During the Christmas holiday visiting my family back in the U.S., my husband and I felt obligated to take a break from the last minute Christmas shopping and stop in the Troegs Brewery tasting room in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Where: Nearby to the Hershey Outlet shopping center and Hersheypark. See map.
Why you should visit: This is the state where I grew up so I will admit a possible partiality … but I am happy to see all that the owners of Troeg’s brewery have achieved since they opened in 1997. The tasting room, which has been open now at the new Hershey site for a little over a year, is large, spacious and shows off the state of the art brewing equipment. You can tour the brewery via a free self guided tour or if you’d like a guide, then tours are available Tuesdays thru Saturdays at a couple of different times for $5.
Overall Comments: Immediately upon entering, the smell of an active beer making operation awakens your senses. At the same time, it’s not overwhelming. The layout of the tasting room is perfect for a place to enjoy and appreciate beer. It’s clean and well ventilated, with high ceilings and floor to ceiling garage style windows. There’s even a deck outside which I imagine is a great spot to enjoy a beer on a warm summer day. Troegs now has 6 regular brews and over 8 seasonal brews throughout the year. I had the Mad Elf ale, a strong (11%) flavorful Christmas Ale, and the JavaHead Stout. I’ve learned that St. Thomas Roasters in Linglestown, PA supplies the coffee beans for the JavaHead stout, which I also visited during my time back in the US. I was happy to see that Troegs is partnering with local small businesses to help create their beer recipes. Currently Troegs distributes to a couple of states, “Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Washington D.C., Maryland, Delaware, Ohio, Massachusetts, and Virginia”. I would not be surprised if they continue their expansion in future years.
January 2, 2013
Beer By Country, USA