Written By Breweries In PA Contributor Gary Cook (12VoltBeers on Instagram)
They say it takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to become world-class in any given field. With a history behind the ownership that dates back to pre-prohibition, Susquehanna Brewing Co (Pittston, Pa) has got that part covered!
Today I’m meeting Fred Maier, one of the owners at SBC for a tour of the brewery. His distant grandfather, Charles Stegmaier, came to America from Germany and started Stegmaier Brewing Company in 1857 in Wilkes Barre, PA. The Stegmaier Brewery was a fixture in northeast PA until the mid 1970s and through the years the relatives have stayed within the beer business.
Fred shows me around the brewery and gives me a bit of their history. It’s definitely worth a stop if you happen to be near the area. SBC has a small tasting room where you can sample some of their year round beers like Goldencold Lager, Hopfive IPA and Hopcellerator IPA. Mixed in are their seasonals like Shady Spot, which is their popular summer shandy. The taproom even has the original wagon that Charles Stegmaier used to deliver beer.
You can usually find a food truck in the parking lot and some patrons playing cornhole when the weather is warmer.
All the beers produce by SBC consistently hit the mark on flavor. But I’ve often wondered why they’ve never made a New England Style IPA. They contract brew for other big names so SBC definitely understands the demand of the style. When I ask Fred about this I get an unexpected surprise. “We’re releasing our first hazy IPA before Memorial Day”, he says. “We just added a new canning line and it will be the first beer we use it on”.
Details on the new beer will be released in the coming weeks but SBC wants to make sure it hits shelves soon.
See the rest of the brewery for yourself:
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So there you have it. A new hazy beer for PA to look forward to this spring. If it’s as good as the other beers that Susquehanna Brewing puts out than it should be an excellent addition to their lineup.
Make sure to check out SBC’s website and follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up with the new canning line and much more!
