Can Yards can beer? Yes, they can and they are (let me know if you need more can jokes)

Yards invited me and some others in various forms of media to check out the new canning line, have a few beers, and get an updated tour of the brewery at the new location of 5th & Spring Garden. I hadn't been on site since Yards was a part of my never-ending post-Super Bowl parade party back in February. So I figured it'd be a timely opportunity to see how things have developed since then.

I think it's pretty clear that the Yards crew is settling quite nicely in to their new digs. Early visits of mine seemed to show a staff humming along as if they'd been working in this new space for years. In addition to the well-tuned beers that the brewery has trained its fans to expect, the kitchen was turning out some creative food from the get-go, taking the brewpub experience up a notch.

What's changed since then? Some of the empty space that I recall from early visits has been filled with more stainless steel and, most recently, a canning line. They've accomplished quite a bit in the last six months since making the official transition from the scenic home along the Delaware River up on to the western edge of the Northern Liberties neighborhood. The new location certainly gives it more of an integrated city feel and the hustle in the 70,000 square foot brewery and taproom shows that Yards is reaching its steady state and, likely, ready for some new growth. That's just me attempting to read tea leaves (or hop leaves, if you prefer); there've not been any new markets opened, nor has there been public talk of such.

They're currently running at a pace of around 42,000 bbls/year with the potential to ultimately go to 100,000, though the talk is not currently that aggressive (or reckless?) But, with more equipment (there's room) and more brewing hours (they currently have a 5 day/week schedule), there is support for potential growth. And some of that is being seen in the new cans coming off the line. They're doing Philly Pale, IPA, and Brawler first, three of the most popular brands and, not to mention, smart choices for this hot summer. Pounders too! The bold, clean, and distinctive design works well too for the ever more crowded retail shelves.

By the way, the tour? Yeah, you should do that too. You'll get plenty of information, plenty of laughs (expect a good dose of irreverent humor woven in with the brewing bits), and a parting gift.

Here's a bit more from the brewery's press release.

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First Chance for Beer Fans to View New Brewery and Canning Line

This Summer, Yards Brewing Company invites Philly area locals, as well as visitors to this great city, to come have a beer in their distinct outdoor seating area located directly underneath towering steel brewing tanks along Spring Garden Street in the city’s bustling Northern Liberties neighborhood. The new Yards taproom and brewery at 5th and Spring Garden Streets offers patrons 20 taps of fresh, quality Yards ales and a full dining menu crafted by Chef Jim Burke. Curious folks can opt for up-close brewery tours to see how Yards beers are brewed, bottled, canned and kegged for the hard-working people of Philadelphia and beyond.

Founder, President and Brewmaster Tom Kehoe and the Yards crew have been brewing in the City of Brotherly Love since 1994. For the first time in Yards’ 24-year history, the regional craft producer has started canning their flagship beers: Philadelphia Pale Ale, Brawler, and Signature IPA. These go-to brews are available in traditional 12-oz. and 16-oz. pounder cans that can be found in the Yards Taproom and wherever Yards beers are sold – just in time for summer barbecues, ball games and weekends down the shore.

For those who don’t want to go too far to get away this summer, Yards Brewing Company’s front yard is the perfect spot to throw back a can or two in the shade of the tanks. Big round tables encourage friends to get together under the tanks and watch the day go by while enjoying everything Yards has to offer, like their behind-the-scenes brewery tours offered daily.

Brewery tours provide thirsty guests a behind-the-scenes look at how Philly’s Beer is made. Tour goers will learn about the brewing process and hear the Story of Yards, with plenty of comedy, beer samples, and giveaways throughout. Tours last approximately 45 minutes and cost just $5. Tours must be booked in advance through an online reservation system at yardsbrewing.com/tours. Tours run Monday through Friday at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, with 12 tours per day, from 11:30 a.m. until 5 p.m.

About Yards Brewing Company…Yards has proudly brewed Philadelphia’s beer since 1994. The regional craft producer has grown from a garage-sized operation in the Manayunk section of Philly to a 38,000-square-foot facility along the city’s Delaware River waterfront to a 70,000-square foot facility in the thriving Northern Liberties neighborhood. Philadelphia Pale Ale and Brawler, both nationally-recognized ales, lead a balanced portfolio of quality, handcrafted beers, including eight year-round offerings and several seasonal and limited releases. Founder Tom Kehoe and the Yards crew share a commitment to supporting the good people and organizations making their backyard a better place to live and work. It’s all about working hard, having fun and giving back. Brew Unto Others.

