April 11, 2024 • 31 mins
In this episode of the Appalachian Brewing Company Podcast, hosts Mike Parker and Artie Tafoya engage in a captivating conversation that dives deep into the world of beers and the art of craftsmanship. Joined by special guest and woodworking enthusiast, Brian Stever, they share unique insights and lighthearted banter centered on their shared love for beer, childhood memories, personal preferences and an array of intriguing projects Brian has pursued.
The discussion extends to innovative brewery trends and the trio's personal favourites; from the classic beer Mountain Lager to the innovative Pineapple Upside-Down Sour, listen in as they explore an array of tastebud-tickling brews. The episode is further spiced by memorable recounts of past events at Appalachian Brewing Company, including the vibrant Irish dance-filled fest and their phenomenal Celtic Knot beer.
Delving into future ventures, they share their excitement for upcoming spring events, the anticipated PA Flavor festival, and the release of their special brew - "Dank Dynasty".
The tale of brews, events, and camaraderie wrapped in this episode is a must for every beer lover, craft enthusiast, or anyone looking for a cheerful conversation. Tune in to "Unveiling the Craft: Beer Talk, Tasting Trends, and More!"
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Music.
(00:10):
Well, hello, everybody, and welcome once again to the Appalachian Brewing Company podcast.
It's Mike Parker and Artie Tafoya coming to you now in the month of April.
Artie, beautiful rainy day outside. Not to talk too much about the weather,
but spring is right around the corner. So, yeah.
Yeah, Mike, I don't think we have any lack of water around here. No, I think we're good.
(00:32):
The aquifer is, well, in good shape.
It won't rain for two weeks, and there'll be a drop. Yeah, I know.
Know isn't doesn't it just make the most sense though like my son said
to me that he's like because they have off school they're still like on easter
break you know and uh he's like this stinks he's like
he's like i hate these kind of days he's like because i'm not
in school he's like but i you know i don't
(00:53):
want to really do anything you know like outside and i'm like
and he's not the type of kid that like shies away from you
know getting dirty or anything like that but even this is a little too
much for him after a while you know going for a getting out in the mud
mud yeah muddy muddied up do you remember riding like riding your butt going
for a bike ride is great like if you're i mean like then when you start getting
that string of cold water up the middle of your back then it's you're sort of
(01:17):
like what have i done here so dude i actually see a lot of those guys have you
ever gotten into any cycling already with like you know and i mean.
Not just like mountain biking or anything like the uh you know
the the tight clothing and the the 14 of
you on the side of the road no no we didn't
we didn't have that when i was a kid i know
(01:39):
the adults a newer phenomenon but i used
to have a mini bike and it you know the the mini bikes ran on the old like tecumseh
like lawnmower yeah yeah right and all it had was all it had was a chain that
went to that and and back to the back wheel and you know you laid it over you
laid it over, you know, and it was like, just kept running.
(01:59):
Yeah. So it was, yeah, I had one of those. I used to ride it all around Colorado Springs.
That was fun stuff. But now I remember my nephew, he got a like 25 CC motorcycle
when he was like four or five, right?
I'm a few years older than him. So I'm like eight or nine.
(02:20):
You're super jealous of this. And I was like, ah, look at this mini bike I'm
riding and he's riding a...
You know, he had all the gear, he had the helmet. We didn't have helmets. I know.
I was just saying, over the years, I think, you know, I've been in the brewery
or something. I'm just sitting there and there will be like a group of,
it's not a biker gang, it's a cyclist gang.
(02:43):
They come in and they all have the spandex on and the tight clothes and they're
like, you know, they look, they've probably just ridden like 40 miles while
I'm sitting there drinking beer.
And then, you know, so. So you're from up north, right, Mike?
Well, yeah. Yeah, but not as far north as like Shemokin.
No, north of Harrisburg, yeah. Yeah. So Shemokin, I'm doing a tap takeover at
the Ale House there tomorrow night, and they have ATV parking. Yeah.
(03:09):
At their pub, because I guess there's some trails around there.
There is, yeah. And they ride, and then they ride right to the brewery.
I keep calling it a brewery, I'm sorry.
Right to the Ale House, and they have ATV parking there. Well,
you know, Shemokin is my parents' hometown.
Oh, is it really? It is, yeah, Shemokin and Cole Township, Northumberland County up there.
(03:30):
So, you know, I've been there obviously recently and everything just to,
we had a relative that recently passed away that we were, so we spend a little
bit of time up in those old stomping grounds again too.
And when you, you know, but that is like a destination for people for like,
they have the coal holes up there, you know, like the mountains that are dug
and then they, they, uh, they ride around.
(03:51):
And then also, I think, I know the state like has, there's some ATV trails,
as long as you have that stuff like registered, some of the actual established
trails that are through like, you know, the mountains and stuff,
they also cut right into, into town.
So when you're driving through Shemokin and the towns around there,
some of the streets have ATV signs on them so you can follow them so you know
(04:12):
where to ride. So that's exactly where they're going. There you go.
All right. Well, Hey, where we're going, we have, we have a guest here today.
We're keeping it low key. like we're just like you know
we we've been dealing with all sorts of like collaboration partners
and other businesses and companies and things that
you guys are working with along the way we just decided to bring an old friend
in here today already you want to by the way pull the microphone just a little
bit close you can pull it closer to you then you have to lean forward there
(04:34):
you go perfect introduce our friend that we have here with us and and uh let's
get to drinking a beer here for crying out loud what are we waiting for mike i don't know Oh, well,
he's been so quiet over here, by the way, this is a podcast.
Thanks for, thanks for inviting me. When do I get to talk? Do I get to talk? I want to talk.
He's just giggling over there. And that's probably, I want to introduce Brian Stever.
(04:59):
He's a good old friend of mine. He, he and I have known each other for quite a few years.
And Brian, you know, if, if I need help with anything, he's that guy.
I just call him. Hey, Brian, I need you to help. me do this.
Ryan, I need you to help me do that.
And he's like, I don't even know what you're talking about, but certainly I
will try to help you however I can.
And the interesting thing is As Brian has done.
(05:23):
Like a project for every brewery. So, hey, Brian, I really need,
and it could be something silly. Custom stuff.
Oh, yeah. Custom, like trash can covers made out of wood. Right?
Oh, yeah. And he's like, what do you want to make?
I'm like, hey, I got this. Come on. And he did it, and he put it together, and so welcome.
Yeah, the Palletwood. Thank you. The Palletwood Library over in Harrisburg.
(05:46):
Yeah, I've done a lot of projects.
Cool, yes. Yeah, well, familiar face. And I'm sure if you've popped in,
were you an old Camp Hill local when the Camp Hill brewery was around?
Or were you more of a flagship guy over there? No, I did the flagship more,
but loved the Camp Hill location just because it was close. Close,
yeah. That's right. I see, too.
That was one thing to love about it. It was close. I was bad at myself for closing.
(06:10):
Parking was a little bit of a trouble over there.
Unfortunately. Yeah. So anyway, what have you been up to, man?
Man. What's your, we're describing you as an old friend and a woodworker and
sort of the guy that already calls for stuff, but what's, how's life? How are things?
Oh, things are busy. You know, actually started my own business a little while
(06:30):
ago doing what I did for other people for a long time.
I'm a registered nurse with a business doing Medicare and Medicaid auditing,
but on the side, I do the woodworking and just,
I guess about three years years ago or so, I started doing refinishing of old
console and tabletop tube radios. Oh, wow.
(06:53):
You know, making them look brand new. And if they weren't able to be actually
functioning, converted them to Bluetooth.
Nice. So. Cool. Well, so, and then you, what, you like resell that stuff online?
Yeah. It's good market for that.
