Detwiler Brewing has brewed ales inside Stampede Barbecue in Mohnton since 2022. The brewery and the restaurant share the same owners and the same building, and the brewery is wood fired, which makes it the only one of its kind in Pennsylvania. Here is how beer is brewed and what a wood fire changes.
How Beer Is Brewed
Most beer is made in four basic steps.
- Mashing. Crushed malted barley is soaked in hot water. The heat turns the starch in the grain into sugar, and the sweet liquid that results is called wort.
- Boiling. The wort is boiled in a kettle, usually for about an hour. Hops are added during the boil for bitterness and aroma.
- Fermenting. The wort is cooled and moved to a fermenter, where yeast turns the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
- Conditioning. The beer rests and matures before it is served.
What Makes a Brewery Wood Fired
Most breweries heat their kettle with gas or steam, which can be turned up or down with a dial. In a wood-fired brewery, the heat comes from a live fire. The Detwiler kettle runs on wood, the same fuel that has fed the Stampede smokers since 2012.
A wood fire is slower and less forgiving than gas. The fire has to be built and tended to bring the kettle to a boil and hold it there, much like a smoker has to be managed through a long cook. It takes more attention, and it ties the beer to the way we cook our barbecue.
How Detwiler Ales Are Made
Detwiler ales use malted barley grown and malted in Pennsylvania, much of it organic, and water from a deep well on the property. The mash rests for ninety minutes. Fermentation follows an old method called drop fermentation: after about forty hours in open fermenters, the beer is dropped into seasoned oak vats, which gives it butterscotch and toffee notes.
Cask-Conditioned Ales
The ales are served cask conditioned and poured from antique hand pumps at the bar. Cask ale finishes conditioning with live yeast in the cask, which gives it a soft, natural carbonation. Our guide to what cask ale is explains how it differs from kegged beer.
Wild-Fermented Cider
Alongside the ales, the brewery makes a cider fermented with wild yeast instead of a packaged culture. Because the yeast is wild, each batch tastes a little different.
Visit the Brewery
Detwiler Brewing is inside Stampede Barbecue at 4372 Morgantown Road in Mohnton, about 20 minutes from Reading. Ales and cider are poured at the bar Wednesday through Saturday during restaurant hours, alongside the full barbecue menu. The tap list changes through the year, so check the brewery page or call ahead if you are coming for a specific beer. You can also read more on the Detwiler Brewing website.