Recently we brought you the news that Ship Bottom Brewery would be expanding into the town of Swarthmore.

The brewery is anticipating opening the location this Fall in 2021, as all licensing is in place, with some construction left to do. We spoke with owner Rob Zarko, to get more details on their upcoming expansion.

The new location for Ship Bottom Brewery will be at 5 Park Avenue in Swarthmore. Up until recently, Swarthmore was a dry town. As Rob puts it, “Ship Bottom will be a destination beer concept in town, joining a wine bar across the street in this walkable town. This location is going to be intimate. It’s all about the beer and the sensory experience around the beer.”

Housed in the former Park Avenue Real Estate building, this 2,000 sq/ft space is within walking distance to the train station and the R6 line. Outside, there will be a small dog-friendly beer garden that can seat around 30 people.

“I appreciate the support of everybody that has followed and drank our beers. As we grow through good times and bad, it’s amazing to see the support. Making it through Covid has made me realize how amazing people are. The response to this new location has been incredible and we can’t wait to share a pint with you” – Rob Zarko, Owner of Ship Bottom Brewery

Inside, Ship Bottom can accommodate around 100 people. The plan, according to Rob, is to utilize long oak tables, German beer hall-style tables, for most seating. The bar will have about 14 taps total, at least 8 for draft beer, with the remaining to include kegged cocktails and seltzers. Eventually, they plan to add food, possibly as a mobile kitchen, but to start they will utilize food trucks.

While you will be able to get all of Ship Bottom’s core traditional beers, as well as new releases, the concept of this new space will be a “Blendery”. Opening as a blendery means they will not have wort production equipment, but instead will get the wort from an offsite location or a contract brewery.

The beer will be transported into a 5BBL Koelschip as well as barrels. In addition, they will have a 5BBl transfer tank, and a 5BBL Brite tank onsite. Some of the beer styles they plan to make in this space include wild ales, saisons, lambics, traditional barrel-aged stouts.

Keep up with the growth of this location by following Ship Bottom Brewery on Facebook and Instagram.