It seems to be so far. So far, so good. Yeah. It's just a side,
side thing. So, you know, enough to keep me out of trouble.
(07:15):
Beautiful. All right. Well, listen, beer podcast. This is a beer podcast.
Let's establish that. So beers in hand, gentlemen, shall we? Cheers.
Artie, Brian, good to see you guys. I've got the, speaking of flagship,
flagship, uh, one of the, one of the brands, the old mountain lager is in my hand. It's delicious.
Artie, what do you got today? I'm drinking the breakfast at base camp Hellas lager.
(07:39):
This year, it's just super crisp. That nice toasty sweetness, just amazing.
What the guys are doing down there in Harrisburg, man, they're just hitting
it, hitting every, every beer, bam, bam, just coming out. Knocking it out of
the park. Knocking it out.
What's up? What do you got there, Brian? I have the pineapple upside down cake sour.
It is, I, I never really drank sours before I met Artie and now their sours
(08:04):
are probably the, my favorite whenever I'm, if I'm wanting sour, I drink one of theirs.
Yeah, that's a, that's a really, really good. That's the plays well with others.
Pineapple upside down sour. Love that. Yes. Yeah. Brian, actually,
he went to a tap takeover with me one night. I was like, hey,
you want to go? And he said, yeah.
And we were at the Old Republic Distillery doing a tap takeover there.
(08:27):
And Brian, he's like, hey, come here to the bartender.
Tell them, what did you say? Oh, what, what to add to this? Oh my God.
So, so I, I, I, I love pineapple upside down cakes. My favorite cake of all time.
It's a weakness of mine as well. And this sour tastes just like a pineapple upside down cake.
(08:49):
The one thing it's missing is maraschino cherries.
I said, so what you need to do is you need to put maraschino cherries in the glass.
Right. And pour a little bit of the juice into it. Oh my gosh.
It is awesome. Wow. It's fantastic. As long as you don't put toothpicks in there.
(09:09):
So today as we record is the day after easter and
i went into you know so we always hit my my mom's
house and my parents house then we go to my wife's mom's
house about another 45 minutes away so we get everybody in so i get both sides
of the family and you know it's really like the big upfront lunch you know dinner
like at my mom's house and then by the time we get to tara's mom's house at
(09:31):
the end of the day it's like more like what's left like different things and a lot of desserts.
Man, the pineapple upside down cake was just the classic one.
It was sitting there and I was like, so I snuck a little piece. But yeah, I love it.
I just picture a homemade pineapple upside down cake with the pineapples,
the maraschino cherries, and the toothpicks sticking out the top to keep the
(09:53):
saran wrap or whatever it's covered with from sticking. So we'll pull it all off.
Yeah, it's a classic look. It's always for pineapple upside down cake. I know.
It's just like jello. Yeah. Yeah. Now pineapple is one of my favorite like flavors.
So it's like that beer specifically.
The other thing about that too, Artie, maybe you've had, so I know you guys
serve some ciders and everything like guest breweries or cider reason or whatever
(10:16):
that will occasionally you'll have them on tap over the, you know,
around, but I have a friend, Deb, who comes over to the house every once in a while to hang out.
And when she's hanging out at our bar, she usually brings along like a cider.
But I said, no, you should try this. And she, and it was great.
So like, you know, people who are into ciders, but maybe you're like me,
(10:36):
where if I have too many, like if I have, I like ciders, but it's kind of a
heartburn thing or something with me. They're sweet too.
Yeah. Well, right. A lot of sweetness there. Yeah. But the sour and that,
that one specifically so good.
Yeah. So do you hear from that, that people like who are big sour aficionados
would get into like a, did they say sour?
I mean, cider, cider, people like sours.
(10:57):
You think so? I think so. Yeah. Yeah, I think so. I think it's along the same lines as a cider.
I mean, you know, it's fruity, the apple instead, you know, pineapple instead
of apple or blueberry instead of apple.
But yeah, I think it follows right along the line. And I love a cider that's
nice and dry, crisp, you know.
And I know that Jack's used to make a one that was like pear.
(11:19):
Oh yeah, yeah, that was a good one. that one a lot. You know,
I like the regular ciders, but I need them to be really super dry or I can't,
like, like you said, I can't drink more than one because it's just,
it's too sweet for me. Yeah. Yeah. Is that the way you were? Are you into ciders?
My wife is, you know, she, she has an issue with gluten.
So when we go somewhere, it's usually a cider for her, but I'd rather have a beer.
(11:43):
Yeah, no, I'm, I'm with you. So there's like a couple of things,
whatever style you're into.
And if, if it's, you know, it will include ciders in there, but like,
you know what I, when I was younger, IPAs, IPAs had not hit,
like they've hit, you know what I mean? In the last 15 years.
So like 20 years ago when I would come into ABC, you know, it would be like,
(12:03):
you know, Hoppy Trails, which is a particular, it's comparatively now it's a
pretty mild IPA compared to some of the American.
Yeah, it's perfect. It's great. But like, you know, some of these other ones
are like, you know, hit you over the head. And even for me at the time,
back then, I would drink like a Water Gap weed or what I'm drinking today, a Mountain Lager.
(12:24):
And then at the end, when I was kind of done, maybe on my third beer,
I would go for the IPA because...
It was, it hit you, you know what I mean? Like the flavor, it was full flavor.
And I was like, wow, I can only, at the time I thought before I kind of developed
the taste from it, like I could only have one of those.
There's a beer like that for everybody where you, maybe you can only have one of them.
It's, you know, you talk about the, how important it is not to burn out your
(12:48):
palate and stuff like that too.
Certainly you don't want to drink a Sigma Oasis and then drink a mountain lager
afterwards because it just tastes like water.
Really? I mean, you know, that's such a great beer, but anytime you have that
much flavor on your palate. and you go to something that's less flavor,
it just, it, it, like your palate has a little fatigue from that.
Yeah. And it just tastes like nothing, but you know, so you always go the other
(13:10):
way, Mike, you're exactly right.
Do a, you're going to start with a nice Pilsner, start with a nice Pilsner and
then move your way to, to the others.
Just, uh, I don't always suggest finishing with a double though.
Yeah. The double, double IPA. That's not always the best move unless you're
at home. Yeah. If you're at home, go all out. That's all.
You're right. Agreed. That's the difference. so so i didn't ask
(13:31):
brian but like what's brian what is your like go-to
you know you said you like to have a beer and obviously
there's been so many great ones over the years but if you're heading
into abc what's your favorite argyle sweater oh
my god yeah argyle sweat when when they brought that out you know already you
got to try this so i i took a sip like holy cow that is my favorite beer now
(13:55):
officially so every time that i'm if i'm gonna have a beer and I'm going to
have an IPA. It's the Argyle sweater. Nice.
Anything else? Any seasonal? Like that? It's like something that was off the
wall at one point that you wish they'd bring back or just use the one that you
look forward to each year.
I can tell you mine. Mine of course is the Hinterland Hefeweizen.
I like, I love when the Hefe comes out. Yeah. It'll be here soon.
(14:17):
It's good time of year. Yeah. I do like the Hefeweizen. Yeah. Those are nice.
Hmm. Yeah. I'm going to have to give that a little bit of thought.
Okay. One that just kind of.
If it's there, I'm going to have it. Absolutely. Cool.
You know, what, what just came
out was a Pierce Pale Ale. I don't know if you got to try that, Brian.
I don't know if you've been down to the Canksburg store in a little while,
but they have the Pierce Pale Ale there.
(14:38):
That's a really nice beer. Carrie's favorite. She always says it.
That's the reason I took it off the flagship.
You don't want to spoil her too much. Yeah, because it's her favorite beer.
