Western PA can boast some pretty cool places to drink beer
straight from the source. Any time an
out-of-towner wants suggestions for a good beer-centric spots to check out, I
have a list ready in my mind. There’s
Church Brew Works, a truly one-of-a-kind place & the only brewpub, to my
knowledge, located in a church. There’s
Penn Brewery, with its historic locale & old world vibe. Hofbräuhaus is plain kitschy fun, an Epcot
Center of hoi polloi brew entertainment.
And those coming in from the north are advised to stop at North Country
& see the awesome woodwork woven throughout the place. Granted, there are plenty more places to
imbibe in some great beer, & I’ll typically also recommend some other local
breweries & bars, depending on where they’re going to be (of course, The
House is a must-see, but that goes without saying…). The places I mentioned also happen to have
good food & are generally family-friendly, two other big plusses in my
book.
Thing is, though, these places are not “hot items” right now
among the geekery. Ask a beer nerd what
they think of them & you might get a dismissive “meh” or even outright derision, & that sucks. And why?
Always the beer. It’s not to say
that these breweries don’t make good beer – they do. But you don’t see a lot of envelope-pushing
or trendy styles hitting their chalkboards, & while they might rack up
medals, they don’t tend to rack up high scores on the rating sites. So the hardcore crowd eschews some real gems
of places in favor of the ones currently on the cutting edge.
I’m glad that this area has so much to offer that we can be
choosy. I’m glad that we can taste some
really innovative stuff from Brew Gentlemen, Draai Laag, & Roundabout one
day, then partake in some unique atmosphere the next. Please don’t infer that I’m trying to dissuade
anyone from checking out anything that
our area has to offer - just saying that there are multiple facets to the
experience that we ought to take into account.
Each opportunity should be weighed per its strengths & weaknesses,
& failing to recognize strengths where they exist is short-sighted – maybe other
strengths even supercede the beer. I try
not to have blinders on when it comes to drinking & venues, & never
discount a place wholesale just because they’re not knocking every batch out of
the park. Making good beer is a
priority, but it’s not the only consideration.
And each visitor has their own priorities. Some might
be flying solo or with company who are all about the beer; some might be on
vacation or visiting relatives, & looking for something fun & memorable;
some might need a place that’s accommodating to all ages & tastes; some
might want to take in a chunk of history or personal sentiment. If I were coming in from out of town,
drinking in a church would probably occupy a bigger place in my memory than
downing a killer IPA, & who’s to say I can’t do both anyway? Hell, even though their beer’s not near
topping any lists, I’d love to hit Straub sometime just to tour an old school
regional brewery & scope out that “Eternal Tap”. It’s about perspective & taking the total
context in, beyond “just” what’s in the glass.
Being a beer fan should be about more than just the ratings, & even
about more than just the beer.
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