Touring Through The Breweries That Surround Harrisburg

Written by Brewerires In PA contributor B. Kline, who can be found at The Beer Thrillers

In the area surrounding Hummelstown (17036), there are several breweries. In all directions, roughly within 5 miles, there are fantastic breweries in Hershey, Middletown, and the outskirts of Harrisburg in areas like Rutherford and Union Station. I’m going to take you on a virtual tour of a few of these breweries and suggest a nice weekend trip to these locations.

In this article, we will be taking a look at Troegs Brewery, Boneshire Brew Works, Newfangled Brew Works, and Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery.

I’ve decided to write this in the best route method for driving and convenience. Find a map of the tour here. I debated exactly how I wanted to write-up the breweries and ultimately decided this might be the best and most logical way. The times I’ve done this ‘brewery trail’ this is always the way I’ve done it, and it also stops the ‘why was X first and Y last’ arguments. So lets take a look at these four breweries, what they have to offer on tap, and why their worth a stop in and check out.

Newfangled Brew Works

Located At: 8001 Union Station Blvd, Harrisburg, PA 17111
Untappd Link: https://untappd.com/NewfangledBrewWorks

Newfangled Brew Works is located inside Union Station, a recent development built off of Union Deposit Road (a long road that connects Harrisburg to several of the smaller towns in the area like South Hanover Township, Union Deposit, Hoernerstown, and even to Hershey). It is right as you enter into the development in a large building conjoined with its restaurant pairing – Koda. Koda is a high scale restaurant located to the right of the main entrance into Newfangled. Newfangled also has its own built-in Taco Truck tucked away in the back lefthand corner.

Lets discuss the food first, the taco truck has fabulous tacos, quesadillas, and other taco and Mexican related foods. Artisanal tacos is the best way to describe these, as this is definitely no Taco Bell menu (and a whole heck of a lot better tasting too). Their food menu can be found here: Food, their hours of operation are: Sunday 11AM-9PM, Monday-Friday 4PM-9PM, and Saturday 12PM-10PM.

The brewery itself currently has 16 beers on tap for consumption. Some of their own, and a few others. Of their own currently on tap they have:

Passionfruit Blonde Ale – Blonde Ale – 5%
Ariana Flockhart – Blonde Ale – 4.9%
Blood Orange Blonde Ale – Blonde Ale – 5%
Guava Lemonade Kettle Sour – Sour – 5.6%
Kettle Sour – Sour – 5.6%
Brut IPA – IPA – Brut – 7.7%
Double IPA – IPA – Imperial – 8.2%
Irish Red Ale – Red Ale – Irish – 6%
Saison – Farmhouse Ale – Saison – 6.8%
Newfangled American Wheat – Wheat Beer – 5.2%
Lager – Lager – 5.2%
IPA – IPA – American – 5.8%
Stout – Stout – American – 6.5%

The non-Newfangled Beers on tap are:

Yuengling Lager – Lager – 4.5% (Yuengling Brewery)
Standard – Cider – 5.5% (Big Hill Ciderworks)

I have currently had all but their lager, double IPA, Brut IPA, and the blood orange blonde ale. I have enjoyed everything I’ve had so far. Found nothing to be horrible or terrible and no off flavors or infected beers.

They offer their beers right now in pints or traditional pours, dependent on the style, as well as half pours and flights. Pricing is your normal fair for a craft brewery (5$-7/8$ depending on style and costs to make the beer).

Currently, Newfangled Brew Works has produced 22 unique beers, and has a global average rating of 3.73.

Upcoming events for Newfangled are:

Live Music – Fridays and Saturdays 7PM – 10PM
Trivia – Wednesdays 630PM – 830PM

Boneshire Brew Works

Located At: 7462 Derry St, Harrisburg, PA 17111
Untappd Link: https://untappd.com/BoneshireBrewWorks

Coming down the road from Newfangled and getting onto Nyes Road it will lead you to Derry Street. From there you take a right hand turn and find yourself after a few blocks at Boneshire Brew Works. Boneshire was started by Alan Miller, Carson Brooks, and Alex Govelovich.

