Fly Magazine | Harrisburg Edition | March 2013 | 13

BARS & CLUBS Bar CZARbar CZAR by Michael C. Upton

So a guy walks into a bar … thirsty for a good beer. What he fi nds is a beer-lover’s bar with great style and a friendly, warm, relaxed environment.

In fact, general manager Drew Wood keeps more than 60 craft beers available at the newest location of the Susquehanna Ale House, which opened on Jonestown Rd. in December. (The original is in downtown Wilkes-Barre.)

Beer lovers are fl ocking to the Ale House through word-of-mouth recommendations, or after taking a peek at the bar’s online beer listing.

“People are really excited. This is a destination,” says Wood. “Most people who come in the door already know what we have available.”

When I recently visited the bar, the beer menu represented regional breweries like Victory, Tröegs, Stoudts and Spring House. The Ale House also offers universally recognizable brands like Sam Adams and Magic Hat, as well as micro selections from other regions around the country, like Henry Weinhard’s from Oregon and Ithaca Beer Company from New York.

The Ale House has 12 beers on tap – available for $3 every day, all day – but the emphasis is on bottled beers. Wood

believes a bottled beer is a fresher beer. His vast selection of craft and import bottles ranges from $4–$7. Nevertheless, as a veteran of the service industry, he knows the need to stock traditional bar favorites, so mainstays like Guinness are on tap and the cooler also holds bottles of Budweiser, Miller and Coors.

Even with all this talk about beer, Wood knows – and enjoys – the fact there’s a niche market for other spirits. After moving from his Western Pennsylvania home as a young man, Wood found himself in Athens, GA – home of R.E.M. and the B-52’s – where hipness meets debauchery in perfect symbiosis.Yet Wood returned to PA. Drawing on his near-decade of experience in the South, he has gained an appreciation for whiskey – bourbon mostly, but Irish and Scotch varieties as well. In the future, this is what’s in store for the Susquehanna Ale House. In designing the bar, Wood

built a shelf along the mirrored front that will ultimately house a collection of fi ne whiskeys.

Of course, I’m getting well ahead of myself and need to refocus on what the Susquehanna Ale House is now – a place to enjoy craft beer, excellent grub, camaraderie and entertainment.

“We have gourmet burgers and craft beers,” says Wood. “There are two things that almost everybody loves – burgers and

beer – and we decided to focus on those two things.”

The Ale House offers 10 signature hand-pressed, house-seasoned, gourmet burgers,

ranging from the Classic (cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato and onion) to the Ale House Burger (lettuce, tomato, mushrooms, bacon, pepper-jack cheese, onion rings and a creamy mustard sauce).

I went for what looked like a no-brainer to accompany a night of beer drinking – the Breakfast Anytime Burger. This generously seasoned half-pound of beef is topped with crispy bacon, a fried egg, American cheese, lettuce and tomato and served on a lightly grilled bun. At $9.99 it’s worth every penny. If you’re looking for a tasty deal, the Susquehanna Ale House offers The Classic for $3 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 5-9 p.m. (The bar also offers every craft draft and bottle for $3 during this time.)

The Ale House’s building used to house the Bourbon Street Saloon East, and Wood says these specials his way of trying to reintroduce the neighborhood to this location. Out went the Mardi Gras theme and in came the Ale House with a focus on beer and burgers – not that burgers and beer are the only thing on the menu.

The Ale House menu also includes an array of starters, ranging from pierogies to pork potstickers. A standard house salad is available, as well as a pub salad, which mimics a Cobb with cheese, bacon, eggs, and croutons (chicken optional). When it comes to soups, diners have two options: a bacon and cheddar beef soup made with malty English ale or the Ale House chili, made with a stout.

With both the food menu and the beer menu, Wood is aiming to provide a small, yet complex variety of options.

The Susquehanna Ale House is one of the few establishments left that still allows smoking on the premises. “We try and restrict smoking to the bar area and around the pool table – away from the dining tables,” says Wood. “The majority of the guests who come in don’t notice that this is a smoking establishment. There’s no cloud of smoke, no smell. I clean our smoke-eater daily.”

As I ended my visit with Wood at the Ale House, he let me in on one more bit of news. He wants even more for this location in the future. He is considering adding a biergarten, or at least outdoor seating, when the weather permits later in the year. Stay tuned.

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• 4920 Jonestown Road, Harrisburg; 652-1888

• Daily, 4 p.m.-2 a.m.

• Handicapped accessible, credit cards accepted, smoking and nonsmoking sections, reservations not necessary, alcohol served, takeout available

SUSQUEHANNA ALE HOUSE A simple formula: beers, burgers and bargains

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