Great Beer Weekends in the Mid-Atlantic #5: Bube’s Brewery Export Stout, Mount Joy, Pennsylvania
Date: January 20, 2018
The Reason to Visit: A period dinner in a brewery that claims to be the oldest in the US.
The Story— Bube’s has a claim to be the oldest operating brewery in the United States — a claim that would be more impressive if they hadn’t stopped brewing for a substantial period of time. Their brewery equipment is new, although enough of the historic brewery remain to make drinking there a really nice experience.
Mount Joy now has a couple of breweries and a couple of B&Bs. It’s a fine destination for beer exploring since a wealth of breweries are within a reasonable drive before you settle in to Mount Joy. Mount Joy is a cute very small town whose main claim to fame other than the brewery is an alpaca farm that gives tours. It makes for an affordable and low key base to explore the sights of the Pennsylvania Dutch Territory,however. Lancaster is only about 20 minutes away.
There’s a fine barroom on the main floor that pours all the brewery’s beers. It’s pretty hard not to get drawn into conversation if you sit at the bar. To make the most of this historic site, though, take the time to savor a dinner in the caverns below the brewery. Food is fine and the beer, when you choose wisely, goes well with the food. You’ll sit in the brewery cellars that can have you believing you’ve stepped back in time a couple of centuries. The trip to your table is a narrated tour that adds to the value of the meal.
The hotel with the brewery is apparently is best for large groups — weddings and reunions. We had no sense that individual travelers would be comfortable there.
The Beer— It’s hard to brew a bad stout and they don’t. It shows a big, rich and creamy very dark roast. Some dark fruit adds complexity. A chewy richness and with some chocolate lasts. Ellie found some edgy ash to the roast, but I thought it was pretty smooth. We both liked it
Value — Good to very good. $6 for an honest pint is OK anywhere. Here you’re paying for good beer and astounding atmosphere.
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.
For a couple of weeks, we’re presenting some fun towns to explore and have a beer. There’s all within a few hours drive if you live in the Mid Atlantic. Most are near enough a place to stay that you can walk back to your room. We’ve found these 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 later this year.
Did you miss our Ten Beers for the New Year? These are full flavored chewy beers for a winter’s night and a good fire — even if it has to be on your cable station. The links are below.
Jailbreak Coffee Dusk Till Dawn, Tröegs Mad Elf Grand Cru, Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, Boulevard Manhattan Cask Still Ale, Ommegang Game of Thrones Series: Mother of Dragons, Lickinghole Creek Carrot Cake Imperial Amber Ale, Colbitzer Heide-Brauerei Schwarz, Lickinghole Creek One Lion Imperial Stout, Founders Dank Wood, Stone Woot Stout.
We’re often asked to share our tasting notes on over 33,000 beers; this blog is in answer to those requests. Not all our notes, though. The great beer writer Michael Jackson admirably followed the Thumper Rule, and we’ll try to do the same. (“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nuthin’ at all.”) All the beers we post are from the top half of our ratings and most are from the top quarter. Of greater value, we think, are the stories behind the beers, and we try to give you enough about the brewery, the style and the places to find great beer to help you on your own beer journeys. At CulturAle Press we try to write books and publish posts that will help you “Drink Well and Travel Safely.”
Leave a Reply