Written By Breweries In PA Contributor Shane Fisher (@SFISH521 & @GOOFYFOOTEDBREWINGCO)

Broth-er-ly Love (noun): Feelings of humanity and compassion toward one’s fellow human’s

Love City Brewing, one of Philadelphia’s most anticipated breweries is creating a name for themselves while still under construction.  Embracing Philadelphia’s brotherly love and sisterly affection, Love City have spent the past few months constructing their dream brewery, meanwhile building new relationships with their neighbors, businesses and local breweries.  Located in the city’s Spring Arts district in Chinatown North, the brewery is part of a positive change to come.  The area has seen the revitalization of once-dormant factories being revamped by entrepreneurs and Philadelphia manufacturers alike wishing to keep the spirit of this once bustling area alive, meanwhile using the existing infrastructure.  Love City is deeply rooted in that spirit.  With beer being the drink of the hardworking individual, choosing a former food packaging and tool manufacturing plant as their home was a no-brainer.  (The existing cold refrigeration box was an added plus) Love City hope to keep their space as a manufacturing hub for years to come.

While construction has been slow and steady with the various permits and red tape necessary to open a brewery in the City of Philadelphia, owners Kevin and Melissa Walter have had words of encouragement and assistance from their friends at Yards, who have had their own trials and tribulations on zoning ordinances as they are building their third location at 501 Spring Garden Street just blocks away.  Current projections for construction hint at a late winter/early spring 2018 opening of their taproom, with brewing beginning in December 2017 and cans and kegs distributed soon after.  Their core beers that will be put into production immediately will be their Love City Lager, Unity IPA and Generator Wheat.

As the Walters and Philadelphia beer drinkers alike anticipate the day those beers are tapped and sold in the nation’s best beer drinking city, Love City has made the wait easier by collaborating with local breweries 2SP and Yards, with a few more beers to come while they continue to build their brewery.  The 2SP/Love City Haze Craze session IPA dropped this past June during Philly Beer Week, with a ceremonial firkin tapping at Prohibition Taproom.  The collaboration came as no surprise, as Kevin worked with 2SP head brewer, Bob Barrar, at Iron Hill Brewery in Media.

After returning from college and moving to Lansdowne, Kevin was seeking a job and took on a serving position at Iron Hill.  On day one of orientation, he was told that anyone could do a brew, which stuck with him, as he had been homebrewing in college, a hobby he picked up from his father who brewed his own wine and beer.  After volunteering many mornings in the brewhouse with Barrar before his serving shifts, Kevin was asked to join the brewery staff, where he would spend the next 8 ½ years at Iron Hill before leaving to begin his own venture.

Their second collaboration came in August, when the Walters invaded Yards Brewing Company and created Zusammen, which translates to “together” from German.  The Oktoberfestbier was released at Standard Tap alongside Tom Kehoe of Yards, who continue to serve the community and support their new friends in the Philly beer scene.

By focusing on building new relationships while building their brewery, Love City Brewing has positioned themselves well within their neighborhood and the Philadelphia brewing scene.  As the new face on the block, they dove right in to highlight what’s already in their neighborhood by helping to clean up the local area and give back to local charities.  With Melissa stepping back from the nonprofit sector, she did not want to be completely removed from the mission of helping others.  As a part of the brewery’s mission, Love City will be pairing with different nonprofits quarterly, brew a beer and donate a percentage of profits to the cause, meanwhile offering time and labor throughout the quarter.

The outside wall of Love City Brewing features a mural celebrating Philadelphia’s diversity and hard-working individuals that make the city a wonderful place

Being a good neighbor doesn’t stop at just saying hello and giving back to charity, it also includes being eco-friendly. Love City will be working with an energy conglomerate to run their brewery on renewable energy to lower their carbon footprint as local breweries Yards and Dock Street have done with their use of wind-power for their breweries. They are also taking responsible steps such as installing a wastewater management system helps to keep nutrient pollution out of the local water system, which can cause a depletion of oxygen for the fish.  Along with treating water, Love City will be working with local farmers and bakers alike to give their spent grains a second home.

While making a difference in their community and being a friendly neighbor is important to their brewery, their logo symbolically further describes their mission.  The lantern signifies the fact that beer is the light at the center of the table, and something that is used to gather together.  The quill displays the artistic and esoteric side of beer, as they will be employing a cellaring program and experimenting with various styles of beer.  Last and most importantly not least, the hammer is a sign of beer being the drink of the hardworking individual.  Beer has long been associated with working class individuals and what better way to finish a day of hard work than with a cold, satisfying beer?   At Love City Brewing, the idea is that good beer shouldn’t be complicated or inaccessible.

In this past year, they’ve secured their building, acquired their brewhouse, collaborated with local favorites, made lots of new friends in their neighborhood and that’s only the beginning.  Over the next few months, they will assemble their brewhouse, begin brewing and distributing their Love City Lager, Unity IPA, and Generator Wheat in cans and kegs all over the area until their taproom is ready for eager guests.  Be on the lookout for Love City Brewing as they move through this eventful and exciting time.  We look forward to seeing their doors open soon.

We will have further information to come as the brewery nears its opening, so stay tuned for updates!

In the meantime check them out on their Website, Facebook and Instagram for their latest excitement!