I met with Bryan Kolesar, author of the newly released book Beer Lover’s Mid-Atlantic, to get the scoop on all things beer. He traveled over 9,000 miles and visited about 375 establishments to compile this user-friendly guide. With almost 20 years of beer-tasting experience and so many miles and establishments under his belt, he had a lot of information to share. For more on the Beer Lover’s Mid-Atlantic, see part 1.
PA Eats: What was the most interesting beer you discovered?
Bryan Kolesar: Ah, I see what you did there. I like the way you worded this question and kind of snuck it in the middle of this interview! It’s along the lines of “Yo dude, what’s your favorite brewery ever?” or “Hey man, tell me what that one beer would be you would choose if it was the only beer left on earth” (you know, desert island type of listicle beer). Sorry, but I’m not let you get away with that one!
But, don’t worry, I’m not going to wimp out with some “It’s the beer I’m holding in my hand right now” crutch. I’ll give you all something to sip on as long as I may go one per state, but give two to Pennsylvania, because it’s so large.
Delaware has some big things going on in the small state with 3rd Wave and Mispillion River. For an all-around experience of weaving food, history, and beer together (on a former dairy farm, no less), I’ll give you 16 Mile. Their Old Court Pale and Tiller Brown are excellent interpretations of their styles but the Heraldry Series surprises with each release of a new batch of ingredients rarely considered.
In Maryland, I give a strong shout-out to the second-youngest brewery that I put in the main body of the book—Jailbreak from Laurel, Md. They do a jalapeno IPA called Welcome to Scoville. Cool name, right? Beer is pretty dang good, too.
Over in New Jersey, wow. That state is really benefitting from some great breweries popping up from city to shore. I’d probably want to immediately jump to Carton or Cape May with an example, but they’re both now distributed around Philly, so I’ll make you all work just a bit harder to find Kane Brewing Company in Ocean Township, not too far from Toms River and Asbury Park. Their beer Night To End All Dawns is featured in a sidebar (on page 125 to be exact) and is such a wonderfully complex beer that is downright tasty and enjoyable to drink, if not boozy, so grab your easy chair for this one.
Sorry, I’m going back on my word, northern N.J. gets their own props here too. Angry Erik is in Lafayette, way upstate (northwest, near Sparta) and they brew a 3-Ball Porter in honor of their dog that could carry three tennis balls in his mouth. The very unique porter is brewed with cardamom, orange and chocolate, which means you should find it very food-friendly.
Out to western Pa., here I’ll give the nod to Four Seasons in Latrobe. Their Dark Side of the Pint was locked in as a sidebar “Beer Lover’s Pick” in my book months before they took the silver medal in Oatmeal Stout at the 2014 Great American Beer Festival. Deservedly so.
And working our way back east to our home turf, I’m not sure anything caught my attention more than what is going on at Frecon Farms and Other Farm Brewing Company. The interplay between the two companies (under the same family umbrella) is obvious between the excellent Renart’s Tripel, which is fermented with Frecon’s apple cider, and the Saisonner series that incorporates seasonal fruit from the farm to make an ever-changing beer.
The book also contains regional food and beer pairing ideas. What are your favorites?
I would have love to have written a full-length book on this topic. The cooking with beer chapter has some great kitchen ideas for incorporating beer into food recipes along with some insights from the chefs that contributed the recipes. It pained me to narrow it down to five.
Here are four beer and food combinations that stick way out in my memory from all the travels and all the food and beer I encountered along the way.
- At Argilla Brewing Company on the outskirts of Newark, Del., get the bacon and apple pizza which is actually topped with apple butter on an olive oil base. The words on the page sound odd at first, but the combination, especially with their Blond on Belgian is perfect and out-of-this-world.
- In upstate N.J. at Morris Tap & Grill, famed chef Eric LeVine makes short rib pappardelle that I would eat for breakfast lunch and dinner. A bottle of Rochefort 8 next to it was a grand slam.
- Outside of Baltimore at Kloby’s Smokehouse, a plate of Jalapeno Pork Balls was a natural combination with the Jailbreak Welcome to Scoville jalapeno IPA.
- At Hunger N Thirst in Lancaster a “Pig & Fig” sandwich served on great bread and alongside a Jolly Pumpkin Luciernaga almost derailed my day.
For more information on Bryan Kolesar and Beer Lover’s Mid-Atlantic, follow along on his Facebook page or visit his website, The Brew Lounge. Grab your copy at your local brick-and-mortar bookstore or all the online bookstores like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
- 16 Mile photo: 16 Mile Brewing Company
- Other Farm, Morris Tap & Grill and Bryan Kolesar photos: Beer Lover's Mid-Atlantic
- Angry Erik photo: Angry Erik Brewing
