Beer Time!!

Lancaster County and beer??? I learned a lot this past weekend. The beer drinking days go deep in Lancaster County. You see, the Germans with their knowledge of beer settled in our area. With that they brought great traditions and lots of the sweet brew. Over the years many breweries popped up and by the time prohibition came to the states, Lancaster peaked at 14 breweries. The local newspaper dubbed Lancaster as the Munich of the United States.

So after a day of drinking beer, Gotta love my job!!!! we decided to end our tour at Lancaster Brewery for dinner and a tour. What a treat. Our host Casey, server Katie and our Chef were all very personable and treated our guest to an excellent evening. The meal was spectacular with plenty to eat, almost too much.

Our meal began with a Crispy Red Snapper and shaved citrus fennel salad topped with a Papaya Poppyseed Vinaigrette. The dish was good, would have preferred the skin off of the fish, but the flavors were all there. Papaya, not my favorite, but it worked with this salad. I was really impressed.

Second course got a lot of discussion. Almost like a Vietnamese Noodle Soup, this was truly a treat. With Seared Duck Breast, a lamb sausage dumpling with sprouts in a chicken consommé, this dish was as intriguing as it was delicious.

Our third course was a chilled melon soup, but simple was not the call for this one. Two different melons flavored with honey and lemon mingled the glass. The contrast of color and flavor one many on this concoction.

Our Main Entree was a wonderful short rib, hickory smoked and served over a soft aged cheddar polenta. Both were great, would have loved for the polenta to be pipping hot, but the taste of the aged cheddar was wonderful.

Dessert was good, but not the creation of our chef. He did add a strawberry salsa with the cake, which was a nice accompaniment, but after the caliber of the rest of the meal, did not live up to expectations.

All in all, the evening was wonderful, Katie was on top of her game and Casey was there to make sure that all was good.

As for the beer, well two beers with each course = ten beers, lets just say that the last four were... well they all tasted the same. The first few beers, I could tell the difference, but by the end, na... there was no way. Beers were cold crisp and each had a distinct flavor. I really liked the Hefe Weisen.

So if you ever want to join us for any of our tours, " we do have another beer and pretzel coming up" check us out at the Harvest Moon Bed and Breakfast.