Philadelphia Recommendations (2022)

The batch of TDH Alien Church that came out around the time they brewed Found a Scythe was just awful. The Found a.. beer sucked, too. With OH in distro locally and OH Philly open, I find it hard to justify spending money at Hands anymore when the OH options are a few bucks cheaper and more consistent, quality wise.

 

Breweries not mentioned in South Philly would be:
Second District
Brewery ARS (original location)
Separatist's South Philly location

All are in the Passyunk East area (right off the Broad St Line subway) with high density of bars and restaurants. Places with good beer lists in that area would include Pistolas Del Sur, P.O.P.E. , South Philly Tap Room, Fountain Porter, Taproom on 19th.

 

I have yet to visit the new Dock Street brewery in South Philly which they brand as Dock Street South but I have heard good things about it.

http://www.dockstreetbeer.com/dock-street-south-point-breeze

Cheers!

 

The original Dock Street is another spot to call out, as well. Their beer isn't as trendy as many other spots but it's certainly not bad, and their pizza is always great.

 

Jack, surprised you didn’t mention your recent visit to the new Victory brewpub in center city on Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

 

The broader Fishtown area is truly crazy right now from both a beer and food scene standpoint. I will type up a summary here that encompasses parts of NoLibs and Kensington but it is basically all walkable or a very short uber. Will post below when it is complete but consider it a work in progress.

Breweries/Taprooms (organized by distance to each other, relatively):
-Human Robot:
-Punch Buggy Brewing
-Fermentory Form
-St. Oners
-Brewery ARS Fishtown
-Meyer's Brewing
-Source Philly
-Other Half Philly
-Urban Village

 

Richard, I guess I was in 'tunnel vision' mode after reading a South Philly post.

Yes, the new Victory Brewery in Philadelphia deserves a 'shout out'. I was fortunate to be there for Happy Hour and they discounted the beers that were brewed there for a couple of hours - a good deal IMO.

And including the non-Philly brewed Victory beers there are a lot of beers on tap.

Cheers to the new Victory!!

 

So is driving into Philly to hit Fermentery Form and find a place to eat a bad idea? Limited parking?

 

If you're trying to stay close to Form, just go to Human Robot for lagers and food. Poe's Sandwich Joint is located inside Robot and you won't be disappointed.

 

Thanks for the tip. Suggestions on parking?

 

Has anyone been to Sacred Vice Brewing or Humble Parlor Brewing? They look to be right next to each other in Port Richmond but haven't heard anything about their quality.

 

Parking near Form or Human Robot shouldn't be a problem. They are both in "developing areas." Unless you're heading towards Fishtown afterwards I wouldn't worry.

 

I second this suggestion, the sandwiches and fries from Poes are very tasty.

@Morey you can see their digital menu on their website https://poesjoint.com/

 

I thought Brewery ARS sucked, and I don't know why Yards makes the list either.
Other Half seems like a pretty soulless and boring entity, not worth even mentioning. I'd rather go to Victory or East Branch any day over Levante.

Pushing a subjective list as a semi-official guide is a bad idea.

 

While I agree with your last sentence, I feel like most of what is here is listed without many opinions offered (some are offered, but not a lot at least so far). It's "this is here," not ranked in tiers or anything.

 

Why would Yards not be mentioned? Dock Street and Yards (and then the ownership split off, Philadelphia Brewing) are the original breweries in the city limits. Plus they still have some solid core beers, serve cask beer, decent food and have a fairly large tapriom if you have a big group. Prior to COVID they still had their yearly Cask Ale festival. They are the only local brewery that has a year-round Porter which gets them major points in my book.

For breweries in the city proper, pretty much all of them have been mentioned so far, explaining what neighborhoods they are in. Anyone can chime in with their thoughts or comments.

A "guide" thread like this was a good idea, because previously every few weeks someone creates a new "I'm visiting Philly" thread and every time similar followup questions and answers need to occur. Hopefully people use this thread to reduce redundancy.

 

Any advice on the best pork and rabe sandwich?

 

I personally haven't had it but it seems that everybody loves:

"John's Roast Pork
14 East Snyder Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19148"

I have had the pork and broccoli rabe sandwich at Tony Lukes and it was good but too salty for my palate:

39 E Oregon Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19148

I also heard good things about DiNics.

Cheers!