There are always different breweries popping up in Philadelphia, and because the options are so endless, not every spot is made equal. From warehouse-style taprooms and spacious beer gardens to cozy breweries that can fit just a handful of people, here are 18 of our favorite spots where you can grab a warm pretzel and cold IPA.
THE SPOTS
Spring Garden’s Yards Brewing, with its long cafeteria-style wooden tables, could probably fit a few dozen family reunions. They have beer flags hanging from the rafters like they’re championship banners, and you can choose from a menu of signature ales, small-batch options like citra saison and Kölsch-style ales, flights, and even some beers named after Founding Fathers. It works well for drinks with a few friends or a date with someone who wants to pair a crisp citrus wheat beer with a burger, a basket of crunchy wings, a slice of pizza, or a mound of fries.
Along with some of the city’s best restaurants and parks, Fishtown also has one of Philly’s best breweries in Other Half. The large dog-friendly astroturf patio is the perfect place to play games of cornhole, or hang out by the fire pits and bite into some pulled pork sandwiches, wings, and brussels sprouts coated in garlic-soy sauce. Inside there’s a big wraparound bar, lots of natural light from the floor-to-ceiling windows, and enough taps to keep everyone in your group happy. Choose from a selection of 20 IPAs, and a handful of sours, lagers, and ciders that you can sip on while watching the Phillies game on any of their large TVs.
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With names like “Stacy’s Mom,” “You Mad Bro?”, and “Zee Googles Zey Do Nathing,” Evil Genius Beer Company definitely wins our made-up award for the most interesting beer names in the city. Full of red brick walls, a long bar, deep wooden booths, and a backyard beer garden with lots of colorful seats, their Fishtown brewery is a place where you can come any time of year. They brew things like key lime margarita sours, chocolate peanut butter porters, and watermelon blonde ales, and serve food like nachos, pepperoni flatbreads, and caprese sandwiches. You should also consider stopping by for any of their weekly events, including 80s-themed parties and brunches where you can sip on a guava IPA.
You’ll usually find Philadelphia Brewing Co. packed with a bunch of locals, their cats shelling out super judgy stares, and some out-of-towners all sitting under their big umbrellas. Whether you're chilling at one of their yellow picnic tables, inside at the long wooden table in the 38,000-square-foot Kensington space, or near the fireplace when it’s chilly out, you can do so with their signature beer (the Kenzinger). The crisp and light golden lager is one of the 30+ beers they pour, the others being blended sours and hazy IPAs. As far as food goes, they have a rotating lineup of food trucks that are usually parked near the front lot serving things like crispy tofu tacos, burgers, and juicy grilled chicken satay.
Like a lot of breweries, Carbon Copy is a large industrial space. Unlike a lot of breweries, this one doubles as a winery and sells their branded tees like they’re Harper jerseys. Inside the West Philly spot, you’ll find a long bar packed with co-workers and couples waiting for a table with pale ales in hand. We’re fans of all six beers they have on tap, especially the Tender, a perfectly citrusy double IPA. Plus, their wood-fired pizzas, pastas, and vegetable-heavy small plates are good enough to make up for the fact that the wine could pass for Crystal Light. Avoid the cab franc, order the fragrant curry squash pizza, and spend the night deciding if the white or black shirt goes better with your favorite pair of jeans.
The Attic Brewing Company’s taproom feels like an antique roadshow collection spot, art gallery, and prohibition-era pub all rolled into one. Throughout the brewery, you’ll find basically every version of couch that’s ever been made, throwback wooden chairs, and a beer garden in the back courtyard where you can order from the rotating daily food trucks like Burrito Feliz tacos, Jamaican D’s, and Bad Mother Shuckers oysters. And since Germantown is one of the most historic neighborhoods in Philly, it should come as no surprise that this was the first craft beer brewery in the city. There’s a large selection of hazy IPAs, lagers, pale ales, and even some bourbon barrel brews if you want something with a higher ABV.
Love City Brewing Co. has a large garden out back that’s filled with plants and benches, along with a spacious interior where you can drink fruit hazy double IPAs, oatmeal stouts, and golden lagers. The Callowhill brewery also rotates food trucks in the garden area weekly, so you can pair your beers with chicken and waffles one day and birria tacos the next. But mostly you come here to drink beer, like their Dreamcycle orange and vanilla IPA that smells exactly like the orange creamsicle we loved as kids.
We’re huge fans of Manayunk Brewery Company, especially their elevated wooden deck where you can look at the Schuylkill River while day drinking on the weekends. They have some in-house beers, but they mostly pour stuff from other breweries, like a fruited sour tripel from Victory Brewing Co. and citrusy pale ale from Yards. Plus, since it doubles as a restaurant, there’s something for everyone in your group like a wood-fired margherita pizza, crispy fish and chips with housemade slaw, and a chicken and shrimp penne pasta that’s drenched in creamy vodka sauce. Enjoy it all on their large outdoor patio where you can watch the sunset over the river in peace.
