The Great American Ale Trail - Christian DeBenedetti [146]
Built in the historic Cedar Park neighborhood, Dock Street was Philadelphia’s first craft brewery and one of the earlier firms to get up and running nationwide. Housed in an historic firehouse, the taproom/pizzeria is known for being a beacon of friendliness in a slightly sketchy neighborhood.
PHILOSOPHY
Unfiltered, unpasteurized, and unpretentious.
KEY BEER
The spicy Rye IPA (7.2% ABV) would make a good accompaniment to the brick oven, wood-fired pizza or calzone, with a snifter of Prince Myshkin’s Russian Imperial Stout for dessert.
BRIDGID’S
726 N 24th St. • Philadelphia, PA 19130 • (215) 232-3232 bridgids.com • Established: 1989
SCENE & STORY
Even an unassuming neighborhood bar can be memorable, even if just a pit stop on the way to bigger beer lists. Located in the Fairmount area, close to the Philadelphia Art Museum, Bridgid’s is small, comfortable café-style bar with an eclectic Euro-Cajun menu and ten taps (plus more than 60 bottles). It also has a unique “gravity tap” emanating from the second floor ceiling that comes down and hovers over the bar like a too-short fire pole but always has a beer from Yard’s brewery. If you’re lucky, that beer is Yard’s Love Stout. It’s quite conducive to conversations at the small, J-shaped bar.
PHILOSOPHY
Where is the love?
KEY BEER
Yard’s Love Stout (5% ABV), a creamy, light-chocolaty wonder made with actual oysters.
JOSE PISTOLA’S
263 South 15th St. • Philadelphia, PA 19102 (215) 545-4101 • josepistolas.com • Established: 2007
SCENE & STORY
A couple of local bartenders took over a former restaurant in this two-story, Center City space to create a shrine to good Latin/Southwest cooking and American craft beer in 2007. Amid its exposed brick walls, skull-adorned back bar mirror, and wide bar, the patrons are here to drink beer, see friends, and talk amongst each other, not look at the China patterns. Expect knowledgeable staff, excellent Mexican fare, and a deep list of unusual American and Belgian micros.
PHILOSOPHY
Come one or all. Jose’s has a steady crowd of beer pilgrims and industry members gathering for a bit of late night R + D. This is a great fallback plan if Monk’s Café is too crowded, or for a nightcap after touring the area’s other bars and eateries.
KEY BEER
Walker’s Reserve Porter, from California’s Firestone Walker (5.8% ABV), on the fresh and light side for porter, and delicious.
YARD’S BREWING CO.
901 N. Delaware Ave. • Philadelphia, PA 19123 (215) 634-2600 • yardsbrewing.com • Established: 1994
SCENE & STORY
The makers of excellent beers like Philly Pale Ale and the silky Love Stout, Yard’s also offers shuffleboard and free tours on Saturday afternoons, and perhaps best of all it’s walking distance from Northern Liberties (making the Foodery, Standard Tap, and 700 Club easy next stops). Pints are $5 (a buck or two more than you’ll find in many Philly pubs) but it’s worth it if you take the tour, play some leisurely pool or shuffleboard, and have a grilled cheese.
PHILOSOPHY
Gritty and fun-loving: kind of like the whole city of Philadelphia. Started by two college wrestling buddies, the Yard’s brewery (Philadelphia’s largest) is a marvel of DIY spirit: with bar tops made from reclaimed bowling alley lanes and salvaged mahogany trim in the taproom, it’s also running one hundred percent on wind power, an achievement in itself.
KEY BEER
Yard’s eminently drinkable Extra Special Ale (6.3% ABV) was the favorite of the late British beer writer Michael Jackson when he would visit town.
Outside Philly
VICTORY BREWING CO.
420 Acorn Ln. • Downingtown, PA 19335 (610) 873-0881 • victorybeer.com • Established: 1996
SCENE & STORY
Built in a former Pepperidge Farm factory about an hour west of Philly, just east of the rolling Amish countryside, Victory Brewing Company was founded by locals Ron Barchet and Bill Covaleski. The two childhood friends trained in Germany and in other U.S. breweries and searched across the country for a spot to build their own. After nearly picking the Lake Tahoe area, they settled on their