A brewery in a Victorian house, and eleven more out here
Twelve breweries, eleven towns, and not a chain among them.
The Philly suburbs have quietly become one of the better places to drink beer made right where you're sitting. There's a brewery in a Victorian house in Ambler, a kombucha taproom in Phoenixville, and a 35,000-square-foot barrel-aging operation in Perkasie. Here are twelve worth the trip, from Souderton to West Chester.
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Small brewery on West Court pouring its own line a block off the courthouse.
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A brewery in a Victorian house making cask ales on creaky floors, no pretense.
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The original taproom on East Elm, pouring hazy IPAs and fruited styles a short walk from the river trail.
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Small-batch on South Keswick with hazy IPAs, English ales, and a large private beer garden out back.
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House beer on the Pike with rotating drafts and the sort of easygoing taproom you settle into for a couple.
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A small brewery on South Front where the taproom is the draw, not a distribution deal.
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Neighborhood taproom on Birch Street, a short walk from the Creamery, with a board that runs hop-forward to malty.
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Named for the East Branch of the Brandywine, pouring its own lineup on East Lancaster Ave.
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A small brewery on Wallace Ave sharing a building with the homebrew shop, the kind of place you find because someone tipped you off.
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Barrel-aging sours, saisons, and stouts in a 35,000-square-foot facility since 2012, with 15 rotating taps and food trucks Thursday through Sunday.
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A kombucha brewery on Morgan Street, Phoenixville fermenting something other than beer for once, and doing it at a 4.9.
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Their own beer poured downtown on Granite Alley, known around town as the Barracks.
More field notes
- Eleven coffee shops that beat driving into the city
- Four art house theaters, one weekend, 35mm and a sing-along
- Eleven water ice stands that close at the first cold snap
- Twelve ice cream stops, one of them run by teenagers
- Ten last-of-summer stops with actual closing dates
- Seven reasons Monday night is better than you'd think
- Every field note
