Beer and Family

My Trip to Troegs Brewery

by Joe Elia


Flights of Troegs scratch batch #107 and #109
photo by Serena Elia

Enjoying beer is not just a visceral experience.  It is more than the taste of hops, malt, yeast, and alcohol on the palate (a word I don't use much).  There is a philosophical aspect to beer that I appreciate.  Beer represents communion, fraternity, camaraderie.  Ironically, as a husband and a father a love of beer moves from it's true spirit of togetherness to more of a solitary pursuit.  It is something I enjoy but the closest people in my life don't. 

 

So when my wife mentioned she wanted to take the kids to Hershey Park, I sheepishly suggested we go to Troegs Brewery as part of the trip.  Honestly I was expecting her to shoot the idea down.  A "what kind of father wants to take his daughters to a brewery?" type of thing.  But surprisingly she liked the idea. When my daughters seemed interested in going as well, I was equally as surprised. 

 



In the lobby at Troegs

photo by Serena Elia



Troegs is roughly 4 miles from Hershey Park.  It is easy to find and easy to get to from all the attractions.  Started in 1997 by Chris and John Trogner, the original brewery was located in Harrisburg.  It wasn't until 2011 that the company moved to its current facility in Hershey, making a beer and family outing possible.

 

They offer self guided and guided tours through the brewery.  The self guided tours are free and are offered

Sun-Wed from 11am to 9pm and Thu-Sat: 11am to 10pm.  We took the self guided tour through the brewery because you must be at least 21 years of age to go on the guided tours.  The self guided tour however is just the right size with family in tow.  You can grab a beer in the tasting room and then meander about the central walkway through the brewery.  You are separated from the machinery by glass partition walls that contain brewing facts and info about beer production and Troegs itself.

 

Information on fermentation on the self guided tour.

 I thought my kids would be bored and whiny with the self guided tour, but again they surprised me.  The information is unique and presented is museum style snippets.  The fermenting equipment is impressive in both size and sheen.  I was surprised that my wife was enjoying herself and her beer (yup, I'm pretty lucky).  She bought a Scratch Batch #107, a tasty Saison made with beets.  Like many women, she is not a fan of the big, hoppy beers that Troegs is known for.  While she has enjoyed their Sunshine Pils once or twice, she doesn't really appreciate the robustness of their other brews.  I chose the Perpetual IPA to drink.  It's one of those beers like Smuttynose or Harpoon that you forget about in your quest to try new beers.  I was glad I revisited and I reminded myself to add more cases to the next order for KOP Beer Outlet.





Flights of Scratch batches #108, a lively tripel and #109, a brooding stout.  #107, a saison brewed with beets, already met it's demise.

 The tour ended in the gift shop.  It was filled with the usual gift shop stuff...tee's and hats, signs and stickers.  However, Troegs artwork on their beers and gift shop items are thoroughly unique.  They all seem to blend the sinister with the jovial.  The tipsy Mad Elf's smirk conveys both mirth and mayhem.  The horned god of the Troeganator, with his sinister smile and piercing stare haloed by his white hair is a throw back to the gods of some ancient clan of Norsemen.  And who can forget the Nugget Nectar hop clutched in a hand raised defiantly as if in rebellion against some oppressive regime.

After the gift shop we went back to the 

tasting room.  I had an hour and half drive ahead of me so I didn't want to indulge to excess, but I did want to sample the Scratch Batch offerings.  These beers are small batch beers that are only available in the tasting room.  These special brews rarely become widely distributed which makes repeated visits to Troegs worthwhile.