Union Barrel Works, Reamstown - Bar # 108

Today being the third Tuesday of the month meant it was my turn to drive and select our destination.  A few odd things happened that at least from my view are worth mentioning. First, I had already chosen Union Barrel Works in Reamstown as our destination as long ago as Friday.  As luck would have it on Saturday Terry mentioned that he had driven by a neat looking bar in Reamstown and was going to choose it when it was his turn.  In our 108 trips I don't think we ever decided on the same place the same week.  Second, when we entered we both immediately felt this would be a really neat place to return to.  Obviously, since we hadn't met anyone or tried their beer it was potentially premature and based solely on appearance.  

Immediately upon approaching the bar we were greeted by Sam (Samantha) who was happy to talk with us about the business, the beer, the building, and the food.  As we quickly learned, Union Barrel Works makes all of their own beer on site.  All of their beers, 10 were available on tap today, can be purchased by the growler to take home.  With 10 fresh brews available it was easy for us to each select two that both quenched our thirst and more than adequately flavored the palate.  Our bartender was happy to provide a small sample before we committed to a full glass.

Sam explained to us that the building has been around since 1911 when it started out as a hardware store and then at some point in the 1940's or 1950's became a sewing factory.  Her family has owned the building since the mid 1990's and has operated the bar and restaurant since April of 2007.  The renovations they made to the building were well thought out and have successfully made it look like it has been a bar/restaurant since 1911.  Everything fits and looks original.

As is our practice now we tried an appetizer and this time selected the Irish Nachos.  Really good!  No more needs to be said about that choice.  We talked with Sam and one of the restaurant chefs about their food and learned that everything that can be sourced locally is and they make just about everything in house.  Wow, if you're looking to try some unusual food items for Lancaster County you can consider the Louisiana Jambalaya or the Camel Shepherd's Pie.

Now that we have sampled some of their beer and one appetizer we are firm in our earlier decision to return.

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Beanie's Bar & Grill, Mount Joy - Bar # 107

The Retired Guys went out on Wednesday this week because of the snowstorm experienced in our area yesterday, our normal outing day.  Just another proof that these two older "gentlemen" are still flexible but also that we have a lot of openings in our schedule!  This is the last of our "makeup" outings (caused by Terry's vacation) which gets us back on schedule and sets us up to resume every odd numbered Tuesday of the month for our Beer Afternoons. For the past month we've been going out every week to catch up and, truth be told, I've come to enjoy the weekly outings.

Today we visited Beanie's Bar & Grill in Mount Joy, PA and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  We were taken care of by Kelly who had a bar full of patrons and still could find the time to talk with each of her customers.  She is a young lady who continuously showed that she enjoyed her job.  From our experience this bar was without question the busiest we have visited at 3:00 PM!  

The facility housing Beanie's is another Lancaster County location utilizing a 150+ year old building which has been reported to have its share of (friendly) ghosts/apparitions.  To see more about these mysterious folks (I don't think they are customers) read the story attached to this link.  

Beanie's had 10 draft beers on tap with two of them being of the "light" variety.  There was a fridge with another wide selection of 6 packs available for the person who felt the need to continue their hobby after leaving the bar.  Both of us had no trouble selecting a beer to our liking.  One of my selections was a "Molson Canadian" beer that brought back memories of my formative years attending college in Canada.   

Recently Terry and I added a task to sample an appetizer at each of the bars we visit and today there was a wide selection to choose from.  In order to get the best experience we chose "The Sampler" which provided us with, you guessed it, a selection of many appetizers.  Each of them was very good so in our experience we'd say you can't make a mistake in choosing any single one of the appetizers.

We heard that Beanie's is known for its wings.  We found out that incredibly, they have over 100 selections of wings!  We suggested they create a punch card system that would allow customers to prove they have ordered all of them to get their name recorded and perhaps be allowed to acquire a t-shirt attesting to the accomplishment.  Perhaps, another Retired Guys quest? 

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Your Place Restaurant, Lancaster - Bar # 106

There was a time in Lancaster County back in the 1970's and 1980's when Your Place was the place to go to have a beer, watch sports and of course have a YP Stromboli for dinner.  There are only 4 left and 1 still in Lancaster.  The Retired Guys were fortunate to spend some time today in that icon from a bygone era.

The basics are a relatively small bar area, a game room and a very large and neat separate dining room.  12 beers are on tap with two being the usual and "necessary" Miller Lite and Coors Light.  The 10 "real" beers had a pretty good range of styles that should satisfy most beer drinkers.  At Bar #105 we decided to start sampling food from each stop because usually it all looks and smells so good. Today's food choices validated that decision completely.  We tried wings, that were on the mild side, mozzarella sticks and the famous stromboli.  Everything was very good and may have even made the beer taste better.  (Maybe that is a new project for the Retired Guys, beer and food pairings.)

This was another enjoyable afternoon with some good bartender conversation, people watching and beer discovery.  We would recommend stopping in for a relaxing brew and maybe even some stromboli that hasn't changed from years past.  YP is definitely keeping their successful formula working.

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The Brunnerville Hotel, Lititz - Bar # 105

Back in January, a person by the name of Brooke read our blog and suggested we make it a point to visit the Brunnerville Hotel in  Lititz.  We politely thanked Brooke and without a lot of thought added the suggestion to our list of bars to go to at some future date.  Today, we visited the over 150 year old establishment and found another true prize of Lancaster County.  Our bartender, Shannon, greeted us cheerily as we entered through the door and took great care of us throughout our visit by sharing information about the bar, providing samples before we committed to a full glass, and telling us about the rumored resident ghost, Georgette.

By today's standards, a selection of 6 taps of draft beer with 2 of them being of the "light" variety would be considered on the weak side by the inexperienced.  However, what we have learned through our travels of Lancaster County bars is it is not just the selection of beer that makes the bar but more importantly it is the people we encounter while visiting there.  In The Brunnerville Hotel's case, the smaller selection was more than made up by the friendliness of the bar staff and patrons.  

Not long after we received our first glasses of beer we were welcomed by Baylee, the bar manager.  After we posed a couple of questions Baylee proceeded to give us a tour of the bar and restaurant, pointing out some of the interesting historical aspects of this old building.  During the tour she took a picture off the wall and pointed out  an image of the earlier mentioned Georgette, the resident ghost. 

After the tour Baylee asked if we wanted any food with our beer and when we declined she insisted we look at the menu anyway because she had just issued a new version.  When we looked it over I spotted "fried pickles" and just had to order them and found them to be excellent.  We also noted that we were there on Wings Wednesday and could not help but enjoy the aroma of the many varieties of wings being consumed by other patrons.

When we have as good a time as we did today we are grateful that five years ago we chose to visit every bar in the county.  In the absence of that key decision, we would never have found such a great place!  As we left, it was easy to decide to make a return visit to again experience the warm welcome but additionally to sample the food.

As a result of our very positive (and somewhat gently forced) purchase of the earlier mentioned "fried pickles" we have modified our plan for all future bar visits to include an appetizer.  Yes, it is clear that these two older guys can change!

For more historical information on The Brunnerville Hotel and Georgette click on the link here.  

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