good variety of styles. I believe they've recently started offering paninis in house, but not sure on that.

Our Town is also a good one.

Mad Chef is nice too. I actually like their food more than their beer, and I think their beer is pretty darn good.

And yes, Bulls Head, Hunger, and the Fridge. All totally worth a stop.

 

St. Boniface and Pour Man's get my vote and Lancaster Brewing is worth a stop just because.

 

I'll also throw in Raney Cellars in Millersville. Been there twice; they have a well-rounded draft list and the beers are solid.

Lancaster Brewing has good beer on tap, but for some reason their packaged versions are often "off" in some way or another. Really wish they'd fix that.

 

As an infrequent visitor to the Lancaster area, I was happy to read some of the input here. Went to the 'Places' forum to find more content on Mad Chef but there was only one review and just a few ratings. If you feel strongly about an establishment why not take advantage of that Forum?

 

I know its probably too late but its an easy walk between our town, Columbia kettle works 2nd gear, and spring house.

Can also pick up some craft cocktails along the way if that's your thing.

Other than that I'd second the raney cellars vote.

 

Paging @woodychandler

The mayor of Lancaster...

Prosit!

 

Mayor of Lancaster, 2017 general election[7] Party Candidate Votes %

Democratic Danene Sorace 4,804 72.44%

Republican Cindy Stewart 1,490 22.47%

Independent Tony Dastra 149 2.25%

Independent Zac Nesbitt 69 1.04%

Independent John "Woody" Chandler 68 1.03%

write-ins 52 0.78%

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Lancaster,_Pennsylvania_mayoral_election

Well, he did ‘beat’ candidate write-ins.

Maybe next time? ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

Cheers!

 

No next time, sadly. I have been an active candidate in two mayoral elections & one for School District of Lancaster (SDOL) school board, all without success. Now, by dint of my employment with USPS, I am forbidden from running for public office. Oh well.

 

I'm here! Present and accounted for! I live within a few blocks of The Fridge, Cartel, Tattered Flag Barrel House & OTB + I am off Tuesdays & Wednesdays so if the O/P wants to CANnect, he CAN & may do so with me directly.

Beer shopping? My weekly go-to is the Friendly Greek Bottle Shop as well as less-frequently to Reiker Bottle Works & even less so to the Beer & Beverage Shoppe because I tend to empty my wallet in there.

Places I went yesterday for Veterans' Day: Iron Hill, Big Dog & Tattered Flag.

Places I'd be willing to visit with a ride: St. Boniface & Pour Man's, both in Ephrata.

More? Get in touch with me!

 

Had no idea Tattered Flag opened a spot in Lancaster or that Big Dog was a Thing. So thanks for those tips. I'm really falling behind getting to all of these local places.

 

Greetings! Making the trip to Lancaster next week and would love updated recs of breweries. Going to be staying in what looks like the Willow Valley / Willow Street area and want to keep it within that general area (within 5 miles or so) as free time will be limited. Enjoy any style so long as they are done right. I generally start by research by looking at the top rated breweries in the area on Untappd and here's what show as the Top 5
- Raney Cellars
- Cartel
- Our Town
- Mad Chef
- Big Dog

What do locals think or those who have been in the area recently? Also, any good shop nearby to pickup some local beers during the stay. TIA!

 

Mad chef is my top pick, I'd check out Cartel when the BBQ food truck is there. Beer and Beverage shoppe on Roseville road is a great place to find beer to take home. Have a great trip!

 

Thanks for the info and recs!

 

Raney, Our Town, and Mad Chef are great. I wasn't impressed with Cartel when I visited in May; the 2 beers I had were lousy and the service was perfunctory.

Wacker Brewing is just east of Willow Street on 741, next to the Harley Davidson dealer. Some solid beers there.

Enjoy your trip!

 

I live in the general area of Willow Street and the closest as was mentioned would be Wacker Brewing, solid beer, good food. Spring House Brewing on Hazel Street isn’t that far away, but their beers are usually average, at best, IMO. Mad Chef is great but far from Willow Street area.

The closest beer store, that I’d recommend would be Reiker Bottle Works though Beer and Beverage Shoppe is just a little further and usually has a much larger selection.

 

maps.google.

