BullFrog Brewery, Williamsport, PA
The first thing that pops into my mind when I think of Williamsport, PA is the Little League World Series. Debbie and I found ourselves there last weekend with time to kill. Why? That’s a whole other story, but it involved picking up a very cute Field Spaniel puppy.
I never expected to find good beer there; just the Little League Museum and, well, nothing else. However,beer geeks have a keen eye, and once I spotted it, Debbie knew we had to stop in. Turns out Williamsport is kinda hip and so is the BullFrog Brewery. One of the outside walls is adorned with a huge, and I do mean huge, mural. It includes what looks like hundreds of portraits of famous people. Nice artwork is a good sign. So is the line of brew tanks arrayed behind the bar! The high tin ceilings, big windows and stainless steel tanks make this place LOOK like a brew pub. Now I can’t wait to try the wares! A quick glance at the beer
list reveals a Barleywine. These guys are serious about beer. One Old Toad Barleywine please! It’s served at cellar temperature, in Belgian style glass. The warm, dark copper color kind of surprises me. So does the drinkability. The faint orange notes really cut the sweetness so you can easily have more than one. I don’t, but only because there’s a long drive ahead for me.
Their Edgar IPA is not available, so I’m afraid I won’t get my hop fix.. Wrong. The DREAD double red steps in nicely. Their website tells me that it’s Warrior hops that give it the kick. That figures because this a very full flavored red ale. You can smell it as it sits in the glass on the bar. Enough said. My tastebuds are reeling, but I don’t know when I’ll get out this way again, so I order a pint of their smoked porter. This is another one you can smell before you touch the glass. It isn’t Rauchbier smoke either. It’s sweet American Barbeque smoke! Debbie’s a food geek and suggested we bring home a bottle or two for maranade. Not a bad idea, but I’m conflicted about that. Can you drink maranade?
Instead, I brought home a couple of bottles of Houblonium P-38. What is that? According to them it’s a “big hoppy American IPA and a big fruity Begian ale.” So, I still don’t know what the heck it is but I can’t wait to try it. If that’s not enough flavor for you, try their wings. Here’s the sauce lineup: Mild, Hot, BBQ, Honey Mustard, Sweet & Sour, Garlic, Jamaican Jerk, Chipotle BBQ, After Shock or Amphibious Inferno. After Shock
was sweet and sour spiked with red pepper flakes, and the Jerk was authentically laced with a ton of thyme.
What did I learn? Bullfrogs have balls. At least this one does!
-pcolus
If anyone wants to go to a great beer bar and is close to Maryland, please go to Max’s Taphouse. They sell hundreds of beers in bottles and several dozen on tap. You can order off a menu like a take-out chinese restaurant. Each beer on tap will tell you both the style of beer and the ABV %. They are located at the edge of the Fells Point part of the Harbor in B’more. A link to their website appears below. I have no stake in their success, I’m just a fan.
http://www.maxs.com/beerlist.php
If you go you will enjoy. Very casual place. Plenty of bars in area if you like to pub crawl.
I’ll have to second that! Max’s has a great selection and, more importantly, a very knowledgable staff. After my first beer there and a brief chat, I had the bartender pick beers for me and he was right on the money. You don’t find that often!