PERKIOMEN VALLEY BREWERY

United States Brewpubs,

Perkiomen Valley Brewery – Nick Media Productions

GREEN LANE, PENNSYLVANIA

Renegade spousal-owned multifaceted nanobrewery, PERKIOMEN VALLEY BREWERY, honors the local pre-prohibition brewhouse that served 20,000 yearly barrels at its 1919 peak while celebrating the antique artifacts PVB’s former drive-thru bank left behind. A comfortable family-friendly tap room embracing individuals with mobility and sensory issues, owners Kelly and Tom  Weiss have raised two autistic sons who now ably assist this idiosyncratic community haven.

Opened June 21, 2019, the Weiss family’s already crafted 115 sundry brews since inception as of my one-hour visit, early February ’22. An experienced gardener, Kelly’s specialty is foraging for natural ingredients and harvesting botanical herbage for the uniquely eccentric homemade brews emulating from the basement fermentation tanks and the original pilot system situated in the main pub area.

Inspired by John Troegner (Troegs Brewing founder) while on an exploratory brewpub journey, PVB also took inspiration from Illinois’ fabulous farmhouse brewery, Scratch. Two of their best selling flagships include Sadie’s Dandelion Amber Ale and Honeysuckle Golden Ale – both way more offbeat, involving and creative than their staid amber-golden stylistic design.

Wanting an exterior feel, there are LED lights on the blue-grey ceiling, a patio-like porcelain tile floor, sensory room kiosk and fireplace dotting the eight-seat bar. My wife and I conversed with Kelly at one of the cozy outdoor tables while downing nine diversified offerings.

Grand Opening: Perkiomen Valley Brewery; June 21st (Green Lane) - Breweries in PA

Foraged hickory bark toasting and brown-sugared molasses sweetness paced Shagbark Old English Ale, an interestingly offbeat and stylistically advanced Extra Special Bitter with toffee-spiced marshmallow snips lacing dewy Marris Otter malts.

Another distinctively divergent ESB, Bees Knees, a lactic ‘bee-balm’ botanical brew, saddled English tea earthiness with frankincense, sandalwood and cinnamon bark enticement.

Honey-perfumed dandelion sweetness subtly serenaded the juniper-berried citrus zing of Sadie’s Dandelion, a uniquely foraged amber ale with dry Chinook hop wood tones.

Finnish-styled farmhouse hybrid, Sahti To Me, utilized Kveik yeast to promote orange-oiled  pekoe tea, dried fig, bergamot and papaya fruiting in a raw-grained barnyard setting.

Dryly tannic Sequoia-tipped amber grains and mild peated whiskey tones steadied Sequoia Pale Ale, leaving lemon-oiled orange fruiting on the back end.

Dry Noble-hopped Strawberry Rhubarb Cream Ale let tart strawberry rhubarb buttering sink into biscuity kolsch-like malts, picking up mild cranberry-pomegranate souring.

Spruce-tipped pine musk seeped inside grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering and the ‘sturdy grain bill’ of Spruced Up Double IPA, a 90-minute-hopped beauty anchored by caramelized pale malting.

Toasted coconut draped the dark chocolate bittering of Kelly’s Gone Coco-nut, a coffee-nutted porter with latent earthy soiling.

An interpretation of an ‘old local dark ale,’ PVB Porter leaned on dry black malts to embitter the peaty earthen scorch, wood-burn hop char and soy sauced fig souring reinforcing syrupy dark cocoa richness.  

CO-HOPS BREWERY & CANNERY

United States Brewpubs,

Co-Hops Brewery; Pennsylvania's First Craft Beer Incubator Opens In Hatfield - Breweries in PA

HATFIELD, PENNSYLVANIA

Taking up 10,000 square feet at a beige brick-fronted Industrial mall in Hatfield (a northwest Philly suburb), versatile independent enterprise, CO-HOPS BREWERY & CANNERY, came into existence during autumn ’21 (but closed 2025). Pennsylvania’s first full service contract brewing facility opened for public consumption, the proprietary craft beer haven crafts beer for many local startup homebrewers, even creating a few of their own liquid product alongside fine fanfare from Sutton, Radiant, Loso, Bucks County and Langhorne, to name a few.

At Co-Hops, entrepreneurial veteran brewer, Joe Modestine, offers methodological advise, equipment and spirit to the ensuing zymurgic denizens getting readied for regional distribution. His family ran a successful saloon before he began brewing in his garage prior to founding nearby Doylestown Brewing in 2011 .

Modestine prepares kegged and canned suds for on-site/ off-site consumption. The bright blue-floored brewing space backs an inconspicuous serving station inside the beige-walled, high-ceilinged, overhead-doored warehouse. There are tables and benches neatly placed across the ultra-clean cement floor pub.  A small left side lounge with small wood tables and couch serves as a dinky private space while a picnic area with firepits provides outside quaffing.

I consumed three original Co-Hops brews and a few days hence some worthy canned ‘gypgy’ brews by Radiant, Sutton, Steel City, Loso and Like Minds (reviewed in Beer Index) while perusing Co-Hops early February ’22.