She's now an Argyle drinker more than anything, probably. And that Argyle,
you know, like you said, Brian, it's just sort of middle of the road.
It's hoppy, but it's also flavorful. It's got, it's got, it's got a little bit
(15:02):
of a East coast, West coast thing going on.
And I think that, that blend that they created is almost perfect.
So that's that, you know, I, I, I've been known to have a few of myself.
Yeah. Well, and I was just down at the Mechanicsburg location,
um, for the, um, Irish dancing. Oh, that's right. Yeah, that's right.
(15:22):
Perfect. Well, that's a good transition because, you know, we're about 15 minutes into the podcast.
We like to split it up into segments, keep talking, get some fresh beer, get some fresh topics.
When we come back, we'll talk about we'll look back on just say,
hey, we're coming just right out of Irish Fest, St.
Patrick's. You just brought it up, Brian. Already, we'll ask you how things
went around the brew pub and maybe some ideas as we get here into spring.
(15:45):
I know we got a couple of special events coming up and what you might be able
to look forward to. If you're looking to include Appalachian Brewing Company
in any of those picnic plans as we get here into warmer weather and hopefully
move this rain out of the way.
And we'll be right back on the Appalachian Brewing Company podcast.
Music.
(16:11):
All right, and we're back on the Appalachian Brewing Company podcast.
It's Mike Parker, Artie DeFoya, and our guest Brian Stever this week hanging
out and just having some beers and catching up.
It's springtime. It's officially spring.
I guess the official first day of spring is somewhere towards the end of March,
somewhere towards the middle end of March. Last Monday.
(16:33):
It was last Monday. Perfect. Then we get Easter, and then it's on. on.
And with all this rain, I hope you have your lawnmower tuned up and everything ready to go.
Cause the next drop of sunlight that we get is going to, things are going to shoot up. Yeah.
So anyway, it's a, it's a good time of year. I really enjoy it.
And it's, we just came out of, of a really cool month too.
You know, March is kind of that, that, that muddy outdoor month,
(16:55):
you know, for people, but it's a great time to do things like the one thing
we get in March is, is a great excuse to get together and have a few beers St.
Patrick's day. And you guys at ABC BC already had to have a Irish Fest every year. How did it go?
You know, I think for the first time in a few years, it just,
everything was clicking.
You know, we were busier than, than, you know, it reminded me of the old days,
(17:16):
you know, when you were just, you know, our Irish Fest would just kill it, you know?
And yeah, so it was good. It felt good. And I think people are starting to come
out again and feel like they can really get out and enjoy themselves.
And our, our food went, the food menu was great. The food was awesome.
Yeah, it was so good. and Celtic Knot.
Man, what a great beer this year. It was just spot on.
(17:37):
That beautiful Irish red. Yes. It was fantastic.
It was really, really good. I'm glad you enjoyed it, Brian. That's awesome.
And so, hey, it was great. You know, we, all of our locations were very busy.
We enjoyed, you know, the dancing we did in some locations. We got that back going again.
The Irish dancing. Yeah, the Irish dancing. So I know Brian went out to Mechanicsburg and saw it.
(17:57):
And just so, it's so magical to have that, Those girls and the kids and everybody
just, it's like they're floating through air.
Well, they put a lot of work into that. That is their big time too.
Wouldn't it be, isn't it great? It's like, you know, all the work that they
do in this studio and it's probably at night and they're probably getting running around.
They go to school all day and then they go to dance class in the evenings and
(18:17):
the weekends and everything else.
And then the big culmination of it is to get to dance in front of a whole bunch
of people who are already having a great time. And then that adds to the,
it's a great atmosphere.
Yeah, no doubt. out yeah our kids my my girls uh they
uh irish step dance from the time they were four years old so
we used to go watch them and it was fun but you know it
got to a point where it was like you know we knew every we could almost do the
(18:40):
dances from watching it and so many times but yeah i couldn't do that yeah no
yeah well i couldn't either but i if i had a few beers i thought i could that's
all that matters it would be hard for you to blend in with that crowd Who is that?
And I don't fit in the outfit either. Not any longer.
I wear kilts that's true that's about it well no i i wear kilts move aside girls.
(19:07):
So one thing i didn't tell you earlier is is
brian also is he is santa for us at our location so he every every christmas
he donates his time to come over and and drink a few beers and become santa
for a few hours and and we always appreciate that brian uh no not a problem
it's fun the the the The location in Carlisle,
(19:29):
that was my favorite Santa episode this year because, you know,
having the families that are military families coming in, it was just a great experience.
It was breakfast with Santa, which was awesome.
Yeah, that's great. That's cool. I was actually thinking the more I get,
you know, back in the day, it's one of the best things, and you could argue
(19:51):
that's one of the best things, but it's still there.
And that's one of the things. So when I go into the breweries and wherever I'm
at and I visit or I look at social media, you know, some of the things I look around,
like when we were, you know, building Mechanicsburg, you know,
like in putting up the posters up there, the beers, the frames with the canvases on them.
Some of those like stickers or the big decals of the beer bottle and thing that are on the wall.
(20:16):
There's the selfie station there on the bench next to the brew,
the, the, the brew shop of the Jolly Scott. Yep.
And so I, when I, and I thought it would be, you know, that was one of those
ideas that we already made happen on based on an idea.
And you, when you see people sitting down, putting their arm around and getting
their picture taken with that, I love that.
And you said that, you know, you've, you've filled in for, for Santa from time
(20:38):
to time over at the break.
I actually thought as I'm getting a little bit older now, already that I might
actually perhaps with the beard and and I'll make a decent Jolly Scott at some
point. So if you're looking for that. There you go.
I don't know if the legs, I have the legs for it, but I think I could, you know.
No, you don't need the legs. You just need to be able to tolerate a kilt.
Yes. Well, I'd like to. I've never worn a kilt. Can you believe that? Hey. Even Artie has.
(21:01):
I've worn a kilt. Good, good.
I'd like to point out, though, Breakfast with Santa was great,
but we just did Breakfast with Elsa.
Yeah. And people came from like five states away.
Way oh my god you're kidding me wow who is is that apparently santa
yeah santa's not the draw anymore okay
well he's in a lot
(21:23):
of places you can go yeah yeah find the
high quality elsa though that's awesome that's a good idea i like when you look
outside the box like that there was one point where we almost had had a wrestler
come in i don't know if you remember that then he canceled on us it was supposed
to be some guy i don't even remember who it was it was like a guy who who was
kind of on his way up and then it was, somebody reached out to me and said,
(21:46):
Hey, they're doing some show somewhere and this guy's the champion.
And he was going to come in and we were going to do a, you know, he was going to appear.
And then he ended up canceling or something. Cause the show,
I don't know what happened, but I like when there's different things like,
and you know what, like there was a buzz for that.
Like there were going to be, they were going to get a whole new crowd coming
in that night. Mike, I still say that downtown in Harrisburg one night.
(22:08):
In our future, we get somebody to bring a ring in and we do a championship wrestling
match there, right there.
And I might even take on, I don't know, somebody.
Yeah. Well, okay. Well, I would think. I might take somebody on.
I might put a mask on. Okay. And take somebody on.
(22:28):
I was thinking of you in more of a managerial role.
You know, it was the guy's name.
Him home it was uh okay okay i
accept yeah perfect it was bobby the
brain heenan right so of uh arty we'll have
arty the brewer you know to foia i don't
know we'll go get something in there brian right yeah but no
(22:50):
i like the lucha libre mask you know that would be good to make
some sort of mexican style beer or something if you go no no that's funny though
we do a cinco de mayo party in every year well this has happened a couple years
but brian dresses up as as the bull and I have been known to be the matador. It's still a secret.
