Unlimited Beer! :)

I thought that might catch your attention.

We went on our annual motorbike trip to Pennsylvania. I have been going for about 6 years now. This year we had myself, my brother (Diesel), his wife (Diesel's wife), and Dennis (Mad Dog). We had a couple of riders drop out but hey, more beer for us but more on that later.

There was a back-up at the border crossing but it went through fairly fast. The US border guards removed people from two separate vehicles and escorted them to the customs building. They must of got word that certain folks were attempting to illegally cross into the States because they seemed to be on a higher alert than normal. I always seem to go first and explain our story of where we are heading. By the time the fourth bike goes through, the guards are "yeah, yeah, go ahead".

We head down to the Allegheny National Forest which is in northern Pennsylvania. There is a motel there that is inexpensive, has a nice restaurant right on site, and they cater to motorbikes by doing the small stuff that goes a very long way such as leaving towels out in the morning so that we can wipe the dew off of the seats and windshields.

There is a train bridge there that was built across a very deep valley at the turn of the century. In 2004, a tornado came rumbling along (likely sounded like a freight train) and torn down half of the bridge. Until then, it was a fully functioning rail line.

For the first time, we discovered that in a small city of St Mary's, there is a brewery named Straub Beer which has been there since 1872 (actually as long as the train bridge). They give free public tours from 9 am until noon, Mondays to Fridays. We arrived there about 10 am and were told to gather at the Eternal Tap. The Eternal Tap actually is three beer taps sticking out of a wall (light, normal, and dark beer). So you fill up a nice glass container (no plastic cups here) and then the tour starts. The tours are informal so you could be in a group of 12, or a group of 6 , or whatever.....whomever shows up.

We were shown how they make beer, from the time they get the grain, fill the large kettles, add the various ingredients, etc. I really wasn't paying too much attention - I was enjoying the beer too much. Then we got to the area where the beer is bottled. They reached right onto the bottling line and gave us bottles of beer, fresh off of the line. They did not even have caps on them yet and although I am not a big beer drinker, this was by far the best beer I have ever tasted. So now I have a bottle of beer in one hand and half a glass of beer in the other hand. The tour winds up soon after and we end up back at the Eternal Tap. The tour guild takes off with a new group of beer enthusiasts, and we are left along at the tap. So what are we to do. We finish the beer in our hands, and fill up again at the tap. We drink some more, look around, look at each other, and fill our glasses again :) What an awesome place and to think we have been coming to this area for the past 6 years and did not even know about it. For sure, this will be one of our must stops in future trips.

The rest of our time was spent riding through the winding roads through the National Forest, and stopping once in a while to quench our thirsts.

The ride home was uneventful.

Tim