As part of our DiscoverNEPA Brewer’s Loop Series, we’re hitting the road – yes, all 390-plus miles of it. We’ll be taking brewery tours, sampling stouts, lagers and IPAs, and tasting taproom grub all over Northeastern Pennsylvania. Follow along as we bring you a firsthand look inside the region’s exploding craft beer scene, and let you know how, when and where you can experience it for yourself.
Delicious Food and Amazing Beer Proudly Crafted in NEPA
Situated directly in the middle of the 98-mile Susquehanna Stretch of the DiscoverNEPA Brewer’s Loop, this plucky, Hanover Township brewpub makes its mark. Benny Brewing Company had quite a humble upbringing. This major player in the NEPA craft beer scene got its start in a storage closet at local, family-owned Marty’s Blue Room. Now, nearly ten years later, and after some dogged dedication and an almost mathematical approach to brewing, you can enjoy a pint of Benny’s finest at their very own brewery, restaurant, pub and beer garden.
Concrete, Steel, Wood and Beer
A modern workshop aesthetic creates an intimate proximity between the brewer, the cook and the patron.
An overwhelmingly, organic atmosphere pervades the wide-open pub side of Benny Brewing Company. Shimmering steel tanks peek through the back of the bar. Light rains from overturned galvanized buckets. Mismatched, unfinished pallet stock falls into place like dominoes around the expansive space. There’s an enjoyable honesty that floats in and around the polished tables and steel high back chairs. You can see into the brewery, into the kitchen and behind the bar. Nothing is hidden. A truce, of sorts, exists between guest, server, bartender, chef and brewmaster. It’s an agreement long cherished, yet sadly often lost in this age-old arrangement – we will fill your belly with delicious food and beer, and we will do it with a smile, and you only need to sit, relax and enjoy. No bells. No whistles.
In all, Benny’s offers a refreshing break from both the typical and the pretentious. That’s what makes it such a welcomed addition to anyone’s list of “go-to” spots. Benny Brewing Company is welcoming, fun and simple. It takes very little effort to relax and have a good time here. That alone makes it worth the trip (well, the mac n cheese also helps).
The Beer
Handcrafted, local and a little bit different.
Visit Benny Brewing during the afternoon, and see the brewmaster toiling away at his latest creation, or perhaps cranking out one of the flagship beers. The process here is about staying true to the craft. The signature Pale Ale, Wit, 570 Amber Lager and Hopenstein IPA are straightforward, simple and delicious beers. They’re efficient, faithful beers that have been an essential building block to Benny’s ever-growing, ever-experimental portfolio.
Next to the flagship brews stands a long line of seasonal masterpieces. Benny’s loyalists return month after month in search of those harvest season releases like BennyFest or Pumpkin Ale. They warm up in the winter with rich Oatmeal Chocolate Stouts and the silky-smooth Parkway Porter. And, in the summer, they cruise all day on Sippin’ Time, an easily sessionable grapefruit IPA. It also pays to keep a close eye on Benny’s rotating tap list. Out of the 12 different beers always on tap, you might find some spectacular, one-off experimental creations.
