A couple weeks ago, Tim and I took a trip over to Harrisburg, PA to check out what was brewing. First stop – Tröegs Brewing Company!

If you’ve never had any beers from Tröegs, get your hands on some HopBack, a boldly hoppy amber ale. Better yet, if it’s in season, you’ve got to try Nugget Nectar, a bitter, wonderfully fragrant, piney Imperial amber ale (one of my all-time favorites!). And if you’re looking for something to really warm you up, go for a Troegenator, a warm, rich, malty double bock. Num num num…

After Tim and I finished of our sampler of six beers, it was time for the tour!

Tröegs has got quite a lot of equipment in a fairly confined area — the brew system, lots of fermenters, barrels, and of course the hopback. Everything seems to be packed in there for the most efficient use of space to make it easier for them to expand in the future. At the time we were there, they were getting ready to add a few more fermenters. The more the merrier, I say! 

Tröegs brews some smaller batches of Scratch Beer, one-time pilot batches available only in their tasting room. One such beer was The Flying Mouflan, which I was lucky enough to sample a few months ago. Lucky for all of human kind, Tröegs is turning this one-time scratch beer into a yearly seasonal (phew!).

After finishing the tour (and picking up a couple bottles of Troegenator), we made the two-minute drive over to Appalachian Brewing Company. ABC actually has three locations in PA (the other two are in Gettysburg and Camp Hill). I’d heard of them before, but had never actually sampled their beer. I gotta say, I was pretty impressed!

They had a whopping 15 beers on tap the day we were there. I started out with the Anniversary Maibock, a refreshingly light and malty seasonal lager. And the Broad Street Barleywine had a wonderful malt complexity; it really hit the spot.

After finishing our sampler, we noticed a sign for the Abbey Bar located on the second floor, which features over 50 Belgian beers in bottles. Tim had a bottle of Monk’s Cafe Flemish Sour Ale, a really nice sour. It was so good that we nabbed two more bottles for our cellar!

If you happen to visit Harrisburg, you will certainly not be disappointed in the beer scene. Two great breweries within two minutes of each other? Can’t beat that!