Selin's Grove Brewing Company

Maestro

Pennsylvania

4.63/5  rDev +6.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5

This was an incredible brewpub. It sits within the basement of an old stone house. There is a nice bar with several tables scattered throughout two rooms. Some of the booths have old church pews as benches. The atmosphere is very relaxed. The lighting is low and you feel like staying for hours. The service is great and the beers are awesome. I had a chance to try the IPA, the Stout, the Doppelbock, and the Porter. All were above average and I would like to have them again. The food was great too. Lots of vegetarian choices. Mostly sandwiches and wraps made up the menu. I can't say enough good things about this place. A very exceptional choice for dining or for drinks. The only improvement would be more space so more people could enjoy the fine ales. They also have two beer engines!

01-25-2004 02:43:06 | More by Maestro

tnornhold

Pennsylvania

4.13/5  rDev -4.6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4

This is a great non-smoking brew pub in the basement of an early 1800s mansion. One of the first governors of Pennsylvania lived there. When you go into this place, it feels like you have walked back in time and are going into a roadside tavern. They are only open Wednesday through Saturday and seating is limited. The menu is also quite limited, but the quality of the food and beer more than make up for these minor set backs. They have a constantly changing menu of beer to chose from. Their standards include a Scottish Ale, a Cream Ale, a Porter, one of two Stouts and normally a Pale Ale or ESB. Also, depending on the season, there are normally two to four other selections ranging from Wheat beers to Tripels and Barley Wines. Some of their selections are cask conditioned. Almost everything they make is outstanding. I especially like their Hefe-Weizen, Oatmeal Stout, Kriek and Porter. I highly recommend that if you are ever near Selinsgrove, you find the back basement door to the Governor Snyder Mansion and prepare yourself for some good times.

12-02-2003 19:37:00 | More by tnornhold

QXSTER1

Pennsylvania

4.75/5  rDev +9.7%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5

After reading all the superlative reviews and laudatory comments on Selinsgrove Brewing we left for our fall brewtour with high expectations. We arrived to find an establishment that has not made the mandatory concessions to the mainstream beer drinker. This is a pub for the true beer lover. No smoking throughout, no radio or blaring televisions, no watered down lagers on tap. Just a small, intimate, rustic basement bar and restaurant serving exemplary beers and some fine cuisine. Eight of the nine taps were pouring on our visit. The beers were fresh and spot on style. It's hard to pick a favorite, but the Kriek was superb. The restaurant serves a bunch of appetizers, myriad sandwiches and one hot entree special. I had the kielbassy with cabbage, apples and sweet potatoes and thought it excellent. Plenty of oversized sandwiches should please most palates.
Heather gave us a tour of one of the smallest brewhouses I've ever seen. Hard to believe they can produce so many styles from such a small area. Service was friendly and efficient. Really seemed like the locals have called Selinsgrove Brewing their own. Everything came together to make this one of our most memorable brewpub visits yet. Worth going out of your way for.

10-20-2003 22:20:17 | More by QXSTER1

rotsaruch

Pennsylvania

4.9/5  rDev +13.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5

On this beautiful autumn day, a trio of BAs (Davo, ububru and I) decided to make a roadshow to Selin's Grove Brewpub in Selinsgrove, PA. This wonderful brewpub is in the old kitcken area of the 18th century mansion of Gov. Synder. It is truly quaint and beautiful with this elequent bar and dining area (no smoking and TVs, etc.) There also is a lovely outdoor seating area. It was my first visit, but Davo's and ububru's second visit. Believe me, we will all be back again.

This place is about craft beer at its finest and some truly delicious food that is a notch or two above your normal pub grub. For example, they make six different choices of their own bread. Their menue is truly diverse and unique; a vegetitarian friendly establishment. We all enjoyed our lunches.

But this place is really all about their brews. Steven Leason and Heather McNabb have truly mastered the skill and passion to make some outstanding brews on their 3-bbl system. There were NINE brews on tap and one cask-conditioned brew!! The line-up included a cream ale, hefeweizen, scottish ale, IPA, a Belgian style kriek, ocktoberfest, porter and oatmeal stout. The primary interest was their Harvest Ale (known as Hop Nouveau Pale Ale).
Their Havest Ale was both on draft and cask-conditioned. Believe me it doesn't get any better than this!!

Everyone one of these brews was a home run!! We were some very happy, grinning dudes sampling and tasting all these brews. The Harvest Ale used over 20 pounds of fresh hops that are grown by Steve and Heather at the brewpub. The cask-conditioned version was fabulous. For me, the most unusual, but extremely tasty brew was the very intense, but enticing sour cherry kriek. At 7.5% abv, it was truly delicious, but scary stuff.

