If you know anything about the Pennsylvania craft beer landscape you know that Phoenixville has been recognized on a national level for its brewing population. Just check out this article by Forbes or how they ranked top 10 in the country per capita for craft beer just a few years back.
Well, it appears another Pennsylvania town has not only gained ground on the nationally recognized Pennsylvania city but is much denser as well. With the soon-to-be-open Cartel Brewing And Blending the city of Lancaster will find itself with nine breweries/ brewing taprooms within less than 2 miles from one another.
In a very unofficial study, we compared the two cities using our brewery map. As you can see in the pictures below, not only does Lancaster boast eleven locations as compared to Phoenixville’s eight, they can also be found in a closer radius to one another. In the pictures below we compare the two cities based on the distance from the furthest two breweries.
Lancaster:
Phoenixville:
For the sake of fairness, we looked at the density of each city. The numbers lean more in favor of Lancaster when you consider that Lancaster Brewing has a taproom located within the outskirts of the city, which would bring Lancaster’s total count to eleven locations. The eight Phoenixville locations mentioned above are all the ones that can be found with a Phoenixville address.
Below is a list of each location that can be found in the two cities. As you can see, while Lancaster outnumbers in locations, Phoenixville does have the advantage when it comes to onsite brewing. Many of the spaces found in Lancaster are brewery taprooms, with no brewing operations onsite.
| Phoenixville | Lancaster |
| Root Down Brewing | Spring House Brewery |
| Stable 12 Brewing | Lancaster Brewing |
| Iron Hill Brewing | Spring House Taproom |
| Crowded Castle Brewing | Columbia Kettle Works 2nd Gear |
| Conshohocken Brewing Taproom | Our Town Brewery |
| Rebel Hill Brewing | Mad Chef Taproom |
| Sly Fox Brewing |
Wyndridge Taproom
|
| Steel City Brewing |
Cartel Brewing
|
| Isaac’s Brewhouse | |
| Wyndridge Beer Garden | |
| Iron Hill Brewing |
.
When you consider the growth of all of these locations, along with many that can be found a short distance outside of the city limits, it should come as no surprise that the Lancaster Brewers Guild was recently formed. Which you can learn about in full detail here.
We have been reporting on Pennsylvania craft beer long enough to know that any comparisons made will begin some sort of measuring contest in regards to who is better. That is not what this piece is about. This is simply a part of what our core mission continues to be; to document and promote the rise of craft beer in Pennsylvania.
So rather than get bogged down on which city is superior. Please check out our brewery map and start consuming Pennsylvania-made craft beer for yourself.
