Cottage Weekend '15

As with years past, my friends and I gathered at my family cottage last weekend for a few days of leisure.

Tater and I decided to start the weekend off a little differently this year by stopping at the Troëgs Brewing Co. in nearby Hershey  on our way up. I've always been a fan of Troëgs; in fact, my first case of legally purchased "good" beer was a Troëgs summer variety pack over ten years ago. I've been a fan ever since. They offer a tour of their brewery, includin' samples and a pint glass, for $5, which is well worth it.

The grain bins, where the hoppes and malts are stored. They are able to dispense the desired quantities directly from the bins via computer.  

Our fearless tour guide,  explainin' how the beer travels through the bulk tanks. 

The "scratch" tanks, where the brewers experiment. 

The near-finished product is stored in these silos, awaitin' carbonation and bottlin'. 

Several of their brews are aged in old whiskey or wine barrels.

The kegging room. No keg stands were done here, unfortunately.

 We enjoyed lunch at the brewpub, then headed north.

Tater and his girl wanted to go visit Ron for the evenin', so my girl and I loaded up the kayaks and headed to the public access about four miles upriver. We knew we were pushin'it on daylight, but as it got darker, we realized what a sight we were gettin' treated to.

 It was a light crowd this year, so we only had three others come rollin' in that night.

True to form, we purty much spent the remainder of the weekend eatin', drinkin' and floatin' down the river. We found another access that was a little further up, so we enjoyed a seven-mile float on Saturday.

 While we didn't camp this year, we headed over to the island after Saturday dinner and lit up a big ol' bonfire with some driftwood we had picked up on our float.

I wish some of my other friends had been able to make it, but it was still a very relaxin' weekend spent with good company.