Wallenpaupack Brewing Company (further referred to as just WBC due to the name length) is a bit of a hike from our usual stomping grounds of Scranton, but definitely worth the visit. The building is very large with lots of different areas. You enter into the main room that contains a small bar section with a couple seats, but there are plenty of sit-down tables. While the brewery section is portioned off, you can still see the large fermenters and other modern brewing equipment. To the left of the main room is another room with even more options for dining. I believe they call this the Barrel room. And even beyond that they have an outdoor area for those who like to enjoy some fresh air dining. Of course, being a brewery, they offer a good amount of craft beer options. Be sure to check out their Facebook as they are always hosting events. For example, on our visit, we got to experience trivia night. Unfortunately, we didn’t see it to completion, but I definitely want to add we left after a perfect round and tied for second place. I do enjoy their ordering approach. Once we arrived at our table, a hostess/waitress took our drink order. Then, once you’re ready to order, you head up to the counter and place your order. Personally, I wish more places moved to this approach. Regardless if you’re going for wings or just want to try some tasty craft beer, you’re bound to have a great time at WBC.
Be prepared for a little sticker shock if you’re planning on ordering some wings. Generally, WBC offers a dozen wings for $17. If you’re looking at the smoked wings, expect to pay $20. If you want to save a couple bucks, head there on wing night when you can get a dozen wings for $12. For those not great at math, that comes out to $1 per wing. The wing night does not cover the smoked wings though. While definitely not the cheapest around, they are very large wings. For example, if you typically take down 15 wings, the dozen should easily get you there as well. It doesn’t appear they offer half orders or splitting of sauces across order, but in their defense, we didn’t ask. Additionally, it wasn’t clear to us was their wing night. We only realized once we go the check and poked around their facebook to a post a couple weeks earlier where they called out their events for the month.
They only offer four flavors at WBC. Typically, I would rate a variety this slim closer to a 1 or 2, but they get extra points because there are some unique sauces here, including a smoked option. Additionally, it’s a nice touch that they incorporate their beer into the sauces. Now, I can’t guarantee that’s actually the case, but the names of the wing sauces leads me to believe that is likely the case.
While they don’t offer a huge variety of flavors, you can tell they put care into the sauces they do make. The Paupack Cream Ale Mild Buffalo was an orange-ish sauce with a great sort of creamy, buffalo taste. While a bit lacking on the sauce, I was still really happy with the flavor. Considering they are listed as mild, I thought they were spicier than expected. Personally, I preferred the amped up spice on these wings. The Gochujang wings had a darker sauce that was plenty thick and sticky, sprinkled with sesame seeds, and full of flavor. They started out mostly sweet and slightly spicy, but the spice became more apparent the more you had. Finally, we opted for the Smoked Sweet Heat wings. They had a nice, darkened char to them and when you bit into one, the smoke ring was apparent. This was another wing with not a ton of sauce. The sauce that was there did have good flavor and was mostly sweet, but the smoke flavor was definitely the star of the show here.
If you fancy a journey to Wallenpaupack, perhaps you wouldn’t mind stopping by Wallenpaupack Brewery to get some suds and wings. If you live near Wallenpaupack Brewery, you can still head on over. That’s what we did. We made the trek to Wallenpaupack Brewery to get some wings but little did we know that we were walking into a solid trivia night.
Thursday is the wing night at Paupack and their trivia night. Lynch and I had a great time putting a hurting on trivia night. We were in 2nd place, only down 1 point halfway through but alas we had to depart. Folks are probably still talking about Team Smell Ya Later.
The brewery, which seems like a hub for all things Wallenpaupack, is a beautiful structure that has a lot going on. They have an outdoor area if the weather agrees with it, they have the main area next to one bar with all their merch, and then they have an enormous second wing that houses yet another bar. I very much dig the setup.
The staff was pleasant, informative, accommodating, and one of them looked like Jimmy Garoppolo. Rest assured that guy is having his way with the Paupack. What stuck out to me was how compartmentalized the operation at the brewery was. They have staff that are servers, they have the staff that are brewery folks, they have the staff that are in the kitchen, and then have the some, what appears to me, to be utility workers that sort of do multiple jobs. It’s working in unison and happens seamlessly just like Bob Lazar said it worked when he was deconstructing downed UFOs at Area 51. It’s very similar.
The ordering process is a bit unique because you order your food with a server but then you go up and get your beer at one of the bars. I like that because it makes you have to walk around. I want more places where I can just grab my beer and go for a stroll and check stuff out.
Obviously, the beer that can be had at Wallenpaupack Brewery is out of sight. If you’re going now, get the Festbier or The Great Outdoors if they still have. Also, ask if you can try their Luker Tap. It’s the frothy beer that is all foam but tastes like beer. It’s cool and you want it.
it was just an overall festive vibe throughout the whole place. Everyone was in a good mood. Maybe because it was Thursday and the weekend was approaching, but I think it’s just a law that if you’re at a brewery you better not be a downer.
When you go to a brewery you need to have the same expectations as if you’re going to a stadium, New York City, or find yourself in a ransom-type situation. You’re going to pay a little bit and that’s just the way it is.
Thursday is Wallenpaupack’s wing night. The prices are $12 for an order of 10 and if you want the one smoked wing they have it’s $20 an order. A bit steep but they are well worth it.
And these wings have a terrifically high MPB(meat per bite) rate. They’re big and they’re cooked very well. Even though they had all that girth they also a crisp to them that’s good for the soul.
It’s not a high rating for the amount of wing flavors at Wallenpaupack. I have a theory on why this is. It’s a brewery and not a wing joint. I think that theory scans.
They only have three flavors. Would I love a few more? Well, of course, I would. I always say you can add ranch to anything and that will double or potentially triple your flavor count. I understand that not every place is into that whole thing and I especially get that when you’re a brewery your chief duty is to craft splendid beer.
The flavors that can be had are Buffalo, Sweet Heat, which is the one smoked wing flavor they offer, and one called Gochujang which is like an Asian BBQ. I like to call it Gucci Gang. It’s a funny name and we all know it.
There are only three flavors but those three flavors hit for a high average.
First was the Buffalo which had a lovely orange hue to them that was accompanied by some sick char marks. Oh yeah, the wings are grilled and I love that about them. This Buffalo was mild but still brought some heat but more importantly brought excellent flavor. The Buffalo flavor was well represented.
Next were the Gochujang or Gucci Gang, which has been established to be a very funny name. I loved this sauce. It had all the notes of an Asian BBQ and also had an enchanting appearance due to the sesame seeds caked on it. A strong BBQ flavor that also had a small amount of sweetness. You gotta get the Gucci Gang.
Finally, were the smoked sweet heat. My initial thought upon taking a bite was that I was eating really really good beef jerky. I love beef jerky so I was all for it. You absolutely can taste the smoke throughout the entire wing. I thought there was more sweetness than heat but I wasn’t complaining because these wings were cooked so well.