Boneshire’s brewery is a small little ‘pub’ style brewery. As soon as you enter you feel already a member of a club where everybody knows your name. If you’ve been there once, your second time there, you are a ‘regular’ and quickly become on a first name basis with all of the staff.

Currently food is limited to a few behind the bar items like pickle flights and bologna, but it is a BYOB environment with a pizzeria just two doors down (to the left of the building is a Crossfit and after that is the pizza shop, how lucky are those crossfit hard-workers being “stuck” between a pizza shop and a brewery?).

Boneshire currently offers a taplist of their own, as well as a taplist of several breweries from Pennsylvania. Their current taplist is:

Their own:

Dillston – Red Ale – Irish – 5.5% (made with Greystone Public House)
Caucus-Race (6.0 Zappa Hops) – IPA – American – 7.5%
Harrishire – Smoked – 7.3% (made in collaboration with Harris Family Brewery)
Auzealand 2.0 – IPA – American – 6.3%
Dark of the Forest (barrel aged) – Stout – Coffee – 10%
Derry St. Wheat – Hefeweizen – 5%
Good Walk Spoiled – Sour – 4.5%

Guest tap lists:

Jelsa – Mead – Melomel – 12% (Larsen Meadworks)
.. Under Where? – Pale Ale – 5.5% (Pizza Boy Brewing)
Kriek Nouveau – Sour – 6.9% (Free Will Brewing Co.)
Brawler – English Mild – 4.2% (Yards Brewing Co.)
Pils – Pilsner – German – 4.7% (Stoudts Brewing)
Summer Scrumpy – Cider – 5.5% (Big Hill Ciderworks)
Fruit Wagon – Sour – 6.3% (Saucony Brewing Company)
Java Cask – Stout – Imperial Double – 14.3% (Victory Brewing)
Pikeland Pils – Pilsner – German – 4.9% (Slyfox Brewing)

Boneshire Brewery has a steady string of events going on. Mondays are D&D nights, Tuesdays alternate between Open Mic Nights and Bar Bingo nights, Wednesdays are trivia nights, Thursdays are live music nights. Their Facebook page has a full list of events with the band names already signed on. They also occasionally have live music on Saturday nights.

Boneshire also does cans to go, in 4-packs of most of their in-house made beers. A few exceptions based on styles and things, but nearly all of their brewery beers are set to go. And typically at much better prices than a pint at the bar. They also do growler fills.

They currently have 126 uniquely produced beers with a global average rating of 3.82 on Untappd.

Tattered Flag Brewery and Distillery

Located At: 1 S Union St Middletown, PA
Untappd Link: https://untappd.com/TatteredFlagBrewery

Leaving Boneshire we can get right up onto 322 from Derry Street. There we can then turn right and get off at the Hummelstown / Middletown exit and go along Middletown Road (which becomes Vine Street), not much further we’ll turn right onto Main Street and then turn left to get onto Union and we are at our next destination. Middletown’s first (and so far only) brewery and distillery – Tattered Flag.

Veteran owned and having just hit their third anniversary they have really been pumping out some outstanding beers in recent history. With new brewing crew of Dave Marrow, Justin Hoak, and Cliff Plank, they have been putting out exceptional IPAs (NE IPAS specifically) and sours. They were just voted Harrisburg best Brewery and Distillery.

They have been doing some excellent collaborations with numerous breweries in the last few months as well. Beers with Wolf Brewing Co. , Levante Brewing, Abomination Brewing, and up and comer Pilger Ruh Brewing.

They have a downstairs bar that is also their coffee shop as well as the distillery area. It was called the Nuclear Bean but on Untappd they refer to the bar as the Distillery Bar now. They also have their main restaurant and bar upstairs, though you can order food at either location.

