Welcoming sign at Pub 27 in Pompeii
Triumph New Hope Best Bitter
Date: October 7 , 2018
The Story— New Hope is a riverside, and occasionally an under-river view seeker’s paradise not far from where Washington crossed the Delaware and won one of his relatively few battles.
Triumph is a small chain; this one’s been here a while — we had a beer from them in 2005 and visited twice in 2007. Their beers were good and New Hope was beautiful then, but our return this year found a brewery that had developed strikingly more sophisticated beers and a B-no-B (Bed but no Breakfast) that was one of the spiffiest (with prices to match) that we have ever encountered.
The brewery, which stood largely alone in our first encounter, is now a part of a huge development on the west side of the tracks but still a 10 minute walk from either of the best B&Bs. Big concert-ready open halls with a large game area as well attest to the big crowds this place attracts. Tables cling to the walls in the big open spaces with lots of post industrial wood and brick about. Lots of TVs and games. one page but varied menu.
They had an oddly enforced 2 beer per couple limit that we haven’t seen anywhere elsewhere in PA, though they claim it’s state law. This “anti drunkenness” measure requires you to finish the style you’re drinking before you get another and if you want to sample multiple styles before you eat, that’s fine as long as you finish them before you put food in your stomach. We’ve seen the same “law” enforced in Maryland by far less than 1% of the servers that we’ve encountered there.
The menu is only a page, but still offers a good variety of choices. Lots of TVs and games draw groups of friends. Patio space outside overlooks the tracks. The best part is that very professional brews range from fairly good to hit it out of the park.
The Beer— Strikingly authentic best bitter. Supposedly Burton on Trent style, though few beers this good come from Burton any more; it’s very nicely balanced which the best of the premium bitters achieve on the other side of the pond. Delicately delightful with some caramel and biscuit and ale fruit late, with a long lasting gentle bitter. Ellie’s comment: wow. double wow. I could drink this 4.6 % session all night. We were only sorry that our duty to you, dear readers, forced us to move on to other styles.
Value — Absolutely Excellent! Six bucks for a non-pint pint would normally be a fair, but un-special price, but it’s so much cheaper than flying to England and then wishing you were back here.
All this week we return to the US to highlight some great beers we’ve found in researching out first US Beer publication: Brews and Snooze-– Breweries you can visit and walk back to a fine place to spend the night. Look for it in 2019.
Later, we’ll return to HIGHLIGHTS OF EUROPE 2018– Surprisingly good beer in “bad beer cities.” The best we’ve found in researching our next book – a guide to great beer in European tourist cities. (Planned publication 2019.) We’ll shift back to great American beer finds next week.
About these posts: We taste and evaluate over a thousand beers every year. The beers posted here rank in the top quarter of those tastings. Values: “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.
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