Montgomeryville

Go to the Iron Abbey For sure. Its about 15 minutes from Montgomeryville also Via Marconi is about 10 minutes from montgomeryville.

Both are pretty good beer places. Both have their beers on their websites also so you can get an idea of what they have.

The city is about 45 minutes to an hour driving anytime you will probably be driving unless its late at night. If you want to drive that far then your options are endless.

 

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/5746 - Blue Dog Pub
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/6279 - Blue Dog Tavern

Both a pretty close to Montgomeryville and have taps and to go bottles.

 

Iron Hill, Prism, Forest and Main

 

+1 for Forest and Main, good place good beer and if nothing else, comfortable.

 

Blue Dog in Chalfont is very close. Traffic going into the city sucks pretty much all the time. If you're set on the city, there are a number of regional rail stations in this area that will take you to center city in 45 minutes for about $5. Or you could just go to Capone's which is maybe 15 minutes from Montgomeryville, and is one of the highest rated bars in the metro area. Forest & Main is another good choice about 10 or 15 mins away if you want a cozy brewpub and a delicious meal.

 

I highly recommend Iron Hill in North Wales. fantastic food and solid brews, and its basically Montgomeryville

 

Honestly, if you've never been to Philly, you're really selling yourself short by not going into the city proper. If you're confined to that part of the burbs, you can hop on 309 and take it down to Paper Mill and head towards Chestnut Hill. That Iron Hill is better than the the North Wales one in terms of size, atmosphere, and one-off beers, though it may not make much sense to drive by one to get to another. From Chestnut Hill, you could creep down Germantown and hit Earth Bread and Brewery for very good house brews, and excellent flatbreads. McMenamin's is also a decent beer bar and practically next door.

The three best bars in the burbs are (Teresa's, TJ's, and Capone's) are all 30-45 min from Montgomeryville, so you may as well go into the city at that point.

Edit: if you do head towards the Main Line to Teresa's or TJ's, you can also hit Tired Hands. It's about 20 from TJ's but you could hit them all in succession if you want to bang out some great spots without going into the city.

 

Good call on Iron Hill. I haven't been to Chestnut Hill, but North Wales is by far the worst Iron Hill I've been to, which is a shame because I'm 2 minutes away from it. The bar is small and their seasonal/one-off's are quite dull compared to the others I've tried. I have to disagree on the distance to Capone's, though. Hop right on 202 and you can get there in 15 minutes, 20 tops. It's much closer than TJ's or Teresa's, and they have an excellent take out selection to boot. And to the OP, Capone's is also close to Whole Foods, if you're looking for a small, cheaper selection of brews to take home.

 

That's right. It's not that far if you go down 202. Just don't go on a Sunday unless you only want takeout .

 

Just Capone's.

 

and it's only Capone's pub side that is closed--the bottle shop is open 7 days

 

I will second the vote for Iron Abbey. Nice place, nice service... never had a bad experience other than the crowds sometimes (Of course as the owner of Via Marconi I will withhold my vote on it!! )- but THX

 

I live in Montgomeryville and my preferences would be in this order:

Close by
1) Iron Hill
2) Blue Dog Chalfont
3) Prism

Less than 30 minute drive
1) Earth Bread + Brewery
2) Capone's
3) Forest and Main

If you're willing to drive farther, just go into the city.

 

The airport is very isolated, there's nothing around it really except for older hotels. Going north on I-95, get off at Exit 17 (the stadiums, sign will say Pattison Ave/Broad St). The traffic shouldn't be too bad since the Phillies are out of town. From there, get on Broad St going north. Without going far from the airport, you'll wanna hit up a good South Philly spot. Two good areas are South Philly Tap Room and many spots on E. Passyunk Ave which is only a couple blocks from SPTR. Street parking is usually pretty easy in this area, especially west of Broad near SPTR. Here's some pages -

South Philadelphia Tap Room (aka SPTR) - http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/11110

On E. Passyunk Ave. -

Stateside (not much of a beer destination but outstanding food) - http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/27700
Pub on Passyunk East (aka the POPE), great corner bar, sorta divey but very good beer selection - http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/15173
The Bottle Shop - decent store on that strip - http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24126
Devil's Den - just a few blocks walking north from POPE, strong beer selection and good food - http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/17181

 

It's true - there's nothing around the airport. This is a fine suggestion as long as the OP is okay going quite a bit out of his way and is fine with on-street parking. If he really wants to check out downtown for an evening, this seems like the way to go.

But allow me to propose an alternate plan.

The commute from the airport to Montgomeryville will likely take you south on 95 to the Blue Route (476) and up to the turnpike. Why not take the 5 minute trip out of your way to go to Teresa's (http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16185)? Widely considered the best suburban beer bar, plenty of parking, and in an area that you probably won't get to during the remainder of your stay.

Ultimately, in a city this good for beer, you won't go wrong no matter what you do.