By David Jones

Well, we are back on the road for this week’s review. This time we traveled to Hershey, Pa. to visit Tröegs Independent Brewing and pub. I did this trip with Lin, Mom and my sister Mary for lunch.

Disclaimer: Mary’s son Joshua (my nephew) works here.

Although Troegs is getting consistently good reviews and spreading out throughout Pennsylvania, they haven’t achieved nearly the success of our own Parkesburg brewery, Victory Brewing Company, in the broader U.S. Market.

That being said, this is a very nice place making some good food and beer. Everyone we met on our little lunch adventure was very nice and welcoming.

The environment is very utilitarian. It’s all metal and wood. That’s not a bad thing when it’s designed with as much care as Troegs put in to their design.

We sat at one of the many booths. Like most brew pubs there is a good mix of high and low seating and tables.

You can get table service here, but only for the beer, which seemed a little strange to me. If you have waiters coming to the table and filling your beer orders, why not do the food too? But, they don’t. You have to go to the counter and place your order.

They give you a light and buzzer that lets you know when your order is ready and you go and pick it up. Meanwhile, our beer waiter was just standing around and shooting the breeze with customers at the bar and other staff. Seems like a silly waste to me.

Okay, moving on to the food. This is a very creative menu. They have a nice mix of small plates, salads, sandwiches and large plates. Mom and Mary both went for the grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. The menu described it this way: “Grilled cheese on scratch sourdough, Brie, American, cheddar, tomato soup.”

I don’t think they expected what they got. This is without a doubt the largest grilled cheese sandwich I ever saw! It comes on very thick slices of delicious homemade bread. The sandwich is then set across a very large bowl that has a deep well for the tomato soup.

Mom and Mary both took half of their sandwich home.

Lin went for the “Crispy ½ chicken, collard greens, corn bread, with jalapeño gravy. This was also a nice size portion that was served on a tin tray. The gravy added a very nice and spicy kick to the chicken that was very crispy as advertised.

Lin and I shared a “Crispy pork belly, poached pear puree, butternut spätzle, lime” small plate. This was actually served in a small cast iron skillet. It was a neat little square serving that was very crispy on top and very juicy underneath. I thought it was pretty good, but Lin did not like the crispy top.

I had a “Troegsworst on split-top, red cabbage, new potato salad.” This sandwich had a lot of different flavors going on inside and was excellent. It came on a large piece of split homemade bread that was toasted lightly.

The red cabbage was merely a sprinkled afterthought and left me wishing there was a little more. The potato salad side came stuffed into a small jelly jar. I thought it was a little dry, but it did have some good flavors.

It seemed to me it was possibly sitting pre-served in the jar overnight and that’s possibly what dried it out.

I had Troegs limited release “Dead Reckoning Porter” (ABV 5.9, IBU 57) with my meal. It was good, but I wished I would had gotten the Javahead Stout, which is my favorite from this brand.

Following lunch we took the self-guided tour of the brewery and that was very interesting. The guided tour had been totally booked before we got there. You can reserve the tour on line to be sure it’s available for your visit if that’s something that interests you.

For us, the self-guided tour was more than adequate and very informative. The tour starts and finishes in the gift shop, which is very nice with a wide variety of products, including neon signs ($225) and repurposed work shirts from employees ($10).

The brewery is right next to the entrance to Hershey Park, which makes it ideal if you are planning a trip to the park.

I’ve been to a total of 25 breweries this year from Florida to Seattle and Maine. I would rate Troegs above average in that list and give it an overall 3 star rating. Providing table service for food can enhance the experience.

Our total for lunch for four was $65, all inclusive.

200 East Hershey Park Drive, Hershey, PA 17033
(717) 534-1297

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A native of Chester County and a 1968 graduate of Octorara Area High School, David Jones earned a Masters Degree in Medical Ethics from from Villanova University. Mr. Jones served as CEO of both Mayview and Wernersville State Hospitals and later worked directly with then Governor Rendell to modernize and right-size Pennsylvania’s entire state hospital system. Jones and his wife Lynn make their home in Parkesburg and dine out frequently across Chester County and the Delaware Valley.