Bethlehem Brew Works, Bethlehem, PA
If you’re ever in the far reaches of Eastern Pennsylvania, it’s worth stopping in to visit the town of Bethlehem. It’s a beautiful little place, with a very attractive downtown area in which there is a charming brew pub, Bethlehem Brew Works.
BBW produces eight types of beer at a time, and has a great feature whereby you can get a sampling of six of them. On my two trips to BBW, I tried each of their beers except for the apricot coriander which, while intriguing in name, still contains fruit, and I’m biased against fruity beers. The others, though, were all quite good.
The BBW menu features probably the best description of the brewing process I have yet seen, complete with excellent diagrams of the path that the various beer components take from start to finish. At this point, I’m wishing I’d nicked a menu because the diagram doesn’t show up on the BBW website, not even in the pdf of their menu.
I only ate one meal at BBW, and it paled in comparison to their beer. I got a steak, medium rare, or at least that’s what I asked for. The grill cook obviously had the heat on his equipment turned up way too high. The outside of the steak was seared with attractive grill marks, but there was a sharp line between the portion of the meat that was affected by heat and the portion of the meat that wasn’t it was still quite rare in the middle.
The steamed vegetables that accompanied it were apparently all cooked together, broccoli, carrots, and snow peas. The broccoli and snow peas were both fine, but the carrots were still garden-crunchy.
The mashed potatoes were the highlight of my plate. Excellent consistency, well seasoned, and very tasty; it’s a shame the rest of the food wasn’t up to their caliber.
Beer: 3 1/2 oranges
food: 2 oranges
June 17th, 2007 at 10:52 am
Out of how many oranges does your scale go to? After searching some of your other reviews, it seems like four oranges might be the highest on the scale?
June 18th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
I just saw this: http://bp2.blogger.com/_JUoH2-gp31Q/RmFfhmnBiyI/AAAAAAAADFA/cVc2gicNTAQ/s1600-h/InMilanHighlightImageInekeSolo.jpg
I thought it was a neat idea, and something a person who carries a cloth napkin with them at all times would like. I especially like the saying on the packaging.
June 18th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
Yeah, but those things cost $10 . . .
http://www.cooperhewittshop.org/?path=item&topid=4&itemid=282
. . . too much for me (Sorry for the off-topic!).
June 21st, 2007 at 11:15 pm
Sounds similar to North Country Brewing Co. in Slippery Rock, about 30 minutes north of Pittsburgh, whose food impressed me on my one trip up there (and the beer is top drawer).
June 22nd, 2007 at 8:15 am
There used to have an awesome brewpub near our farm. It was called Four Sons Brewing in Titusville, and unfortunately they went out of business recently. They had a sampler for $5 and that included a wooden board with an indentation that held a glass of each one of their brews (I think they had 8 different ones), and a beer guide that explained each one. The food there was hit or miss. I’m sorry it is gone.
Now we have the Sprague Farm Brew Works, which is even closer to our farm, and they offer several brews which are crafted in their barn. They don’t sell food, but you can get your growlers filled up to go.
Lastly, there is a new brewpub supposedly opening this Summer in Meadville called Voodoo Brewing. It is being opened by the former Brewmaster at Four Sons. I just wish they would hurry up!!
June 22nd, 2007 at 8:18 am
Ooops, poor grammar, I meant to say . . . “There used to be,” or “We used to have.” I couldn’t make up my mind . . . Sorry
July 6th, 2007 at 8:29 am
Speaking of beer, this was in the PG lately . . .
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07186/798975-389.stm
. . . notice that it mentions Sprague and Voodoo Brewery in the article! Those are the ones I was talking about above.
I’ve had East End Brewing before on tap at a local restuarant before, but I gotta get out there and try one of their growlers some day.
July 23rd, 2007 at 1:38 am
next time your in bethelehem you should definitly stop by vegan treats. I didn’t get to try beer while I was there b/c all of my friends in that area don’t really drink, but I made up for it with amazing soft serve, donuts, and cake… *sigh*