Tap Handle #741: Fegley's Brew Works
Rarity: readily available, fragile
Mounting: custom 3/8" ferrule on 3/8" anchor bolt
Although the Fegley's tap has been around for quite some time, it took awhile for me to get my hands on a decent one. The first one I purchased off the secondary market arrived broken in several pieces. Months later, so did a second one. I wasn't having much luck getting through to the brewery, but then I stumbled across this brand new one for a great price. Finally, Fegley's gets their Museum profile! I really like the look of the tap, with lots of gears and pipes that pay homage to the steelworkers who worked in the same town that the brewery is in. At the top of the tap is the brewery's name, with an 8 pointed, compass-like star below that, which is the brewery's symbol. Halfway down the tap is a large black circle within a gear, where beer labels are placed (I'll be profiling their Hop'solutely Triple IPA). The unique custom ferrule at the bottom is a nice touch. The front and back of the tap are reverse images of each other. These are easy to find on the secondary market and the price is usually very reasonable. With all the corners and gear edges that are exposed, the taps can be easily damaged so prospective buyers should examine taps closely.
Click through to read more about Fegley's Brew Works, their Hop'solutely Triple IPA, and to see more photos of this industrious tap...
Fegley's Brewing was founded in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1998 by the Fegley family. Brothers Michael, Rich, David, and Jeffrey, along with their parents Peg and Dick, all pitched in to run the brewery. Rich, the oldest brother, was an avid home brewer, and he drew up a business plan and convinced his parents the family should open a brewpub. As an actor in New York City, Mike had previously worked in restaurants, and became director of marketing and public relations. The third oldest brother, beer connoisseur David Fegley, was co-owner and treasurer. Youngest brother Jeffrey Fegley became company president, and knew Bethlehem because he had attended Lehigh University. Peg and Dick invested in their family venture. It was a difficult time to open a business in the area, as the Bethlehem Steel plant had been slowly shutting down for years and the region was suffering the loss hard. Several historic businesses had closed. The downtown area had also lost a lot of business to malls and box stores.
The Fegley family opened the doors of the Bethlehem Brew Works in the abandoned Orr's department store on downtown Main Street. During the first 5 years, the restaurant and brewery’s success began to push its limits. To keep up, the Steelgaarden lounge was added, the kitchen was tripled in size to serve more guests, and the brewery added additional tanks to keep up with demand. By 2003, downtown Bethlehem had become a vibrant year-round destination, with a gloriously restored Hotel, a thriving restaurant row, and retail shopping. Locals credit the Fegleys' bold and risky move to open in 1998 as the beginning of downtown Bethlehem's turnaround. The Steelgaarden lounge had expanded again, having annexed another two shop locations in the Main Street Commons for more nightlife and event space, and the brewery was operating at capacity, producing over 1,000 barrels annually by 2005.
Seeking to expand further, the Fegley family looked west into Allentown. Also hard-hit economically over the years, Allentown's downtown had declined; the city center had become a warren of pawn shops, porn palaces, tattoo parlors, and the like. But the Fegleys found a space they liked: the historic Harold's Furniture building. It took them two years to refurbish the space, which opened in 2007 as Allentown Brew Works, with two and a half levels of dining, plus state-of-the-art banquet facilities in The Hamilton Room, multiple bars offering different atmospheres, as well as Der Biergarten outdoor casual patio and a lower level lounge called Silk. The new location could accommodate 700 guests at one time. That first year with the new brewery, Brewmaster Beau Baden returned with a Great American Beer Festival Gold Medal. With its two locations, the Fegleys' brew works produced 6,000 barrels annually. And just as the Fegleys' Bethlehem operation helped spearhead that downtown's revival, their Allentown location was an early shot in the arm for its city-center redevelopment. Unfortunately, during this time the family lost David, who passed away at the age of 33.
To make matters worse, within a few months of opening the Allentown location, the American economy collapsed. Bethlehem remained steadfast, and though the Allentown revitalization became increasingly daunting, the Fegley's continued to be a pillar, with the largest restaurant in the Lehigh Valley and a new 15-barrel brewery boasting seven fermentation tanks and eight serving tanks, they had built a destination restaurant, and a brewery with enough excess capacity to begin outside sales of Fegley’s Brew Works beer. While campaigning for the White House, President Barack Obama visited Fegley’s Brew Works and lunched with Peg Fegley. He praised the family’s hard-earned success and commitment to the revitalization of the Lehigh Valley downtown areas. When the Philadelphia Phillies AAA team, the Iron Pigs, opened a new stadium in Allentown and added Fegley’s Brew Works to its lineup, with that account in place, and a new sales team behind offsite brewery sales, Fegley’s Brew Works began to be found locations from Harrisburg to central New Jersey, north to Scranton, and south to Philadelphia.
The Allentown Brew Works filled its rooms with dozens of rotating events, festivals, banquets, and weddings. Word began to spread. As the family concentrated their work in Allentown, they found it tough but rewarding. The brewery was awarded for its Framboise Lambic at the World Beer Championships, and the Bagpiper’s Scotch Ale returned from GABF that year with a bronze. Then, during the height of the Christmas holiday season, the Bethlehem Brew Works suffered a fire. Struggling through the winter with a limited menu and dining area, the Bethlehem Brew Works kept brewing. After a period of reconstruction, the restaurant had a grand re-opening in early 2009. Two months later, in the west end of Allentown, the Fegley’s had another grand opening – the Brew Works on the Green welcomed diners to the municipal Benner Fairways golf course. Two more GABF medals came that year, Brewmaster Beau Baden brought home a Silver for the Bagpiper’s Scotch Ale, and Rude Elf’s Reserve got a Bronze.
