Bethlehem Brew Works

jayhawk73

Maryland

4.22/5  rDev +7.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

Bethlehem Brew Works has two sections, an upstairs and a downstairs. The upstairs is your more typical bar atmosphere, while the downstairs is darker, a little more club like. Upstairs you can get all the brewery's beers, which range from pretty good to really good. Downstairs they have about 75 Belgian beers (mostly in bottles) if you want to go that route. The food was absolutely amazing the two times I've been there, and the service was really good as well. Value is also really good. I would recommmend Bethlehem Brew Works to anyone traveling through the area- it's a great place to hang out w/ great food and good beer. Check it out if you're in the area!

05-22-2011 17:19:19 | More by jayhawk73

BeerForMuscle

New Jersey

4/5  rDev +1.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

This place is on the corner of Main Street in downtown Bethlehem. From the street you can see the giant copper beer vats inside the front window. The inside is inviting with a relaxed vibe. This brewpub has incorporated a lot of steel inside to pay homage to this town that was once a a small epicenter of the steel industry. Much like many local brewpubs, Brew Works has an industrial look, is dimly lit, and has a good selection of house made beers. Their oatmeal stout is one of the best I've had. They offer a small group of steady beers as well as new brews and seasonal selections that rotate. Beer flights are available year round as well as bottle selections for enjoying there or taking home. There is also a good several handfuls of other craft and international beer. The food menu is just as full, with a number of solid pub choices, Pennsylvania German dishes, and fare made with their beer. A must have is the Bavarian soft pretzel rods rolled in cheese and butter served with a cup of beer cheese. There is plenty of room and also a lounge downstairs called the Steelgarden Lounge. This establishment is a definite if you are in the Lehigh Valley.

11-02-2012 02:49:44 | More by BeerForMuscle

NEhophead

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -11.2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5 | $$

Grabbed dinner and a few beers at BBW while passing through Bethlehem this past Friday night. The atmosphere is typical for a moderately sized brewpub with lots of bar seating and tables with brewing equipment constituting most of the decor. Taps included approximately 10 house brews. I tried the Heart of Darkness, a strong dark Belgian, and the Devil's Hearth, a strong pale Belgian. Both offerings were good, but nothing special. Service was timely even for a somewhat busy Friday night. I ordered the mac n' cheese with bacon which was good, but a bit heavy. All in all, reminiscent of the Beer Works chain in the northeast: it's nice for a local brewpub, but don't expect incredible quality or selection.

08-21-2012 17:43:05 | More by NEhophead

Rifugium

Pennsylvania

3.25/5  rDev -17.5%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3 | $$

I got a very mixed impression of this place. I'm pretty familiar with what Fegley's has to offer, as their beers pop up all over eastern PA quite often, but I was in the area and figured I'd go to the source.

The place is nice enough, with a casual dining atmosphere leaning towards a vintage industrial / steel-mill theme that pervades pretty much everything in the general area. Moravian College is nearby, so the crowd is [unfortunately] a bit heavy with these students, at least it was during my visit. There was a rather large bar that was completely full, forcing us to snag a table, of which there was quite an abundance.

As for the beer, well, the Fegley's/Allentown/Bethlehem project has a fairly large output, and many of the beers are made to appease a less discriminating crowd. As such, the beers are generally "okay" on average. Four flagships included a wit, ESB, blonde ale, and oatmeal stout, with about 6 or 7 seasonals also on tap. Also available are bottles of many of their house brews, as well as a decent selection of standard craft desirables (Chimay, etc.). I only really had one beer here that I'd ever consider having again, which was their Black Friday Scotch Ale. Everything else was--like I said before--just "okay." Good variety of styles if you look at their entire annual output, but not much is really very good.

Food...meh. The menu had quite an impressive selection, and I do give them credit for that. However, aside from the soup, everything that the wife and I had was pretty sub-par, and in fact, her salmon salad went mostly untouched. And considering the quality of the mid-priced items we got, I think their food is quite overpriced and I wouldn't even go near the high-end entrees.

Service was decent. I imagine this place gets extremely busy during games and weekend nights. It was fairly busy when we visited, and the servers all seemed pretty much on the ball, so I can't really complain.

To sum up this place with one simple phrase: the quantity outdoes the quality. And that goes for the beer and the food. I'm glad I went, but I would never go back.

