Matthew L.
Yelp
Barley Creek Brewing Company is a craft brewpub and distillery that opened in Tannersville, Pennsylvania in December 1995. It was founded by husband and wife Joseph "Trip" and Eileen Ruvane. Trip had experience as a ski instructor, golf caddie, and guest event coordinator at local resorts before he decided to get into the hospitality business. He and his wife decided to open a brewery: the first of its kind in the Poconos area since Prohibition. The brewery was built with a traditional Pennsylvania timber-frame barn raising. The secret disclosed by Ruvane behind crafting unique beer and spirits is a revitalized water source. Barley Creek houses 700 artesian wells on their property, which fuels 70 gallons of water per minute that are locally sourced by a Pocono Mountain spring water lake. Each year Barley Creek produces over 40 different ales and lagers as well as specialty craft vodkas, whiskeys, rums, brandy, gins, flavored moonshines, tequila, and canned cocktails. The food menu offers burgers, sandwiches, wraps, brick oven pizza, comfort food dishes, soups, salads, and various bar bites.
My family and I visited Barley Creek last weekend while we were having a relaxing getaway in the Poconos. We arrived for dinner one evening. The place seemed to be packed with the local ski crowd. Although we were told there was a 45-minute wait, we were seated in 15 minutes. To drink, I decided to order a beer flight which consisted of their Winterfest Lager, Wanderlust Chocolate Porter, "Nothing Inappropriate" (New England IPA), and "Citrabellum" (Double IPA). Although IPAs tend to be my favorite, I felt that their Winterfest was the best offering that I sampled. For food, we started off with a plate of their Garlic Parm Pierogis which quickly disappeared. My wife and I then split two pizzas: the "Margherita" and the "Chicken Parm". Although the Margherita had fresh tasting ingredients, the sauce was just a little too sweet for our taste. We enjoyed the toppings on the Chicken Parm and both pies had nice crispy crust. Our son enjoyed a "Kids Pizza" off of the Kids Menu. Before leaving, I ordered their "Smoked Old Fashioned" (Barley Creek whiskey, apple/hickory wood smoke served in a decanter, with rocks glass, ice sphere, bitters, orange peel, amareno cherry). It gave a big puff of smoke when it was served to me and it was so flavorful! There's something for everyone at Barley Creek!