January 23rd, 2010 Joe Sixpack
I guess you could say Philly has a new brewpub. Technically it’s the “tasting room” at the Yards Brewery on Delaware Avenue in Northern Liberties. But they’re serving beer made on the premises, it has a kitchen, and it’s open every day from noon to 7 p.m. So that makes it a brewpub, right?
I got a look - and taste - at a fine opening reception last night. It’s a large room on the other side of glass wall from the actual brewhouse, with a bar (made from a recycled bowling alley), booth seating, hightops and a pool table. Nothing too fancy - this is a brewery, after all - but it’s decorated nicely. I especially liked the large Ben Franklin Bridge tapestry and a wall-sized collage of Yards beer labels.
Food is basic: chili and grilled cheese sandwiches (with bread made with the brewery’s spent grain). There may be more down the line. In addition to all of Yards’ beers, they’re serving Pennsylvania wine (I didn’t get a look at the brands).
The highlight for me was bumping into Jon Bovit, the guy who founded Yards with Tom Kehoe. Jon left the company some time back and he’s completely out of the beer biz now. The two of us just smiled at how far Yards had come in 15 years - from a tiny garage on Krams Avenue in Manayunk to a 26,000 SF facility in Northern Liberties. The tasting room alone is two or three times the size of that original brewhouse.
“I never imagined this,” Jon said. Me neither.
This is a definite must-visit for any beer lover. If you time it right, you can stop in for drinks before heading into N.Libs for dinner. Or drop by for a tour on Saturday afternoons between noon and 3:30 p.m.
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November 18th, 2009 Joe Sixpack
Phoenixville is getting another brewer. Unfortunately, he won’t be making any beer.
Chris Firey, who has been head brewer at Manayunk Brewing since January 2004, tells me he’s moving to P-ville to make agave-based fruit wine. Firey tried to explain the shift to me last night when I stopped in for a couple rounds, but honestly I stopped listening the second he said “wine.”
The new brewer is Doug Marchakitus, formerly assistant at Iron Hill/North Wales. Doug worked there with brewer Larry Horwitz, who was Firey’s predecessor at Manayunk. Before I could say, “small world,” Marchakitus said, “Larry’s the one who helped me get the job here.”
Marchakitus told me he’d already cooked up his first brew: a Belgian tripel. Meanwhile, Firey leaves behind a solid tap lineup. The Philadelphia Porter that’s about to kick is one of the best-made brews I’ve had from Manayunk. And the Black Eye P.A. is an outstanding hop treat with a solid black malt body.
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January 30th, 2009 Joe Sixpack
A note to brewers: I’ve been contacted by a Drexel University junior chemistry major/food science minor student who’s looking for an internship or work co-op at a Philadelphia-area brewery. If you’ve got a need for slave labor you’d like to train a brewer of tomorrow, give me a shout - you’ve got my email/number.
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January 12th, 2009 Joe Sixpack
Here’s a fun night of collaboration: On Thursday night, Earth Bread + Brewery (7136 Germantown Ave. , W. Mt. Airy) is turning over its taps to Philly Brewing. This is basically the equivalent of, say, Geno’s selling cheesesteaks from Pat’s.
But beer is friendlier than meat, and so for one night starting at 6:00, Philly Brewing’s best will pour from EB+B’s taps. The spigots include PhilaBuster, Phillyz Navidad and Joe Porter.
PBC’s Chris (The Enabler) Morris and co-founder Nancy Barton will be your guest bartenders.
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June 27th, 2008 Joe Sixpack
Tom Kehoe at Yards Brewing tells me he’s going before a neighborhood board in Northern Liberties next week with plans to put a brewpub in his brewery at Poplar & Delaware. He’s thinking of something small with a limited menu.
