As the day wound to a close, it was time to grab dinner and this gave us the chance to visit another brewery in the area. We took a short drive down to Meadville, PA where we had the chance to explore the various beers that TimberCreek Tap & Table produces.
Arriving at TimberCreek, you are immediately greeted by a large outdoor fire pit and the option of two different entrances. To the right is the main restaurant and to the left, the brewery and pub can be found. We opted to eat and have our beer in the pub area as it would give us a chance to ask more questions about the brewery. It is a spacious room and has a fun addition I have never seen anywhere else. The floor is composed of thick glass under which is the actual brewery. This allows you to peer down and see all the brewery equipment on the floor below you while enjoying your visit! This was a nice touch and added to the interesting atmosphere. With plenty of beers to choose from, we dove right into the sampler for a very diverse tasting.
- 5.5% ABV
- Dortmunder Export
- Very crisp, fresh, and easy drinking. Good malt character that balances well with the hops.
- 7.5% ABV
- West coast style IPA with over 5 hop types blended together.
- Huge hop aroma and flavor, almost like a double IPA but without the higher ABV. Excellent!
– Belgian Long John- 6.0% ABV
- Belgian Dark Ale spiced with star anise and sweet orange peel.
- Great use of anise, very fragrant.
- Sweet, with a nice lingering finish.
- 6% ABV
- Robust Porter
- Big, rich, and roasty. Mix of cocoa and hop flavors.
- 9% ABV
- Imperial Stout brewed in conjunction with the winner of the brewery’s first homebrew contest.
- Motor oil black color, really big and full bodied. The high ABV is hidden quite well.
- 5.5% ABV
- Sweet Milk Stout brewed with cocoa and peppermint.
- This was amazing! The perfect blend of peppermint and chocolate that worked incredibly well. One of the best beers made with mint that I have ever had.
- A house blend of different sugars and spices.
- Rich and very sweet but not cloying; pretty easy drinking.
I was very happy to see two stouts and a porter available. They were really well made and I enjoyed the North Pole Stout so much that I brought a growler home. It can be tough to balance mint properly within a beer without making you feel like you are drinking toothpaste, but TimberCreek pulled this off flawlessly.
At the bar, Brianna was able to tell us a bit more about the brewery. TimberCreek Tap & Table was established in 2011 and opened to the public in the spring of 2012. The brewery has one full time brewer, Jacob Vorisek, and one part time brewer. Their favorite style to brew is Belgian and the brewery always has one rotating Belgian beer on tap that they produce. Jake is also a founding member of the Meadville Brewing Society. The brew house runs off a 10 barrel system with 4 fermenters and 4 brite tanks so there is plenty of room to keep a variety of beers on draught. Currently, the most popular beers are the Black Bear Porter and Liberty Blonde. TimberCreek is bottling many of its beers for distribution around Erie, Pennsylvania and they plan on expanding to Pittsburgh and surrounding areas in the near future. Spent grain from the brewing process is not discarded but rather is given to local farmers for their livestock.
TimberCreek’s full service menu is available both in the pub and restaurant. The portions are excellent and the entrees we ordered were deliciously made. I highly recommend the sausage stuffed mushrooms as an appetizer. The pub also serves wine and other liquors though they did not have any locally produced wines as far as we noticed.
I was quite impressed with the beer selection available at TimberCreek. The brewery will fill any growler for $14, but on Thursdays and Sundays the price drops to just $10 each. This is an excellent deal for some truly interesting beers. With quick access to the brewery right off of Interstate 79, I highly recommend stopping in if you are driving through the area.
Head towards the main town of Meadville, and you are sure to notice the artwork, Read Between the Signs, on Route 322. This beautiful mural made from discarded street signs was a cooperative effort between Allegheny College’s Center for Economic and Environmental Development and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. It is over 1,200 feet long and 9 feet high! What a great way to recycle old road signs.
TimberCreek Tap & Table
www.timbercreektapandtable.com
1191 Highline Drive, Meadville, PA 16334
Visited January 18, 2014
Blog post written by Thomas Andersen.
Liquid Alchemy 