The taproom at the ShawneeCraft brewery





True to Nature, True to the Craft . These are words that ShawneeCraft Brewing brew and live by. It is their philosophy, and you can see it in every part of their brewing process and taproom. According to Jason, it is "their motto and driving force in what they do."





"True to Nature"





ShawneeCraft strives to use local and organic ingredients wherever possible. They brew with organically grown barley and hops. Some ingredients are grown and produced right on the Shawnee property, such as honey, which they collect from their own beehives.





"True to the Craft"



ShawneeCraft's brews are steeped in tradition. From their website, they brew "beers like your great-great-great grandfather would have drunk (assuming he had good taste)." All of their beers are unfiltered, unpasteurized and (when botled) bottle conditioned.





ShawneeCraft's Barrel Room

ShawneeCraft fermentation tanks and brewhouse. Me (left) and Jason (right)

(From left to right) Session Porter, Saison Cuvee 2013, Barrel Aged Porter

Reliable

Intermittents

Heirloom

In the BrewhouseThe hallway to ShawneeCraft's brewhouse and cellar is filled with barrels. "The barrel room is really where our desire to make traditional styles of beer shows itself," Jason told us. For such a small room, they had lots of different beers aging. There were several barrels of 2 year old gueuze , a kriek with 60 lbs. of locally picked sour cherries, frambozen with organic raspberries, oude bruin and more.Jason provided us with some insight into how they develop their popular Bourbon Barrel Porter:These barrel aged beers are truly a passion and an art for the brewers at ShawneeCraft:ShawneeCraft currently has five 10 hL (~8.5 barrels) fermentation tanks, with one 20 hL fermentation tanks on the way. "We'll do around 825 barrels this year, up from 525 barrels last year.Jason on ShawneeCraft Brewing's expansion:If you're lucky, you may find some ShawneeCraft bottles at select Pennsylvania bottle shop and bars. A more certain way to get some is to stop by the taproom at the brewery. Right now, they have 3 types of bottles.Aparius (dry honey pale ale), Biere Blanche, American Blonde Ale, Double Pale (IPA), Session Porter (conditioned for nitro draft)Gold Lager, Vienna Lager, Raspberry Blanche, Oktoberfest, Doppelbock, Saison, Pumpkin Saison, Chestnut Braun Ale, Triple Pale, Dubbel, Tripel, Imperial PorterVery Special Old Pale Ale, Gueuze, Frambozenbier, Kriek, Oude Bruin, Sub Rosa (Trappist-style Belgian Strong Ale), Bourbon Barrel Porter, Bier de GardeAlso, the ShaweeCraft Brewing taproom hosts a Rhythm and Brews Music Series. "It's another way for us to try and support local craftspeople," Jason explains. "Music and beer go so well together. We bring music into the taproom every 6 weeks or so. We did one for Halloween, which was an absolute blast: costume party, 2 bands and a lot of fun! We have another Rhythm and Brews scheduled for December 14. It's going to be an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party with some Christmas flair, and should be a lot of fun!"If you are in the Shawnee or Delaware/ Water Gap Area, I would definitely make it a point to stop at ShawneeCraft Brewing and their brewpub, The Gem and Keystone. They are located on the same property, so you could even visit both. The brewery taproom is open Wednesday - Sunday from 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm, and Thursdays until 10:00 pm. The Gem and Keystone is open 7 days a week.