| Two Rivers Brewing Company 542 Northampton St.| Easton, PA 18042 (610) 829-1131 www.tworiversbrewing.com |
Two Rivers Brewing Company is located at 542 Northampton Street in Easton, PA. Owners Judy and Brad Nelson and Kathy and Troy Reynard have been friends for about 20 years, during which they have traveled the world seeking out pubs, bars and breweries.
The idea to open a brewpub was first voiced during a summer trip to Cooperstown, NY in 2010. In July 2011, with a business plan in hand, the team purchased the old Mount Vernon Hotel at a sheriff’s auction.
While the pub opened in December 2012, they were not quite ready to serve their own beers. The wood supports in the 200-year-old building were too weak to support the brewing tanks on the second and third floors. The supports needed to be reinforced with steel.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the only issue the Two Rivers team faced. The wrong chiller was ordered. Then when the tanks were finally delivered, the brewing system didn’t work.
Four years after purchasing the building, Two River Brewing Company officially tapped the first in-house beers on Friday, June 12, 2015. The first beers on tap were Pine Street Blonde Belgian Wheat, Getters Island Pale Ale, Batch #1 Session IPA, Banker’s Brown Ale and Danny Mann Irish Stout.
Head Brewer Josh Bushey, former brewer for Allentown and Bethlehem BrewWorks, brews up a variety of styles at Two Rivers Brewing Company. Beers are available in flights of 5 beers or pints. Growlers can be filled to go. The current draft list includes…
Pine St. Blonde – Belgian Blonde, 5.2% ABV. An unfiltered Belgian easy drinker that has a hazy straw color and is brewed with European wheat malt, and lightly spiced with hints of coriander and orange peel. Medium body with moderate carbonation. Light sweetness and a dry finish. Named after the ladies who plied their trade on Pine Street, Easton’s “Red Light” District during Prohibition.
Bankers Brown – Brown Ale, 4.5% ABV. This brown ale has a light chocolate and coffee flavor with a good caramel background. Very low hopping adds to the drinkability. Named after the banker.
Getters Island Pale Ale – American Pale Ale, 5.4% ABV. Light golden color with a mild toastiness balanced with a moderate bitterness. Citrus and floral aromas blend with the malt. Left unfiltered to preserve the hop flavor. Named after the little island North of the toll bridge between Easton and Phillipsburg named after Charles Getter, convicted of murdering his wife in 1833. Getter was hanged on the island twice for his crime, the rope broke on the first try.
Batch 1 Session IPA – 4.5% ABV. Huge mango, orange peel, and citrus aroma with a firm bitterness backed with a very light malt backbone. Left unfiltered to preserve the bright hop flavor.
Danny Mann Irish Stout – 4.2% ABV. Coffee and light chocolate aromas, and flavors of black coffee. Jet black. Roasty and firmly bitter. Served on Nitro to smooth out the flavors.
Gallows Hill Amber Ale – 5.5% ABV. A hoppy west coast style red ale brewed with caramel, and lightly roasted malts. Generously hopped with Cascade and Ahtanum for a firm bitterness and citrus background. The beer takes its name from the neighborhood between Two Rivers Brewing Company and the Northampton County Courthouse, which was the area used for executions during Easton’s early history.
Silk Mill Belgian Single – 6.2% ABV. Cracker malt flavor with a light sweetness. Moderate bitterness with a spicy noble hop flavors and aromas from Czech Saaz and Hallertau hops. Fermented with a traditional Belgian yeast. Traditionally brewed as the table beer for the monks in Trappist monasteries. This beer salutes the silk mills that were the economic life’s blood of Easton during the late 1880’s and early 1920’s. It’s also a salute to the renovation of the largest of the silk mills, the Simon Silk Mill, which sits prominently on the North shore of the Bushkill Creek off of 13th Street.
There are two beers coming soon.
Colonel Left Eye IPA – Our IPA bears the moniker of another bitter Eastonian, as it was Eastonian and Lafayette College grad Colonel Charles Wikoff who lost his life leading the charge up San Juan Hill, an action generally attributed to Teddy Roosevelt.
Mt. Vernon Lager – This beer bears the historical name of the building it’s brewed in. Prior to being the site of Two Rivers Brewing Company, the building was known as the Mount Vernon Hotel.
