Tower Hill Brewery: Hometown Feel, Big City Polish

From the moment you walk in the door of Tower Hill Brewery in Bucks County’s Chalfont you immediately realize there’s something a little different going on then your traditional big city brewery. Looking to your left you can see the brewing operation-a couple fermentation tanks, a barrel for mashing set up right beside the bar. A small chain is the only thing between customer and the next brew in the hopper, it’s an intimate feeling to say the least, there are no secrets here.

Taking a seat at the well polished bar and craning your neck towards the tap list another difference hits you-there are multiple beers with an ABV below 5%. This is a bit of contention for Head Brewer, Lou Farrell, the Dock Street Brewing alum likes dealing in bitterness units and the Plato scale to reference the beer’s composition. Lou is a man of science, at least when it comes to beer. In the beer making business for decades he’s got the formulas down and loves the minutia of it all.

“In a perfect world there would be no ABV next to the beers, just the beer, let its flavor speak for itself,” says Farrell.

After taking an order for a flight of the 6 beers on tap the bartender hurries off to tend to one of the tables. Sidling up to the taps is a man, hair greyed, with focused eyes behind glasses readying to pour the flight. This man is Stan Kreft: the owner, operator, chef and when it’s busy, bartender of Towerhill Brewery. With the flight poured Kreft is unafraid to offer up his favorite selections, the Kölsh, a 4% ABV, 22 IBU offering with a light fruity flavor and the Shandy, a golden ale with a strong, enticing aroma of fresh lemon and orange.

While number of beers on tap currently sits at 6, plus one cider, there are multiple new beers in the works. A couple of these include a Grodziskie, a traditional Polish style beer using smoked wheat malt with a smokey backbone that only reveals itself upon finishing. Anytime smoking is involved there’s always the possibility for the flavor to overwhelm the beer, this is not the case for the Grodziskie. There’s also an English IPA brewing with a nice malt forward flavor that will round into a very balanced offering once complete.

And still, after all the beer and nuance that comes with it there’s still the fine Polish food. From the smoked kielbasa to the pierogis using Stan’s family recipe you’re getting a full culinary experience. Not to worry for those less adventurous there’s still a selection of flatbreads, tacos and decadent french fry options to choose from as well.

As the night winds on the brewery begins clearing out, Farrell says his goodbyes and Stan begins wiping down the bar and its glasses. You see, in one night Stan has worn every hat the brewery has to offer, he is the brewery. As for the brewery itself, well it is different, it’s cozy, with a hometown appeal, but with complex beers that focus on refinement of the craft of brewing. In many ways Stan Kreft is craft, at all of its levels, all at once.