The Bullfrog Brewery in Williamsport, PA

Williamsport, PA's Bullfrog Brewery

I thoroughly enjoyed my weekend in Williamsport, PA in large part because Caroline knows me so well.  The planned activities for the weekend: pretty much nothing.  The suggested activities for the weekend: find cultural, local, and authentic restaurants and bars at which to eat and drink, then do so.  Oh, and play with Lola (Caroline's enormous and fantastic puppy) while we rubbed our bellies to recover from all the eating and drinking.  How could it get much better?  After all, it was pretty darn cold outside!  One of our first stops in Williamsport came at the Bullfrog Brewery.  This brewpub in downtown had plenty of character, so we went in, grabbed a seat, and ordered a couple pints.

Brew Kettles and Fermenting Tanks at the Bullfrog Brewery

I began with an Amarillo-ville American Wheat, one of the specialty brews on the menu.  It had a great hops flavor without being overpowering.  I'd certainly suggest it to those who are intimidated by pale ales and want to get their toes wet with hops before jumping in.  From there the logical decision was to order a sampler of various Bullfrog beers.

Beer Sampler at the Bullfrog Brewhouse and Eatery

Like a lot of craft breweries, I generally preferred the beers more as I moved down the line from light to dark.  Particularly of note from Bullfrog were the Apricot Wheat and the Pumpkin Stout.  The Apricot Wheat had a fruity nose that went away slightly upon taste.  I liked that the apricot flavor did not overshadow the beer and make it taste like juice.  Bravo.  The Pumpkin Stout had similar characteristics in that the pumpkin and pumpkin spices did just enough to let you know this was no ordinary stout, but they let the craft beer do most of the talking on my taste buds.

Bullfrog Bruschetta

While quenching our thirst with refreshing brews, it dawned on Caroline and I that we should probably eat as well.  We started things off with an order of the Bullfrog Bruschetta.  The dish consisted of diced tomatoes, feta cheese, kalamata olives, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh basil, garlic, olive oil and cracked pepper. After placing the spread on some sliced focaccia bread I flew the plane to the hanger, so to speak.  The bruschetta actually impressed me a fair amount.  Light, refreshing, fresh, and pretty delicious.

The Pittsburger

Still, I couldn't resist going from that reasonably healthy bruschetta to a greasy, beefy burger.  The Pittsburger caught my eye since I did happen to be in Pennsylvanian at the time.  This contribution to the burgering world combined bacon, provolone, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, and cole slaw.  Added to that were some pretty fantastic garlic fries.  I'm not a huge cole slaw fan, but it actually worked on the burger.  The beef had plenty of juice while all the other toppings were piled high enough to fall off the bun at times.  Despite being rather tricky to eat, the Pittsburger got my approval.  Then I washed it down with more beer.