The Yum Report gives BBW 4 Yums!

8/14/2010
Ah, there are few things in the world that I like better than food and beer. So when the two of them are combined, I naturally veer towards those establishments that do so. It was discovered that Bethlehem had a well known Brew Pub (there is an establishment in Allentown too) and so, it was the first on the list of must have places to stop by and at least nibble at while drinking a beer. Brewworks is a true staple of the area, and shows it whole heartedly. From the gear logo to the Pennsylvania Dutch food, they know exactly where they are, and where they are from. Being that Bethlehem was “The Steel City” many years ago (huge competitor with Pittsburgh, believe it or not) its only natural for there to be an industrial, blue collar theme. Even the name screams this. You won’t be disappointed when entering this establishment, though the entrance itself may be a bit complicated to find. Once in, you are greated by the mash tuns, boilers, and other proud pieces of equipment signifying that you have wandered into a brew pub. Meandering to your seat, you continue to see the decorations demonstarting the industrial theme, along with the steel tube seating. They have reached a great balance here, however no worries of getting rust on your clothes. Another small surprise is that this place is huge. We continued to walk through the front room thinking it was a good size only to discover there was whole other separate room.

Beer Sampler

It is customary I believe that when you visit a brew pub for the first time, and if they offer a beer sampler, it is your duty to try it. There are many reasons for this, but lets face it, you are at a brew pub, you are here to drink excellent beer, so why not try them all in one fell swoop. This also helps encoruage discussion about what you are drinking and to promote your understanding of the different flavors bouncing around on your palate. We had the Steelgaarden Wit, Steelworker’s Oatmeal Stout, Valley Golden, Blastberry Wheat, Zomerbier, and the Berliner Weiss. The Blastberry was a bit fruitier than I could muster at the moment, the Stout had a huge mocha coffee punch to it, while the Wit had a nice mellow chillness and quickly became my compatriot for the remainder of the night. The others were also very good, and they offered great variety, but these are the ones that stuck out in my mind.

Bavarian Pretzels

Thinking back to my time in Germany, when drinking a fine beer, the table setting is not complete without a jumbo pretzel(s). Sadly, the majority of the pretzels I find in the U.S. are not up to par (especially the size) and most require a kickass dipping sauce to really make them jump (you know who you are). Expecting more of the same, I was delightfully surprised to try the Bavarian Pretzels. These are more like pretzel rods, with their girth making for great ripping and dipping action. The crispy outside has a touch of butter for flavor and to help the parmesan cheese (yes, they changed it up a bit), salt, and garlic leaves stick better. The soft inside almost melts in your mouth. Beer makes another cameo on this dish, as the dipping sauce is beer cheese soup. Great pairing, and nice change up from your stand mustard or queso. Honestly, these were some of the best American pretzels I have had in a long time, truly delish.

Bessemer’s Bratwurst

Due to our earlier meal and the pretzels, we decided to split a dish. There is a separate section for Pennsylvania Dutch dishes. Now if you are unfamiliar with Pennsylvania Dutch here is the wikipedia link to explain it – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_dutch. But in a nutshell, it’s German, yeah, I know, it’s confusing. After a few previous disappointments in what I thought was going to be somewhat German food, I was a bit hesitant to order from this menu, but caved in and went with it anyway. The Brats were exactly as they should be. Grilled, with a bit of that char skin on the outside, adding to the already flavorful pork filling. The wurst comes with its own gravy, but add a bit of mustard to it and you are in Brat Heaven. The red cabbage side was a bit more vinegary than I’m used to, though I believe that may have slid over from the potatoe salad. The potatoe salad was served warm, with onions and made complete with bacon, woo hoo. Time to push the plate away, lean back and unbutton that top button and smile with satisfaction. Its one of those meals…

Final Verdict: With the food and beer, there is a huge value here. The food is top quality, and the Works loves to show it. There are small descriptions on the menu of how they use free range, organic, natural, and local goods to make their fare, as well as tossing out big names like Hanover products. It is almost a bit unbelievable based on what you are paying. The beer would delight the upper echelon of beer snobs, while it could sit perfectly content helping ease the hard day of work put in at the steel mill (actually not running, but you get the idea). The service was on par, no issues there. The atmosphere was pretty cool, lots for your eyes to play with. I was very pleased with coming here, and will definitely make another visit when I can.

Four out of Five Yums
(I wanted to give it Five, but I’m trying to be stricter on giving those out. And whats this, two Four Yummers out of Bethlehem, PA, what is up with that?)
Note: If you are ever in the area, make sure you use http://www.lehighvalleypa.org/, as they are a great resource of things to do, and more important, places to eat!
Posted by Steven Sorrell at 7:26 PM

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