We all got growlers of our favorites, thanked the great staff and told the regulars how lucky they were to have this jewel of a brewpub in their backyard. Look forward to my next trip. Hope you all have an opportunity to visit this "diamond in the rough."

10-12-2003 01:36:11 | More by rotsaruch

rdrummer

New Jersey

4.83/5  rDev +11.5%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

I've been to SelinsGrove twice now. The first time I thought that I was just thirsty and that's why the beer was so good. The second time I did a thorough tasting of what they had to offer. There was not a single beer that I would classify as average. The two best were the Oatmeal Stout and the Tripel. The stout was as good as any that I've tried. It was full-bodied with excellent lacing. The Tripel matched many of the real Belgians. A truly excellent beer. The Hefe-weizen was very representative. The biggest disappointment was that they had nothing on the hand pump. They told me to come back later in the fall for their Barleywine on the handpump. Can't wait.

Edit: Since I have a student at the University, I have been here a number of times since this review. Each time, I find another brew that is better than the last. They harvested their own hops this year and made a terrific, hoppy ale that they had on the handpump. In addition, the menu continues to impress--very fresh, nothing mediocre.

The food here is above the average brew pub fare. I especially liked the Pennsylvania pretzel sandwich but get it with the brie, really great. Soups, salads, and sandwiches were all above average.

Edit: I've been considering that I need to upgrade this review, but it always seemed close until two trips this summer. The Stealth Tripel and the Mai Bock are so delicious that I couldn't ignore the slight I've given the quality of Steve's beer. Also, the service would be underrated at 4.5. I still would like to see a few more taps, and I hate when a tap is empty. It seems like such a waste. Steve is turning out some fantastic beers for the beer engine.

09-29-2003 23:06:31 | More by rdrummer

SchmichaelJ

Pennsylvania

4.53/5  rDev +4.6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4

I was originally attracted to the Selin's Grove Brewing Co. through articles and reviews of their pub, all of which noted the absence of a television or jukebox. My interest piqued, my girlfriend and I took the road trip to rSelinsgrove in rural north-central Pennsylvania. The atmosphere of this brewpub blew me away. Indeed, there were no televsions in the basement of the early nineteenth century mansion in which the pub is housed. The feel of sitting in stone rooms, having history envelop you while you drink handcrafted brews was really an experience. After the picturesque drive, the Shade Mt. Stout, Old Trail ESB and Capt. Selin's Cream Ale tasted fresher than any beers I've ever had. The service was prompt and curteous, and the selection was excellent, despite the small facility. My curry chicken salad was excellent, too. Strangely enough, each beer seemed to complement the food well. Perhaps it was the other way around. Regardless, the atmosphere and quality of the brewpub has gone unsurpassed in my beer travels. History seemed to come alive and meld with the present as I quaffed on delicious beer. Highly recommended for anyone in the area...I know I'll be returning when the road trip bug bits again.

05-16-2003 11:10:36 | More by SchmichaelJ

BeerIsland

Pennsylvania

4.65/5  rDev +7.4%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4 | food: 4

This gem of a brewpub is one of the wonders of Penna. Heather and Steve make excellent versions of a number of styles witha number of standouts. They are only open Wed-Fri evenings and Saturday a bit longer so it's best to call and make sure they'll be open when you show up. One of the thinks I like best about this place is the lack of a TV. It's impossible to drink by yourself here; everytime I've visited, the patrons are always ready to chat. The service is friendly and efficient. The menu is limited due to the small kitchen but the items are very well made and always tasty and nutritious. Selin's Grove is a little off the beaten track but they don't do any off premise so off to central Penna you must go to exprerience one of the best brewpubs anywhere.

05-02-2003 19:37:51 | More by BeerIsland

NeroFiddled

Pennsylvania

4.2/5  rDev -3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4

Selin's Grove is a tiny little brewpub, tucked away in a tiny little town in the middle of nowhere. And yet, they've made a big splash. I was working at Yard's when I first met Heather and Steve. They were interested in the "FrAnKenBrew" system that Tom and Jon had put together. Well, they went on to put their own together. Heather's parents own the building, which makes the whole thing possible, but they've certainly come alot further than that. There's a laid-back feel to the place, and a bit of a healthy, vegetarian menu (which I like!), and the beers follow suit. Alot of variety, alot of styles, alot of flavor. There's always something different on tap. Very cool place, but far out of the way for most people. However, it's worth a very long trip to get there!

07-27-2002 20:35:10 | More by NeroFiddled