Growth and Odd Contraptions

Last year I returned from my annual Gettysburg excursion and posted about how I felt the eastern side of Pennsylvania knew how to eat and the western side knew how to drink. I based all of this on my disappointment in the Gettysburg beer selection. Alas, I stood corrected by many and my trip last week surely contradicted my claim this year.

I've already spent some time this week detailing how the craft beer community has grown in the Gettysburg area. This is probably my last post explaining the subject. I also visited the Blue and Gray Bar and Grill last year and did once again this year. The bar is in the famous square in the dead center of Gettysburg. The craft selection within the bar has improved in this establishment as well.

I had to pose the Dogfish 60 Minute in front of it.

Last year, I came across a bit from Troegs and Roy Pitz from nearby Chambersburg. I'm pleased to report a tad more this time around. Not only that, but Dogfish Head Craft Brewery had a few appearances on the draft list as well.

I'm not entirely sure whether or not there was a beer-to-go cooler at Blue and Gray last summer, but I definitely noticed it this time. The cooler was stuffed full of six packs from Troegs just north of Gettysburg and a brewery called Starr Hill which I discovered is out of Virginia. Maybe some North vs. South action? A few of the Starr Hill offering found a way on the draft system. One was a pumpkin porter. Despite my feelings on pumpkin beer in the summer, I found this exciting.

Still, the table I was seated at had an interesting gadget built into it. Something I've never seen or heard of before. I had noticed it upon walking past the place and assumed it was just part of the bar's draft system. I was only half right.

Apparently it's something called a table tap. I'm not certain as to how it would work at other places, but at Blue and Gray you would get a wristband that gets scanned by the machine. You would fill your own glass of beer and the machine keeps track of how much was dispensed. Very interesting. I haven't seen many of these elsewhere nor around the places I frequent here in Pittsburgh.

Love, Beer and History

I returned from yet another excursion to Gettysburg last night. I must admit that it was with much sadness that I departed the quaint town. It was time to head home, but inside I actually felt like I was leaving a place that is meant to be my home in due time.

Many things factor into my feelings for Gettysburg. The rolling topography, the stories of those that fought and/or lived there, the multiple fruit stands with Chambersburg peaches on the way there, the lovely town square and the historic aura. I even love it so much that I have a tendency to write some forms of run-on sentences when I think of it. I'm so attached to this place that I was too saddened to leave that I cost myself one of my few opportunities to visit Troegs Brewing Company in Hershey on the way home.

Union artillery in the newly-renovated Ziegler's Grove.

I have much to share in the next week or two in the beer-related things I discovered on this trip. I find it interesting that I was disappointed to find the sulking beer scene that I did last summer only to stumble upon a town infused with more craft beer. There's still more room for growth, though. My favorite place in the world is definitely on the ups in terms of craft beer.

I've been reveling with anticipation at a chance to finally visit the Gettysburg Battlefield Brew Works in the historic Monfort farm house. I found this to be a microcosm of the town's growth in beer presence. The place and process still needs some work, but the foundation for a cornucopia of fresh local beer is more than visible.

I was able to finally meet Justin of Justin's Brew Review over the weekend as well. We dined at the historic Dobbin House Tavern. I discovered a new Pennsylvania brewery by the name of Spring House. The Dobbin House had its 150th Anniversary Ale tapped in honor of the battle.

I also returned to one of my favorite burger joints in the Gettysburg area at Blue and Gray Bar and Grill. There I found an interesting beer contraption that was built into my table as well as more evidence of a diverse beer presence in the town. Stay tuned.

Let My Birthday Weekend Commenceth

Call me a nerd, but Gettysburg is a special place to me for multiple reasons. I was part of the generation that grew up interested in not only the battle, but the American Civil War due to the release of the motion picture in 1993. Combine that with William Frassanito's Gettysburg: A Journey In Time, a study in which famous photographs of Civil War dead are examined and eventually located on today's battlefield. Exhilarating stuff.

Gettysburg is a place that has provided me and the world with years worth of stories. So much happened there that you could read books on the subject for the rest of your life and still not know the stories of all who fought there.

It's also the place in which I had my first legal drink. Said drink was at O'Rorke's Eatery and Spirits on Steinwehr Avenue, named after Colonel Patty O'Rorke of the 140th New York which fought on Little Round Top. My father took me there right at midnight of the 16th that year. I had a rum and coke and much to my disappointment I wasn't even carded. As I embark upon this trip very soon I once again hope to be carded as I finally have a driver's license that depicts someone as thin as I am now.

I also hope to frequent establishments that I've become fascinated with on previous trips. This includes both Appalachian Brewing Company which sits near the first day's field and across the street from one of the more famous photographs in history. I'm almost certain I want to get my hands on some more of its Mountain Lager again. There's also a great burger joint by the name of Blue and Gray Bar and Grill in the town square. I also have plans to meet Justin of Justin's Brew Review at the Dobbin House Tavern, a place also on Steinwehr that I haven't dined at as of yet.

The Dobbin House Tavern on Steinwehr. There at the time of the battle.

I mentioned last week that there are sources untapped. If you're among the few that follow this blog you know I'm referring to the newly established Gettysburg Battlefield Brew Works in the old Monfort farm house. It's owned by a former assistant at rock Bottom at the Waterfront Shopping Complex.

I'm sure I'll be posting plenty of photographs and updates on my Twitter feed as my trip progresses. Tomorrow, I hope to have a special post up about one of my former classmates in high school who's putting on a special beer project here in my hometown of Munhall.

Beer Snob Visits Blue and Gray Bar and Grill

Granted, the main square in downtown Gettysburg can be very difficult to navigate if you've never driven in a town circle before. Aside from that, if you can get yourself a decent parking place you can just walk to the northernmost corner of Baltimore Street and the circle to one of Gettysburg's newest bar/food additions.

After noticing that it was new as I arrived in town last week I did a bit of research on what this place was. Since the establishment is so new there isn't a completed website yet, but I did come across a feature story on it in Hanover's The Evening Sun.

It was then that I noticed two key things that Blue and Gray literally brought to the table. Its menu features 12 "Battlefield Burgers" that are named after generals that participated in the Battle of Gettysburg and 25 wing sauces/rubs named after certain military units that also fought in the battle.

The burgers are designed to emulate the general that it's named for and where they're from. A few good examples are that the General George Meade is a burger that's have burger and half cheesesteak as he is from Phiadelphia. The General Lewis A. Armistead gives your burger a helping of Carolina BBQ pulled pork as he is from North Carolina. The General John Fulton Reynolds puts a corn fritter on top of your beef patty since he was born in Lancaster. Get the drift?

I was coaxed into getting the General James Longstreet. Longstreet is from South Carolina, where apparently peanut butter and bacon is pretty popular. If you put two and two together you can see where I'm going with this one.Also, each burger comes out with a flag stuck in it. The version of the flag depends on what side your general falls on.

The caramelized onions were a perfect compliment. Awesome burger.

The Blue and Gray Bar and Grill also features a decent beer list that provides you with a taste of local brewing. Multiple Troegs, Roy Pitz and Lancaster beers can be found here to help you wash down whatever you choose from this fruitful menu.'

I can't forget about the aforementioned wings. The battle theme continues with wing flavors named 20th Maine (blueberry chipotle), Peach Orchard (peach habanero) and Irish Brigade (raspberry jalapeno). According to the bar's Twitter feed, there is also a Yuengling and chicken wing special ($5 pitchers and $.50 wings) that we are very accustomed to seeing around here.