Our Story - Our Town Brewery

OUR STORY

Our Town Brewery was founded with a simple mission, serve the best tasting beer, with fresh, thoughtful food to compliment it. All in a setting that is dynamic yet comforting.

Rob Tarves and Rob Patz began dreaming up their vision for Our Town Brewery while homebrewing during college at Penn State. They went on to get jobs together at Otto’s Pub & Brewery, the local brewpub in State College, to begin researching the industry. Their time at multiple breweries over the years has driven home the theme that breweries are huge parts of the communities that they operate in. Tarves and Patz have a vision for using fresh, innovative beer and a thoughtful food program to further connect people in Lancaster. A decade later, they are ready to pour you a pint.

The Robs

Our Beers Our Food

Hops

Once used as a preservative, hops are now an extremely expressive ingredient in beer. They can bring flavors and aromas ranging from tropical to earthy, from herbal to citrus. Hops can also provide bitterness and balance to the finished product.

Pocket Watch

In recognition of Hamilton Watch Company which impacted generations of Lancaster residents. Over 100 years of production in Lancaster, an impressive icon.

Malt

Barley, wheat, oats, rye.. Malt provides the beer with color, sugar (eventually alcohol), sweetness, bitterness. The unsung hero of brewing, standing in the shadow of hops.

Red Rose

The Red Rose City, our town. The symbol brought over to honor Lancaster, England.

Our Mark

Our Town Brewery

Rob Tarves and Rob Patz grew up in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania and went on to attend Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania together. Both towns have strong local pride, which became woven into Tarves and Patz. After following his wife to Lancaster to attend a graduate program at Millersville University, Tarves fell in love with Lancaster and knew it was where he wanted to open the brewery.

Genius of Liberty

The “Genius of Liberty” stands at the center of Lancaster city, marking the home of the old city courthouse from the 1770’s.

Water

Beer is more than 90% water. There is no secret, then, that brewing water is extremely important. From mineral content to pH, brewing water has a massive impact on your beer.

Lancaster City Map

A map of Lancaster city. The "x" marks the corner of Prince & Walnut, the home of Our Town Brewery.

Yeast

Responsible for fermentation, yeast is what turns the sugar water we make, into beer. We use a handful of different yeast strains depending on the style of beer we plan to brew. Some produce more fruity aromas and flavors while some create extremely clean, dry beers.

OUR ROOTS

OUR SPACE

Our nearly 100 year old building originally housed Chamber’s General Tire Company. The main space that our brewery and pub occupies was a showroom floor for cars. The floor can hold some serious weight, which is why we are able to have full tanks in here with no problem!