Step inside the old Elizabethtown Hotel, and you might find yourself overcome with the quaint, small-town intimacy it offers.
But instead of lining up around a check-in desk, guests pull a stool up to the bar and spend an evening pouring back the crafty brews of Funk Brewing Company—the latest business to take residence in the historic building.
When Jon “Norm” Norman moved to Elizabethtown six years ago, he often looked at the old maroon and green building and wondered why no one had scooped it up in the decade it sat vacant.
While running the company’s original brewpub outside Allentown, Norman couldn’t get it out of his mind that he could bring something to his new home.
“It’s really only because of the success of the brewpub in Allentown that I could even consider a location here,” Norman said.
Back to Life
Funk Brewing’s first location started as a production facility that today is a full brewpub that holds about 60 people. Guests sit in a room surrounded by the heart of the beer-making process. The industrial feel of steel beer tanks and equipment put Funk Brewing visitors in the middle of what these beer connoisseurs love most—the experimentation of craft beer brewing.
When Norman envisioned the Elizabethtown site, it was less about making beer and more about simply enjoying it, he said. A rustic, homemade feel from an original stone wall, as well as the additions of granite and pallet wood features, give the new bar a cozy atmosphere. A painting of the brewpub’s canned Citrus IPA graces an entire wall with orange and green.
“People should expect the same beer, the same great service and the same cool things Funk Brewing Company is known for in Allentown,” Norman said.
Guests will find new beers are released at the same time at either location, as well as the “Firkin Friday” specials made famous at the Allentown location—featuring specialty beer poured from a firkin, or a small barrel about one-fourth the size of a regular barrel of beer.
The response to the bar’s opening in mid-November has been great, not only from residents of Elizabethtown but from people from Lancaster, Mount Joy, Hershey and Hummelstown, Norman said.
“This place meant something to a lot people,” Norman said. “I hear people walk in here all the time and share a story about a college memory or a family event that took place in this building. Being able to bring the space back to life is something I’m really proud of.”
Great Feel
A lifelong resident of Elizabethtown, Cindy Lang was excited to see the spunk return to the old hotel, she said, as she sipped a South Mountain Stout at the bar.
Lang grew up around the corner, often riding her bike across the sidewalk back and forth in front of the hotel. When the doors closed more than a decade ago, she said, it was like the street lost its strength.
“It’s incredible how one building can have such power on a neighborhood,” Lang said. “We’re a small town here, for sure, but we have a lot to offer.”
Opening the bar made Norman feel like he wasn’t just adding a brewpub to the neighborhood, but that he was helping the greater good of Elizabethtown. He senses the support of the community each day he walks into the bar and sees people willing to try new things or latch on to a favorite.
“I feel like we owe it to the community to get this main street alive,” Norman said. “There is a great feel to this town, and I think a lot more could be happening here. I think we’ll get there, and hopefully we’re a piece of that.”
The Funk Brewing Company is located at 28 S. Market St., Elizabethtown. For more information, visit www.funk-etown.com or call 717-366-4352.
