Do Yourself a Favor

Throughout all of my craft beer adventures in the Commonwealth two places have stuck out and have proved to make me giddy for each of their respective brews. Oh, and I should mention the food as well! Both of these establishments were fun and interesting to be at. Great atmospheres as well as good beer. Be sure to check them out when you get the chance. Well, there has been some news concerning each in the past week or so.

Roll Out! Roll Out!

The beginnings of my craft beer tastes (or microbrews as we referred to them in my early college years) might have begun to develop after sampling some of the brews offered at North Country Brewing Company in Slippery Rock.

We've known for about a year that the brewery had expanded from just the morgue turned brewpub and into a full-scale brewing facility south of Slippery Rock. It feels as if we've been waiting for kegs and cans of North Country beer to hit the local markets here in Pittsburgh for almost an eternity.

Within the last week kegs of North Country brews have reached many Pittsburgh bars. North Country has been trying to update the locations in which said brews are offered on its Facebook page. The roll out is finally looking to be happening. Still no word on cans being sold in distributors, but I'm sure that's close to happening as well.

I met a friend at OTB Bicycle Cafe on the South Side just over a week ago and he snapped a good photo of a North Country Tap Handle. The beer was in. It just wasn't tapped yet. This was for the new Buck Up Black Pale Ale. I don't remember ever having that while in school. So, it looks like they';re still being creative as possible with their brews.

My buddy, Zack, also spotted more NCB on the North side via his Twitter account.

Needing a Larger Shoe Size

Back in August I visited Gettysburg Battlefield Brew Works after months of anticipation. I was fascinated at the fact of drinking great beer in what was a former Confederate field hospital at the time of the battle in 1863. Things were obviously still getting started when I was there. I've been following the Brew Works on Facebook  (I've also found them on Twitter) and things have seemed to be picking up amazingly. There is now consistent live entertainment as well as some barbecue food offerings from a local Gettysburg eatery.

I've been writing about the place constantly. From when I first heard about the pending liquor license (and the reason I have the odd subhead just above) and when I finally got to visit for the first time on my yearly excursion to Gettysburg.

More importantly, the Brew Works made an appearance on the Discovery Channel's Bar Hunters show. I missed the episode on Sunday and I've never watched the show before. So, I'm not entirely sure if the episode was dedicated in full or it was just a segment. Still, I was able to embed a video I found on the Discovery website.