Brunzies - A Recent Addition to Indiana's Beer Scene

Last summer, I wrote up a blurb about beer places in Indiana. Last Fall, we got a new player in town: Brunzies.

Brunzies is located next to Subs & Suds, on the corner of 5th and Philadelphia Sts. Though it has a 5th St. entrance, it is closed during winter to avoid freezing everyone at the bar, so enter via Subs & Suds.  Chris Bruns is responsible for Brunzies (his family also runs Subs & Suds and Benjamin's next door).  They're open from 4p-2a daily, and 3p-2a on Fridays.  (not much web presence yet, so no links).

The food menu is a one-pager, simple yet easy to find something of interest. Subs, apps, pizzas, and salads. Good quality and value.  The beer selection is terrific - 20 taps, most of which are dedicated to craft, and a nice bottle selection in addition to a full bar.  The taps are glycol chilled and have short lines; a lot of the craft beers (many are hard to find elsewhere in the area or are one-offs) only comes in quarter kegs, so the turnaround is good and the beer is fresh.  Half-off draughts during 9-11 happy hour.

Brunzies is a little hard to peg ... it's not quite a sports bar, though there are big screens throughout playing games; it's not quite a townie bar or college bar or yuppie ha, though you'll find both demographics present; and it's not a gastropub, though the food is solid and the beers are eclectic.  We've been several times for Friday dinner - by 6pm, there are no seats left in the place (at the bar, tables, or booths).  Patrons range from families with small kids to octogenarians and everything in between

Catching Up

My, how time flies.

For those who check in regularly, my apologies. I'm still here, still drinking beer, still reading others' blogs - but unfortunately ignoring my creative writing outlet that is this blog. But, the semester is over, grades are in, and I'm looking forward to some time away from the office.

So what has been going on?

I've tried about 40 new beers since my last post, which included some road trips to Marzoni's for Bill's Wheat Wine, Otto's in State College (twice!) for some cask Amarillo Pale Ale, Five Year Ale, and some Ottonator and to Rivertowne Pour House in Monroeville for several offerings. The first trip to State College was pseudo-business related - just a flying day trip up and back and the second was because my brother came in from Idaho and the two of us did some bar hopping last week. I had several tasty Belgian beers while at Zeno's, which never disappoints (St. Bernardus Christmas Ale, HOTD Fred, Ichtegems Grand Cru, and Smuttynose Farmhouse Ale). Great time catching up with my brother, but the ice storm we had to drive back through the next morning ... coulda done without that!

The Indiana Homebrewers Club met 'unofficially' on December 11 at The Coney for a few rounds of pints and conversation. We'll meet again officially the second Tuesday of January. We also placed some advertisements in hopes of expanding membership and getting this thing really going.

I have been very bad about homebrewing! My all grain ingredients for the second batch of Commonplace Coffee Porter still are sitting here and now with crappy weather moved in .. well, it may be a while. However, I do plan to do an extract batch or possible counter-top partial mash during Christmas break, in order to have something to share for the homebrew club's Febtoberfest. I've fallen behind my comrades in barley! (Eli and Dave & Justin) but I've been helpful watching them brew, drinking their products, etc.

I'm looking forward to visits over the break to several of my favorite establishments, including Marzoni's, North Country, East End Brewing, D's 6 Pack & Dogz, and hopefully a few others. On the Thursday after Xmas, several of us are doing a road trip to North Country, then maybe to Hereford & Hops in Cranberry, then on to D's and East End (Dave has been to neither of the latter) and I need to use up a gift certificate at D's that burning a hole in my desk drawer! If I get real ambitious, I may try to get down to Johnstown Brewing and Tulune's South Side Pub.

My wife is ready for a trip to State College, and I'll gladly go again. I'd love to get up to Williamsport and hit Bullfrog and Abbey Wright, but that's probably pushing it ;)

Rivertowne Pour House

I stopped by to visit the Rivertowne Pour House in Monroeville yesterday. It's just less than an hour drive from Indiana, and well worth the travel. They just opened last week, so I'm sure that they're running through the normal business opening pangs, but I have to say that the service on a Saturday afternoon during the US Open was tops! Great attention from the staff and they all seemed to know a lot about the beers (or weren't afraid to say they didn't know rather than trying to BS their way through).

Menu looked good, and I tried the Bacon and Cheese Fries. Tasty.

The beers? Well, they have 15 on tap plus one on beer engine. The full list is found on the web and there are samplers available. I tried several (10 to be exact) and was very impressed by the quality and range. Two fruit beers, two Impy stouts (one barrel aged), a pale ale, an IPA, a golden ale, a scottish ale, irish red, amber, ESB ... Wow!

All the ones I had were tasty, but the two imperial stouts (Buffalo Trace Bourbon Barrel Stout and Clavrock Imperial Stout) and the Wylie's IPA were top notch.