(23:12):
It's still a secret as to who the matador is, but it's rumored that it's me. Yes.
And the first couple of years were great because Brian was a nicer bull.
Oh yeah. Then I started getting a little bit frisky.
Okay. That's enough of it. He ran me over one year. He just ran me over. I'm like.
I'm supposed to win here. This is, this is not a fair fight.
(23:35):
I don't know. You know, that's not, you know, you got to work for it. Oh, there you go.
There you go. It's fine. I didn't have to work for it the first couple of years.
No, I love special events.
Special events at the brewery are great. So looking forward to that.
And I know that you guys, we talked about on the last episode,
you know, we were, we were talking about, you know, the Abbey Bar and the resurgence
there and some upcoming shows and things.
(23:56):
So another reason to pop in and check out abcbrew.com for any of the upcoming
events, or if you want to book a special event at the brewery,
make sure you go through the website and look things and get the right phone
numbers and things to give a call.
But there's also another event coming up just down the road.
Isn't it the Farm Show Complex in April?
That's right. That's right. We are doing the PA Flavor, which ABC's involved.
(24:20):
Of course, a lot of other breweries are involved. But on the committee,
we have representatives from our brewery. the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association.
The Culinary Association, and a lot of other area restaurants and breweries.
So it's, it is a fundraiser for the Culinary Association and also for the Brewers Association.
And we also do scholarships through the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association.
(24:44):
So it sort of works three different areas of the, of this industry.
And it's this This year it's on 420 and Saturday 420.
And we just happened to be coming out with a special beer for that day for 420.
You know what I mean, Mike?
I think I might. You think you know what I'm talking about? Yeah. Cool.
(25:04):
Yeah. So the beer's called Dank Dynasty.
Oh, Dank Dynasty. You know, Dank Dynasty. Sure, man.
And it's going to be super danky. And so if you hear this podcast.
Bring your duck call out and have a dank dynasty at the ABC booth there.
Sweet. So that is PA Flavor, the ultimate beer and food pairing.
It's happening Saturday, April 20th. There's a VIP session from 1 to 2 p.m.
(25:30):
And then the general admission is from 2 to 5.
You can go to paflavor.com. Check out the list of breweries and distilleries
that are going to be there as well as restaurants. So it's all about pairing,
you know, craft beverages with, with a high quality cuisine.
And there's a, man, there's a whole list of, I don't even want to go down.
There's at least, there's at least 30, I think here, like breweries and distilleries
(25:54):
that are going to be there. 30 breweries, some other restaurants.
There's a couple of distilleries, I think. Yeah.
What else? You know, just, you know, jerky, I think, and some jerky guys,
but the food there is amazing because the chefs are all there,
Culinary Culinary Association.
So they do all the food and these guys, I mean, it is, it's like a food festival
(26:15):
with a brewery, you know, a beer tasting in the background.
Right. You know, it's a beer festival of course, but it, it really is almost
the opposite because the food is so good.
And that's at the Farm Show Complex and on Cameron Street in Harrisburg,
just down the road from the brewery. So yeah, make a day of that.
It'll be the, yeah, it'll be the north entrance.
Oh, I'm sorry. The south entrance, McClay Street entrance. Got it. Yeah. Cool. Cool.
All right. You ever been to that? Oh, yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
(26:38):
I was there last year. I'm going to be there this year. Yeah,
nice. Brian volunteers every year. Uh-huh. Volunteering at a beer fest.
Out of the goodness of his heart. Yeah, I know.
That's a hard one to talk to me. Oh, yeah. As a matter of fact,
I went, oh, when's Pierre flavor?
Oh, okay. I've got it on my calendar already. When you go back to work on Monday,
(26:59):
they're like, so what'd you do? Well, I volunteered again. Except Brian says.
Brian's a sweetheart. He's always volunteering.
Yeah. That's cool. All right. So PA flavor, that's coming up.
A couple of other dates on the calendar, things that we talk about from time
to time, of course, Penn State football, blue and white game is coming.
That's actually the 13th. Wow.
(27:20):
April 13th. That's not gone up on us, did it? Yeah. How about it?
They only get like a couple of weeks of like, you know, team practices and stuff.
And then they, then they do the blue and white. So that's, that's big.
You guys are all over State College with, you know, obviously you can't drive
up there without seeing the billboard. Buy your cans, you know, ABC.
I saw it two weeks ago. Yeah. On my way up there. Oh, did you? Yeah.
(27:43):
There's a beer festival in the stadium in State College. Beaver Stadium.
We had it. They talked about it in the meeting this morning.
And yeah, so that's exciting. I had heard that we were...
Supposed to be in it but then you never get clarification and
then we got clarification that we were in it and it's
(28:05):
pretty cool i think it's it's in may yeah what's it called is it the hope i'm
looking at the right one here but yes it is the hops it is it's on the field
at beaver stadium it is may 11th 2024 it is at beaver stadium it is called hoppy
valley brewers fest Fest, Hoppy, Hoppy Valley,
water hops, yeast and grains. I'll volunteer for that.
(28:28):
Celebrate. He's in again. Awesome. Man, this guy, he's just,
so no, that's cool. So you can look up that one too.
That looks like it's, you can, you can just look that one up,
but I think it's Hoppy Valley Brewers Fest.com is, is where you're going to go for that.
So yeah, I love that. Hey, plan your beer fest schedule already.
And I like the fact that there's beer fests around and some of the ones that
(28:50):
are, that, that that pop up that you've never, you know, it's good to have an
established one too, because some of the good ones, the new ones are fun to
go to, but it's the ones that you kind of look forward to year after year.
If they, you know, if when they, when they, when they happen,
it's, it's always nice to go in with some expectations.
PA flavor obviously is one of those, those good ones. That's it.
That's that, uh, spring fest sort of kicks off the festival season.
(29:11):
Yeah. We used to use it to kick off a beer week here. I don't know if you remember that Mike. Yeah.
PA beer week. I do remember. remember i remember the uh the pen live uh like
beer battles or whatever they had like,
i'm not gonna say that we sat around clicking loading up the ballot box for
that or anything during the day how popular water gap wheat water gap wheat
(29:35):
was a champion one year though so that was fun yeah everybody was like but no
one they didn't realize everybody used to go to the brewery Yeah.
That used to go to the brewery. I don't mean to say that.
Everybody back in the early 2000s would go to the brewery. Our lightest beer
was always the Water Gap Wheat. So everybody drank it.
(29:55):
So it was, it was as popular as anything in the area. I say,
I know so many people that it's still their, like, that's still their favorite beer.
That's been like our, our house beer for a long time. Like there's,
that's, that's what we can all agree on and that's what everybody likes.
And I've had kegs of it on at the house and yeah, Water Gap Wheat,
just a fantastic beer. Yeah.
Cool. Well guys, I mean, this has been fun. I would say to you,
(30:18):
we have so many other things coming up here. I wish you guys,
you know, the best spring and it's great to get together.
If I'm missing anything, I don't mean to end things prematurely here,
but I think we end on a high note, letting everybody know about the stuff coming up.
And no, I think it's great. We'll be, we'll be out there picnicking and,
and hanging out and hopefully, you know, traveling safely and getting into some,
(30:41):
some baseball and some football, some spring football and everything else that's
going on right this time of year.
And just, oh, and keep celebrating that Penn State wrestling national championship again, right, Artie?
Oh man, they set records this year. So it was a, it was a great season for Penn State wrestling.
You know, I'm big into Penn State wrestling. I miss a match.
Yeah. Either, you know, being there in person or on TV.
(31:04):
Yeah. Uh, but got, uh, I got a chance to watch most of the national champions
and they, they're just, they're so good.