To me, this is a no-brainer. The brewery is located in the midst of the Delaware Ave. nightclub scene. And, there’s yet another condo tower being built on the river, just across the street from the brewery. While Yards’ main enterprise is obviously a production brewery, failing to add a retail business at the location would be missing the boat. Plus, a brewpub would fit in perfectly in what is one of the best beer scenes in the city (Standard Tap, 700, N. 3rd, Abbaye, Ortlieb’s Jazz Haus, Foodery, Druid’s Keep…).
Meanwhile, there’s notable progress at the brewery. Many tanks are up, more are on the way. The bottling line has been assembled, grain silos are up and many plumbing lines are installed. It’s looking like the first test batches are a few weeks away.
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April 29th, 2008 Joe Sixpack
This one avoided my radar till just now… Nima of Shangy’s tells me that South Philadelphia Taproom (15th & Mifflin) is hosting a Bell’s beer blowout on tap starting at 8 p.m. on Thursday. Ten different drafts from the Michigan brewery will be pouring, including Oberon, Two Hearted, Double Cream, Expedition, Pale Ale, Amber Ale, Sparkling Ale, Lager of the Lakes, Porter and Cherry Stout.
Posted in Tavern, Events, Brewery | No Comments »
April 8th, 2008 Joe Sixpack
We should be seeing some new beer in Philly by early summer following the arrival of the new Roy Pitz brewery out in Chambersburg. Co-owner Ryan Richards says he and his partner, Jesse Rotz, are planning a June 7th grand opening and expect to be sending beer our way shortly thereafter.
Both Richards and Rotz, who went to school together at West Chester U., are Siebel-trained; Richards also studied brewing in Germany. They worked briefly at Victory Brewing, then Twin Lakes down in Delaware.
The brewery is in an old sewing machine factory that was built in the early 1900s. It’ll be keg-only at first, possibly adding bottles and - who knows? - a brewpub. “Right now, our focus is just selling fresh beer in the vicinity - Chambersburg, Shippensburg, Gettysburg, maybe Carlisle - plus West Chester and Philly,” Richards told me. (Stockertown Bev. is handling local distribution.)
The beer? They’ll start with two out of the gate: White Horse Hefeweizen and Lovitz Lager (described as a light lager flavored with locally grown watermelon). Later you can look for a rauchbier and an imperial IPA.
And what about that name - Roy Pitz? It’s from some cockamamie story about conjoined twins who lived in the area in the 1700s. I dunno whether I buy the tale, but to paraphrase Smuckers: With a name like Pitz, the beer better be good.Â
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February 9th, 2008 Joe Sixpack
Brewing has commenced at Philadelphia Brewing Co. in Kensington, and they’re saying they’ll have beer in kegs by the end of the month. That’s excellent news (especially since I’m planning on pouring their new Rowhouse Red at Joe Sixpack’s Philly Favorites fest during Philly Beer Week).
And, yes, there has been a keg or two of the brewery’s products floating around already, but they were brewed up at the Porterhouse brewpub in Lahaska where brewer Dean Browne also brews.
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January 28th, 2008 Joe Sixpack
Temple film student Stephen Metzger is working on a video about Philly beer history and Yards, featuring Marlon Brando as Tom Kehoe, Sean Penn as Rich Wagner and Jerry Mathers as Steve Mashington. Joe Sixpack plays himself in a stellar cameo, which is to say he appears while hammered.Â
The work in progress is posted here.
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November 23rd, 2007 Joe Sixpack
Just got word that the new Philadelphia Brewing Co. expects to be brewing by the second week of January. This is the new brewery that will take over at Yards Brewing’s current location in Kensington. (Yards is moving to Delaware Avenue in Kensington).
 Co-owner Nancy Barton reports that Josh Ervine and John Rehm, both now working with Yards Brewing, will be the new company’s brewers. The company is in the process of obtaining needed state and federal licensing approvals. And they’ve got a new web site and logo.
No word, yet, on exactly what beers we’ll be seeing. But all this progress is great news as Philly gets set to welcome yet another brewery to the city’s beer scene.
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