Drinks

Got Hops? A Tour of Philadelphia Breweries

At least 50 breweries were operating in the city of Philadelphia in 1909. Umm – that’s a bunch. In fact, before Prohibition, Philadelphia beer was touted as some of the finest in the country and was shipped to nearly all four corners of the nation. Names like Esslinger, Continental, Philadelphia Old Stock, Baltz, Hohenadel, Schmidt’s and Ortlieb’s flowed freely from the taps of bars almost everywhere.

With the closing of Schmidt’s Philadelphia plant in the spring of 1987, the city found itself without a brewery for the first time since William Penn was around. I said a mouthful there. Penn died in 1718, which was 269 beer years ago.

It’s safe to say there is a history of suds in this town.

Here in good old 2008 it’s obvious beer and the brewery industry is back with a big bang and a vengeance. Let’s take a whirlwind tour of a six of Philly’s finest micro-breweries today. Maybe you’ll want to visit one soon.

General Lafayette Inn & Brewery
(646 Germantown Pike, Lafayette Hill, PA, Tel: 610.941.0600)
How about a little history with that beer, good sir? This one has literally been around for centuries and was a favorite hangout for a young French officer by the name of Lafayette – later to become a well-known general – during the American Revolutionary War. Closed in the mid-1990’s after centuries of continued operation, the Inn was re-born in 1996 after extensive restoration.

With colonial appeal and upscale dining atmosphere firmly intact, the Inn added it’s own micro-brewery, which produces local and nationally award-winning beer. Avenue was added for local area artists to perform eclectic music in a kick-up-your-heels tavern atmosphere. Fun. ‘Nuff said.

A Bed & Breakfast was added in 1999, with five rooms for weary travelers. Crazy good beer, ghost stories, music. What else do you want?

Manayunk Brewery and Restaurant
(4120 Main Street, Philadelphia, PA, Tel: 215.482.8220)
Formerly known as Krook’s Mill, the present location of the Manayunk Brewery used to churn out fine textiles in the 1800’s and 1900’s for the then booming industry textile industry. The Mill closed in 1992 but four years later the building was re-born as a fine eatery, brewery, and entertainment complex.

The first batch of fresh-brewed beer was tapped on October 17, 1996. The current Manayunk Brewery configuration includes outdoor seating with a view over the Schuylkill River, a stone pizza oven, and sushi bar.

Nice job, Manayunk. We’ll be back to visit soon.

Nodding Head Brewery & Restaurant
(1516 Sansom, 2nd Floor, Philadelphia, PA, Tel: 215.569.9525)
Nodding Head Brewery & Restaurant sports a wide selection of award-winning beers, along with perhaps the very coolest named beer in all of drinking history. Are you read for it? Wait…wait…here it comes…Monkey Knife Fight. You know you want to try it just so you can say you did.

The Grog won the gold medal at the 2002 beer festival and silver in 2003. Might not be a bad idea to try it, you think?

Check out the great menu and especially Sunday Brunch. Are you looking for a great reason to go there for the first time? How about the 9th Annual Royal Stumble this July 12. This year’s theme will be mudwrestling. That’s all you need to know.

Triumph Brewing Company
(117 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, Tel:215.625.0855)
For something completely different in décor, come down and take a look at the Triumph Brewing Company. I’m not really sure how to describe it but the interior is unlike any brewery I’ve ever seen. In a good way, though. Sheik, modern, airy, and a wide open view through glass of all those precious stainless steel brewing tanks. Betcha like it.

You gotta go to the website to check out the history of the place. Did you know (or believe) it was begun by a clan of beer-worshipping Vikings from northern Europe escaping religious persecution? Neither did I, but I want to believe!

Take the tour (battle axe NOT included) and drink the beer so good it makes you grin out loud.

Victory Brewing Company
(420 Acorn Lane, Downington, PA, Tel: 610.873.0881)
The new brew house is up and running at Victory Beer and they’ve replaced the old 25 barrel Century with a Rolec 50 barrel model. A good reason to stop by now is the spring/summer seasonals are ready to fill your ever-loving glass to the top. A few include St. Boisterous (who the heck comes up with these great names), Sunrise Weissbier, Throwback Lager, and Whirlwind Wit.

The restaurant with included wi-fi connection could be a good place to hang out with your laptop, writing about the place, while inhaling a sizable portion of crab cakes with pineapple jalapeno dipping salsa. Of course, there’s more but why not go to find out more?

Pay special attention to the Viking history and the Theodore Roosevelt quote. Hear, hear, Teddy! On to San Juan Hill.

Yards Brewing Company
(901 N. Delaware Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, Tel: 215.634.2600)
Here’s a good story. The origin of the Yards Brewing company can be traced to 1988, when two cash-poor college wrestlers realized it was cheaper to brew beer themselves than dwindle away their meager savings at the local watering hole.

Now, there’s American ingenuity for you – you don’t like the price, brew it yourself, by gosh! That’ll show ‘em. Well, actually it did show ‘em. Tom Kehoe and Jon Bovit turned their brewing friendship into a single-minded pursuit of making great beer.

Beginning in 1996 in a tiny 3.5 barrel brewhouse, public demand has driven Yards to successively larger locations in order to make enough for everyone that wants it. Would you like to know an exceedingly cool fact? In 2003 Yards partnered with the City Tavern to create Ales of the Revolution, a line of historic beers based on the original recipes of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin! Nice going, guys. Put that in your glass and drink it.

Dock Street Bar
(701 S. 50th Street, Philadelphia, PA, Tel: 215.726.2337)
Dock Street Brewing Company enters its twenty-third year of brewing the good stuff. Yep, it was two decades ago that Dock Street found itself part of a handful of small upstart companies who lit the fire that became the micro-brewery revolution.

The Dock Street Brewing Company is one of the great success stories of the American Craft-Brewing Renaissance. Go forth and seat yourself down to a truly great beer. Click forth and read a great story about Dock Street’s rise and fall and rise again.

There you have it, boys and girls. More top-notch Philadelphia breweries than you can shake a swimming otter’s tail at. Well, I take that back. You probably could but what a colossal waste of time to find the otter and then interrupt his day for such tomfoolery. I have two suggestions for you.

1. Start at the top of the list and work your way down, visiting a different brewery each weekend until you’re done.
2. Print the list out, put it on the wall and throw darts at it to randomly select your brewery of the week. Go there. Imbibe. Eat. Soak up ambience. Don’t drive if you’re toasted.

Be glad you’re in Philly. I can name about 429,342 places where you couldn’t visit this many cool breweries in a summer if you held your breath until you passed out. Thank you for your attention and “Go, micro-brewery capitalists!”

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