Pennsylvania has a fine selection of micro brews many people don't know about, to their taste bud detriment. Yuengling is considered by many Pennsylvanians to be the best but I think that's mostly because Yuengling is America's oldest brewery and we're pretty proud it's in our state... can't blame us for that. Not to knock Yuengling, it's not bad and if you're a lager fan it's definitely one to try, but there are far more exciting beers to be had. Some of these breweries you might have heard of but most have a relatively small distribution.

I recently visited the Victory Brewery in Downingtown, PA and it was one of the best day trips I've taken. Victory is run by two friends, Bill Covaleski and Ron Barchet and they do all the artwork for the company as well - it's very cool. They have over 20 different varieties of beer and become more highly regarded with each passing year, the brewery was started in 1996.

I will drink any Victory beer put in front of me but I do have definite favorites. The first I tried was the Storm King Imperial Stout. It's a nice dark and rich beer, very smooth after an initially hoppy taste. It is 9.1% abv. The V-12 is an outstanding Belgian-style ale, very aromatic with a subtle fruity taste. It's a sipping beer that's hard to get enough of. V-12 is powerful, 12% abv. My favorite is Golden Monkey. It's another Belgian-style ale, it's light and fruity, made with German malts and Belgian yeast. Golden Monkey is 9.5% abv.

Two other big Victory favorites are the Prima Pils and Hopdevil. I can see the virtue in these two but I'm not a fan of bitter beers which both of these are. The Prima Pils continues to win competition after competition and Hopdevil is one of Victory's top sellers. The Prima Pils is 5.3% abv and Hopdevil is 6.7%.

Troegs Brewery is in Harrisburg, PA. I haven't gotten to visit yet but I'm definitely going to this summer. It was founded in 1997 by two brothers, Chris and John Trogner. They are a small craft brewery with about 9 different beers, all of which I would highly recommend trying at your earliest convenience.

Rugged Trail was my first Troegs experience. It's a golden-brown colored ale with an amazing nutty flavor which comes from amber and chocolate malts. Rugged Trail is 4.4% abv. Dreamweaver is an awesome wheat beer. It has a taste of cloves with a subtle and surprising touch of bananas. That might sound weird but I guarantee it's delicious. Dreamweaver is 4.8% abv. And my favorite, Mad Elf, is a Belgian dark ale that is red in color. It is spicy with a taste of cherries and only available around the holidays, get it while you can! Mad Elf is 11% abv.

Once again there are a couple I'm not a big fan of but I know many others who are. Dead Reckoning Porter and HopBack. Dead Reckoning is a dark, unfiltered porter with sweet and bitter flavors all working together. HopBack is a bitter amber ale that those who are fans of Victory's Hopdevil often also enjoy. Dead Reckoning is 5.8% abv and HopBack is 6%.

Dogfish Head is actually in Delaware but prevalent throughout PA so I'm going with it because they make some of the greatest beer I've had. Dogfish Head opened in 1995, it was America's smallest brewery (it isn't anymore). Dogfish Head was founded by Sam Calagione and is now run by he and his wife, Mariah. They craft over 20 varieties of beer.

The 90 minute IPA is my favorite 'hanging out and drinking' beer. It goes great with everything. It's slightly bitter but goes down smooth, it is 9% abv. The 120 minute IPA is awesome. This beer is continuously hopped for 2 hours while boiling and then dry-hopped for another month. It is incredibly tasty and extremely potent weighing in at 20% abv.

My all time favorite beer is Dogfish Head Midas Touch. This is the most delicious beer I've ever had, it's interesting too because once it's poured it takes about 5 or so minutes to really come into itself. If you take a sip right after you pour and then another a few minutes later you'll be amazed you're drinking the same beer. According the the brewers it's the oldest known fermented beverage recipe in the world, that's pretty cool. It's a bit like mead, a bit like wine, and a bit like beer. You need to try it to understand, Midas Touch is 9% abv.

There are a lot of other good microbreweries in PA too. The above three are my personal favorites. I'd love to know what yours are!