Vault Brewing, Yardley, PA

A couple of weeks ago this Gal had the pleasure of meeting a dear friend at Vault Brewing for an evening of drinking, eating and catching up. Don’t you just love friends that you can pick up right where you left off even if it’s been months?

This was my fourth visit to Vault Brewing and I find it just keeps getting better with each visit. When the Vault first opened the beer was young, the food was fine but nothing to write home about and the seating, well, not the most comfortable. I’m happy to say all that has changed. Gone are the uncomfortable tractor seat things and in their place comfortable chairs, the bar now has stools were there was no seating before, the food is delish and the beer has matured and is down right tasty!

Vault Brewing is located in an old bank in Yardley, PA that Geeky Beer Gal’s parents used to bank at so I remember being in the building as a kid/teen. It’s nice to see it recycled in to such a cool place. The atmosphere is warm and cozy and the wood-fired kitchen is in view as soon as you enter the establishment as is the brewery. There are rooms off to each side of the bar area and a wonderful patio for outside drinking/dining. There’s parking out back but it’s limited and parking in other lots could result in towing. You’ve been warned – read the signs.

There was a nice crowd for a Friday night without being overwhelming. I’ve heard most Fridays here are packed but we lucked out. No wait for a table unless one preferred patio seating. My friend and I opted to sit at a table in the bar area. One of the things I love about the Vault is it’s designed for socializing. Meaning that there are no TVs (woohoo) and the music is cool. On this night there was a fantastic trio, Mike Billingsley, playing near the entrance. Great trumpet, this Gal loves a trio that includes trumpet.

After looking over the beer list I decided to stick with the usual format of enjoying a taster round. Once the beer was ordered it was time to peruse the food offerings. The menu isn’t huge but has something for everyone with interesting offerings.

We started with the Buffalo Cauliflower, think Buffalo wings done with Cauliflower, so yummy! My friend had the Crab Cake Sliders and I was told there were very good. I decided to go for my sister-in-laws favorite dish at Vault Brewing the Wild Mushroom Flatbread – incredibly wonderful and just as good the next day reheated.

Now for the beer! There’s usually 5 or so beers on tap and the offerings rotate so there is a beer no matter your taste and always something new to try.

The taster round consisted of:

Sorachi Ace Blonde 4.9%
This beer has nice bit of heat from the spices but was well balanced by the citrus and coconut. Don’t panic about the coconut, this is not a sweet beer but rather light and refreshing. Really a pleasure to drink.

St. Celeia Bitter 4.4%
Something about the carbonation of this beer reminded me of pop rocks with cola. Basically, it was fizzy but enjoyable. Nice combination of fruit, hops and caramel. I’m always up for trying a bitter even though I’m now a huge fan of the style. This is a particularly well done Bitter.

English IPA 8.7% Cask
The cask caught my eye so had to add it to the round. For a non-hop head this was a really enjoyable IPA. This beer is a perfect balance of both malts and hops. With the hops being present but not overwhelming. They don’t over power the malt and fruit tones but rather compliment them.

Kenyan Coffee Stout 5% Nitro
Good morning, and yes I believe one could drink this in place of their morning cup of joe. The coffee is very up front and wonderful. A wonderful stout down to the last drop! Great roasted malt, coffee and chocolate flavors going on. Super delish! My favorite of the round.

My friend and I decided to enjoy one last beverage for the evening.  A Sangria for her and the American Stout for myself. Somehow I missed the American Stout the first time I studied the menu otherwise I would have added it to the taster round. Beings it’s a stout I felt secure that I would enjoy it and ordered a full pint.

This brings me to the one down point of the evening – service. When one has trouble finding room on a table to set a beer down instead of trying to rearrange the dirty glasses and plates just remove them. Finally, my friend and I took it upon ourselves to remove the dirty dishes and place them on the table next to us that hadn’t been cleared yet. I find table service here to be hit or miss, which is a shame, because everything else at Vault Brewing really is a hit!

Now that we made room for our drinks we were able to sit back and enjoy them.

American Stout 5.8%
This is a well done stout but I wish I had tried this stout before the Kenyan Coffee Stout. The American Stout has a slight roasted coffee and chocolate offerings but was overpowered by the flavors I experienced with the Coffee Stout. I would like to try it again on its own without my taste buds first experiencing the Coffee Stout.

It was a wonderful evening at Vault Brewing catching up with a great person while enjoying wonderful beer. Vault Brewing is a fantastic addition to my childhood town of Yardley!