05-07-2012 02:05:41 | More by Rifugium

richbrew

New Jersey

4.45/5  rDev +12.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

Brew Works is convenient to beer shopping @ Abe's 3 minutes one way and gambling @ the Sand's 5 minutes the other. Win Win!
Been here a few times and loved it each time. Sat at the bar everytime and had great service. The beer lineup is always good as there's something for everyone each time I've been. This past stop they had BA Insidious on tap and carry out 4 packs so that was a treat. Cool industrial interior, clean and layed back. Super comfortable place to have a beer and some wings. Great prices and the blast furnace wings were no joke after about 6. They creep up on you. Great brew pub as NJ lacks such luster.

02-21-2012 01:36:13 | More by richbrew

DrKnoskelson

Pennsylvania

4.15/5  rDev +5.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

I visited Bethlehem Brew Works on Sunday November 6, 2011. My overall impression was great food and good but slightly pricey beer. The food menu had a nice selection of options. The beer menu contained a brief description of the brew but lacked prices. Our entres were served in a reasonable amount of time and were great. The beers that we ordered were also served promptly and were good representatives of their style. A great plave to grab a few brews and have a grat burger. It seems like this place would also be an awesome place for a midweek happy hour.

12-20-2011 22:54:20 | More by DrKnoskelson

mattgreger

Pennsylvania

4.3/5  rDev +9.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

This is a great place right in downtown Bethlehem. I actually got a chance to go here with my brother during Music Fest.

Its got a great bar/brewpub style place. As you walk in you smell the aroma of food and beer. You just see giant copper color casks all throughout the room.

Once sat down, there was a lot to see. The beer list was amazing. So many different brews, they seem to follow with the seasons, because many of the available brews on tap were centered around the late summer/early fall. The had some of there classics as well.

The staff is good as well, the waiter we had was very knowledgable. We had chosen our meals and he actually suggested particular brews that go well with each. It was just a nice personal touch.

This is a great place, I will be sure to come here again and try some of the other brews throughout other seasons, as well as other classics that they have during different times of the year.

10-05-2011 14:37:55 | More by mattgreger

VegasBill

Nevada

3.88/5  rDev -1.5%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

Stopped here at the worst possible time,5:30,but I was going to Easton next so I had no choice.The atmosphere is not my thing the commercial/industrial look,I guess it goes with the theme of the area.
For beer I tried the Valley Golden and the Devils Hearth , both were great. I saw some food being delivered to tables and it looked outstanding. I wanted to eat here but there was no space at the bar, I stood off in a corner, and there was a line waiting for tables. If I were to be in the area again I would plan on spending more time here.

06-18-2011 18:21:32 | More by VegasBill

Knapp85

Pennsylvania

3.88/5  rDev -1.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

Downstairs or up either way the selection at the Brew Works is pretty good most of the time. The atmosphere has it's mix of people. You got some of the college kids that come there from the area and just some other people who enjoy the Brew Works from the area too. The service has usually been pretty good there whenever I've gone. The bartenders know the products they're selling and are helpful with selections. The food has always been impressive too for me. I never disliked anything I ever ordered there in way of food. Their beers are constantly flowing and being switched up. There has been a good number of really good brews to come out of the Brew Works over the last few years that I'm really glad I've gotten to try. The Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout and the Bier De Pharaoh have got to be 2 of the best beers I've ever had. I managed to have them both on tap here and at the Allentown building. Overall they make enough beers to give anyone a fair choice of finding something right for them. They even have a decent amount of guest beers there too. It's worth checking out when you're in the area.

05-12-2011 17:11:18 | More by Knapp85

thain709

Pennsylvania

3.86/5  rDev -2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | $$

From the outside, the brick building is in nice condition with bay windows filled with brewing kettels. You enter into a hallway (I forget the fany word) and BBW is on your right. As I walked to the bar I passed a few tables and some memorabilia for sale.

The place is really long and has seating for a lot of people. The bar was a horseshoe with mini sides, but it could sit quite a few. I believe there were 10 people at the bar and everyone had a seat or two between them.

I was greeted and asked if I wanted a menu as I sat down. I declined to both, as I had already done the research on which beer I wanted to try. I opted for an Aggressive which was labeled as a West Coast IPA. They had about eight other brews on tap ranging from their four flagship to a regular version and barrel aged version of Insidious to an East Coast IPA and finally a Belgian Style Brown Ale. So the selection variety was nice and they didn't have to overdo it. The Aggressive was nice and hoppy and towards the bottom it became caramely and hoppy.

As for the service, like I said, I was greeted upon sitting down and not bothered with until my glass was empty. To one his own. I'd like to try the food when I return, or at least look at a menu.

Make sure to bring quarters or at least some dollar bills for change as there are meters and parking garages.

03-08-2011 14:21:11 | More by thain709