The soon to open Forest & Main is a European-inspired brewpub set within a historic Victorian style house. I recently had the chance to visit Forest and Main and talk to Gerard Olson and Daniel Endicott, the entrepreneurial brewers behind this new venture.
Gerard and Daniel first learned how to brew beer using home-brewing kits. Gerard pursued brewing as a hobby for five years, which led to a brewer’s position at McKenzie Brew House where he honed his craft for the next five years. Daniel first bought his home-brew kit as a gift for his brother, but ended up getting himself sucked into it as a hobby. He graduated from Tyler School of Art at Temple with a degree in glassblowing and spent the last few years working at a florist shop. During this time he traveled to England to take a course on brewing traditional English style beers and received on-the-job training through the program. After returning to the United States with this great experience under his belt Daniel was unable to find a brewing job in the area. This led Daniel and Gerard to take the big leap into starting their own brewery.
The Victorian-style house they moved into in Ambler, PA, at first seems very unconventional for a brewpub that brews on-site. But with their beers being unique adaptations on very traditional old world beers, the traditional Victorian locale is the perfect setting for Forest and Main. The front of the building is adorned with a large front porch that is perfect for viewing the sunset on a warm spring evening while sipping on a glass of their Palomino Saison. The inside of the building perfectly fits with Forest and Main’s classic ambiance. The walls are painted with rustic colors, the furniture is made of dark hardwoods, and the bar is clad in reclaimed barn wood and hammered brass. All the original walls are still up to create separate intimate dining and lounge spaces. The bar is equipped with three hand pumps for their cask conditioned beers and the back of the bar has five taps hung over a hammered brass backsplash. The second floor, which patrons can rent out for private parties, has a lounge and a large formal dining room with one communal table.
Forest & Main has a full lineup of beers already and their opening will display eight of their creations on tap. All of the beers they feature are English and Belgian style. Some are very traditional brews while the others are unique adaptations of the original style.
What really caught my attention is that they try to source a lot of their ingredients locally. They have partnered with a new company that is malting local grain in Southeastern Pennsylvania to provide some of their malt. Until recently there were no producers of Malt on this side of the Mississippi River. They also source the honey they use for brewing from Pennsylvania and hope to utilize local hops in future beers.
While visiting with Gerard and Daniel I got to try their Palomino, which is a Belgian style Honey Saison. This beer had a nice aroma, it was earthy, a bit spicy, and finished with the smell of honey and a slight funk from the yeast. Palomino’s flavor was complex but the different parts were fairly subtle. It starts with a floral flavor which is accompanied by the subtle taste of honey, followed by spiciness, pepper and a delicious mellow yeast funk. This is a great Saison that takes the traditional Belgian style and gives it a hint of sweetness to make it enjoyable to those that love wild yeast, while still being friendly to those unfamiliar with it. A lot of this beer’s smoothness and complexity comes from its barrel aging.
This beer, as well as some of their other beers, was aged in oak barrels. These barrels started their life as aging vessels for chardonnay and were later used for more white wines and eventually reds, before they made their home in the cellar of Forest and Main.
Another one of their beers that has gotten a lot of affection at recent tasting events is their Poor Yorick. This is an English style dark ale that has a chocolaty mouth-feel but is not as heavy as its color would make it appear. It is a dark black color, but the American hops added gives it a lighter taste while not being overly bitter. Another crowd favorite is their Kinch India Pale Ale, a hybrid of an English and American style IPA. It showcases Amarillo and Chinook hops in a very hop-forward beer that is not overpowering. This beer is loved by hop-heads but is also perfect for those that are new to the IPA scene.
The Euro-pub theme of Forest & Main carries over to their food menu, as well. Instead of offering a huge number of items, the chefs at Forest & Main will focus on a handful of dishes that they do very well. These dishes will be inspired by the pub food found in Europe such as their braised lamb shanks, mussels, and fish and chips. Their food menu will also be heavily sourced from local farmers and ranchers.
While I visited this beautiful Victorian brewpub there was a knock at the door. It was a local neighbor who wanted to see if they had opened yet. Daniel informed him that they have not opened yet. When he returned to the back of the bar to continue our conversation I asked him if that was a common occurrence. He told me that since they hung the Forest & Main sign over the door that has happened twice a day.
It seems Ambler is ready for a brewpub of their own and it looks like Forest & Main will not disappoint. If you would like to find out for yourself, they plan on opening their doors in the next week or two. You can keep updated on their progress and find more details on their website or on their Facebook page.
If you want to try their beers and do not have the patience to wait you can find their beers on tap at Earth Bread + Brewery and Standard Tap. Earth Bread + Brewery currently has the Palomino on tap and Standard Tap is currently serving the Saison Solaire.
All photographs credited to and courtesy of Forest & Main Brewing Company.
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