GETTYSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA
Stayed at Gettysburg Hotel (established 1797) two blocks down from train station where Lincoln delivered Gettysburg Address, April ’06. Quaffed Guinness Stout at attached Mc Clellan’s Tavern, a gorgeously snug turn-of-the-century Van Tromp mahogany bar imported from England.
By nightfall, drove one mile towards historic Civil War Battlefield and nearby freestanding wood-pillared spire-roofed APPALACHIAN BREWING (thirty miles west of original Harrisburg brewery). Prominent midsize bar centered right-left side dining sections while banquet room and brew tanks bedecked downstairs area.
Classical tavern food was served alongside sharp, lemony grapefruit, floral-hopped, pepper-embittered Peregrine Pils, mild apple-orange-fronted, cereal-grained, honey-malted Zoigl Lager, orange peel/ grapefruit rind-embittered Hoppy Trails IPA, and creamy malt-fruited softie Celtic Knot Irish Red.
Heartier thirsts will gravitate towards black chocolate-dried, coffee-burnt, wood-chipped Chocolate Coffee Stout and sourer Susquehanna Stout (which tasted drier in bottled version). Really enjoyed seasonal malt-sugared cherry-bruised banana-lacquered Broad Street Barleywine and Belgian-styled Abbey Roade, a candi-sugared dark ale with peppery spices and speckled pear-grape-plum notes. Bottled Appalachian selections listed in Beer Index.