Check it out if you're in the area! Two great brewers working together can only be a good thing :)

More of Burlington

Today we decided to get up and get going. We had a lot of little things we wanted to do, including shopping (gifts for family, etc.). After another great breakfast at the B&B, we drove downtown and parked, then hit Church Street. For those who've never been, Church Street in Burlington is a 4-5 block-long pedestrian street in downtown, with all of the major shopping and dining within several blocks of that street. Great place to people watch, especially with all of the eccentric types hanging out in Vermont.

Had lunch at Leunig's Cafe - sort of a french bistro, and enjoyed a duck confit salad along with a pint of Leunig's Ale (which is really just Long Trail Hit the Trail Ale). More shopping after lunch, then we stopped for a quick pint at a local, slightly seedy joint called JP's Pub. We stopped to try the Long Trail Blackberry Wheat on tap, which we'd not seen elsewhere. Back to the car, then up to the B&B.

Dana decided to chill out for a bit, but I was ready for more beer exploration. I drove back downtown and stopped in front of the American Flatbread. I walked in to find no one ... they don't serve any food after 2 and before 5pm. However, the bar was open, so I came in to try the limited beers on tap (by limited, I mean they happened to only have 4 of their Zero Gravity beers, rather than the usual 9-11). There were plenty more taps and bottles to sample if I chose. So, I had samples of Zero Gravity IPA, Fruehfest, D'Kinna Bock, and Old Schtick. All of them were very nice and I would have loved to stick around for the tapping of the schwarzbier and the Friday cask - however, I had one more place I wanted to visit before leaving town...

I got in the car and drove to South Burlington (close to Shelbourne) and took the 4pm tour of the Magic Hat Brewery. There was only me and two other people on the tour at 4pm, and it didn't take very long - though I got some interesting history and some pictures. Afterwards, I retired to the tasting room and sampled several beers on tap that, unfortunately, aren't available in bottles here in western PA. Several good ones I got to sample included the Braggot made with honey and chamomille, the Single Chair Ale, and the Roxy Rolles. I picked up a hat, too.

Had there been time, I wanted to stop by Switchback Brewing and check out their operation. But alas, it was 5pm and time to head back to meet my wife and make dinner plans. We decided on a neat Indian place up by the University (UVM) and I got some really spicy chicken tikka masala.

Tomorrow - it's time to go home, but I'll be leaving with a few extra pounds of weight brought on by great beer and food from Vermont, many memories, and a cooler filled with bottles that I bought at stores during our trip!

Alchemist

Today was a bit more relaxed. Took a long walk along the causeway north of Burlington - the old rail bed that stretches out into Lake Champlain. Very nice morning stroll. For lunch, we were going to hit the American Flatbread Company, but it was closed (Fri-Sun only for lunch). Ate next door at the Pacific Rim Asian Cafe - fair, but nothing special. While there, had a Rock Art Whitetail Ale and a Trout River Rainbow Red.

Bummed around most of the day, including a nice siesta in the afternoon heat. I got most of the way through Harris' "Hannibal Rising" before we decided to get cleaned up and try American Flatbread for dinner. We parked a block away and walked down, only to find that there was an hour long wait to eat. Screw that - no pizza is that good.

We decided to hop in the car and make the 25 minute drive down the interstate south to Waterbury, where we found immediate seating at the Alchemist Pub and Brewery. My, oh my. First, the owner/brewer is from Pittsburgh and there was a Steelers pennant above the bar. Brownie points right there. There were seven beers on tap, and you can get 3oz samplers for $1 a piece. All of them were delicious and made very well - not a loser in the bunch. My wife particularly enjoyed the Tweiss (sort of a weizen-bock), and while I tried all of them, I had a full pint of Pappy's Porter with dinner. The food is wonderful, and we really enjoyed the fries - coated in a spicy dry rub and served with garlic mayo and homemade spicy ketchup. The reuben panini was great and Dana's margherita pizza was top notch. The only thing I didn't care for was the dim lighting - I like ambiance as much as anyone, but when you have a hard time reading the menu ... that's a bit too dark. Makes it hard to see the beer you're drinking, too.

In all, however, I highly recommend the Alchemist. Great beer and great food!

Brattleboro, VT

So, for the first time in a while, my wife and I were able to get a few days off at the same time and during decent weather! We decided to head up to New England for a few days, and the timing couldn't have been better.

We hit the road about 9am on Tuesday morning, and made our way to I-80 at Clearfield. From there, we traversed the state until the merge with I-81, then up to I-84. We took I-84 over to the Taconic State Parkway, then north on that until Rt 23. That took us through the Berkshires in western Massachusetts until the meet up with the Mass Pike. After one exit, we were on I-91 north until Brattleboro.

