A Taste of Things to Come, Oakbrook Brewing Opens Friday

Oakbrook Brewing Companyis ready to open its doors this Friday, March 11, 2016. The brewery and beer hall, located at 628 Park Avenue, is Reading’s first brewery in over six years.

Founder and owner Kyle Neuheimer has been working for over three years to restore the former Oakbrook Fire Station into Oakbrook Brewing Company. The brew hall features the original paint scheme and firehouse motif from the 1930s.

When you arrive, enter through the side door at Oakbrook and head right to the bar. Place your beer and food order, then have a seat at one of the beautiful locally-made Douglas Fir tables. There is seating for about 46 in the brew hall.

Oakbrook Brewing Company is focused on traditional beer styles served in an unpretentious  brew hall setting. Beer production takes place on a 5 barrel brewhouse as well as a state of the art half-barrel pilot system.

Head Brewer Colin Presby will offer 7 beers on tap this Friday. The opening day tap list will include:

• Angelica Golden– 5.0% ABV, 24 IBU easy drinking golden ale with a creamy white head. Angelica features Sterling hops for a spicy, floral aroma with clean bitterness.
• Polly’s Pale Ale– 5.4% ABV, 40 IBU American pale ale with a balanced malt backbone. Polly’s is a classic Cascade hopped pale ale with a bit of body, named for Oakbrook Fire Company’s venerable parrot mascot.
• Oakbrook Smoked Wheat– 3.4% ABV, 25 IBU smoked wheat that is the first experimental batch, but destined to become an Oakbrook favorite. It is a recreation of a historic 600 year old Polish Grodziskie style beer brewed with oak smoked wheat malt. The smokey aroma gives way to a tasty, light wheat beer.
• 1938 Special– 5.7% ABV, 23 IBU old-fashioned brown ale brewed with English hops and yeast. Nutty with notes of toffee and caramel.
• Ivy Street IPA– 7.7% ABV, 58 IBU IPA with a clean malt bill that highlights the El Dorado hops in all its fruity, tropical glory. Juicy and delicious!
• Smokey the Dog– 3.5% ABV, 17 IBU lower alcohol version of the house favorite smoked porter. Smokey is brewed with beechwood smoked malt and just enough roast malt. This beer is a component in a number of food recipes.
• Fire Axe Red IPA– 5.5% ABV hoppy red ale.

Beers will be available in 10-ounce pours for $3.50, 20-ounce pours for $5.50, or a 4 beer flight for $6.00. Beer can also be purchased to go in 64-ounce growlers.

Reading Draft bottled sodas including diet root beer, birch beer, sarsaparilla, and white birch beer are available for $2.00. Bottled water can be purchased for $1.50.

Oakbrook Brewing is partnering with local food vendors, serving barbecue from Muddy’s BBQ in Oley and soft pretzels from Reading Hard and Soft Pretzelon Bell Alley. The menu includes snacks, soups, sausages, and barbeque.

Muddy’s owner and chef Dave Reynolds bring the delicious barbeque Berks Countians have come to crave, as well as beer-infused specialties. Watch for the menu to grow, as Dave is quite excited about creating dishes not only with Oakbrook beers, but that complement the beers as well.

Snacks

• Bell Alley Soft Pretzels– a Reading tradition for over 75 years served with your choice of house-made mustards.
• Currywurst– classic Berlin street food. Sliced bratwurst covered in imported Hela Curry Ketchup, dusted with curry powder and served with a potato roll.
• Polly’s Snack Mix– an addictive blend of Polly’s favorite snacks in one bowl.
• Dieffenbach’s Kettle Chips
• Oakbrook Beer Braised Sausages – Served on a fresh roll from Reading’s own ATV Bakery and come with Dieffenbach’s potato chips and your choice of coleslaw or potato salad.
• Smoked Sausage– Lancaster County smoked sausage braised in a blend of Oakbrook’s smoked porter and brown sugar topped with green peppers, onions, and your choice of house-make mustard or barbeque sauce on the side. Pair with Smokey the Dog Porter.
• Smoked Kielbasa – A Polish-style pork sausage from Stoltzfus Meats in Lancaster braised in beer and topped with green peppers and onions with your choice of house-made mustard or barbeque sauce on the side. Pair with Smoked Wheat Ale.
• Hot Italian Sausage– a hot, Italian-style sausage smoked for Oakbrook by Groff’s Meats in Elizabethtown. Topped with green peppers and onions and your choice or house-made mustard or barbeque sauce on the side. Pair with a hoppy pale ale or IPA.
• Polish Boy– smoked kielbasa with barbeque sauce, fried onion strings, and coleslaw all piled on top.
• Polish Girl– just like the Polish Boy, but add a bit of Muddy’s beef brisket on top of everything else.

Barbeque
All barbeque served on your choice of ciabatta or pretzel roll and come with Dieffenbach’s potato chips and your choice of coleslaw or potato salad.

• Smoked Pulled Pork– made with a cone in Boston pork butt smoked over apple and cherry wood for 13 hours then pulled and seasoned with Muddy’s power rub and a touch of barbeque sauce.
• Texas Beef Brisket– Muddy’s house favorite which consists of choice beef brisket flats that are rubbed with black pepper, salt, and a few spices then smoked low and slow over local white oak for 8 hours.

Soups

• Oakbrook Chicken and Peanut Soup– grilled chicken, tomatoes, onion, garlic, and peanut with some red pepper to give it a kick.
• Soup of the Day– rotating selection of locally made soups.

Mustards and Barbeque Sauces

• Smokey’s Hot Mustard – made from scratch at the station and developed specially to complement the beer braised smoked sausage and kielbasa.
• Polly’s Sweet Maple Mustard– for those who prefer something sweeter and milder. Made with real maple syrup.
• British Style Pub Mustard– traditional British style yellow mustard made in house from a blend of superfine mustard powders and the 1938 Special Ale.
• Muddy’s Barbeque Sauce– starts in the Lone Star State with tomato base combined with vinegar, black pepper, fresh grated onion, and a touch of South of the border seasonings, then North to Kansas City where sugar spices and fresh garlic were added, and finally moves East to Memphis where molasses is the finishing sweetener. This sauce is one of a kind!

The brew hall will be open every day except Groundhog Day from 3 PM to 11 PM. There are 22 spaces available in the parking lot, or find a spot on the street.

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