Between 2011 and 2013, production was stepped up further at the brewery...two new 30bbl fermenters were added, and new packaging equipment was brought online to satisfy demand. Barrel aging was increased as well, and by this time 150 oak casks were being filled each year. Fegley’s Brew Works ranked in the top 40 brewpubs in the nation, and the additional capacity ranked the brewery as one of the top 5 brewpubs in the Northeast United States. In Allentown, Fegley’s Burrito Works opened right next to the brewery with all-natural, local, sustainable, organic meats and produce. In addition, the Coffee Works offered organic, fair trade, single sourced coffee and espresso. After 3 years at the golf course the Brew Works on the Green was closed, to allow the city’s leaders to re-bid the contract for the golf course space, and for Fegley’s to focus on their core operations in the downtown districts. Beau Baden and his team continued to be awarded regionally, nationally, and internationally, respectively at the Philadelphia Summer Ale Festival (Best Summer Ale), at the Great American Beer Festival, and at the World Beer Championships.
In 2012 Fegley’s Brew Works was awarded the coveted Green Corporate Citizens Award. Fegley’s, winning in the under $100 million category, beat out 70 other companies that were nominated to win the award. The brewery won the award because of their ongoing green initiatives that they have implemented at their multiple locations. The company has an ongoing partnership with the Rodale Institute to convert over a half million pounds of material into compost that previously would have ended up in landfills each year. They also recycle another 350,000 pounds of spent grains by utilizing it as feed for locally farmed cattle that the company uses for its beef supply. In addition to reducing their waste to low levels, Fegley’s also reduced its energy footprint by implementing LED lighting, with the Allentown location being home to one of the largest LED lighting implementations (over 450 fixtures) in the industry worldwide. The Hamilton Street location has also outfitted its roof with 44-kilowatt solar array, further reducing its energy consumption, and the company also purchases the remainder of their electricity from wind power through Renewable Choice Energy.
In 2013, Fegley's Brew Works hosted a ‘Brewer For a Day’ competition. The winning brew was chosen from over 60 home brewers, with the amateur brewer getting to work alongside Brewmaster Beau Baden. The competition was part of Lehigh Valley Beer Week, where 25 bars, breweries, and vendors participated in the week-long festival. Other activities included chances to meet brewers, tap takeovers, beer dinners, bar crawls, live music, trivia, and more. In early 2014, the Burrito Works/Coffee Works closed after a small fire, but the lessons learned there about healthy eco-conscious restaurant operations strengthened the company as a whole. Allentown opened the PPL Center, home of the Philadelphia Flyers’ AAA team, the Phantoms. Fegley's teamed up with the Pantoms to make Brew Line Lager, the official beer of the Phantoms, which was sold at the PPL Center as well as the Allentown Brew Works location. With professional hockey, A-List concert events, and a burgeoning dining scene and new retail shops, the downtown revitalization of Allentown was well on its way.
Currently the Bethlehem location has 11 core beers, while Allentown has 9. In addition, there are a number of special brews as well as seasonal varieties. The Steelgaarden Lounge features more than 100 bottled Belgian beers. Guests can make themselves comfortable in one of the lounge areas or enjoy a game of pool. A large menu (at each location) has a wealth of food items to choose from, and several entrees feature Fegley's beers as part of the ingredients, such as Steelworker's Chili made with Steelworkers' Stout, or Foundry Bratwurst made with Golden Ale sauerkraut. The breweries host weddings and private events, have a rewards program, and a gift store. Fegley's has racked up an impressive 17 medals in beer competitions such as the GABF and World Beer Championships, which includes 5 gold medals.
Fegley's Hop'solutely is a heavenly, heavily hopped, Triple IPA packed with Pacific Northwest hops. A Hop’solutely intoxicating citrus aroma and a smooth malt backbone, this beer is utterly smooth with a powerfully hoppy presence and pleasing 11.5 percent content of alcohol by volume. It pours a deep golden orange, with huge hop heat on the nose and an intense aroma of orange zest, mango, peach, and pine. A hop-syrupy flavor stays slick and balanced with hop bitterness, and the finish is a rich, complex sweetness as the warmth of the ABV shines a smile on your face. You might even find honey and fruit notes that are sweet as melon. Chosen by Joe Sixpack as "Beer of the Year, it can go toe-to-toe with the finest Imperial IPAs of the world. Recommended food pairings are sharp cheddar and pungent cheeses, oysters, grilled meats, or a burger with bleu cheese & bacon.
Ratebeer: 3.62 out of 5
Beer Advocate: 87 out of 100 (very good)
Fegley's Brew Works
569 Main Street
Bethlehem, PA 18018
Source Material
Fegley's website
I enjoyed reading this profile a lot. I want to add that the star on top of the tap is a Moravian star, commonly displayed in the area, as Bethlehem was originally founded by the Moravian Church. Today I’d say it is not exclusively religious but a sign of the city’s identify. For example following the Great Depression, they put up a massive lighted star to boost the region’s economy and dubbed Bethlehem the Christmas City.
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