Taste Buds on Tour: Lehigh Valley, Upstate PA and Dutch Country Roads

At the confluence of the Lehigh and Delaware Rivers sits the scenic riverside town of Easton, PA, the gateway to Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley. Easton is also home to Weyerbacher Brewing Company. Founded in 1995 by Dan and Sue Weirback, this craft brewery specializes in full-bodied and full-flavored beers. It's a perfect place to start on the hoppy trail to PA beer glory. Weyerbacher is well known for its Merry Monks Belgian-Style Golden Ale, a World Beer Cup Bronze Medal Winner in 2010, its fall seasonal Imperial Pumpkin Ale, also a Bronze Medal Winner in 2010 at the Great American Beer Festival. And you can't miss the Blithering Idiot Barleywine-Style Ale. The Idiotstands as a Beer Judge Certification Program benchmark for English Barleywines. It's a must try.

Free tours of Weyerbacher are offered on Saturdays. If you have a big group, call ahead: 610-559-5561 so they know you're coming. Stick around the Visitor Center, sample some brews, and chat with the staff. You can stock your fridge at home with a mixed variety case, complemented by a Weyerbacher growler, pint glass and other souvenirs.

When your tour is done, you are not done touring. Be sure to take a stroll through downtown Easton, along its Centre Square and the riverfront. Stop for a bite or pint at Pearly Bakers Ale House - they love Weyerbacher, too and serve it on tap with other local and regional favorites. On a Saturday between May and November, you can also check out the Easton Farmer's Market in Centre Square, which boasts as the oldest continously running open-air farmers market in the United States. When you're wrapping up in Easton, more fun and more great PA brews are down the trail.

Get back on the road and head west into the scenic Lehigh Valley and to the historic and picturesque town of Bethlehem. In addition to great shopping, dining, and sightseeing, try your luck at the new Sands Casino before or after dinner.

If a day in the park isn't your speed, then rev your engines at at the Maple Grove Raceway. Established by the Stauffer family in 1962, Maple Grove hosts specialized weekly racing events throughout the fall season. The quarter-mile straight racetrack is home to some of the nation’s most hard-core drag racing legends. You’ll feel like you’re doing your own walk of fame as you march down the same track graced by Joe Amato and Shirley Muldowney after they completed the first ever side-by-side dragster race in 1989.

Well-rested and the car packed-up, it's time to see more of PA. You'll be heading southwest along the scenic Dutch Country Roads to Berks and Lancaster counties and the town of Adamstown, founded 1761. Adamstown is the home of Stoudt's Brewing Company and is your next stop on the hoppy trail. Free tours are offered at 1:00pm on Sundays, so arrive early or stick around for lunch. Stoudt's Black Angus Restaurant & Pub is the perfect place to enjoy Stoudt's brews. Anyone of their flag ship beers including the American Pale Ale and the Scarlet Lady Aleare must-tries and must-take-homes. There is even a bakery and antique shop on site if you want some snacks for the road and souvenirs for the folks back home.

Stretch your legs and work off the beer calories with a hike at French Creek State Park, home to the wonderfully tranquil Hopewell and Scotts Run Lakes. With 7,730 acres of lush foliage, the park constitutes the largest block of forest between Washington, D.C. and New York City. Spend your afternoon boating, swimming, and hiking, or try your hand at Frisbee Golf—a favorite amongst the locals. Overnight facilities include campgrounds, cottages, yurts and cabins if you can’t get enough of that open air.    

Hit the road north because a PA brewery tour is not complete without a stop at Yuengling, the oldest operating brewery and the second largest American-owned brewing company in the United States. Nestled in the rolling Appalachian foothills, on a steep grade in the city of Pottsville, the brewery boasts a record of continuous operation since 1829 -- that's five generations of family-run brewing and counting. You may know Yuengling for their signature lager, but as you'll learn on a brewery tour, their legacy is about so much more. Take a tour Monday through Friday at scheduled times. It is, in our proud opinion, one of the best brewery tours in the USA. You'll walk the storied underground caves and hear all about Yuengling's ties to the city and people of Pottsville, not too mention the history of beermaking in America, including the era of Prohibition.

After the tour, take a walk down the hill to experience the main streets of Pottsville. This former coal-mining town was also home to one of the National Football League's most famous franchises, the Pottsville Maroons, who played at a stadium in nearby Minersville. Grab lunch (or dinner) at the Maroons Sports Bar & Grill to learn more about this team and their story.