Brew Philly

I met Chris when I was checking out 2nd Story Brewing Co. on Chestnut St. in Old City. Like me, Chris is a college student in Philadelphia who is psyched about the amazing beer scene in this city. I caught up with him as he enjoyed a Barn Burner, one of 2nd Story's seasonal brews, a winter warmer style with spices. He said he was excited about the variety of brews he's found in the city because he's recently gotten away from drinking the large, commercial breweries and gotten into craft stuff. I recommended he check out Evil Genius Brewing in Northern Liberties; they've got a crazy variety of everything from IPAs and ales to stouts and porters. Meeting like-minded people is one of the best things about this hobby. It seems that most people who go to breweries have a vested interest in beer, whether they're knowledgable or not. And if they're new to drinking craft, they want to learn about new styles and try new flavors. Thanks for the chat, Chris.

This project is getting harder than I thought. Over the course of the last two weeks, I've researched and thought about all the breweries, brewpubs, and craft beer bars that Philadelphia has to offer and narrowed it down to a few. Luckily, I've been to some already. Philly Mag had compiled a list of the 2016 winners from the Great American Beer festival, which can be found here . Two emerging breweries that I will be trying are Evil Genius Brewing Co., over in Northern Liberties/Fishtown, and Crime & Punishment Brewing in Brewerytown (how fitting). Evil Genius has gotten some attention recently for inventive beer names, such as "New Phone, Who Dis?," a caramel macchiato porter, or "Bye Felicia," a passionfruit IPA. Crime & Punishment also has an interesting variety. I'm eager to try both, and see what these two Philadelphian breweries have to offer.