B & O Station Banquet Hall

If you like beer and you don’t stop in to get some Rust Belt brew, well, you don’t *really* like beer.
On my first quest to get some Rust Belt brew, they hooked me, but I needed to get me some Blonde before I was a true lifer. On my last outing to the Boxcar Lounge, that’s exactly what I did and it was everything I’d hoped for.
It is smooth, but light. It is not Lite, as in Miller. In fact, it isn’t Bud, Coors, or even, dare I say, Corona. It is a great summer beer. It also is not available in any form other than straight from the tap (currently anyway).
So as I’m sitting outside enjoying my beer, over walks a gent who introduces himself as Ken. Quickly I realize that this is Ken Blair, the owner and mastermind behind this little venture. I compliment him on all the beers and he offers a tour of the place. The wife and I finish our beers and head over to the side door. This was an excellent decision.
Inside there are all of the things that are required to make beer. And Ken is a great guy. He showed us the process. I decided to get a couple of growlers, one of the Blonde for sure. We chatted about his route to becoming a part-​time brewery owner (yes he has another job, you’ll have to take the tour to find out what it is). We chatted about his philosophy in the venture. We chatted about a lot of things. All the while, he’s working on getting our growlers filled. Because it was taking some time (he had to hook things up to his cooler tap), he pours us a couple of mini-​pints. First the Red, then a more generous pour of the Blonde. This is good stuff on a Thursday night. We finally walk out about an hour later having enjoyed a couple of complimentary beers, toting a couple of growlers filled for $ 7 a piece, and sporting a couple of Rust Belt Brew T-​shirts (on the house). It pays to be the only ones on «the tour».
In summary, here’s what you need to know:
— Ken is a passionate guy, about his beer, his business and his adopted hometown
— They brew 4 beers right now:
1) Blast Furnace Blonde
2) Coke Oven Stout
3) Rusted River Irish Red Ale
4) Old Man Hopper India Pale Ale
— The beers are good in part because they lured away a brewmaster from Penn Brewing.
— Growlers are $ 3. Ken fills them for $ 7 every Thursday/​Friday 4 – 7, Saturday Noon-​5 — cash only
— Ken does tours during the same hours that he fills growlers.
— Look for (or ask for) these beers wherever you are reading this, Ken’s expanding quickly and would love to add new distributors.
— Yes this review is for Rust Belt Brewery, but it’s still in the old B&O Station, so I’ll keep it under that heading.
Check this place out.