Fetish Brewing Company, Lititz - Bar # 148

The Retired Guys have been wanting to go to Fetish Brewing Company at Rock Lititz in Lititz for some time now but its hours of operation were outside of our "normal" environment.  Since we're not so old to be completely inflexible, we finally modified our "normal" and got there today.  I could end this blog right now by simply stating "what the heck were we waiting for?".  This is a place you should not delay getting to as there are so many good reasons to be there.  First to be looked forward to is the very welcome feeling you get when greeted by Aaron, one of the owners or Amy, our barmaid of the day.  In talking with both of them, we could easily see they were happy to be a part of this enterprise and enjoyed sharing their knowledge of the products offered for consumption.  Both were so easy to talk with and happy to answer any questions we had about their operation.

BEER

There were 10 Fetish made beers on tap with an additional 2 "guest beers".  Terry and I  tried a pair of IPA selections which were clearly different from each other but both excellent in their own way.  As we got close to finishing our 2nd glasses of beer, we asked Aaron to explain what the Hophash Infusion for an additional $2.00 was all about.  It sounded great and we pretty much decided that we should return in the near future just to try it out.  Any of our readers who head out to visit Fetish Brewing Company should seriously consider trying it as a special beer adventure.

SNACKS

Fetish Brewing Company does not currently serve food but they do provide some salty snacks.  My favorite chip in the world, Grandma UTZ, was on the bar for all patrons to consume along with some pretzels.  Both of us seriously enjoyed those chips!

MUSIC

We really liked the music selection and the equipment used to play it.  Clearly, the amplifier and speakers were adequate for fantastic brodcasting of songs throughout the bar without overpowering our ears with noise.  The sound system consists of vinyl records played on a real quality turntable producing excellent replay.  The sizeable album selection is there for anyone to peruse and queue up simply by placing the chosen album next to the turntable.

While Fetish Brewing Company is a bit of a drive from our home base of Lancaster, it is well worth the visit and we encourage all beer lovers to get out there as soon as they can in order to enjoy the varied beer selection provided by the talented brewmaster.

In about three weeks we'll be visiting our 150th bar.  Check out our event notification at  https://www.facebook.com/events/2018659128464564/ and consider dropping by for a visit.

To see all the places we have been to, just click on one of the selections below:

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Red Rose Tavern, Lancaster - Bar # 147

Today the Retired Guys visited a location formerly occupied by a number of other establishments.  I have to say that this operation feels the most comfortable of all.  Upon entry Joe, our bartender, was welcoming and focused on our needs.  Joe is not only employed as a bartender, but he seems to embrace the profession and lifestyle.  He is a perfect fit for the The Red Rose Tavern at the corner of Mulberry and James in Lancaster; a great neighborhood bar with a classy flair.

The well stocked bar has a very nice selection of top shelf liquors and all of the other usual suspects.  They also have 11 taps with a number of craft brews including some local creations.  There are two beers named for the tavern, Red Rose Tavern Lager and Red Rose IPA, both are very good and worth a taste on a visit to the Red Rose Tavern.

The menu is not huge, but enough of a range to fit most appetites and dietary needs.  We went a little wild today and sampled more food than normal.  The quality was outstanding and further cemented our desire to return soon.  Our selections were a bacon Caesar salad, a bowl of bean soup that was tremendous and a soft pretzel with beer cheese dip.

Today was a very enjoyable outing to an establishment that I trust is not a dying breed.  With today's climate of liquor licenses being bought by gas stations and grocery stores, the number of neighborhood pubs where neighbors go to socialize and visit with barkeeps that are like family are dwindling.  Thread by thread the fabric of a community is changing too fast for old Retired Guys to be comfortable.  It's up to all of us to support local business.  Whether it is a locally owned pub, a corner store or your neighborhood pizzeria, they help to build the community you live in and love.

Please support them.

Until next time, CHEERS!

Keep watching our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/Retired-Guys-Beer-Afternoon-246464365759312/) as we will post an "event" highlighting the location where we will be visiting the 150th bar.  That visit will occur during the 3rd week of September.  Full details will be provided in the near future in the Facebook Event.

To see all the places we have been to, just click on one of the selections below:

In sequence, most recent to earliest

In order alphabetically 

In a map

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Twisted Bine Beer Co, Mount Joy - Bar # 146

What in the heck is a "bine"?  I was questioning this as we drove toward our next bar, The Twisted Bine Beer Company in Mount Joy and found out with Terry's dogged lookup on Wikipedia that it is "a long flexible stem of a climbing plant, especially a hop".  The name now makes total sense!

We got to the brewery a little early on a hot humid day and found that the door was locked.  A moment or two later, Kelly unlocked the door for us stating she didn't want to make us stay out in the heat!  This was just the beginning of our experience of awesome service and customer caring at Twisted Bine.  Before we found our way to the bar in this well renovated location we were greeted by Marge who explained the selection options of beer and wine as well as showed us how to go about ordering food if we cared for any.

Each of us ordered a "flight" so as to sample a broader selection of the offerings.  Terry chose as one of his four 4oz glasses a porter, The Good Ship, and claimed it to be the best porter he has ever had!  Greg, the brewmaster, offered me a small sample and I have to admit it is the first porter I ever liked.

We spoke at length with Jamie the proprietor who fully explained the brewing process right through the cleaning operation between batches.  He mentioned some of the challenges of ramping up volume and how he overcame them.  As a newly opened place we questioned if there were any startup hiccups and he honestly shared that there were some surprises but really nothing that couldn't be handled.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit today for two reasons - the service and friendliness of all people we encountered was great and every beer we sampled was excellent.  To put it as simple as we can, WE'LL BE BACK!

Keep watching our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/Retired-Guys-Beer-Afternoon-246464365759312/) as we will post an "event" highlighting the location where we will be visiting the 150th bar.  That visit will occur during the 3rd week of September.  Full details will be provided in the near future in the Facebook Event.

To see all the places we have been to, just click on one of the selections below:

In sequence, most recent to earliest

In order alphabetically 

In a map

Facebook page