At the downstairs Nuclear Bean / coffee shop / distillery bar, you can order drinks. Their taplist there currently is:

NP Project – Kombucha (Renewal Kombucha)
Nuclear Bean Nitro Cold Brew – Coffee
Blue Raider Kolsch – Kolsch – 5.2%
Teutonic Knight Hefeweizen – Hefeweizen – 5.4%
Fatum Series Ale – Strawberry – Sour – 6%
Because I Was Inverted (Mango) – IPA – Milkshake – 6.6%
Makin’ Love at Midnight (2019) – IPA – Milkshake – 7.8%
Silent Professional Foxtrot – Farmhouse Ale – Saison – 7.8%
New Zealand Hop Test – IPA – Imperial Double – 8%
Don’t Cryo’ver Spilled Milk – IPA – Milkshake – 8%
TMI IPA – IPA – American – 6.5%

They also have cans to go, which you can pick up upstairs or downstairs, there list of cans to go currently are:

Tattered Abomination – IPA – New England – 7.8% (made with Abomination Brewing)
Prepare to be Flabbergasted – Sour – 7%
Teutonic Knight Hefeweizen
Blue Raider Kolsch
O’Dusseldorf Rules – Altbier – 5%
Honey I Added More Hops – IPA – New England – 7%
Double Knife Fight in Space – IPA – New England – 8%
Makin’ Love at Midnight 2.0 – IPA – American – 7.5%
Step 1 Brew Beer Step 2 ? Step 3 Profit – IPA – New England – 8%
Makin’ Love at Midnight (Sour) – Sour – 7.8%
TMI IPA

Their taplist upstairs currently is:

Silent Professional Foxtrot
Blue Raider Kolsch
Teutonic Knight Hefeweizen
DDH Double IPA – IPA – Imperial / Double – New England – 8.4%
Swattier Divide (2018) – IPA – New England – 8.2%
Step 1 Brew Beer Step 2 ? Step 3 Profit
TMI IPA
Don’t Cryo’ver Spilled Milk
Should’ve Got a Warrant – Sour – 7.6%
Stars and Stripes 20.19 – IPA – New England – 7.8%
Sparklerz (Meyer Lemon) – Hard Seltzer – 5%
Five Sided Puzzle Palace – Stout – Imperial / Double – 12% (Levante Brewing colab)
Because I Was Inverted (Mango)
Double Knife Fight in Space
Groundhops Day – IPA – New England – 6%
Honey I Added More Hops
Makin’ Love at Midnight (sour)
Prepare to be Flabbergasted
Tattered Abomination

Make sure to check out my blog (The Beer Thrillers) for reviews on Prepare to be Flabbergasted, Tattered Abomination, and Makin’ Love at Midnight (Sour) all due to being posted within the next several days.

I’m not much of a foody, but I do love going to Tattered Flag or helping with their canning run, just to get to eat there. It is top notch gourmet style food. All bases covered, from hot dogs and hamburgers, to salads, to tacos and quesadillas, to steaks, and seafood. Everything is covered and everything is absolutely phenomenal.

Of course I have to mention that you should check out the distillery if you have any inclination in liquors. Dan, the distiller for Tattered Flag is amazing and provides exceptional spirits. (He also does ghost tours in Gettysburg.)

Tattered Flag Brewery has 351 uniquely produced beers with a global average rating on Untappd of 3.77.

Troegs Independent Craft Brewing

Located At: 200 Hersheypark Dr, Hershey, PA 17033
Untappd Link: https://untappd.com/troegsbrewingcompany

And last but not least of our little tour is Troegs Brewery. Which at this point, really needs no introduction. They are always some of the top rated beers in the state, and is generally considered “the top” of the craft industry in the state (behind Yuengling). The brewery itself is always jam packed, weekday, weeknight, afternoon, or evening. Some of which is due to its fantastic location next door to HersheyPark, and some of that due to the excellent beers in production, as well as a top of the line brewery tour.

