Old Forge Brewing Company has been in existence in the town of Danville in the upstate of Pennsylvania (about halfway between Harrisburg and Scranton) for over a decade. Recently, they expanded their footprint by establishing a tap room and restaurant in downtown York, PA, where I was staying for the holidays. While all the beer is still being made in Danville, the York taproom typically has a dozen or more offerings from their core and seasonal brew line-ups.

While my parents and I tried a number of beers, I focused on a couple of darker offerings, starting with Shermanator, which is their doppelbock. It pours a deep mahogany color, and checks in at a hefty 9.0% ABV. The alcohol is fairly prevalent overall, but I found it really popped up in the beer’s finish. Dark, sweet malt flavors combine with roasty sweetness along with raisins and other dark fruits. Despite such sweet ingredients, I found the sweetness level to be just right for my personal taste—not overpowering or sickly sweet.

Next was the Plowshare Porter, which they call “a cutting edge American Porter with plenty of chocolate malt and a shovel full of hops”. The beer has an ABV of 6.5% with an IBU count of 40, and pours a fairly clear brown color. Now, I think the “shovel full of hops” was probably some kind of citrusy hop, because this porter had a solid citrus aroma and orange notes in the finish and aftertaste. In addition to the citrus, this beer also featured some more traditional roasty and nutty notes, resulting in a quite different overall profile. Still enjoyable, though.