Troegs Hershey (aka T2)–Part 2

I brought you news of Troegs Scratch # 50 and my visit to the new Troegs Hershey Brewery (clicky HERE to check it out)…so as promised I wanted to follow up with a few more pictures.  As you enter T2, you are immediately greeted by this huge Nugget Nectar logo, and as you can see it looks amazing.  Troegs artwork is everywhere, but this one definitely dominates the space and I predict that thousands, maybe tens of thousands of craft beer lovers will have their photo taken in front of this wall. (NOTE TO Chris & John…start collecting those photos now for future use!)

There is outdoor space (with heaters) and the tap & tasting room has three distinct sections.  The first is a more private space near the windows with tables and booths, beyond that is a huge oak family-style table where I can just picture craft beer lovers getting to know each other over a pint of Troegs.  This sort of table will turn strangers into friends, and friends into regular visitors. 

Beyond that are the oak bars and taps.  As you can see the use of oak and stainless steel is prominent.  The details of the woodworking in the tables and bar are amazing, so amazing that I didn’t even want to sit my beer glass on it….

and speaking of glasses….check out the new sampler glasses (yes that’s Scratch # 49 and yes it’s sitting on the bar!)

Behind the bar you will of course see the new 100bbl BrauKon brewing system.

As you can see, it’s massive…and it’s right there for you to see, smell & feel while you enjoy a pint.  Note the giant cylinder on the right end of the photo above….Can you say “NEW HopBack?!”  More on that later, but yes that’s the new and improved HopBack.  At the far end of the bar is the dedicated 15bbl Scratch brewing system and a wonderful array of stainless steel piping that allows the guys to pretty much inter-connect both brewing systems without any temporary hoses.  The production options built in to this system allows for so much flexibility and efficiency, I predict we’ll see some pretty amazing brews heading our way.

I’ll leave the rest for another post, but as promised, I did want to show you an up-close peek at the new HopBack (yes it’s labeled) and a new device the guys are calling the injector (or more accurately the hop injector.)  I caught Ed Yashinski’s hand in the picture, but as you can see the device is a 4-chamber whirlpool where “flavors” can be swirled into the brew.  The BrauKon guys fired it up while we were there and it’s pretty incredible to see it in action (YES I have a video and yes I’ll post it up in Part 3).  It’s my understanding that this device can be used for hop injection as well as just about any other flavor they’d like to add to a beer.  With all of these new options and some Troegs-creativity, I can’t wait to see what new brews that we haven’t even imagined yet will be coming out of Troegs T2.

Stay tuned for Part 3!