Our first annual Bus to the Brews trip!

I love it when a trip goes off without a hitch and the Bus to the Brews was one of those trips.  Donna Emel brought along the most fun group all decked out and ready to celebrate St. Patty's Day.  You gotta love a guy who will wear an over-sized plaid newsboy cap with a pom pom on top!  And the ladies definitely raised the fashion bar up a  couple of notches.

This was our first visit to Fordham Brewing Company in Dover, DE, and, as I've said before, I'm always a bit nervous going to a place for the first time.  But Marketing Coordinator Lauren Bigelow was ready and waiting for our group and we were warmly welcomed, given our first sample, and then gathered up to begin the tour.  I always try to remember to write down the names of the tour guides so that I can mention them  in my posts, but I completely failed on this trip.  So, my apologies to the gentleman that led our tour for not including your name, but I do extend my thanks and appreciation. 


And I'll also admit here that I rarely pay attention to what's being said during tours--I'm more concerned with making sure that everyone stays together and has a good time and I try to get some good photos while the tour is going on.  Every now and again, a bit of knowledge does actually sneak in, but I figure I'm better off not giving away too much information anyway because that way you can just join me on a future trip to learn everything for yourself.  

A nice touch at Fordham is that at the end of your tastings, you exchange your sample glass for a pint-size glass to take home as a souvenir.  LOVE getting free stuff!  Wishing now that I had bought a case of their handcrafted sodas.  Next trip there I will be bringing one back for sure.   

I've been to Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, DE, before but hadn't had the chance to take the tour, so this was another first.  I had contacted Janelle Miley of their marketing team to set up our groups and she was a pleasure to work with.  

We had two separate tour guides (again, their names never made it into my notebook, but they both did a great job).  Lots of big tanks and big pipes and like I said earlier, I'm not going to give you details about this tour because if I do the trip again, I want you to sign up and find out for yourself!  I will say that there's plenty of interesting stuff to learn.  There's a whole lot more to brewing beer than just throwing stuff into a tank and hoping for the best.


I do enjoy the Dogfish Head gift shop.  It's a fun place with the requisite tee shirts, baseball caps, and glassware, but you can actually purchase their beer at prices much cheaper than your local retail place.   And if you have a whole lot of extra cash that you don't know how to spend, there are a couple of collectible growlers for $125 each.   

Ended the day with a dinner stop in Rehoboth.  Paul and I went to Dogfish Brewpub and met up up with my friend Peggy and her kids Nathan and Lindsey and Lindsey's husband Jon.  Jon is a Pittsburgh native, so he and Paul have that "Burgh Bond."  Despite the fact that Lindsey slipped and told Paul the Penguins had won the game that afternoon, we had a fun time (just teasing Lindsey!)

Will definitely be doing more Brew Bus trips in the future, so keep an eye on the website.

Off to Florida tomorrow morning to visit the in-laws.  Looking forward to seeing them, as well as the sun.  Next trip:  Back Roads to Freedom Underground Railroad tour.  Another "first" for us and I'm really looking forward to it.