Brisk lemon-limed Cashmere hops meet floral-herbed Loral hops for Co-Hops Hazy Pig, a sessionable hazy India Pale Ale with lively tangerine tanginess and resinous pine snips above sugared pale malts.

Bright orange, tangerine and grapefruit tanginess guided spritzy Hatfield Haze, a lightly herbed New England IPA gaining mild mango, guava and starfruit tropicalia.

Dark chocolate syrup draped salty peanuts and sweet coconut for Co-Hops Hawaiian Stout, a dewy full body with distant cold-brewed coffee, espresso and spiced toffee illusions.

IMPRINT BEER CO.

United States Brewpubs,

Imprint Beer Company | Hatfield, PA | Beers | BeerAdvocateHATFIELD, PENNSYLVANIA

Specializing in ‘lusciously thick stouts to mind melting fruited sours,’ IMPRINT BEER CO. is certainly leaving its unique mark on North Penn Valley’s tiny borough of Hatfield since opening, January 2018. Famous for their neverending line of thickly pulped Schmoojees, basically fluffily creamed marshmallow fruited ambrosia salad knockoffs, these ambitious zymurgists craft some of the most diverse brews north of Philly.

Located at a brick Industrial mall, Imprint’s cement-floored pub sits adjacent to the Quality Tank Solutions brewhouse. Several four-stooled metal tables, wooden benches, front-walled barrels and a kitchen kiosk fill out the rustic overhead-doored tasting room where large silver tanks take up the backspace.

Founding brewer, Ryan Diehl, realized he had to immediately expand his space after operating a small one-barrel nano. Now a mid-sized microbrewery, Imprint’s equipment includes its original 7-barrel fermenters (bought for its first expansion) and a newer 15-barrel system plus an experimental stainless steel brite tank.

HOME

My wife and I try a mild pilsner and lager before grabbing a few impressive stouts, then get a bunch of canned goodies for the road (reviewed in Beer index).

Zesty dry-hopped lupulin oiling gave Czech-styled pilsner, Citra-Galaxy Wallpaper, its mildly bitter IPA-like lemony orange-peeled grapefruit splurge, delicate peachy pineapple tang and clean Seltzer briskness receiving muskily floral-spiced herbage above milled grain malting.

Another cleanly dry citric-bent moderation, Game Face Helles Lager, retained spritzy grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering for pale lagered mineral graining.

As for the two richly creamed stouts, lactose-bound Vanilla Rye Imperial Stout boasted chewy Madagascar and Mexican vanilla luxuriance for its nutty rye-spiced black chocolate density.

Richly rewarding confectionery milk stout, Dunkable Nilly, let Nilla wafer sweetness entice resilient vanilla ice-creamed brown chocolate milking as tertiary bruised black cherry, toasted almond and praline illusions reached its fudgy vanilla mocha finish. 

During early February ’25 noontime trek, Imprint added a retro arcade, Gnarcadium, and a kiosk pizza kitchen near the aluminum-chaired tables on the hardwood vergala floor. I quaffed five previously untried delights.

Honey-roasted almond and chestnut saddled light bodied Ambrrr Lager, leaving tingly fig spicing.

Sweet cereal grained pilsner malting received a lemon-wedged for crackery golden lager, Lagrrr.

Juicy dry-hopped My Morning Haze let sunny lemon zest sprinkle tangy pineapple, sweet navel orange, salted mango, sour guava and tart passionfruit atop vanilla-creamed oats base.

Bold waxy-fruited triple IPA, Filthy Animal draped pine sap across spicy citrus resilience above honeyed pale malts.

Rich confectionery Imperial Stout, Origins Maple Vanilla Marshmallow, seeped bourbon-barreled vanilla sweetness into maple syrup and marshmallow sugared Columbian coffee stead, bringing along toasted coconut, candied almond and cinnamon niceties.


BLUEPRINT BREWING CO.

United States Brewpubs,

Blueprint Brewing Company | Brewbound.com

HARLEYSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA

At an Industrial Park in tiny suburban village, Harleysville (30 miles northwest of Philly), BLUEPRINT BREWING CO. was designed by the three friends and opened during 2018 (but closed March 31, 2023). Going thru the earthen flat-stoned frontage, Blueprint’s rustic cement-floored, picnic-benched barroom features opposing overhead doors, cavernous ceiling and strung Edison lights.

Blueprint’s prodigious Philly-themed painted insignia covers the wall across from the Formica-topped, corrugated aluminum-sided serving station. An electronic blackboard lists all available draughts and one TV hangs nearby. Six metal-chaired tables fill out the refurbished wood-laden room.

A lounge area leads patrons from the pub area to the brew tank room.

My wife and I grab a few excellent food truck burgers while settling in to devour a dozen choice homemade brews this Friday night in February ’22.

Dry Mexican pale lager, Luchador, let musky grain earthiness reach peppery hop herbage, leaving a mild smoked agave nip.

Dewy amber lager, Pick Me, let tobacco-roasted brown tea crisping contrast caramelized apple sweetness above mild bread crusting.

