We decided to stop at Troegs after visiting Chocolate World so we could get a quick bite before heading back to the campground. The tasting room is huge and they also have an outdoor seating area, but it looked like rain was coming so we went inside.
First Impressions
The tasting room is huge! There’s a bar along one side with a few rows of long high top tables between that and a bunch of booths and tables. It has an industrial vibe with very high ceilings and a concrete floor. It’s much nicer than my old warehouse space 😂
When we walked in, and a helpful young man at the front desk asked if we’d been there before. When we told him we hadn’t, he told us we could sit anywhere and a bartender would stop by to help us. He also pointed at the snack bar at the other end of the tasting room and told us we could go over there if we wanted to order any food.
Brews
We grabbed a booth and a bartender came right over to help us. I ordered the Passionfruit Guava Tart Ale. It was sweet and tart, and I could taste the guava. I’ll be honest, I’ve been looking for a good guava beer since I had one at Chesepiooc in 2020. It tasted like Cuban pastelitos in beer form. Alas, while this one was good, it didn’t have a strong enough guava flavor to fit the bill. I’ll keep looking, and if you know of an amazing guava beer out there, let me know!
Vince got the Oktoberfest Lager. It had a slight caramel flavor, and it was a little sweet. Not at all hoppy. The menu says it’s “malty,” so I’ll just go with that. Vince said it’s not slammable! It’s very smooth.
They have a few “scratch” beers on the menu, which appear to be experiments for the brewers, so they are small batches and only available at the brewery. We didn’t try any, but the options looked pretty good. Next time we visit we will try one.
Food
For food, they have a “snack bar.” You don’t order at your table, but place your order at the snack bar and they give you a buzzer to let you know when it’s ready so you can go back to pick it up. We ordered a charcuterie plate and a cheese plate. They also had small snacks “behind the bar” that you can get from the bartender, and Parker wanted one of those so he asked a bartender for the lemon poppy seed puppy chow.
The charcuterie plate came with three meats. I have no idea what any of them were! One looked and tasted sort of ham-like. Another one had a sort of sausage texture and taste. The third one had a sort of mushy texture, and I was not a fan at all. Vince liked it though, so he ate it. The plate also came with some crostini, pickles, pickled onions, radishes, and “hot honey.” Vince tried the hot honey, and warned me that it was pretty hot, but I stuck my finger in it anyway for a taste. Yep, it was hot! The menu said the plate came with mustard cream, but I didn’t see any.
The cheese plate had three local cheeses on it. Again, I had no idea what they were! This plate came with more crostini, candied pecans (I think), grapes, pickles, honey (regular, not hot), and what we guessed was raspberry jam. One of the cheeses looked and tasted a little like Bleu cheese. It was pretty good on the crostini. The second one was buttery and semi-soft. I really liked that one, especially dipped in the honey. The third cheese was hard and I think it was kind of nutty.
The lemon poppy puppy chow was really good. Parker devoured that and nibbled on crostini dipped in jam.
Store and Tours
I wasn’t feeling great when we got there, and I think the texture of that one meat from the charcuterie plate made things worse, so we decided to leave after one round of beers. On the way out, we stopped at their general store and bought a 4-pack of Peach Apricot Shabang for a night we don’t go to a brewery on this road trip (if there are any!). They had a pretty wide selection of to-go beers and souvenirs in the store, and they even had taps for many of their brews so you can try before you buy.
In addition to the taproom and store, they actually brew their beer at this location! In fact, much of the building is the brewery. Guided production tours are available for $15 per person, and you get a “welcome beer,” souvenir glass, and some tastings. Kids aren’t allowed on the tours.
Final Thoughts
Overall, we enjoyed Troegs, and since we go to Hershey at least a couple of times each year, we will probably return. I don’t think I’ll get the charcuterie plate next time, but might try a sandwich instead. And I’ll definitely try one of the scratch beers!
If you want to visit Troegs it’s at 200 East Hersheypark Drive, Hershey, PA 17033. Check their website for their latest beer list.
