PA Eats is lucky enough to be headquartered within the East Coast’s prosperous craft beer culture, and we are continuously eager to cross state borders in order to explore the next-best brewery to hit our market. One of our recent team trips featured a journey to Greenville, Delaware, to get up close and personal with the sustainable brewing team of Twin Lakes Brewing Company.
Twin Lakes Steeped in History
Twin Lakes Brewing Company, owned by savvy entrepreneur Sam Hobbs, is situated on his family’s historic 252-acre farm, deep within the beauty and rich heritage of Delaware’s Brandywine Valley. For seven generations, Sam’s family has made Twin Lakes a long-standing good neighbor and member of the local community.
A trip down memory lane reveals that revolutionary troops camped on its acres, the property was home to some of the most important paper mills, Joe Biden brought his first date to the property’s Twin Lakes to ice skate…and the list continues. It was Sam’s dream to plant the brewery on his own doorstep (his house is right next door to the brewing operation), welcoming beer enthusiasts into his own “home” daily.
Water Is the Most Important Ingredient
Staying true to his historic landscape and itching to celebrate the art of American brewing of ales and lagers all while preserving his family farm, Hobbs is devoted to producing fresh, local, delicious beer that is not overly complicated. The farm-based brewery is adamant about producing beer with just its four original ingredients (water, whole flowered hops, grains, yeast), all of which used in the highest quality possible. Twin Lakes is also produces “living” beer, which is beer with yeast remaining in it.
“The key to good beer is good water,” reveals Hobbs. “You want water with all its minerals—they’re the building blocks of life. We’re fortunate to have to amazing water source here at Twin Lakes.”
The brewery runs the property-sourced water through a deep rock aquifer located on the Twin Lakes Farm, which leaves the beer’s base—its pure water!—perfectly balanced and rich in minerals, and adds a refreshing smoothness and unique quality to the beer.
“We are not extreme brewers,” said Sam. “The way you think and are attracted to fresh produce like fresh local corn, fresh local tomatoes…that’s what we want to be thought of as within the realm of beer.”
Hobbs goes on to reveal that the best compliment he has ever received was from a beer writer, who suggested that he could drink Twin Lakes beer “every day for the rest of his life.” And, after one sip, we couldn’t agree more—it doesn’t get fresher than this!
True to the “Local, Fresh, Delicious” Slogan
Twin Lakes’ mission is that you only have their beer in its freshest state possible. How do they ensure this? They only travel and distribute beer for up to a 100-mile radius.
Meet Twin Lakes Brewmaster
Speaking of the brewers—as in plural, Twin Lakes’ head brewer, Rob Rfeiffer, oversees the Greenville-based brewery, which consists of a 25-barrel, steam-fired, gravity-fed, five vessel brewhouse. Rob, a firecracker brewer with a great sense of humor and loads of energy, started at Twin Lakes in 2006, moving on up to brewmaster status in 2008. It was Rob’s underlying goal to make the brewery eco-friendly and eco-conscious, with the brewery constantly adding fresh green touches including the addition of solar panels.
The guitar-playing brewer is a true child of ‘60s, first developing a penchant for craft brewing when a student at Northland Environmental College in Wisconsin. Decades later, he remained serious about homebrewing, and through an interesting turn of events, became acquainted with Jack Wick, one of the Twin Lakes co-founders. The rest is brewing history!
Beer Breakdown
You may know Twin Lakes by their flagship product, the well-balanced, medium-bodied Greenville Pale Ale, a release seen regularly in a bright-green can baring the landscape art of Twin Lakes itself. The traditional American-style ale is crafted with whole flower Cascade hops and American two-row barley. Marrying sweet, caramel malts with citrusy hops, this is a refreshing release we could enjoy every day for the rest of our lives.
Additional releases include winners like the Winterthur Wheat, a West Coast-inspired wheat beer with a crisp, dry finish; the Tweeds Tavern, a Pacific Northwest-style stout with roasty malts and hints of chocolate; and the Route 52 Pilsner, crafted with whole flower Spalt hops, packing a sweet malt base with a spicy herbal aroma. Drink up the full roster here.
If You Go …
Twin Lakes Brewing Co. is located at 4210 Kennett Pike in Greenville, Delaware. Schedule your upcoming visit by calling (302) 658-1826. Reservations are not required, but advance notice is requested for groups of 10 or more. Cost for tours is $22 per person, which includes exclusive, hands-on tasting and tour. Concluding fun fact: Twin Lakes flips the proceeds from brewery tours into donations to non-profits.
- Photography: Nina Lea Photography
