Allentown Brew Works

I hit up Allentown brew works on a Saturday night with a crew of hungry and thirsty dudes. There was a small wait for our table, so we made our way to the bar. The whole place was pretty packed, but service was still pretty good. The decor is new and modern, but not memorable. The weirdest thing was the club and hip-hop tunes that were loudly pumping all night. Not enough to annoy me, but certainly out of place.

For beer, the brewpub features ten of their own on tap. Four are their flagships, which represent the bar well. The knuckleball is a great session ale with subtle flavor; a good summer beer and a light 4.2 ABV. The wit was also a nice summer beer, very similar to Hoegaarden. Fegley’s Amber Lager went down easy, but didn't have a ton of flavor. Similar to Troegs Hopback. Last of the flagships was the Pawn Shop Porter. It was a bit thin, but had a good flavor and went down more quickly than porters usually do.

My favorite beer of the night was the bourbon aged Insidious. It was a strong, flavorful, well aged beer. The Bushy's Pale ale was a standout as well, a good representation of a West Coast pale ale that is actually balanced instead of crazily overhopped. Brew works offers a beer flight of six 5.5 oz pours for $10. This is an great deal and offers a good sampling of all of the beer available.

We were so hungry that we ordered the appetizer platter to get a good sampling of the food offered. Chicken fingers, wings, and pierogies were all okay.

The app sampler also came with a small order of the bavarian pretzels. They were incredible. Really. The perfect combination of a breadstick and a pretzel covered in a butter garlic sauce. They were so good, in fact, that we immediately ordered a second helping.

For my dinner, I ordered a flatbread: bleu cheese, pear, walnuts, and prosciutto. The combination of these flavor was perfect, and I really loved this dish. Everyone else seemed to enjoy their food as well.

Bottom Line: The pretzels alone are reason to come here. For real. The beer is good too. They have some good happy hour specials as well. Dinner won't disappoint. I'm not in Allentown much, but I still have no doubt that this is one of their best offerings.