It was like watching a Penn State home match, because I think they were in Maryland,
but six out of the ten matches were Penn State wrestlers. That was pretty great.
And they didn't do bad, for sure, for a bright future there.
(31:25):
So, yeah, we love Penn State.
We love the Phillies. I love the Phillies.
I don't know who the Senators, whoever you're going to around here.
Baseball is great to mix beer with, too. So go to the stadium,
support your local brewery. Hopefully you can find some ABC on tap or at the store.
And we'll see you next time. on the Appalachian Brewing Company podcast,
(31:46):
guys. As we say goodbye, we say cheers.
Music.
(00:10):
Well, hello, everybody, and welcome once again to the Appalachian Brewing Company podcast.
It's Mike Parker and Artie Tafoya coming to you now in the month of April.
Artie, beautiful rainy day outside. Not to talk too much about the weather,
but spring is right around the corner. So, yeah.
Yeah, Mike, I don't think we have any lack of water around here. No, I think we're good.
(00:32):
The aquifer is, well, in good shape.
It won't rain for two weeks, and there'll be a drop. Yeah, I know.
Know isn't doesn't it just make the most sense though like my son said
to me that he's like because they have off school they're still like on easter
break you know and uh he's like this stinks he's like
he's like i hate these kind of days he's like because i'm not
in school he's like but i you know i don't
(00:53):
want to really do anything you know like outside and i'm like
and he's not the type of kid that like shies away from you
know getting dirty or anything like that but even this is a little too
much for him after a while you know going for a getting out in the mud
mud yeah muddy muddied up do you remember riding like riding your butt going
for a bike ride is great like if you're i mean like then when you start getting
that string of cold water up the middle of your back then it's you're sort of
(01:17):
like what have i done here so dude i actually see a lot of those guys have you
ever gotten into any cycling already with like you know and i mean.
Not just like mountain biking or anything like the uh you know
the the tight clothing and the the 14 of
you on the side of the road no no we didn't
we didn't have that when i was a kid i know
(01:39):
the adults a newer phenomenon but i used
to have a mini bike and it you know the the mini bikes ran on the old like tecumseh
like lawnmower yeah yeah right and all it had was all it had was a chain that
went to that and and back to the back wheel and you know you laid it over you
laid it over, you know, and it was like, just kept running.
(01:59):
Yeah. So it was, yeah, I had one of those. I used to ride it all around Colorado Springs.
That was fun stuff. But now I remember my nephew, he got a like 25 CC motorcycle
when he was like four or five, right?
I'm a few years older than him. So I'm like eight or nine.
(02:20):
You're super jealous of this. And I was like, ah, look at this mini bike I'm
riding and he's riding a...
You know, he had all the gear, he had the helmet. We didn't have helmets. I know.
I was just saying, over the years, I think, you know, I've been in the brewery
or something. I'm just sitting there and there will be like a group of,
it's not a biker gang, it's a cyclist gang.
(02:43):
They come in and they all have the spandex on and the tight clothes and they're
like, you know, they look, they've probably just ridden like 40 miles while
I'm sitting there drinking beer.
And then, you know, so. So you're from up north, right, Mike?
Well, yeah. Yeah, but not as far north as like Shemokin.
No, north of Harrisburg, yeah. Yeah. So Shemokin, I'm doing a tap takeover at
the Ale House there tomorrow night, and they have ATV parking. Yeah.
(03:09):
At their pub, because I guess there's some trails around there.
There is, yeah. And they ride, and then they ride right to the brewery.
I keep calling it a brewery, I'm sorry.
Right to the Ale House, and they have ATV parking there. Well,
you know, Shemokin is my parents' hometown.
Oh, is it really? It is, yeah, Shemokin and Cole Township, Northumberland County up there.
(03:30):
So, you know, I've been there obviously recently and everything just to,
we had a relative that recently passed away that we were, so we spend a little
bit of time up in those old stomping grounds again too.
And when you, you know, but that is like a destination for people for like,
they have the coal holes up there, you know, like the mountains that are dug
and then they, they, uh, they ride around.
(03:51):
And then also, I think, I know the state like has, there's some ATV trails,
as long as you have that stuff like registered, some of the actual established
trails that are through like, you know, the mountains and stuff,
they also cut right into, into town.
So when you're driving through Shemokin and the towns around there,
some of the streets have ATV signs on them so you can follow them so you know
(04:12):
where to ride. So that's exactly where they're going. There you go.
All right. Well, Hey, where we're going, we have, we have a guest here today.
We're keeping it low key. like we're just like you know
we we've been dealing with all sorts of like collaboration partners
and other businesses and companies and things that
you guys are working with along the way we just decided to bring an old friend
in here today already you want to by the way pull the microphone just a little
bit close you can pull it closer to you then you have to lean forward there
(04:34):
you go perfect introduce our friend that we have here with us and and uh let's
get to drinking a beer here for crying out loud what are we waiting for mike i don't know Oh, well,
he's been so quiet over here, by the way, this is a podcast.
Thanks for, thanks for inviting me. When do I get to talk? Do I get to talk? I want to talk.
He's just giggling over there. And that's probably, I want to introduce Brian Stever.
(04:59):
He's a good old friend of mine. He, he and I have known each other for quite a few years.
And Brian, you know, if, if I need help with anything, he's that guy.
I just call him. Hey, Brian, I need you to help. me do this.
Ryan, I need you to help me do that.
And he's like, I don't even know what you're talking about, but certainly I
will try to help you however I can.
And the interesting thing is As Brian has done.
(05:23):
Like a project for every brewery. So, hey, Brian, I really need,
and it could be something silly. Custom stuff.
Oh, yeah. Custom, like trash can covers made out of wood. Right?
Oh, yeah. And he's like, what do you want to make?
I'm like, hey, I got this. Come on. And he did it, and he put it together, and so welcome.
Yeah, the Palletwood. Thank you. The Palletwood Library over in Harrisburg.
(05:46):
Yeah, I've done a lot of projects.
Cool, yes. Yeah, well, familiar face. And I'm sure if you've popped in,
were you an old Camp Hill local when the Camp Hill brewery was around?
Or were you more of a flagship guy over there? No, I did the flagship more,
but loved the Camp Hill location just because it was close. Close,
yeah. That's right. I see, too.
That was one thing to love about it. It was close. I was bad at myself for closing.
(06:10):
Parking was a little bit of a trouble over there.
Unfortunately. Yeah. So anyway, what have you been up to, man?
Man. What's your, we're describing you as an old friend and a woodworker and
sort of the guy that already calls for stuff, but what's, how's life? How are things?
Oh, things are busy. You know, actually started my own business a little while
(06:30):
ago doing what I did for other people for a long time.
I'm a registered nurse with a business doing Medicare and Medicaid auditing,
but on the side, I do the woodworking and just,
I guess about three years years ago or so, I started doing refinishing of old
console and tabletop tube radios. Oh, wow.
(06:53):
You know, making them look brand new. And if they weren't able to be actually
functioning, converted them to Bluetooth.
Nice. So. Cool. Well, so, and then you, what, you like resell that stuff online?
Yeah. It's good market for that.
It seems to be so far. So far, so good. Yeah. It's just a side,
side thing. So, you know, enough to keep me out of trouble.
(07:15):
Beautiful. All right. Well, listen, beer podcast. This is a beer podcast.
Let's establish that. So beers in hand, gentlemen, shall we? Cheers.
Artie, Brian, good to see you guys. I've got the, speaking of flagship,
flagship, uh, one of the, one of the brands, the old mountain lager is in my hand. It's delicious.
Artie, what do you got today? I'm drinking the breakfast at base camp Hellas lager.
