Living further than I’d like from Philadelphia, Canal Street provides a great local craft beer scene, that I’d otherwise have to travel towards Limerick (see Craft Ale House) or into Philadelphia itself. I’ve wonder if Canal Street isn’t more well known because of its odd location. Nestled in the city of Reading, it’s quite a divergence off the much busier Penn Street. A few twists and turns and you’re there.

Canal Street is separated into two sections;  a [full] dining area and the pub. The pub side is dimly light with wooden decor and seats patrons around 80% of the bar with accompanying tables surrounding it. It’s extremely spacious for being a pub, and the dining area is even larger. Two separate menus are offered, naturally; a pub menu and a [full] restaurant menu. In traditional fashion, the offerings are somewhat typical, consisting of appetizers from wings to loaded potato skins, to entrees like pizza, pasta, burgers and fresh salads. The pricing is fair for their pub menu while the restaurant menu pushes the pricier side, though the portions and diversity are better.

While the food in and of itself is great, the reason I stop by Canal Street is for their beer. You’re not going to find any Miller or Coors on tap here, only the finest craft beer they can get their hands on. On tap are mainly American craft beer, but you’ll find some imports like a German Weisbier. Their bottle selection is vastly larger, though definitely smaller than Craft Ale House’s selection which totals in around 400+. I’m assuming Canal Street’s is about half that without counting, which is still a great selection but not as large in comparison by any means.

I’ve noticed the crowd seems to change depending on the day of the week you visit. Tuesday’s are their $2.50 draft specials all day (awesome!) which tends to draw in a younger crowd (mid-20’s to 30’s). The weekend dinner hour mainly holds a middle-aged crowd and progressively into the night the younger crowd seems to fill up. Overall, it’s a great crowd and the bar gives enough space to hold an intimate conversation with your friends or talk freely with others at the bar. Finally, the wait staff is friendly, professional and great to get to know.

Overall, this is definitely a place to check-out if you’re in the area. It’s packed with amazing beer, great food and has a warming feel to it: spacious, wooden and traditionally modern. If you’re in the Reading area, stop by Canal Street and indulge.

The festival last year was a bit unorganized. Not in the sense that it was chaotic but obviously it was a learning experience considering it was their first year hosting. A vast number of improvements were made for the 2010 festival. First, instead of having one large session like the first year, they divided it up into two different sessions. This seemed to help out immensely with the cluttered crowd from last year. The ticket prices were offered in advance and at a discounted price. Not only was this a price cut, but this eliminated the long line to wait and purchase tickets.

To me, it seemed there were far less breweries and substantially less wineries that attended this year. Considering the success of last years’ event, I would have thought more breweries and wineries would be willing to attend. Another thing that bothered me was the lack actual representation of the breweries. A lot of the breweries sampling their beer had people representing them that don’t even work for them. So, when I had a question about the brewery or beer, etc., while they seemed knowledgeable – they didn’t even work for them! This doesn’t seem like the best way to market your business. And seriously, the craft breweries need all the help they can get in the market-share arena.

That’s not to say that they all were without real representation. Allentown Brew Works had their guys there, which were a pleasure to talk to. As did Yuengling and a few others. Overall, it was a wonderful time just like last year. There are definitely things they’ve done right this time around but there’s always things to improve upon. It goes without question that I’ll be back next year but I really hope to see more representation from the breweries.

The wait staff is always courteous and are willing to give their recommendations on the food and beer. The place is clean, has a modern appeal and will house about fifteen microbrews on tap. The normal draft list has a solid variety, usually consisting of a few stouts, pale ales, seasonals and a whit. The beer is moderately priced and can range from $3.00 for a 10 oz pint to $7.50 for a 16oz. If you stop by on the weekend, they normally have live entertainment, also.

The focus of Craft Ale house are the microbrews. They always have something new and adventurous on tap to try.  If you have questions or need to sample before you gather the full indulgence of one of the fine brews, the staff are more than happy to oblige. One of the nice things about Craft is that if they run out of one of their taps, they usually replace it with a similar style. This gives you the opportunity to try the same general style, should they run out.

The food at Craft is reasonably priced and exceptionally good. I’ve personally tried a multitude of items off the menu and have yet to be disappointed. They have everything you’d expect from a small pub but have they best chicken tenders I’ve tried, in my opinion. Normally, my order consists of the chicken tenders based in their delicious honey-chipotle sauce coupled with one of their microbrews.

If you make the trip to Craft Ale House you won’t be disappointed. The food, staff, and most importantly the beer, is amazing!