You can still visit the Appalachian Brewing Co. in Gettysburg though, because, even if you can't have a sample of its micro-brew beer selection, the menu is just as wide and just as enjoyable.
And if it's the weekend and you can match up a hefe weizen with your burger, then that's all the better.
Appalachian Brewing Co. has three locations: The original in Harrisburg, a second in Camp Hill and the third in Gettysburg, which general manager Nathan Voss said has been open for six years. The Gettysburg location, on Route 30, brings in a busy crowd of tourists, but people who live and work in the area enjoy stopping in, too.
Especially for lunch, Voss said.
There are about a dozen taps of ABC beer lined up at the bar. Some of the more popular varieties are brewed year-round in Harrisburg, along with a bunch of seasonal varieties.
There also is a "beer of the month" each month. June's is the Hinterland Hefe Weizen, a beer Voss said is served with an orange wedge and goes down great on a hot summer day.
Willie Felton is ABC's chef, and he makes everything fresh; nothing served there is pre-made by distributors.
The menu changes, too, particularly for lunch. Each Sunday, he sits down and works out the week's lunch specials.
Along with the regular menu, there also is the feature called the "15-minute Lunch." Felton said a lot of people are in a hurry, and
Felton's soups are his specialties. He said the owners have asked him to start preparing even bigger quantities of his soup to share with the other locations. His signature soup is his Maryland crab, and customers also clamor for his seafood bisque and cream-based soups.
He has worked in restaurants for 20 years in everything from fine dining to fast food, and at the Gettysburg ABC, he has found a home where he can express his culinary creativity.
Like wine, different beers pair well with different foods. Felton gives his selection of dinner specials to Voss each week, and he matches the dinner with a beer.
Recent examples include the hefe weizen with the grilled swordfish dinner. The swordfish, Voss explained, has a lemon and ginger sauce, which is sweet and compliments the sweeter hefe weizen.
It also matches the spicy Cajun Alfredo with a lighter Jolly Scott Scottish Ale. One flavor, Voss said, does not overwhelm the other, and the light ale is a bit of a pallet cleanser from the spicy pasta.
Pork schnitzel is matched with Mai Bock, a full-flavored beer matched with a lighter-flavored dinner.
I tried the 15-Minute Lunch (with a glass of water, unfortunately) and had that week's burger special, the bacon blue burger.
Since I moved to the area, I've noticed that ordering burgers can be a risk. Sometimes the portions are too small. Some soak right through the bun.
That's not the case at ABC. Felton has mastered the burger. It's a simple lunch item, but also a staple - one that should be paid attention to but is sometimes sadly ignored.
And with the different flavors bursting through the burger, I'm sure just about any beer there would go well with it. Perhaps I'll stop by on a day off and try it with a hefe weizen. No, maybe the Mai Bock. Or perhaps -
For the decision-impaired like me, there's always the sample platter of eight 5-ounce beers.
Ticket to Lunch is a weekly column focusing on local restaurants' meals available during the lunch hour. Contact Steve Marroni at smarroni@eveningsun.com.
If you go
LOCATION: , Appalachian Brewing Co., 401 Buford Ave., Gettysburg
HOURS: 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
OWNER'S PICK: The switch back burger, which is topped with cappicola, barbecue sauce, bacon, caramelized onions and provolone cheese PARKING: Lot
ACCEPTS: All major credit cards
TAKE OUT: Yes
DELIVERY: No
DETAILS: Visit www.abcbrew.com
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