Another entry for my beer travelogue…

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania, Labor Day Weekend 2015 — My visit to Tröegs Brewing Company was the highlight of my Labor Day weekend trip to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (besides the my son’s hockey tournament games, of course).

After loading up on chocolate at Hershey’s Chocolate World, I made the short drive to Tröegs, one of my favorite breweries in the Mid-Atlantic region. The wait in the long line at the busy tasting room was well worth it, as I walked away from the bar with a sampler tray of nine beers.

Beers Sampled: As if a 9-beer sampler tray wasn’t enough, I also sampled two other brews for a total of 11, making the most of my brewery visit. The beer menu was incredible!

• Dreamweaver Wheat, an unfiltered flavorful wheat beer (4.8%)
• Pale Ale, an aggressively hopped American style Pale Ale (5.4%)
• HopBack Amber Ale, a hoppy Amber Ale that is Tröegs signature brew (6.0%)
• Troegenator Double Bock, this big beer is my favorite Double Bock (8.2%)
• Java Head Stout, a smooth Stout with coffee flavors (7.5%)
• Perpetual IPA, a bold Imperial Pale Ale (7.5%)
• Naked Elf, this unfiltered brew is Mad Elf without the cherries and honey (6.8%)
• Hop Knife Harvest Ale, this brew features hand-harvested hops at the peak of maturity (6.2%)
• Grapefruit IPA, a strong flavorful IPA (9.4%)
• Fest Lager, a classic German-style Festbier (5.6%)
• White Ale, a clean, refreshing wheat beer (5.2%)

Favorite Beer: Hop Knife Harvest Ale. At 87 IBU, Hop Knife is a deliciously hoppy brew. Its 98 overall rating on Rate Beer says it all. It’s too bad this a seasonal brew because I would drink it all year long.

I was most impressed with: The enthusiastic crowd of people — Tröegs must be doing something right because the place was absolutely packed. I also loved the wall art.

And oh by the way: One of the main reasons I was anxious to visit Tröegs again was to buy a new Mad Elf glass, after I broke the one I got when I visited the brewery in 2007. While I was in the spacious general store, I also picked up a mixed 12-pack – with three bottles of Hop Knife! – to take home.