It’s all about the taste
Dipesh Patel is the owner of Main Street Brew House on South Main Street in Washington. The Brew House has more than 30 beers on tap and weekly specials.
Observer-Reporter employees Linda Ritzer, Scott Beveridge, Mike Jones and Liz Rogers sample beers at the Main Street Brew House in Washington.
Five Observer-Reporter newsroom staffers in search of an impromptu beer tasting last month didn’t have to go far to find an expert willing to teach them the art of sampling brews.
They met on a Friday after work with Dipesh Patel, who owns a Washington distributorship and Main Street Brew House, a city tavern a block away from the newspaper office featuring craft beer and some big brewers across 32 beer taps.
“It all depends on the preference and the time of the year,” Patel explained.
Light wheat beers are refreshing and perfect for a summer beer tasting, he said. As October approaches, brewers roll out their Oktoberfests, and the ever-popular pumpkin beers are on patrons’ minds, he said.
“Most craft brewers have multiple styles. A lot of people like to mix them up and try different flavors,” Patel said.
Main Street Brew House, which opened a few years ago at 250 S. Main St., is among the first taverns in the county to offer such a wide variety of craft beer, whose sales have been skyrocketing in the United States.
“I think people just want something different than the traditional lager,” Patel said. “Craft brewers are doing a great job of bringing back the old styles, digging up old recipes.
For example, he said, Batch 19 is a craft-style lager made from a pre-Prohibition recipe by Coors.
Patel said the craft movement is “so big,” and that’s why he decided to create a bar unlike any others in the region.
“It’s working out well,” he said.
One of Patel’s sales representatives, Greg Gavlik of Frank B. Fuhrer Wholesales in Pittsburgh, said the beer tastings he holds typically feature four or five examples of the same brand to keep things simple.
“Otherwise you can go on and on for two hours,” Gavlik said.
The segments usually involve prizes, which have included home brew kits.
For this tasting, Patel suggested Boston Beer Co.’s Angry Orchard Cider, a fruity beer that fits the autumn season.
“It’s a little different, a change-up,” Observer-Reporter Editor Liz Rogers said.
Staff writer Scott Beveridge asked for an India Pale Ale, a hoppy, high-alcohol beer that has become his favorite.
“You and your IPAs,” said staff writer Mike Jones.
“Grab your stools when you’re hopping off,” added Gavlik.
The bartender poured samples of Thunderhop IPA brewed by Church Brew Works in Pittsburgh, and Beveridge was pleased. However, assistant editor Linda Ritzer turned up her nose after sipping each IPA sample.
Ritzer, meanwhile, took a liking to Helltown Extra Sinful Bitter because she thought it had a chocolate taste.
Patel was proud to offer samples of Sam Adams Verlorean, a German-style Gose that is in limited release in barrels and not sold in bottles in this market.
“This is really different,” he said. “It’s creamy, spicy with a dry finish.”
Jones ended up buying a glass of Verlorean. “It was good. I thought it was sour,” he said.
Photographer Katie Roupe said she enjoyed the Wells Young’s Banana Bread Beer, which most agreed tasted like banana bread in a bottle.
“I like bananas, so I liked it,” Roupe said. “I probably wouldn’t buy a six pack of it, but would throw one in a mix-and-match.”
Patel said it’s exciting to see such a wide variety of beer on the market, which for years was pretty much limited to such labels as Miller Lite.
“Now everyone wants to come out with the next great flavor.”