They have certainly been expanding too. Adding the foeders and making a larger cellar room. They’ve added a beer garden outfront. And lots and lots more parking. Which somehow still doesn’t feel like its enough!

They have also branched out and done a lot more of their Splinter Series beers, produced more and more regular scratches, and even begun to can some of the scratch beers, and upped the number of rotational/seasonal beers. Releasing some big hits like Lollihop, Golden Thing, and various Scratches in beer can that have all gotten great reviews.

They have also added an upstairs loft with its own food menu and its own bar (though the taplist is the same as it is in the side-room by the foeders and at the main bar, just slightly more limited). The pizza upstairs is the best new feature total though, hop on that immediately!

Their current taplist at the main bar is:

Perpetual IPA – IPA – American – 7.5%
Troegennator Double Bock – Bock – Imperial – 8.2%
Sunshine Pils – Pilsner – 4.5%
HopBack Amber Ale – Red Ale – Amber Ale – 6%
DreamWeaver – Wheat Beer – 4.8%
JavaHead – Stout – Coffee – 7.5%
Hop Knife – IPA – American – 6.2%
Nimble Giant – IPA – Imperial / Double – 9%
Naked Elf – English Ale – 6.9%
Golden Thing – DDH – IPA – Double – 8.2%
Boysenberry Tart Ale – Sour – 4.5%
Raspberry Tart Ale – Sour – 4.5%
Fest Lager – Lager – Marzen – 6.1%
Dear Peter – Farmhouse Saison – 7.6%
Hazy IPA (Scratch 387) – IPA – New England – 5.2%
Tangerine Passionfruit Guava Tart (Scratch 386) – Sour – 4.6%
Krausened Dunkel Lager (Scratch 385) – Dunkel – 5.4%
Tangerine Blackberry Guava Tart Ale (Scratch 384) – Sour – 5%

In Bottles Only:

LaGrave Triple Golden Ale – Belgian – 8%
Jovial Dubbel Ale – Belgian – 7%
Mad Elf Grand Cru (2018) – Belgian Strong Dark – 11%
Wild Elf – Farmhouse Wild Ale – 11%
Bourbon Barrel-Aged Impending Descent – Russian Stout – 12%
Bourbon Barrel-Aged Troegenator – Double Bock – 9.8%
Bourbon Barrel-Aged Flying Mouflan – Belgian – 11.5%
Dear Peter
Farmette – Farmhouse Saison – 6.5%
Blackberry Tizzy – Sour – 7.8%
Mortal Cherry – Farmhouse Wild Ale – 6.6%
Apricot Farmette – Farmhouse Saison – 7.4%

Troeg also has cider from Big Hill Ciderworks as well as numerous non-alcoholic sodas in bottle (for children and non-drinking drivers).

If you’ve never been to Troegs Brewery before, make sure you take the walking tour. It’s a quick 5-10 minute self guided tour but you get to see some neat things along the way (like the krausen for DreamWeaver as well as their bottling and canning lines).

Troegs currently has 385 uniquely produced beers (according to Untappd, which is a bit dated on this, since a lot of their scratches were released before Untappd was created, and they are currently up to Scratch 387) with a global average rating on Untappd of 3.79.

Thank you for checking out this brief brewery hopping tour around the outskirts of Harrisburg and centralized around Hummelstown. I hope you all found it informative and helpful and will give these four great breweries a look over. They all definitely deserve your time and attention as they are all pumping out some wonderful beers and have great stuff going on at their breweries all the time.

And lastly, make sure you hop on over to my beer blog – The Beer Thrillers, where me and beer buddy J. Doncevic have been writing some wonderful beer reviews, brewery reviews, trip recaps, beer event reviews, and all kinds of other beer related things in the Central PA area since May. Make sure to stop and check us out and let us know in the comments that you came from here, we’d greatly appreciate seeing you there!