A trip to Callowhill’s Triple Bottom Brewing Co. feels like you’ve been dropped into a HGTV show or a Target furniture aisle where everything is farmhouse chic. But this is a good thing because whether you’re there for a few drinks before heading to a show at Union Transfer, or want to have a cozy date night where you discuss your week over a cheeseboard and hummus, you’ll feel relaxed and right at home. They’ve got a bunch of beers like hazy IPAs, German pilsners, Czech amber lagers, and a chocolatey Baltic porter if you want something strong and dark. And if you fall in love with anything you’re sipping on, you can always head to the fridge and take a six-pack to go.
If Chestnut Hill Brewing Company stopped brewing and pouring beers, people would still come here because they have the best pizza in the neighborhood and a fun outside garden-like patio. It’s an easygoing space where you could meet a stranger and end up inviting them to your wedding by the end of the conversation. But the main reasons we like it here are the Belgian wheat ales, espresso-forward stouts, and citrusy IPAs.
Head to East Falls for a round of beer with friends in a space full of high ceilings, ping pong tables, and a large projector they always show sports games on. They have everything from German-style Kölsch and Mexican lagers with maize lime zest to fruity sours that taste like strawberries and peaches, and you can try them all in an $8 beer flight. But depending on how well your last bean bag toss went, you may want a full pint of a dry-hopped hazy IPA to get a good rhythm going.
Victory Brewing Co. is one of the few breweries in Center City. With a long bar where there’s no bad view of the TVs and super long wooden tables, it’s a fun place to sit and sip on any of their 30+ on-tap beers. Another brewery rarity is that they have a massive outdoor rooftop that’s filled with bright yellow chairs, a few mini plants, and a large u-shaped bar. If you’re hungry, you can go for some pillowy Bavarian pretzels, buffalo wings, and double cheeseburgers while people-watching on the Parkway.
Kensington’s Human Robot has two outdoor spots: their intimate wooden setup in the street where you can fit four at a table and their large backyard garden area full of hanging lights, flags, and picnic tables. Grab some excellent saisons, hoppy Polish-style pilsners, and IPAs, and anything on the food menu made by Poe’s Sandwich Joint. Go for the Wolfie 2.0 that’s stacked with grilled chicken, fried onions, cooper sharp, and copious amounts of hot sauce and bleu cheese sauce.
This 10-barrel brewhouse that's inside of a South Philly garage is pretty small—if you bring a group here you may have to share a seat or two. And since it’s not the biggest spot, it has the atmosphere of a rowdy neighborhood bar. You can sip on creative brews like lemon drop IPAs, buckwheat and rye saisons, and some pale ales that cost around $4 for an eight-ounce pour. Along with all the different beer, they have snacks like chips and soft pretzels that you can bite into and forget about that meeting that should've been an email.
Punch Buggy Brewing Co. feels like a taproom for people who have no interest in large breweries since they only have one row of seats inside. Instead, there's more seating outside that they set up in the street—and it’s a great place to be on a sunny day. Sometimes there's live music, but even if there isn't, there are always people hanging out with their dogs and cats sipping on cream ales, hazy IPAs, Hawaiian coconut porters, and french toast stouts.
This brewery is directly across from Geno’s Steaks and Pat’s, and we feel it deserves a bigger draw than either of those two spots. Cartesian has plenty of seating for you, your coworkers, and maybe even a few friends, and they usually have almost a dozen beers that range from hazy pale ales, forged stouts, and sweet and fruity saisons. They only serve light snacks inside like chips and dip, but they do have a melony IPA that has that tastes like a liquid fruit salad.
Kensington’s Fermentery Form is a brewery inside of a garage that looks like where every alternative rock band in the 2000s got their start. There are also barrels everywhere, so you should really sit in their courtyard rather than at the handful of seats inside. The brewery mostly focuses on wine- and barrel-aged beer hybrids, like a fermented saison that’s been mixed with the grape must from a sangiovese. They have a few things to snack like jerky and fries, but for the most part, you come here to have an impromptu backyard party with friends and some of the most creative beers in the city.
Even though Conshohocken Brewing Company is outside of the city, they’re too good to not have on this list. The taproom has a few tables big enough for groups, a long bar, and an elevated wraparound deck outside where you can drink their blood orange IPAs, piña colada sour, or a crisp and hoppy unfiltered pilsner. They have really solid food as well like Bavarian-style soft pretzels, meatball sandwiches coated in heaps of parmigiana, and loaded hot dogs.