We stayed the night at the historic Latchis Hotel, an interesting if not slightly worn out joint right in downtown. Our dinner was some light fare at the Flat Street Brewpub, which really isn't a brewpub, per se, but rather a purchase point for most of Berkshire Brewing Company's draft options. The menu is limited and not that impressive. Right before we got our food, my wife noticed a mouse scurrying across the floor. Good times. I grabbed a sampler tray of five Berkshire Brewing beers, including the Pale Ale, River Ale, IPA, Draymans Porter, and a milk stout. Dana had a Ommegang Rare Vos on tap.

In all, the place wasn't that impressive, though we were happy just to get some beers in us after spending almost 10 hours in a two-door Honda!

After dinner, we walked up the hill and around the block until we happened upon McNeill's Brewpub on Elliot Street. Very low key, but there were about 10-12 beers on tap, including 2 on hand pump. I opted for the Alle Tage Altbier and the Imperial Stout, while Dana had the Ruby Ale and the Slop Bucket Brown.

We had a very nice discussion with a gent named Bill, who's a nurse? at the local hospital. If you go, try the chips and salsa - very good. Also, you can get most of the McNeill's line in bottles to go - but at no discount over local food co-ops. They're also available at a few local food co-ops, such as the ones in Brattleboro and in Burlington. I brought home several other McNeill's to try in the coming weeks.

Until tomorrow,
Cheers!

Spring Is Here!

What a beautiful weekend this was! Sunny, warm weather - perfect for grilling and smoking (salmon, that is), yard work, and good beer.

Last Tuesday, the core of the Indiana Beer Club met here for a small tasting. We did a few wheat beers (Bells Oberon, Troegs Dream Weaver), Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA, and a great vertical of Stone Old Guardian from 2005-07.

Friday night, my wife and I met some of her classmates at Amici's Restaurant and Pizza in Ebensburg. I was floored that they had 14 taps, and even more so to find 2 beers that I'd not yet had. That's saying something for Ebensburg! The Brooklyn Antwerpen Ale was a decent lighter Belgian ale, but not on par with traditional fare from the land. Amici's is worth a visit for a good meal - entrees range from 12-27.

Ironwood Grill's New Bar - First Impressions

Well, tonight after dinner at Nap's Cucina Mia, my wife and I decided to hit the Ironwood for a drink. Upon arrival, we were told that the new bar was open for business.

The bar is located up the stairs and to the left of the host(ess) station. They have a whole new area which contains several booths and some tables, a pool table, and a new bar.

First, I was impressed that the tap selection included Magic Hat #9 and Victory Hop Devil (although the Hop Devil was kicked tonight). Second, I liked the fact that all of the beers available downstairs in 6 packs seemed to be in the cooler for drinking (didn't see the Stone bombers or the Baltika beers, though).

Unfortunately, the new bar allows smoking, so be prepared for that. However, you can get all the beers in the non-smoking restaurant section (no beer list yet, however). My wife asked for a virgin strawberry daiquiri and I asked for a Victory Hop Wallop (bottle). "That'll be $8.", says the girl behind the bar.

$8!!! I think someone goofed. I asked another waitress later - the Hop Wallop bottle (12 oz) was indeed $4, but the other girl made a mistake on the virgin daiquiri, as $4 is the price of the alcoholic version. I raised that point with the owner as I left, and he assured me that was a goof and that he'd comp me the next time I came in (now, whether he'll remember me ....).

The other point - $4 for a bottle of Hop Wallop, when downstairs the price of a Victory sixer is between $9 and $12. Hmmm, let's see ... that's about a 100% markup. Sorry, but that's a rip off for Indiana, PA. I've paid prices like that in Pittsburgh, but it's a little more expensive in general. Yeah, I understand overhead, etc. - but $4.00 to drink on premises where it'd be $2 a bottle (MAX!) to take out. C'mon. If the Coney expands their list, they'll give Ironwood a run for the money (Hop Devil is less per bottle, for example).

So - first impressions were disappointing. Smoky, overpriced, and bar help that is either swindling me or just inept. I appreciate the selection - I really do. But jacking up the price is not going to get my business too often unless I want to sample something before plucking down cash for a six pack.

According to the owner, the beer tastings will start (most likely) in April - first Tuesdays of the month (nicely coinciding with the beer club for a meeting in April/May) with some distributor reps. Alcohol (hard liquor) reps will follow later in month, too. The upstairs (outer) bar is now under refurbishment, and apparently is expanding and will be a double-sided bar.

I look forward to hearing other's impressions of the Ironwood's new bar and their selection. Time will tell whether or not it's going to be a worthy craft beer hangout. I'll be giving it a few more chances to impress me, but if each visit turns out like tonight then they're losing a customer.