Most Experimental in Philadelphia

Staying within the city, my guess would be the Farmers Cabinet. It's a beer bar, but some of the beers on tap are from their house brewery. The Cabinet Artisanal beers are their beers. Plus their normal selection is pretty eclectic as well.

http://www.thefarmerscabinet.com/beer/

 

If you have your heart set on visiting a brewery, then I would agree Farmer's Cabinet would probably have the most interesting stuff and also crazy imports. I'm a huge fan of Earth Bread & Brewery but while they're technically in the city, they're not downtown. If you have at least 4-5 hours on your hands, then Victory is the most impressive brewpub in the area, but it's about an hour from the city...worse if there's traffic. Triumph is in the city, but the best thing about it is the bathrooms, IMO.

You might want to consider just bar hoping in the city, though, as there are many very good bars with diverse tap lists. Check out http://phillytapfinder.com/ for proof.

 

My issue with the Farmer's Cabinet suggestion is that they only have 2 of their beers on tap at any given time (at least that is how it was when I went a month or so ago). Within the city limits, the best brewery is definitely Nodding Head, which has some fairly experimental, quality beers for sale. That's on Sansom Street between 15th and 16th. If you want the most experimental, quality beer in the Philadelphia area, and are not concerned with staying in the city, Prism Brewing Company in North Wales, PA is hands down your best bet! They have a regular Pale Ale brewed with tea, a Bacon Chocolate Stout, a Jalapeno-Strawberry Brown, and other crazy stuff that I can't remember. Everything I have had has been drinkable though, most importantly.

 

According to the link I posted they currently have 4. That's not that much more, but then again, how many beers would a person need at one sitting?

 

Farmer's Cabinent - Usually only 2 house-brewed beers. But last time they had a saison and a grisette, another farmhouse-style ale, so they are interesting choices. The other beers tend to be pretty obscure and esoteric. Expect to pay for the luxury of tasting beers that are rare and difficult to obtain.

Nodding Head - pretty good, but they aren't very experimental. Right now, they have have a 60-shilling Scottish, Pale Ale, Chocolate Stout, hoppy blonde, brown ale and a dry hopped Belgian strong. Those are not very adventurous beers...

Prism - many of their beers are experimental, but I can't say that I've enjoyed them all. Love is evol, the jalapeno-strawberry beer, tasted like vomit to me. I the high quality part of the equation is still being worked out by them.

Earth Bread and Brew - good, but since its out in the hinterlands, there's not much around if you decide it's not your scene or they close early (happened to me before on a Saturday with a group of almost 20 people that wanted FOOD and DRINK)

Other Philly (or nearby) breweries or brewpubs:
*Triumph - never been
*Iron Hill Media - Pretty good, nice selection of draught beers and they often have barrel-aged beers and sours in bottles, but those are very pricey
*Victory - decent food, lots of beer on tap, but not a whole lot to try that isn't bottled or available elsewhere. However, they often have limited run beers they are brewing for different events. Memorably, I remember them having a series of Braumeister Pils variants each using just a single hop: Tettanger, Spalt, Saaz, etc.
*Dock Street Beer - Eclectic crowd, great pizza, above average beers. Sometimes they have really interesting beers: sorghum beer brewed with chamomile, a wit fermented with champagne yeast, but they also have lots of standard brewpub offerings: IPA, PA, Porter, stout...
*Yards - actual production brewery. They have a tasting room/bar, with very limited food and pretty much everything they make on tap. Nothing too special although occaisionally, you might see bourbon barrel aged variants of their Ales of the Revolution beers.

 

Hey guys - thanks for the comments. Know the best part about visiting Prism? The people you will meet. Our customers are top notch. And there's a pretty good chance someone behind the bar actually makes the beers. Plus, the owner is on site all the time for tours/questions. If you end up visiting, shoot us an e-mail at [email protected] and let us know... we might even through in a lil something since you are a BA'er.

 

LOL...that one got me.

OP - im another supporter of maybe visiting one brewpub farmers cabinet/nodding head and then hitting a few bars. you're likely to find plenty of interesting things at the bars throughout the city without too much trouble.

 

Hinterlands? Not much around? If you don't like their scene (have a great Oatmeal Brown Ale on tap right now BTW), three doors down is McMenamins which usually has a solid lineup, and 3/4 of a mile on the same road is Iron Hill in Chestnut Hill (and right near a train stop).