WILLIAMSPORT, PENNSYLVANIA

A family-friendly cafe-styled gastropub with its logo sprawled along a wide green awning above the glass door entrance in the center of Williamsport, BOOM CITY BREWING CO.  opened up in autumn 2016. Making use of rough-cut timber, co-owners William Fredo and Mark Lorson designed their small pub-eatery to recall a cozy dining hall. Its metal-framed overhead door frontage has an antique dime store appeal.

A centralized seven-seat wood top bar with eight draught handles services three front-windowed steel-chaired wood tables and three bark-backed booths. Signature steaks, thin crust pizza, pasta and sandwiches bedeck a fine locally sourced food menu.

Wine, cordials and top shelf liquor are available alongside Boom City’s approachable stylistic beers. My wife and I spent a few hours prior to Saturday dinner in May ’22 to consume seven homemade suds.

Mild Cascade-hopped lemon zesting perked up the musky milled graining of Pine Street Pilsner, sliding trusty rye-pumpernickel breading into the backdrop.

Leathery horse-blanketed straw wheat acridity sidled tart lemon-dropped grapefruit oiling draping rustic moderation, Wheat Pale Ale, picking up celery watered vegetalia.

A tad washed-out, pinkish amber-cleared Raspberry Wheat spread chalky floral-perfumed raspberry tartness atop fragile white wheat bottom, picking up wispy watermelon and lychee illusions.

Creamed coffee sedation gained dry hop-charred black peppering and oaken vanilla tannins for Coffee Cream Ale, a fair breakfast companion.

West Coast-styled Boom Rat Pale Ale brought IPA-like grapefruit-peeled pine lacquering to resinous cannabis-oiled fungi mustiness.

Soft-tongued West Coast-styled IPA, Log Jam, took salty grapefruit rind and lemon pith bittering plus spritzy orange-peeled pineapple zing to tobacco-leafed pale malt crisping.

Espresso-dried dark cocoa resonance saddled Muddy River Porter, guiding day-old coffee souring into hop-charred earthen musk at the finish.