Bube's Brewery in Mt. Joy

Bube's Brewery in Mt. Joy

Address: 102 North Market St., Mt. Joy, PA 17552

Website: bubesbrewery.com/

Date of Visit: Saturday, March 31, 2018

In April, we were thrilled to host Andrea’s cousin and his family, who were visiting the United States from Bavaria, Germany. As we planned where to take our guests in Central Pennsylvania, one place stood out more than any other: Bube’s Brewery. Located in Mt. Joy, near Lancaster, Bube’s is one of the oldest operating breweries in the country that harkens back to the beer- and pretzel-filled homeland of 19^th century Bavaria, Germany. Stemming from the original brewery originating in the late 19^th century, Bube’s Brewery (named for founder Alois Bube) includes several different bars, restaurants, and catacombs in which you can experience fine dining, a museum, murder mystery dinners, and of course, ghost tours. With the original brewery and hotel dating back to 1876 and filled with memories of the distant old country, ghosts and the paranormal are an essential ingredient in what makes Bube’s a truly entertaining and fun experience.

Alois Bube's Brewery in Mt. Joy, Pennsylvania

Before we begin, a note about Bube’s: Is it pronounced “boobs,” or “boobies”?

Many folks in Central Pennsylvania have a Pennsylvania Dutch (German) connection, so the odd-sounding, German names aren’t too confounding for locals. Words in German tend to pronounce the “e” on the end of the word, thus, “Bube’s” is often pronounced “Boobies.” Bube’s Brewery is pretty famous in Central Pennsylvania, so most of the locals have heard of it and will simply repress a smile when they hear you mention “Boobies Brewery.” However, having authentic, actual Germans along with us, they confirmed that the true pronunciation would sound more like “Buba” (to rhyme with “tuba”), rather than “booby.” A “bube” in German is a sort of slang term to refer to a young boy. So, although “boobs” and “boobies” will both get you a beer, if you want to be authentic, you have to ask for “Bube’s."

Bube’s BottleWorks and Beer

We secured several tables in the BottleWorks, a small bar located in the original bottling plant. Cold, dark, and dank, it reminded us of the immortal words of Homer Simpson: “But Moe, what about the dank? The dank!” The BottleWorks is a great introduction to this living museum. Andrea and I both had the Hop Drop IPA. At 8% it was a serviceable IPA. Lacking the bitterness of most IPAs at that ABV, there were just the right amount of citrus undertones, which is a nice change for something that has become so popular lately with IPAs. It was easily drinkable and reminded me of a slightly hoppier All Day IPA from Founders or the traditional Sierra Nevada pale ale. Andrea’s cousin had the Mia Bock beer, a lighter, bock-style beer. There is no better sign of approval of a German-style beer than when an authentic Bavarian resident silently drinks a third of the glass and provides a firm nod.

Bube’s Bar Food

For our food, we had the Bube’s beer-battered fish sandwich. For us, fish sandwiches are solid indicators of a restaurant’s worth. Luckily, Bube’s fish sandwich was very good: a good-sized piece of haddock battered in their lager beer and fried, then put atop a fresh roll with lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise. This is the essence of bar food.

Touring the Brewery and Catacombs

Prior to our eating, I made several requests for a ghost tour to ensure our guests had the best experience possible. And boy (or should I say, “bube”?), did they come through. After dinner, we were informed that we would be getting a more in-depth tour than usual, specially planned for our authentic Bavarian visitors. Following our food and drinks, we were greeted by a woman who looked as though she just stepped through a mirror from the 1890s. A woman of a certain age, with a Victorian-style up-do and a long, black, corset-style dress greeted us in the lobby. At once both pleasant and distant, she had an aura about her that made it hard to tell if she truly belonged to this world or the next. She seemed like the kind of tour guide who is really good and detailed throughout the tour, and at the end, you go to comment to one of the bartenders about how awesome the woman in the black dress was on the tour, only for him to ask, “What woman in black?” Then we both look at the wall behind at the bar and there is a painting of the tour guide woman, and I say, “There she is!” and he goes, “That’s Mrs. Bube. She died a hundred and thirty years ago…”

Multiple flights of stairs descend into the catacombs.

Coincidentally, while this was all playing out in my head, our guide mentions that she is actually playing Mrs. Bube in the murder mystery dinner theater production that night. That is only the first of many odd occurrences during our tour. Mrs. Bube proceeded to lead us through the brewery, providing us with incredibly detailed information about the origins and vision of the brewery, which was to produce authentic Bavarian lager beer, different from the ale style of the English, who were dominant during the time of the brewery’s founding in the late 1800s.

From the main entranceway where we met our tour guide, there are additional stairs leading up to the gift shop and attic area. Here, there are some pretty views overlooking the brewery area, including the biergarten (for warmer-weather months, as March was still a bit chilly to enjoy this space). The attic area also houses bags of grains, wooden fermenting tanks from decades past, and other bits of odds and ends original to the centuries’ old evolution of the brewery. Yet the most interesting part of the physical history of Bube’s Brewery begins underground.

Our tour began by descending the first staircase into the very small and poorly lit room that houses the original fermentation tanks. This is where the paranormal portion of the night first presented itself. While our guide was explaining the beer-making process, I felt a single, firm poke on my left elbow. I looked behind me, and of course, no one was there. At this time I felt a slight drop in temperature, followed by another single poke on the back of my neck. At the time, I did not mention anything nor freak out (the two 8% IPAs I had earlier kept me pretty chilled out). I have had several instances of being touched by what I believe are ghosts during our past adventures ghost hunting, and the feeling from this particular encounter felt similar to all those other instances.

As our tour group made our way through the tank room into the hallway leading to the catacombs entrance, we pass a picture of an older Mr. Bube, the founder of the brewery himself. A little further down the hallway we stop, and the guide explains an interesting story about the second picture in front of us. This one is of a much younger gentleman. The guide states that years ago, a psychic was eating dinner in the restaurant and encountered a spirit, who had mentioned to her that he was upset that all the pictures of him depict him as an old man, rather than as the young, handsome man he was. The psychic had a sketch artist draw the man she encountered, and the picture in front of us is of the man she spoke with that night. It closely resembles the picture of the older man we had just passed: Mr. Bube. Whether you believe that story or not, it was certainly entertaining and provided even more intrigue to the atmosphere as we descended yet another steep staircase into the catacombs. Reserved for the fine dining restaurant, the catacombs provides the chills, thrills and—due to the wait staff having to run up several flight of stairs for every order—spills of a special experience. Andrea and I have eaten here previously, and it is highly recommended. Lit by candles and lights strung out throughout the caves, there is a secretive yet comforting feel about dining in this part of the brewery. It is intimate and intriguing, and the fine dining menu is designed so that each meal is paired with an accompanying beer.

Bube's Brewery: Approved by true Bavarians.

As we ascended not one, but two flights of steep stairs to return to the ground level, our tour came to a close, and we thanked our guide for a fantastic, exciting, (and for Sean, interactive) experience. You don’t come all the way out to Bube’s solely for the beer or the fish sandwiches, you come out for the atmosphere. You can sense the energy, effort, and ambition that resonates within the cavernous walls of this place. You can smell the dankness of the air and the hear the creakiness of the floorboards, and, if you stay long enough, feel the hands of those who drank the beer hundreds of years before you press firmly into your skin; it is at that point when you are surprisingly not scared but rather enthralled at the history that surrounds you. Bube’s Brewery is equal parts haunted and hungry.