Situated on Spring Garden Street in Philadelphia is the Roy-Pitz Barrel House, a 4,000 square foot brewery that specializes in strictly barrel aged brewing for the Roy-Pitz Brewing Company (based in Chambersburg, PA). We recently took a tour of the location to learn more about their operations and what guests can expect.
During our visit we learned about brewing operations from Chris Bratton and head brewer Chris Collier; who left his job as a salesmen in New York to get into the brewing business. Chris went to brewing school in Chicago and Munich and has spent the past 6 years brewing professionally; with 4 year’s focused on barrel aging (and 5 years home brewing prior to his professional experience).
As we mentioned earlier, and as the name states, the Roy-Pitz Barrel House specifically handles barrel aging for the Roy-Pitz Brewery. Since they are strictly barrel aging the brewery is filled with barrels all throughout the taproom with beer being aged right where you may be sitting! When we asked why the location in Philadelphia we learned business was going so well in the city area that it made sense to open and hence the barrel house was born.
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Beyond the barrel aging operations, the taproom offers guests a very spacious and enjoyable location for a night out with friends and/ or family. With room for 130 guests the taproom allows you plenty of space to enjoy your visit. The walls of the taproom are also surrounded by murals from the same artist who designs the artwork on their cans and bottles. See inside this spacious taproom for yourself:
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We’ve always been impressed with how breweries are offering full fledged dining experiences and the Roy-Pitz Barrel House is no exception. Offering over 25 items on the menu ranging from starters, shareable, entrees, salads and desserts there is sure to be something for everyone. During our visit we enjoyed a range of items, see the delicious offerings for yourself:
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While the food was overwhelmingly impressive, we know what you’re here for. The beer! They may be a barrel house, but the selection of beer is as wide of a variety as you can get With 16 rotating taps it is impossible to not walk away satisfied during your visit regardless if your a hop head or enjoy the subtlety of a pilsner or lager. See the beer list as it is updated here. If you enjoy the beer enough, make sure to grab a crowler to go!
Pictured from left to right:
• Country Creek Strawberry Kolsch: 4.5% German Style Kolsch. Gold to strawberry red in color. This german style kolsch adopts fruity and wine like flavors from the yeast. Honey and fresh strawberry flavors emerge from the malt and local strawberries grown and harvested at country creek farm in Chambersburg, pa!
• Pintail Pale Ale: 6% Pale Ale. Layered malts add complexity and a slight biscuit flavor. Big orange, melon, pine, spice and pepper aromas in the Triple Pearl hops intertwine with the pineapple aromas from the fruit infused candi sugar. Lastly the Abbey ale yeast gives off the classic ripe fruit flavors from Belgian yeast esters.
• Lay Down Stay Down: 9% Belgian Style Strong Ale. The origins of the LSD date back to a voyage abroad in 2006 by the Roy-Pitz crew who were invited guests of a Dutch Trappist Monastery. The euphoric affects of the medieval high octane brews they saw inspired the creation of this Quadruple Style Strong Ale.
• Ludwig’s Revenge: 5.25% German Style Dark Lager. This dark brew was inspired by the historical Civil War burning of their hometown of Chambersburg, PA in July 1864. During the raid, Ludwig’s Brewery, owned by George Ludwig, was burned down by Confederate soldiers under Gen. McCausland’s orders. In remembrance of this event, they created a German style Rauchbier, or dark smoked lager.
From the food, to the beer, to the ambiance of sitting in an active barrel house, there is plenty to take in during a visit to the Roy-Pitz Barrel House. This is a the quintessential location for the neighborhood in which it resides. The industrial yet elegant setting of the barrel house defines the blue collar and new world character that is Philadelphia.
Stop in for a visit to their brewery on Spring Garden Street next time you are in the area. Also make sure to follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to see what they come up with next!
