Philadelphia Brewing History

When I was at Earth Bread + Brewery in Mount Airy a couple of weeks ago, I saw some very cool historical posters of Philadelphia breweries circa late 1800's. It was super eye-opening to view the sheer amount of breweries open during the 1800's in Philly. The first poster lists 57 (57!) breweries scattered around the city in places like Fishtown, Brewerytown (fitting), and even around my college, Temple University.

I was intrigued by this and I had to find out more. So I hit Temple's Paley Library and checked out a book called Philadelphia Beer: A Heady History of Brewing in the Cradle of Liberty by Rich Wagner. I highly recommend it, it's a very informative read. In it, Wagner takes you through the history of the brewing industry in Philly. He starts with the evolution of Philadelphia as a true brewing city, noting (most likely) that America's first porter, and first lager, were brewed in Northern Liberties. It's a great, comprehensive read on the history of brewing in Philly. I love history, and that's part of the rational for pursuing this project, so I was excited to learn about Philly's storied brewing past.


Location: Philadelphia, PA, USA

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