9/23/13

My Lancaster Junket

Another business trip, and this time it is for a five hour meeting down in Amish country.  That wouldn’t be so bad except that it takes five hours to drive there, and in the past we’ve had to fight downed trees, flooded roads, and closed interstates.  Not so for this trip with perfect crystal clear weather for the journey.  So I drove, and planned a particularly nice stop along the way for dinner at Stoudts Brewery (http://www.stoudtsbeer.com/).

Stoudts is known for having one of the premier woman brewers in the industry, and for having a top-notch steak restaurant called the Black Angus.  I had a hankering for some beef (and beer by the way), and it was right on our way, so we stopped for dinner.  I got the Beef Stroganoff, served with spatzle instead of noodles and a dollop of sour cream.  It was delicious.  They had a cask on tap, their Scarlet Lady ESB that was brewed with hazelnut, and their Fat Dog Imperial Stout aged in wine barrels for 14 months, called Winey Dog, on draft that was phenomenal.  My compatriots Dave and Kevin enjoyed their food and the beer (although they did wish that it was served colder, heathens), but we had to go and checked into the hotel so we made our way down the last 15 miles to our destination.

Tonight was MNF, and I wasn’t ready to call it a night, so Kevin and I headed over to the Spring House Taproom (http://springhousebeer.com/) for a night cap.  It was pumpkin season (not by the regular calendar but definitely by the beer calendar), so I started out with their Braaaiins Pumpkin Ale, a well crafted beer at 7.1% ABV that was their homage to the walking dead.  I also tried their Kerplunk Imperial Chocolate Stout, which was tasty, and a bottle of the Astounding She-Monster Mango IPA to bring back with me for this weekend’s football games.  It was a great evening, watching Peyton Manning continue his domination of the NFL (the more better for my fantasy football team).

We had a good meeting, an excellent lunch, and then headed back.  I got clobbered by a cold that is still kicking my tail (and allowing me the time to stay home and type this blog), but I can’t blame that on the Amish. – 6327/14728
 
No soldier can fight unless he is properly fed on beef and beer.” - John Churchill, First Duke of Marlborough

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