(07:39):
This year, it's just super crisp. That nice toasty sweetness, just amazing.
What the guys are doing down there in Harrisburg, man, they're just hitting
it, hitting every, every beer, bam, bam, just coming out. Knocking it out of
the park. Knocking it out.
What's up? What do you got there, Brian? I have the pineapple upside down cake sour.
It is, I, I never really drank sours before I met Artie and now their sours
(08:04):
are probably the, my favorite whenever I'm, if I'm wanting sour, I drink one of theirs.
Yeah, that's a, that's a really, really good. That's the plays well with others.
Pineapple upside down sour. Love that. Yes. Yeah. Brian, actually,
he went to a tap takeover with me one night. I was like, hey,
you want to go? And he said, yeah.
And we were at the Old Republic Distillery doing a tap takeover there.
(08:27):
And Brian, he's like, hey, come here to the bartender.
Tell them, what did you say? Oh, what, what to add to this? Oh my God.
So, so I, I, I, I love pineapple upside down cakes. My favorite cake of all time.
It's a weakness of mine as well. And this sour tastes just like a pineapple upside down cake.
(08:49):
The one thing it's missing is maraschino cherries.
I said, so what you need to do is you need to put maraschino cherries in the glass.
Right. And pour a little bit of the juice into it. Oh my gosh.
It is awesome. Wow. It's fantastic. As long as you don't put toothpicks in there.
(09:09):
So today as we record is the day after easter and
i went into you know so we always hit my my mom's
house and my parents house then we go to my wife's mom's
house about another 45 minutes away so we get everybody in so i get both sides
of the family and you know it's really like the big upfront lunch you know dinner
like at my mom's house and then by the time we get to tara's mom's house at
(09:31):
the end of the day it's like more like what's left like different things and a lot of desserts.
Man, the pineapple upside down cake was just the classic one.
It was sitting there and I was like, so I snuck a little piece. But yeah, I love it.
I just picture a homemade pineapple upside down cake with the pineapples,
the maraschino cherries, and the toothpicks sticking out the top to keep the
(09:53):
saran wrap or whatever it's covered with from sticking. So we'll pull it all off.
Yeah, it's a classic look. It's always for pineapple upside down cake. I know.
It's just like jello. Yeah. Yeah. Now pineapple is one of my favorite like flavors.
So it's like that beer specifically.
The other thing about that too, Artie, maybe you've had, so I know you guys
serve some ciders and everything like guest breweries or cider reason or whatever
(10:16):
that will occasionally you'll have them on tap over the, you know,
around, but I have a friend, Deb, who comes over to the house every once in a while to hang out.
And when she's hanging out at our bar, she usually brings along like a cider.
But I said, no, you should try this. And she, and it was great.
So like, you know, people who are into ciders, but maybe you're like me,
(10:36):
where if I have too many, like if I have, I like ciders, but it's kind of a
heartburn thing or something with me. They're sweet too.
Yeah. Well, right. A lot of sweetness there. Yeah. But the sour and that,
that one specifically so good.
Yeah. So do you hear from that, that people like who are big sour aficionados
would get into like a, did they say sour?
I mean, cider, cider, people like sours.
(10:57):
You think so? I think so. Yeah. Yeah, I think so. I think it's along the same lines as a cider.
I mean, you know, it's fruity, the apple instead, you know, pineapple instead
of apple or blueberry instead of apple.
But yeah, I think it follows right along the line. And I love a cider that's
nice and dry, crisp, you know.
And I know that Jack's used to make a one that was like pear.
(11:19):
Oh yeah, yeah, that was a good one. that one a lot. You know,
I like the regular ciders, but I need them to be really super dry or I can't,
like, like you said, I can't drink more than one because it's just,
it's too sweet for me. Yeah. Yeah. Is that the way you were? Are you into ciders?
My wife is, you know, she, she has an issue with gluten.
So when we go somewhere, it's usually a cider for her, but I'd rather have a beer.
(11:43):
Yeah, no, I'm, I'm with you. So there's like a couple of things,
whatever style you're into.
And if, if it's, you know, it will include ciders in there, but like,
you know what I, when I was younger, IPAs, IPAs had not hit,
like they've hit, you know what I mean? In the last 15 years.
So like 20 years ago when I would come into ABC, you know, it would be like,
(12:03):
you know, Hoppy Trails, which is a particular, it's comparatively now it's a
pretty mild IPA compared to some of the American.
Yeah, it's perfect. It's great. But like, you know, some of these other ones
are like, you know, hit you over the head. And even for me at the time,
back then, I would drink like a Water Gap weed or what I'm drinking today, a Mountain Lager.
(12:24):
And then at the end, when I was kind of done, maybe on my third beer,
I would go for the IPA because...
It was, it hit you, you know what I mean? Like the flavor, it was full flavor.
And I was like, wow, I can only, at the time I thought before I kind of developed
the taste from it, like I could only have one of those.
There's a beer like that for everybody where you, maybe you can only have one of them.
It's, you know, you talk about the, how important it is not to burn out your
(12:48):
palate and stuff like that too.
Certainly you don't want to drink a Sigma Oasis and then drink a mountain lager
afterwards because it just tastes like water.
Really? I mean, you know, that's such a great beer, but anytime you have that
much flavor on your palate. and you go to something that's less flavor,
it just, it, it, like your palate has a little fatigue from that.
Yeah. And it just tastes like nothing, but you know, so you always go the other
(13:10):
way, Mike, you're exactly right.
Do a, you're going to start with a nice Pilsner, start with a nice Pilsner and
then move your way to, to the others.
Just, uh, I don't always suggest finishing with a double though.
Yeah. The double, double IPA. That's not always the best move unless you're
at home. Yeah. If you're at home, go all out. That's all.
You're right. Agreed. That's the difference. so so i didn't ask
(13:31):
brian but like what's brian what is your like go-to
you know you said you like to have a beer and obviously
there's been so many great ones over the years but if you're heading
into abc what's your favorite argyle sweater oh
my god yeah argyle sweat when when they brought that out you know already you
got to try this so i i took a sip like holy cow that is my favorite beer now
(13:55):
officially so every time that i'm if i'm gonna have a beer and I'm going to
have an IPA. It's the Argyle sweater. Nice.
Anything else? Any seasonal? Like that? It's like something that was off the
wall at one point that you wish they'd bring back or just use the one that you
look forward to each year.
I can tell you mine. Mine of course is the Hinterland Hefeweizen.
I like, I love when the Hefe comes out. Yeah. It'll be here soon.
(14:17):
It's good time of year. Yeah. I do like the Hefeweizen. Yeah. Those are nice.
Hmm. Yeah. I'm going to have to give that a little bit of thought.
Okay. One that just kind of.
If it's there, I'm going to have it. Absolutely. Cool.
You know, what, what just came
out was a Pierce Pale Ale. I don't know if you got to try that, Brian.
I don't know if you've been down to the Canksburg store in a little while,
but they have the Pierce Pale Ale there.
(14:38):
That's a really nice beer. Carrie's favorite. She always says it.
That's the reason I took it off the flagship.
You don't want to spoil her too much. Yeah, because it's her favorite beer.
She's now an Argyle drinker more than anything, probably. And that Argyle,
you know, like you said, Brian, it's just sort of middle of the road.
It's hoppy, but it's also flavorful. It's got, it's got, it's got a little bit
(15:02):
of a East coast, West coast thing going on.
And I think that, that blend that they created is almost perfect.
So that's that, you know, I, I, I've been known to have a few of myself.
Yeah. Well, and I was just down at the Mechanicsburg location,
um, for the, um, Irish dancing. Oh, that's right. Yeah, that's right.
(15:22):
Perfect. Well, that's a good transition because, you know, we're about 15 minutes into the podcast.
