Bluestone Brewing, Sayre PA

26 March 2025

I had discovered this spot last year and wanted to be sure to get here again on this trip. It wasn’t bad, but it was nowhere nearly as good as I had remembered. This year, it felt more like a neighborhood almost-but-not-quite-dive-bar kind of place, and honestly, the mucky/clay/mud parking lot didn’t help the image any. Odd.

After waiting an inordinately long time for service (even though, as you can clearly see, they were far from busy), I ordered a flight and some food. While you can select your own five beers, they do have a “Got Range” flight that “showcases the scope of our repertoire.” Scope, yes, but perhaps not great examples. I’ll describe the flight from left-to-right, top-to-bottom:

Ursa – White Wheat Lager, 4.9% – I’ll give this one kudos for being an enjoyable drink, but I felt it was a bit too close to certain American mainline “beers” although they might do that to satisfy some of their clientele. I wouldn’t turn this one down in the future, but it certainly wouldn’t be my first choice.

Trail Juice – Blackberry Ale, 5.8% – If you like fruited beers, this is the one for you! It’s a great little beer, full of blackberry flavor without being overpowering, but I thought it was too bitter on the backend considering it was flavorful but not super sweet. The bitter needed more sweetness up front.

Ol’ 9 to 5 – English Brown Ale, 4.7% – This is a lovely, rich, brown ale with strong notes of coffee and chocolate. It was a real treat after the first two; the only thing I’d like in it is a bit more mouth feel. Otherwise, I enjoyed it.

Penna – American Pale Ale, 5.5% – I found this far too bitter for my taste; the flavor was good and I would have loved it if the balance had been better.

Mythical Beasts – Oatmeal Stout, 5.5% – Surprisingly, this stout was milder than the brown ale! It was nice, but I should have had it first and then the brown.

I was really hungry at this point in the day so I ordered one of their 8oz burgers, the Bluestone (bacon and bleu cheese). You would not believe how good this smelled sitting there, and it tasted every bit as good. But like much pub food, the taste doesn’t wear well — by the end, I was not only stuffed but tired of the overdone flavors (contrast this with the next entry from Uniontown Brewing). Less bleu cheese would have helped this a lot, I think.

I ended this visit with a pint of For the Record, a 6.8% NEIPA brewed with Citra and Rakua hops, and I found this to be very pleasant. It was easily my favorite of the six beers today — not outstanding, but very solid and worth returning to if I decide to stop here again in the future.