Appalachian Brewing Company

OWSLEY069

Pennsylvania

4.1/5  rDev +1.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 5 | $$

Walked in on a Tuesday for lunch. It was not really busy at all, except for a few regulars at the bar. The bartender was friendly, and quite informative. I enjoyed the fact that it had an old school kind of vibe that was updated. It has that old factory kind of look, with old brewing equipment and old beer trays on the walls. Sampled many beers here. As for the food, getting some lighter apps, had the mixed grill and pountine. Big portions and about standard on the price. Food was remarkable, I wish I was a bit more hungry to eat some more. Nice place, I would stop back for sure.

06-11-2011 14:57:23 | More by OWSLEY069

jifigz

Pennsylvania

3.85/5  rDev -4.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

So i had recently visited ABC in Harrisburg for the first time. I have never been a huge fan of their beers, and I am still not. The other local breweries in this part of PA put ABC's beer to shame. I still like having another brewery close by and another opportunity to be there and check things out. The building was righteously awesome. The old brick structure was restored beautifully. The one food item I had, the harvest pizza, was absolutely delightful and I am noticing a common trend between brewpubs and great pizza. I was only in the main room downstairs, but I thought this place was pretty cool. I will certainly be returning to check it out again as it is the closest "large" brewery to my house. I could get to Selins Grove, Elk Creek, and Otto's quicker, but this place had a great ambiance to it. I can't wait to return in the summer and have some beers outside and relax. Food was excellent, service was okay, beer was average, but I will be back and I am glad that they are around.

02-25-2013 18:01:45 | More by jifigz

mikedonut44

4.58/5  rDev +13.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

By far, best burgers I have had in Harrisburg. Beer selection is very dam good too. Can't beat home brews. Very Clean, Large Bar. Great Place to hang-out. Definitly would go there again if I get a chance. Check out there facebook page for updates. ///

01-31-2013 12:42:11 | More by mikedonut44

merc7186

New York

3.85/5  rDev -4.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5 | $$

Visited: 6/19/12.
I came to ABC while in town on business, this was my second time here so I went in knowing what to expect.

A: The place doesnt look all that great from the outside as it is an old three story brick building with a barren facade but once you get inside, it has the warm feeling of a really nice brewpub. Plenty of tables for seating, nice bar area, several TVs hung about with european flags and murals to their beers.

Q: The beers that I ordered (complete flight) were roughly about a 3.5 in quality rating, some were better than others but passable in almost all instances.

S: Service was decent, the place was half full when I went in and the waitress was attentive and helpful.

S: They offered 8 beers on their flight and there were an additional 3 more to purchase including two barrel aged beers, a good variety amongst the different styles and not much overlapping.

F: Food was okay, a little pricey for the medicore quality. Avoid the grilled romaine salad, it sounded interesting but the char left the lettuce too tough to cut through.

V: Prices were decent...between a full flight, quesadillas, and the grilled romaine salad it came to 27 dollars.

Overall, a nice place to visit when you are in the area...definitely not a MUST SEE type of place but decent enough to grab a bite and a pint. They also have a belgian beer bar on the 2nd floor but it was closed when I went there.

06-21-2012 15:50:09 | More by merc7186

GodlessWatermelon

Maryland

4.73/5  rDev +16.8%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 5 | $$

My good friends brought myself and my roommate here as an afternoon trip. First impression is the atmosphere. Very large seating area, but quite cozy and warm. Our friends have been members of the mug club for years so they received many hellos from the employees, nice to see they know their good customers. Seating area is very tall, with large rafters above and a great view of the brewery.

Excellent beer selection, had probably 7-9 on tap if I remember. Espresso Stout was nice and deep, had chocolate hints and it tasted like they ran the whole brew through coffee grounds. Had a slightly malty finish. The Zoigl Lager, our friends favorite, we took back in their growler. Delicious, a great American lager, and it had something in it I can't quite put my finger on.

Food was delicious, and the prices were very reasonable for the size of the portions. I had to just about dislocate my jaw taking bites of my ~10 dollar burger. Definitely forego the fries for their homemade chips -- salted to perfection and real crunchy.

Our waitress was extremely friendly, and knew her beers very well. She chatted with us for a few about the selection. After we had eaten and were finishing our last beers we somehow began to talk with the current manager (o owner, but I think it was the manager) who took us on a brief tour of the upper part of the brewery which was closed at that time of day. We got to see the enormous Belgian bar (saw Delirium, Unibroues I had never seen), complete with stage and pool tables, as well as another area that could be rented I believe. The manager knew his stuff as well, we learned the building has quite a history behind it and much of the furniture and floors/walls/beams are original from the early 1900's. A very nice gesture on his behalf for the tour.

Plan on going back in early May, would highly recommend ABC to anyone in the area (or not, we came from Baltimore!). Great beer, delicious food, friendly, knowledgeable staff, great service, and welcoming atmosphere.

