Craft Beer in the Laurel Highlands: Kegg Brewing Company

Kegg Brewing Company is the most unique nano-brewery I have visited in recent memory. The brewery is located in the basement of a house, located along a narrow country road southeast of Pittsburgh, and with two guard dogs announcing your arrival. And the tasting room area is confined to any open space between the tap lines and the brewing equipment.

After Frank Kegg retired from the Greater Latrobe School District, he and his wife Tracey decided that opening a brewery was the logical next phase. Logical in the sense that Frank was a 6th grade Science teacher and his brother Mark owns Full Pint Brewing so there is a chemistry background and inherent family lineage and support system. It also helps that the Keggs reside only a few miles from Seven Springs Mountain Resort so there's a steady supply of traffic headed in their direction.

That being said, Frank created a half barrel brew house in his basement built around four one barrel fermenters. The raw materials consist of as local as possible grain, hops, honey, fruit and well water as the base. The tasting area?  In cold weather, any open space around the fermenters and mash barrels. In warmer weather the garage doors open for driveway sipping.

That may be unique enough for most but the special part doesn't start until visitors begin sampling in the basement and spend the next hour talking to Frank. The diverse beer styles only enhance the conversation. They are not only really solid beers but the range in styles are once again unique. Our tasting started with a Cranberry Blonde Ale, followed by a Winter Ale - based on a red ale, a Coffee Porter, Pumpkin Stout, Coconut Stout, and standard IPA (as opposed to a Hoppy Bolbat IPA and Death by Hops IPA). This IPA seemed a fan favorite and was very smooth with a seamless transition from the drop hopped induce aroma through the dense beer to the bitter finish. I enjoyed the Coffee Porter and the Coconut Stout - the later the result of a flawed attempt to craft a Chocolate Coconut Stout - but I thought was fine as a stand alone. And I think my palate is turning towards coffee flavored beers.

Kegg Brewing is easy to find, but as always theCompass Craft Beverage Finder will guide you there quickly. Cheers and safe drinking and skiing.

Angel Funding Wine Makers Through NakedWines.com

Crowd Sourcing has been a capital raising phenomenon for a number of years and NakedWines.com has leveraged that idea to fund dozens of winemakers across the globe. This capital is available to the winemakers up-front to use how they deem appropriate whether in acquiring grapes, vineyard support, or the physical production of the wine. The source for the funds are over 100,000 Angels or subscribers to NakedWines.com. These customers deposit $40 a month into their account and have access to the funded wines at 40-60% off the retail price. And Angels can always withdraw their funds at any time. That's a nice deal, specifically for these value wines produced throughout the world. Recently NakedWines.com sent me a sampler pack of mostly German inspired wines to verify the quality and value of their service. Impressive.

Bruno Santa Lucia Highlands Riesling 2016 ($18.99, Angels $10.99). Made by Richard Bruno, a 20 year veteran with stints at Francis Ford Coppola and Don Sebastiani, this wine is sourced from a cool climate vineyard near Big Sur. It is a quite unique Riesling - crisp tropical fruit, but a creamy honey middle, then finishing with long with light acids.

Petit Villebois Sauvignon Blanc 2016 ($19.99, Angels $11.99) by Joost de Villebois is a contrast to New Zealand. This Loire Valley wine is bright with citrus (but no lemongrass) and minerals on the palate and finishing with fresh acids. Villebois mentions that they Green Harvest - a thinning method used to decrease the crop yields and improve the flavor concentration of the remaining grape bunches - and utilize a technique called 'effeuillage' - the reduction of leaves to increase the sun and light exposure of the grapes.

The next four wines were made by Gerd Stepp, a 25 year veteran who; after working in Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Tuscany Italy, Stellenbosch South Africa, and the UK; eventually returned home to Germany's Pfalz wine region. This region contains over 56,000 acres of vineyards and is noted for its fruit-driven wines with a distinctive stony character.

Stepp Pinot Blanc 2016 ($21.99, Angels $12.99). This is a fantastic wine, crisp and floral with a wet rock mineral character. Plenty of acids too.

Stepp Pfalz Riesling 2016 ($24.99, Angels $13.99) A German driven Riesling with petrol, floral, and mineral characters; plus racy acids.

Stepp Pinot Gris 2016 ($24.99, Angels $13.99) Powerful aromas, fleshy citrus, and bright acids. Another Pinot Gris that is enticing back to this grape variety.

Stepp Pinot Noir *8* Pfalz 2016 ($29.99, Angels $17.99) Chalky, dusty, and spices. Balances with red fruit and appropriate tannins. Nicely done.

Visiting A Couple Craft Breweries in Rockville, Maryland

This past September Saints Row Brewing joined 7 Locks Brewing and Gordon Biersch Brewery as the only two craft breweries in Rockville -- the third largest incorporated city in Maryland. I write only, because the area could support many more if you add surrounding areas of Germantown, Gaithersburg, and Bethesda, the I-270 Corridor comes close to Baltimore in population size. That is what Saints Row Brewing is leveraging while serving unique and delicious beer. Start with the Little L Belgium Pale Ale which nails the profile and follow with the On Baker Street English Brown Ale. I generally avoid this style as many are highly malted for my tastes. Not the On Baker Street. It finds the correct balance between toffee malt and bitters - nicely done. And for sour lovers, there should always be something funky on tap with the Sweaty Pineapple Pants Wild Pineapple Sour the current offering. The citrus is subtle but not the tartness; quite nice. The brewery is also well integrated with Untappd so you can explore current and future offerings.


The senior 7 Locks Brewing is a happening place with a playroom, small bandstand, cornhole, and abundant other games to entertain visitors. There's also a plethora of craftbeer options from IPAs to lagers but start with the Sahti Farmhouse Ale if available. This is based on a Finnish style first brewed by peasants in the 1500s where the mashing occurred in wooden barrels which was then scooped into a hand-carved wooden trough (kuurna) with a bed of juniper twigs that acted as a filter. I also savored the Surrender Dorothy Rye Pale Ale and the Reserve Series Rye on Rye. This barrel aged beer is excellent where the whiskey notes meld with the rye flavors. You can also experiment by blending different amounts of Surrender Dorothy to the Rye on Rye. Makes for added entertain. Cheers and as always, you can find these breweries using theCompass Craft Beverage Finder.