A work in progress

The primary focus of this trip is to meet brewers and pub owners who are striving to make craft and local beer a household name. I think Jarrod York and Ashley Rodgers are making serious progress toward doing just that in Mansfield, PA.

 Yorkholo (pronounced york hollow) Brewing co. is named after a family owned farm that had to shorten it's name due to restrictions on the amount of letters that were allowed in a name in 1861. Laws are awesome!

I met Jarrod at 11am in the cellar of his Brewery and we started off getting to know a little about each other. He was an Environmental Bio Major at Mansfield U. Jarrod was also an avid home brewer with a desire to take it to the next level and he worked long and hard on his voluminous business plan for his brewery.

His hard work payed off and in late 2010 he began to brew on his 3BBl brew system purchased from premier stainless. Jarrod has 5 3Bbl fermentation vessels to work with which gives him the flexibility necessary to follow his plan of no real "flagship" beer. He basically brews what his current supply of ingredients allow for with the one exception being his recurring Bungy (Bun ghee) Blonde, which is named after the valley he grew up in. The estimated output of Yorkholo is about 300Bbl this year with a goal of selling beer off premise in a 50 mile radius in the future.

Some Challenges -

There are challenges to operation of a brew pub in an area that Jarrod somewhat blithely refers to as a "Craft beer dead zone." Encouraging customers who aren't even able to purchase Sierra Nevada locally to take the leap and try a local pub seems like it would be an uphill climb. The last thing you need to complicate an already challenging process is trouble with the authorities, Yorkholo didn't luck out in this area. Receiving a brewery licenses can be a slow processs in PA. Jarrod applied early for his to avoid a late opening. Much to his surprise the Licensing board called him the NEXT day and said they would be stopping by to check out his planned operation. This was before funding was secured and the layout of the brewery was still somewhat in question. Another problem arose when the federal license to sell beer failed to show until 3 days after opening and Yorkholo was forced to pour free samples to its eager future customers. In spite of these challenges Yorkholo is a growing business on the way to success because of their awesome beers and the enthusiasm of the employees.  In fact, Yorkholo actually sold out of beer for two days after their first weekend of legal beer sales! Lucky for them PA brew pubs can sell locally made wine as well as house made beer.

the current beer list.

The top of the fermenter during CIP

The Brewing of beer and cleaning of vessels -       This is already a challenging aspect of the profession without the added pressure of a 6'3" ceiling to contend with! I was hard pressed to move in this space and the fermenter lids have to be removed in order to CIP the fermentation vessels. 

The Hot Liquor tank Jarrod is using is a 120 gallon hot water heater designed for use in a barn application. It is 120 gallons and suits his 93 gallon batch size perfectly for now.  

Local Products and Special Beers -              
Yorkholo is trying to use as many local foods and products as possible. From their local grass fed beef to their herbs from a farmstand down the road, even locally sourced hydroponically grown lettuce, they are trying to put their money to work in the community where they live wherever possible. Yorkholo recently made a beer called Pennsylvania Wilds Ale with dandelion stems and local spruce tips. There is a plan to have a Wet Hop beer with hops from Jarrod's back yard in the coming weeks. It will be available for the annual 1890's fest held in Mansfield which commemorates the first football game ever held at night.


After most likely slowing the progress of Jarrod's work day and generally being in the way I decided to retire to the bar upstairs to have a meal and a beer. I decided on a pint of Summer Love, an ale brewed with coriander and lemongrass added late in the kettle, to satisfy my undying thirst. The local grassfed beef burger done medium well at the insistence of the bartender was the perfect pairing with my beer. The generous amount of garlic, with a combination of provolone and swiss cheese brought this burger to an almost heroic status in the burger world. If you are a beer lover in the area you will be more than pleased with the beers on tap and the great menu at Yorkholo Brewing Co.

If you ride......

avoid 15 by using 414, 660, 284, or the myriad of insanely good roads in the area. Watch for the White tailed deer! This area is lousy with them. They are very pretty and docile but that does not make them fun to hit. Hit the PA grand canyon while you are nearby. Also make sure to stop now and then to enjoy the mountains.

Until tomorrow.....

elderberries and apples taken from Jarrod's yard in an attempt to cultivate a good wild yeast strain.

Keep Brewing,

I assure you that this burger was everything it should have been.