Going to Philadelphia - advice on these bars/brewpubs?

I will be in Philly for two weeks at the end of April (missed Beer Week - dammit!). I'll be in the Plymouth Meeting/Conshohocken area, northwest of the city. I'm planning on hitting the following brewpubs and beer bars. Any opnions?

Iron Hill Brewery
Sly Fox Brewery
General Lafayette Inn & Brewery
Teresa's Next Door (beer bar)
Capone's Restaurant (beer bar)
McMenamin's (beer bar)
The Drafting Room (beer bar)

Definitely go the The Drafting Room. They have an excellent tap there and the food is very good. They usually have a few cask-conditioned beers available as well (often Victory Hop Devil which is awesome on cask).

I've heard that Sly Fox has a very good double IPA called Odyssey but I haven't had it myself.

I would try to work in Standard Tap, too. If you can make a run out to the western suburbs, the General Lafayette Inn has some nice brews.

my 2 cents:

Iron Hill Brewery - north wales = good
Sly Fox Brewery - I really really like a couple of their brews..while the others, not so much
General Lafayette Inn & Brewery - personally, no experience 'cept on tap elsewhere
Teresa's Next Door (beer bar) - thumbs up
Capone's Restaurant (beer bar) - double thumbs up, bottle shop goodness
McMenamin's (beer bar) - meh (I know many others disagree)
The Drafting Room (beer bar) - thumbs up
The Standard Tap - thumbs up food w/ some decent local brew selections

Philadelphia trip with out Monks??

other notables/must hits:

Eulogy
Nodding Head
South Phila Tap Room
Triumph Phila
Grey Lodge
Bishops Collar
Jose Pistoles (mexi beer geekery)
The new dock street
ect..ect..ect.


You might want to check out the beerfly on beeradvocate or ratebeer place reviews and see what floats your boat.

I would definitely try to get to downtown Philly. In addition to Monks, Ludwig's Garten (Sansom St.) has a great authentic German menu and a huge German beer selection. I've had Nodding Head's Berliner Weiss and highly recommend it. If you like the occasional cigar, there is a great cigar bar over Holt's on Walnut St. called the Mahogany Room. They have a good Belgian selection (bottles) and usually have one unique beer on tap.

menschmaschine said:

Ludwig's Garten (Sansom St.) has a great authentic German menu and a huge German beer selection. .

Click to expand...

IIRC they went out of business recently.

You have to go to Monks. It is down town, but easily accessable.

I'm going to Philly for a wedding in 2 weeks. We're staying around the block from Monk's. I hope I make it to the wedding.

Think about Victory Brewing Company!

brewt00l said:

Philadelphia trip with out Monks??

other notables/must hits:

Eulogy
Nodding Head
South Phila Tap Room
Triumph Phila
Grey Lodge
Bishops Collar
Jose Pistoles (mexi beer geekery)
The new dock street
ect..ect..ect.

Click to expand...

Oh, I'll probably hit Monk's. I wanted to stick to places close to where I'd be staying, but there are too many good places downtown to miss. Your list looks good, and I also want to check out Manayunk.

jezter6 said:

Think about Victory Brewing Company!

Click to expand...

I love Victory stuff, especially their Prima Pils and Golden Monkey. Alas, their restaurant is going to be partially closed while I'm there (sandwiches only), and will close altogether for renovations, to reopen next year.

NOVA Brewer said:

I also want to check out Manayunk.

Click to expand...

Union Jacks would be the place to hit.

You can also try the Manayunk Brewery.

brewt00l said:

You can also try the Manayunk Brewery.

Click to expand...

These guys hit most of the places on the head, so I won't delve into the large selection of brewpubs in the area. I will say that if you are going to visit the Manayunk Brewery, do so in the earlier hours of the day/evening. At night this place basically becomes like a large club. Packed, too loud for conversation, little place to sit and actually enjoy a beer...

Now if you are looking to 'party' and have a good time, then this place may be for you...

Monks rocks!
The Bishops collar is also a very cool place.

EDIT:
It's a shame Victory is closed, as it is a great place.

Since Victory will be closed like you said, you can get most of their beers at most of the beer bars in this thread. I think the drafting room will basically have all of them.

Quote:
Originally Posted by menschmaschine
Ludwig's Garten (Sansom St.) has a great authentic German menu and a huge German beer selection. .



IIRC they went out of business recently.

Click to expand...

I was there about a month ago, so unless they really, really recently closed, they may still be there. My sister lives within walking distance of there, so when I drive up to visit, that's usually where we end up going

Although, I may have to try some of the other ones mentioned in this thread...sounds like there are a lot of good places in Philly!


EDIT: Never mind, after a quick google search, I saw that Lugwigs is definitely closed, to be replaced by a bar/lounge called "Time." Suckage.

Pretty much everything has been mentioned. But if you want to venture outside of the norm try Druid's Keep. Not much for food, but a pretty good beer selection. I've played darts tehre a few times.
http://www.phillytown.com/druidskeep.htm

The link is lame, but I supplied it for the addess and pics of the place. The inside is small, but like I said a really decent beer selection especially in bottles.

Also, Dock Street is back in business at 50th and Baltimore. Supposed to be really good pizza too.

Heavyweight Brewing is being resurrected as a brewpub in Philly as well. It might be open by now:
http://outside.in/places/earth-bread-and-brewery-philadelphia

Triumph on 2nd and Chestnut is nice (pricey food - cheap beer $5 draft for everything on list - frist thursday of month is cask day)
Euology is VERY cramped, good list. Of course I went there and it took me 7 picks before I got one they had in stock. Got it for free because it wasn't chilled.
The other nice thing about those two places is bufflao billiards is right there and you can play darts and pool there. they usually have 2 or 3 decent beers available as well.

jezter6 said:

Think about Victory Brewing Company!

Click to expand...

They recently tore down their bar for renovations. I think they was mentioned in an issue or two ago of the Mid-Atlanttic Brewing News.

The Drafting room is near there, but both are a bit far from Philly without a car.