Follow Your Beer: Tröegs Brewing Company

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Tröegs Brewing Company - Harrisburg

This is strictly a brewery, not a brewpub. Tröegs is located in Harrisburg, the state capital, and can be visited on Saturdays at 2pm. I liked their beers much better than I thought I would and the tour was fun. The Dreamweaver wheat was very nice, so was the Pale Ale. The porter was a bit light but nice. Their signature beer is the Mad Elf, a cherry-flavored Belgian-style strong ale. At 11% ABV, it delivers a very flavorful kick with a nice body. See more about it at: http://www.troegs.com/beers_elf.htm

John Trogner owns and runs Tröegs with his brother Chris. Chris and John opened Troegs in 1997, ten years ago. The brewery distributes beer to many local businesses. They have a very cool gift-shop with nice shirts and other souvenirs, as well as beer to go of course. Unfortunately, in Pennsylvania, you can only buy beer by the keg or case, unless you want to go to a pub and pay an arm and a leg for a sixer. No beer in the grocery stores! Surprising for a state populated by such a huge number of Germans (Pennsylvania Dutch are German, not Dutch... serious!). It's still is a cool state though, once you accept its unique liquor and beer laws.