04-12-2012 21:58:16 | More by GodlessWatermelon

bigfnjoe

Pennsylvania

3.85/5  rDev -4.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

Came in at about 3 PM on a Saturday....and the place was jammed. Wanted to sit at the bar, but couldn't, so we had to settle for a table. I immediately asked our server if they did flights, and she said they didn't....huh? Settled for a pint of the IPA, which was mediocre, and later the porter, which was good. Asked what seasonals were on and got a list of about 6 or 8, pretty impressive. Food was OK. Ordered the poutine (a favorite from various Canadian trips), and it wasn't bad, though it can't compare to the Canadian original. Service was OK, but the place was jammed so I can understand some slowness. Everything seemed rather reasonable as well. The place looks really nice, very wide open, but I don't like how the bar is all the way to the bank of the main dining area. There's also an upstairs bar that has various Belgians as well, though I haven't been there in a couple of years. They also sell beer to go, but it's just their flagship lineup with a couple of seasonals. It's not bad, it's not great, it's just kind of there. I'd like to go when it's less busy so I can get a seat at the bar, and see if this hogwash of no flights is true. I'd love to try a variety of beers as opposed to just a couple to get a better feel of how their beer is.

02-21-2012 18:53:44 | More by bigfnjoe

orangesol

Pennsylvania

4.13/5  rDev +2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

I have been here plenty of times, I have no idea why I haven't reviewed this place yet, that changes now.

Parking can be tough if there is a concert going on at the abbey bar. Once you enter you are greeted by a huge dining room with lots of tables all over the space. The brewery can be seen through the wall on the right, with all different countries flags all over the walls. Toward the back of the room is the large curved bar with plenty of seats. TV's and the draft list hangs on the wall behind the bar. They usually have quite a few of there own beers on at all times. I always like to check what is on cask first, they are usually much better...I will say that they really do have a great variety of house beers, but some of them need some tweaks to compare to other local brewery standards.

I really enjoy there food. I have liked nearly everything I have tried, recent favorites include the Poutine and the switchback burger. The quality has always been pretty good. I do know quite a few people who have not been as lucky as I have, pieces of seafood shells in the cheddar soup comes to mind.

The abbey bar may be even better than the downstairs area. They have most of the same beers on-tap but they also have quite a few belgian beers. It is always nice to get a saison dupont and sit outside on the deck in the summer. They always have bands playing up in the abbey, it really is one of the best places to see a show in the area. Overall ABC is definitely worth the stop if you are in the area.

02-19-2012 02:56:58 | More by orangesol

DCTriBeerGuy

District of Columbia

4.05/5  rDev 0%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

I visited just after Christmas and was immediately impressed. The dinner crowd was light and the room was very open and welcoming. The interior looked more like a ski cabin than a downtown brewhouse.

I had the beer flight, and added the Grinnin Grizzly Spiced Ale and the Mad Cameron Belgian Witte (from their Specialty Beers selection). Not all of the beers impressed me, but none were bad. I especially liked their Brown Ale, Pale Ale, IPA, in addition to the two specialty beers mentioned before.

The food was delicious, and reasonably priced. I highly recommend the pretzels with the cheese soup dipping sauce. The burger I ordered was also very good.

This was a quick stop for food on the way out of town, so I can't say much about the location, but if you're in the area this is definitely worth a stop for at least a beer.

12-29-2011 17:10:59 | More by DCTriBeerGuy

CraftBeerTastic

Pennsylvania

4.05/5  rDev 0%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

The family and I stopped in to celebrate my birthday. I've heard good things about ABC so it only made sense to use my one birthday wish on a visit this year.

There was plenty of parking in the two lots behind thier large brick building along Cameron St. It's not exactly located in the ghetto, but I wouldn't plan on walking alone outside after hours. The entrance greeted us with two huge barn doors that lead to a gift shop area. There was a cooler full of ABC sixers and other merchandise for sale.

The bar area was in the far back right corner of the pub. The brewery basically occupied the entire right portion of the building with the pub area to the left and center portions. The restrooms were in the back left corner. There apparently was another bar area called the Abby Bar (or something along those lines) on the second floor.

It only took a few moments before we were seated with our drink and appetizer orders placed. I started off with a Grinnin' Grizzly Spiced Ale and the pretzel roll with mustard dipping sauce. The place was very kid-friendly, complete with a kids menu and high-chairs.

The lunch crowd was still going strong but the service never seemed to lag. Before I knew it I was on to a Pennypacker Porter and a huge burger with a side of fries. The server was able to answer any questions I had about the various brews they offered. At that point I was finishing up with the Hoppy Trails IPA (an ok IPA with some nice pine notes - lighter mouth feel).

Over all it was a very pleasant experience. The facility is fairly clean and the food was excellent. The beer I had was just ok with the Pennypacker Porter being the best of all. I ended up leaving with a growler-full. We will certainly be stopping into ABC Harrisburg again.

12-28-2011 22:21:34 | More by CraftBeerTastic

Johnny5tone

Pennsylvania

4.7/5  rDev +16%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

I love The Appalachian Brewing Company! The food is always good, the service is good and the beer is even better. I have yet to have a beer that i did not like. Although I was warned not to try the Organic beer so there may be one. It is a nice quite place to eat, that has live music on certain nights. There menu has a nice selection of food and beer brewed by them. My personal favorites is the Jolly Scott with the Mile High Meatloaf. Some of there brews are available year round and some are seasonal. This place is worth checking out!

12-12-2011 22:56:31 | More by Johnny5tone