We like to split it up into segments, keep talking, get some fresh beer, get some fresh topics.
When we come back, we'll talk about we'll look back on just say,
hey, we're coming just right out of Irish Fest, St.
Patrick's. You just brought it up, Brian. Already, we'll ask you how things
went around the brew pub and maybe some ideas as we get here into spring.
(15:45):
I know we got a couple of special events coming up and what you might be able
to look forward to. If you're looking to include Appalachian Brewing Company
in any of those picnic plans as we get here into warmer weather and hopefully
move this rain out of the way.
And we'll be right back on the Appalachian Brewing Company podcast.
Music.
(16:11):
All right, and we're back on the Appalachian Brewing Company podcast.
It's Mike Parker, Artie DeFoya, and our guest Brian Stever this week hanging
out and just having some beers and catching up.
It's springtime. It's officially spring.
I guess the official first day of spring is somewhere towards the end of March,
somewhere towards the middle end of March. Last Monday.
(16:33):
It was last Monday. Perfect. Then we get Easter, and then it's on. on.
And with all this rain, I hope you have your lawnmower tuned up and everything ready to go.
Cause the next drop of sunlight that we get is going to, things are going to shoot up. Yeah.
So anyway, it's a, it's a good time of year. I really enjoy it.
And it's, we just came out of, of a really cool month too.
You know, March is kind of that, that, that muddy outdoor month,
(16:55):
you know, for people, but it's a great time to do things like the one thing
we get in March is, is a great excuse to get together and have a few beers St.
Patrick's day. And you guys at ABC BC already had to have a Irish Fest every year. How did it go?
You know, I think for the first time in a few years, it just,
everything was clicking.
You know, we were busier than, than, you know, it reminded me of the old days,
(17:16):
you know, when you were just, you know, our Irish Fest would just kill it, you know?
And yeah, so it was good. It felt good. And I think people are starting to come
out again and feel like they can really get out and enjoy themselves.
And our, our food went, the food menu was great. The food was awesome.
Yeah, it was so good. and Celtic Knot.
Man, what a great beer this year. It was just spot on.
(17:37):
That beautiful Irish red. Yes. It was fantastic.
It was really, really good. I'm glad you enjoyed it, Brian. That's awesome.
And so, hey, it was great. You know, we, all of our locations were very busy.
We enjoyed, you know, the dancing we did in some locations. We got that back going again.
The Irish dancing. Yeah, the Irish dancing. So I know Brian went out to Mechanicsburg and saw it.
(17:57):
And just so, it's so magical to have that, Those girls and the kids and everybody
just, it's like they're floating through air.
Well, they put a lot of work into that. That is their big time too.
Wouldn't it be, isn't it great? It's like, you know, all the work that they
do in this studio and it's probably at night and they're probably getting running around.
They go to school all day and then they go to dance class in the evenings and
(18:17):
the weekends and everything else.
And then the big culmination of it is to get to dance in front of a whole bunch
of people who are already having a great time. And then that adds to the,
it's a great atmosphere.
Yeah, no doubt. out yeah our kids my my girls uh they
uh irish step dance from the time they were four years old so
we used to go watch them and it was fun but you know it
got to a point where it was like you know we knew every we could almost do the
(18:40):
dances from watching it and so many times but yeah i couldn't do that yeah no
yeah well i couldn't either but i if i had a few beers i thought i could that's
all that matters it would be hard for you to blend in with that crowd Who is that?
And I don't fit in the outfit either. Not any longer.
I wear kilts that's true that's about it well no i i wear kilts move aside girls.
(19:07):
So one thing i didn't tell you earlier is is
brian also is he is santa for us at our location so he every every christmas
he donates his time to come over and and drink a few beers and become santa
for a few hours and and we always appreciate that brian uh no not a problem
it's fun the the the The location in Carlisle,
(19:29):
that was my favorite Santa episode this year because, you know,
having the families that are military families coming in, it was just a great experience.
It was breakfast with Santa, which was awesome.
Yeah, that's great. That's cool. I was actually thinking the more I get,
you know, back in the day, it's one of the best things, and you could argue
(19:51):
that's one of the best things, but it's still there.
And that's one of the things. So when I go into the breweries and wherever I'm
at and I visit or I look at social media, you know, some of the things I look around,
like when we were, you know, building Mechanicsburg, you know,
like in putting up the posters up there, the beers, the frames with the canvases on them.
Some of those like stickers or the big decals of the beer bottle and thing that are on the wall.
(20:16):
There's the selfie station there on the bench next to the brew,
the, the, the brew shop of the Jolly Scott. Yep.
And so I, when I, and I thought it would be, you know, that was one of those
ideas that we already made happen on based on an idea.
And you, when you see people sitting down, putting their arm around and getting
their picture taken with that, I love that.
And you said that, you know, you've, you've filled in for, for Santa from time
(20:38):
to time over at the break.
I actually thought as I'm getting a little bit older now, already that I might
actually perhaps with the beard and and I'll make a decent Jolly Scott at some
point. So if you're looking for that. There you go.
I don't know if the legs, I have the legs for it, but I think I could, you know.
No, you don't need the legs. You just need to be able to tolerate a kilt.
Yes. Well, I'd like to. I've never worn a kilt. Can you believe that? Hey. Even Artie has.
(21:01):
I've worn a kilt. Good, good.
I'd like to point out, though, Breakfast with Santa was great,
but we just did Breakfast with Elsa.
Yeah. And people came from like five states away.
Way oh my god you're kidding me wow who is is that apparently santa
yeah santa's not the draw anymore okay
well he's in a lot
(21:23):
of places you can go yeah yeah find the
high quality elsa though that's awesome that's a good idea i like when you look
outside the box like that there was one point where we almost had had a wrestler
come in i don't know if you remember that then he canceled on us it was supposed
to be some guy i don't even remember who it was it was like a guy who who was
kind of on his way up and then it was, somebody reached out to me and said,
(21:46):
Hey, they're doing some show somewhere and this guy's the champion.
And he was going to come in and we were going to do a, you know, he was going to appear.
And then he ended up canceling or something. Cause the show,
I don't know what happened, but I like when there's different things like,
and you know what, like there was a buzz for that.
Like there were going to be, they were going to get a whole new crowd coming
in that night. Mike, I still say that downtown in Harrisburg one night.
(22:08):
In our future, we get somebody to bring a ring in and we do a championship wrestling
match there, right there.
And I might even take on, I don't know, somebody.
Yeah. Well, okay. Well, I would think. I might take somebody on.
I might put a mask on. Okay. And take somebody on.
(22:28):
I was thinking of you in more of a managerial role.
You know, it was the guy's name.
Him home it was uh okay okay i
accept yeah perfect it was bobby the
brain heenan right so of uh arty we'll have
arty the brewer you know to foia i don't
know we'll go get something in there brian right yeah but no
(22:50):
i like the lucha libre mask you know that would be good to make
some sort of mexican style beer or something if you go no no that's funny though
we do a cinco de mayo party in every year well this has happened a couple years
but brian dresses up as as the bull and I have been known to be the matador. It's still a secret.
(23:12):
It's still a secret as to who the matador is, but it's rumored that it's me. Yes.
And the first couple of years were great because Brian was a nicer bull.
Oh yeah. Then I started getting a little bit frisky.
Okay. That's enough of it. He ran me over one year. He just ran me over. I'm like.
I'm supposed to win here. This is, this is not a fair fight.
(23:35):
I don't know. You know, that's not, you know, you got to work for it. Oh, there you go.
There you go. It's fine. I didn't have to work for it the first couple of years.
No, I love special events.
Special events at the brewery are great. So looking forward to that.