Thanks for the info! A questions I forgot to ask about shops. Do any ones single all their beers as well or mostly just 4/6 packs? Looking at Beer and Beverage they seem to have several large coolers with singles. Looking to sample as much local variety as I can without having to commit to 4/6 packs of a single beer

 

Beer and Beverage definitely has a very large single section. I’m sure you’re aware but you do pay an up charge for a single vs a four pack but it’s not insane. Reiker also has a decent singles section, but not the same as Beer and Beverage. I think, but don’t quote me that you can also break up 4/6 packs at Reiker, not sure I’ve seen that at B&B.

 

Awesome. thanks! My local shop in VA up charges 15-20% for singles as well as lets customers break down anything into singles for the up charge. I completely understand that hassle and sometimes happy to pay a little more when I can get more variety.

 

Me again. Any intel on breweries in York that would be a good stop for lunch. Might be passing by around Noon or should we keep going and grab a bite somewhere when we get to Lancaster? And are there any Eagles / Bills fan spots (split family fans) to catch the game on Sunday or just a good football watching spot with solid taps?

 

I have no personal experience here since I have never visited York but below is linked two episodes of What's Brewing which might be useful to you:





Cheers!

 

So not quite York but further on your way to Lancaster is Columbia Kettle Works which is a brewery that I have previously had lunch/beers and watched an Eagles game at.

 

Nice! Thanks!

 

Go to Columbia brew works in Columbia or Iron Hill for lunch in Lancaster

 

I'd second ir third the votes for Columbia kettle works. if you opt for something non brewery related smith's hotel in Columbia has a great cheese steak.

can also hit up Columbia kettle works 2nd gear on water street in lancaster, on a couple of blocks from our town.

also will add to the votes for raney. they are doing a great job and typically have a good selection of styles on tap

 

Stopped into Wacker yesterday to catch a little bit of the Eagles/Ravens game since it's close to where we are staying. Beers were ok and the food was decent as well. Probably going to try to check out a few this evening when there's more free time. It's nice to see a good number are breweries are open on Monday. Where I live in Virginia Monday and/or Tuesday is when a lot of them are closed. Mad Chef, Raney and Our Town on on my short list as I liked to see they each seemed to have a variety of styles on tap. The person I'm with is more limited in their style preference and likes sticking to IPAs. Which breweries have the best IPAs in the immediate area (without 10-15 mins or so) and have multiple (3-4+) on tap. The ones on my list above appeared to have a a couple each at least but hoping to find more for the to try.

TIA!

 

Within 10-15 minutes I’d say the only brewery that will be IPA centric is Spring House, but caveat emptor with them. Our Town has a few on and they are open 7 days, their stuff is pretty good.

The best, IMO, IPA brewery in the general area would be Mad Chef but they are closed Tuesday and they are quite a distance from you.

The fridge usually has some good IPAs on tap or for on-site consumption.

EIDT: @TomCat11

 

I got back to VA today so this was for yesterday. Ended up checking out Mad Chef, Our Town and then walking to 2nd Gear.

Our favorites ended up oddly enough being the order we visited them. Ended up getting flights and a pour at each place. The person I was with loved the IPAs / Pale Ales they had at Mad Chef and Our Town. I was surprised how packed it was at Mad Chef considering it was a Monday and we arrived just before 5pm. Learned it was Trivia Night starting at 5:30 which was reason for that. I thought the beers on my flight as well (Waka Waka Riwaka, Juice Excuse, Is Venti the Large, Blending Project: Queen Anthony's Revenge) were fantastic. I really wish we would have grabbed dinner there as the food smelled delicious and menu was mouth watering but it was a little early. My favorite at Our Town was 'Balance' West Coast inspired IPA. Not as bitter / piney as I was expecting but the juicy/citrus was really nice. We also ate there and though it was good. I had the Buffalo Chicken Chesesteak. 2nd Gear was a last minute detour since it was raining and dark. We had planned on either Raney Cellars or backtracking a little to Cartel. Caught some of the 49ers/Chiefs game there and the beers were decent but nowhere near what Mad Check and Our House had.

Thanks again for the recs everyone who chimed in!

 

^^ EDIT: Our Town NOT Our House at the end!