Flour-sugared vanilla sweetness tingled Cake Cream Ale, an otherwise dry pale malted moderation with spritz cream soda licks.

Lemon-twisted raspberry tartness engaged Raspberry Beret, a dry fruit ale with subtle cranberry and crabapple notions plus cherry rhubarb snip.

Lime-salted guava tartness embittered offshoot blonde ale, Blondeprint Guava, pervading mild white grapefruit, white peach and lemongrass illusions.

Tangy tangerine juicing forwarded White Zombie, an adjunct witbier with delicate orange-peeled coriander spicing, wafting floral herbage and dry pale malt sugaring.

Candi-sugared Belgian blonde, Thicc And Sweet, burrowed its banana-clove sweetness into mild cologned herbal salting before gaining subtle yellow grapefruit and mandarin orange zesting.

Spicy orange-peeled grapefruit tang and candied pineapple tartness embraced The Wizard, a fruitful IPA with light piney hop astringency contrasting oated wheat malts.

Lemon-soured orange spicing pervaded the floral pining of dry Imperial IPA, Tribe Mentality, one of Blueprint’s finest offerings.

Zestful tropical fruiting brightened fruited sour, Sparkle Bomb, letting persuasive grapefruit-peeled pineapple bittering, peachy mango sweetness and pink guava tartness reach its resinous pine bottom.

Sumptuous peanut-buttered dark chocolate creaminess guarded P’Nuts And Bolts, a thick Imperial Stout with wood-charred hops contrasting nutty mocha insistence.

Toasted coconut sweetness guided finer spinoff, P’Nuts And Coconut, letting rich peanut-buttered dark chocolate and recessive burnt marshmallow whims bolster its confectionery goodness.

KANE BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

OCEAN, NEW JERSEY

KANE BREWING COMPANY quickly became one of Jersey’s finest iconic microbreweries during August 2011. Led by married financial marketeers Michael and Erika Kane, their huge freestanding warehouse operation has expanded by leaps and bounds since the beginning.

Inside a rustic high-ceilinged building with cement floors, overhead doors, barrel stands and large silver brew tanks (in the barroom and right side fermenting space), Kane utilizes repurposed wood for its bar frontage and 20-plus draught station backdrop.

A fabulous maltster, Michael Kane homebrewed for fifteen years and traveled to Europe to learn more about beer culture. A Fairfield University grad with a Masters degree from Notre Dame, the lanky red-haired zymurgist soon became interested in spirited barrel aging and spontaneously fermented mixed culture sour ales.

I get a chance to hang at Kane for a few hours on a snowy Super Bowl Sunday in 2022 to down two enlightening barrel-aged stouts, one glorified pastry stout and one barrel-aged porter. I’d been to Kane in the past, but only to buy bottles to go. As of this date, I’ve had 67 different proprietary brews (all reviewed in Beer Index except the following four quaffed on-site).

Unfiltered and Able Brews at Kane Brewing | Beer Busters

For starters, I chose the breakfast-styled pastry stout, A Night To End All Dawns Banana Pancake. Maple syrup-draped caramelized banana sweetness indulged dark chocolate fudging as dark-roast hop char lightly embittered the backend to contrast ancillary bourbon vanilla sugaring, butterscotch walnut cookie flouring and toasted cinnamon splendor.

Viscous bourbon-spiced porter, Morning Bean, aged in Willett and Wild Turkey barrels, plied cream-sugared coffee beaning to Madagascar vanilla tannins, dark cherry pureed tartness and black peppered whims anchored by bittersweet dark chocolate luster.

Fudgy brown chocolate affluence guided Bourbon-aged Lunchbox Hero, a luxurious Imperial Stout conditioned on peanut buttered cacao, vanilla beans and hazelnut paste. Its richly creamed maple syruping soaked up bourbon vanilla-sweetened marshmallow chewiness and chocolate cherry cordial banter for an enticing pastry-like dessert.

As a luscious sweet-toothed Imperial Stout nightcap, Saturday Night Lights, let its sublime Vermont maple syruping serenade sweet brown chocolate goodness as milk-sugared coffee, vanilla pastry cream, toasted marshmallow, honeyed Graham Cracker and cookie dough illusions enriched the bourbon-licked chocolate cake decadence.

SOUTHERN TIER NITRO HOT COCOA IMPERIAL MILK STOUT

Beers A-Z,

On tap at Growler & Gill, creamy milk chocolate fudging gains vanilla, marshmallow and creme brulee sweetness for lovely nitrogenated cocoa powdered dessert (with inconspicuous 10% ABV). Warm hot cocoa excellence. In the can ’22, luscious fluffily creamed fudged brownie confection lets ice-creamed chocolate cookie abundance outdo advertised ‘hot cocoa’ expectancy. Chewy caramel-salted mocha goodness contrasts less impactful wood brunt hop char as nifty creme brulee, toasted marshmallow and spiced bourbon vanilla illusions deepen nitrogenated stout.

Nitro Hot Cocoa - Southern Tier Brewing Company - Untappd