And I know that you guys, we talked about on the last episode,
you know, we were, we were talking about, you know, the Abbey Bar and the resurgence
there and some upcoming shows and things.
(23:56):
So another reason to pop in and check out abcbrew.com for any of the upcoming
events, or if you want to book a special event at the brewery,
make sure you go through the website and look things and get the right phone
numbers and things to give a call.
But there's also another event coming up just down the road.
Isn't it the Farm Show Complex in April?
That's right. That's right. We are doing the PA Flavor, which ABC's involved.
(24:20):
Of course, a lot of other breweries are involved. But on the committee,
we have representatives from our brewery. the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association.
The Culinary Association, and a lot of other area restaurants and breweries.
So it's, it is a fundraiser for the Culinary Association and also for the Brewers Association.
And we also do scholarships through the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association.
(24:44):
So it sort of works three different areas of the, of this industry.
And it's this This year it's on 420 and Saturday 420.
And we just happened to be coming out with a special beer for that day for 420.
You know what I mean, Mike?
I think I might. You think you know what I'm talking about? Yeah. Cool.
(25:04):
Yeah. So the beer's called Dank Dynasty.
Oh, Dank Dynasty. You know, Dank Dynasty. Sure, man.
And it's going to be super danky. And so if you hear this podcast.
Bring your duck call out and have a dank dynasty at the ABC booth there.
Sweet. So that is PA Flavor, the ultimate beer and food pairing.
It's happening Saturday, April 20th. There's a VIP session from 1 to 2 p.m.
(25:30):
And then the general admission is from 2 to 5.
You can go to paflavor.com. Check out the list of breweries and distilleries
that are going to be there as well as restaurants. So it's all about pairing,
you know, craft beverages with, with a high quality cuisine.
And there's a, man, there's a whole list of, I don't even want to go down.
There's at least, there's at least 30, I think here, like breweries and distilleries
(25:54):
that are going to be there. 30 breweries, some other restaurants.
There's a couple of distilleries, I think. Yeah.
What else? You know, just, you know, jerky, I think, and some jerky guys,
but the food there is amazing because the chefs are all there,
Culinary Culinary Association.
So they do all the food and these guys, I mean, it is, it's like a food festival
(26:15):
with a brewery, you know, a beer tasting in the background.
Right. You know, it's a beer festival of course, but it, it really is almost
the opposite because the food is so good.
And that's at the Farm Show Complex and on Cameron Street in Harrisburg,
just down the road from the brewery. So yeah, make a day of that.
It'll be the, yeah, it'll be the north entrance.
Oh, I'm sorry. The south entrance, McClay Street entrance. Got it. Yeah. Cool. Cool.
All right. You ever been to that? Oh, yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
(26:38):
I was there last year. I'm going to be there this year. Yeah,
nice. Brian volunteers every year. Uh-huh. Volunteering at a beer fest.
Out of the goodness of his heart. Yeah, I know.
That's a hard one to talk to me. Oh, yeah. As a matter of fact,
I went, oh, when's Pierre flavor?
Oh, okay. I've got it on my calendar already. When you go back to work on Monday,
(26:59):
they're like, so what'd you do? Well, I volunteered again. Except Brian says.
Brian's a sweetheart. He's always volunteering.
Yeah. That's cool. All right. So PA flavor, that's coming up.
A couple of other dates on the calendar, things that we talk about from time
to time, of course, Penn State football, blue and white game is coming.
That's actually the 13th. Wow.
(27:20):
April 13th. That's not gone up on us, did it? Yeah. How about it?
They only get like a couple of weeks of like, you know, team practices and stuff.
And then they, then they do the blue and white. So that's, that's big.
You guys are all over State College with, you know, obviously you can't drive
up there without seeing the billboard. Buy your cans, you know, ABC.
I saw it two weeks ago. Yeah. On my way up there. Oh, did you? Yeah.
(27:43):
There's a beer festival in the stadium in State College. Beaver Stadium.
We had it. They talked about it in the meeting this morning.
And yeah, so that's exciting. I had heard that we were...
Supposed to be in it but then you never get clarification and
then we got clarification that we were in it and it's
(28:05):
pretty cool i think it's it's in may yeah what's it called is it the hope i'm
looking at the right one here but yes it is the hops it is it's on the field
at beaver stadium it is may 11th 2024 it is at beaver stadium it is called hoppy
valley brewers fest Fest, Hoppy, Hoppy Valley,
water hops, yeast and grains. I'll volunteer for that.
(28:28):
Celebrate. He's in again. Awesome. Man, this guy, he's just,
so no, that's cool. So you can look up that one too.
That looks like it's, you can, you can just look that one up,
but I think it's Hoppy Valley Brewers Fest.com is, is where you're going to go for that.
So yeah, I love that. Hey, plan your beer fest schedule already.
And I like the fact that there's beer fests around and some of the ones that
(28:50):
are, that, that that pop up that you've never, you know, it's good to have an
established one too, because some of the good ones, the new ones are fun to
go to, but it's the ones that you kind of look forward to year after year.
If they, you know, if when they, when they, when they happen,
it's, it's always nice to go in with some expectations.
PA flavor obviously is one of those, those good ones. That's it.
That's that, uh, spring fest sort of kicks off the festival season.
(29:11):
Yeah. We used to use it to kick off a beer week here. I don't know if you remember that Mike. Yeah.
PA beer week. I do remember. remember i remember the uh the pen live uh like
beer battles or whatever they had like,
i'm not gonna say that we sat around clicking loading up the ballot box for
that or anything during the day how popular water gap wheat water gap wheat
(29:35):
was a champion one year though so that was fun yeah everybody was like but no
one they didn't realize everybody used to go to the brewery Yeah.
That used to go to the brewery. I don't mean to say that.
Everybody back in the early 2000s would go to the brewery. Our lightest beer
was always the Water Gap Wheat. So everybody drank it.
(29:55):
So it was, it was as popular as anything in the area. I say,
I know so many people that it's still their, like, that's still their favorite beer.
That's been like our, our house beer for a long time. Like there's,
that's, that's what we can all agree on and that's what everybody likes.
And I've had kegs of it on at the house and yeah, Water Gap Wheat,
just a fantastic beer. Yeah.
Cool. Well guys, I mean, this has been fun. I would say to you,
(30:18):
we have so many other things coming up here. I wish you guys,
you know, the best spring and it's great to get together.
If I'm missing anything, I don't mean to end things prematurely here,
but I think we end on a high note, letting everybody know about the stuff coming up.
And no, I think it's great. We'll be, we'll be out there picnicking and,
and hanging out and hopefully, you know, traveling safely and getting into some,
(30:41):
some baseball and some football, some spring football and everything else that's
going on right this time of year.
And just, oh, and keep celebrating that Penn State wrestling national championship again, right, Artie?
Oh man, they set records this year. So it was a, it was a great season for Penn State wrestling.
You know, I'm big into Penn State wrestling. I miss a match.
Yeah. Either, you know, being there in person or on TV.
(31:04):
Yeah. Uh, but got, uh, I got a chance to watch most of the national champions
and they, they're just, they're so good.
It was like watching a Penn State home match, because I think they were in Maryland,
but six out of the ten matches were Penn State wrestlers. That was pretty great.
And they didn't do bad, for sure, for a bright future there.
(31:25):
So, yeah, we love Penn State.
We love the Phillies. I love the Phillies.
I don't know who the Senators, whoever you're going to around here.
Baseball is great to mix beer with, too. So go to the stadium,
support your local brewery. Hopefully you can find some ABC on tap or at the store.
And we'll see you next time. on the Appalachian Brewing Company podcast,
(31:46):
guys. As we say goodbye, we say cheers.
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