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© Bryan J. Kolesar and The Brew Lounge, 2018. All content is owned and uniquely created by Bryan J. Kolesar. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from Kolesar is strictly prohibited. Excerpts, images, and links may be used with advance permission granted and only provided that full and clear credit is given to Bryan J. Kolesar and The Brew Lounge with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Contact Kolesar at TheBrewLounge@gmail.com

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Beer News You Should Know - continued

In addition to the newsroll I sent up for you yesterday, here are two that I omitted from the January/February timeframe and one that just hit the wire this week.

Tired Hands - From the sounds of things, the lines are exactly what you'd expect them to be at Tired Hands. But, good news for those that want a non-growler package of THBC beer to go that holds up nicely in a can — and pounders at that. Must find my way into a few of these gems myself in the very near future. [Link to Philadelphia Magazine/Foobooz]

Tröegs - Hershey is so darn lucky to have Tröegs that I would consider moving there if only for the brewery, not to mention the couple dozen other great reasons. After 4+ years growing into this new brewery (after moving from Harrisburg in 2011), Tröegs is ready to expand again. This new addition will be called Splinter Cellar — love the name — and hopefully it will come with some additional parking space! [Link to Tröegs' blog]

Ship Bottom - The Delaware County Ship Bottom brewery has been making some respectable size waves the last few years from the modest brewery in Wallingford. Plans to move the brewery to its naming inspiration — Long Beach Island, NJ — are nearing completion and the Beach Haven shore point will be an even better destination for it come this June. [Link to Philadelphia Business Journal]

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Oktoberfest starts right.....about.....now at Sly Fox

(get up close and personal with a can of Oktoberfest from Sly Fox; you likely should not be disappointed)
And, increasingly too, at many craft breweries across the country.

Heck, the card shops have not only Halloween gifts and decorations on the shelves already, but Jolly Ol' St. Nick is making an appearance as well.

So, by comparison, these Oktoberfest beers are only around 6 weeks early and that makes it sound not so unreasonable. Plus, why get so hung up on "drinking seasonally" anyway. Good beer is good beer no matter the time of year, yes?

Sly Fox's hit the distributors yesterday and a fresh can was a parting gift for me from regional brewery rep Corey Reid at Rino's last week when he stopped by to conduct a free tasting event.

This is one of the Philadelphia region's finest Oktoberfest offerings in my opinion. It's got everything you want going on in an Oktoberfest-"styled" beer. Sturdy enough but not too full-bodied, just bitter-hopped enough to be noticable but not overwhelming, and weighing in under 6% ABV so you can put a few of these back (as long as you also are sturdy and full-bodied) without feeling dramatic effects.

I'm looking forward to quite of few of these in the coming weeks. Get some and spread the gemuchlichkeit.

Can they Can because they Can? News from 21st Amendment

A few weeks back, I once again bumped my love for running up against my love for beer...in that I finished my office work, changed into running clothes, made an hour long run home, and participated in my first ever beer-related webcast. It was conducted by Campbell Consulting on behalf of 21st Amendment Brewery in downtown San Francisco, CA, just a few short blocks from AT&T Park (some of you might "get" that reference). Nico Freccia and Shaun O'Sullivan led the conversation between themselves and a dozen or so of what I figured were beer-related public relations, publishers, writers, bloggers, and the like...I knew some, but not all, of the participants. In other words, people that can help get the word out about the 21A's approach to canned beer. In fact, you can check out the Draft Magazine review over at their site. 21st Amendment, if you haven't heard of the brewery, is growing rapidly. Their canning operation is a partnership with Cold Spring in Minnesota, where Shaun has personally made many trips to ensure quality control over the end product. The beer from 21A can easily be found around the San Francisco Bay Area at better beer bars and retail outlets. By end of year, they're planning to be found in Sacramento and Lake Tahoe as well. Promises to come to the East Coast (for more than a Monk's dinner!) are still hoping to be honored. Canning in a more geographically-convenient location like Minnesota is central to these growth plans. Putting their product into these water-based polymer coated cans is instrumental to ensuring that the beer tastes as it's supposed to. Currently the 'Brew Free or Die IPA' and the 'Hell or High Watermelon Wheat' are the two brands available in cans. They'd like to do their annual Holiday Spice beer in cans, though likely not in time for this year's ski season or swinging holiday parties. Though, on the holiday note (and as a plug), the brewery plans to host a party on 12/5 which will include a pre-prohibition lager that they've been working on. Sounds like a significant departure from many of their current and past styles. What better approach to then do this webcast thing than to get some of said product into the hands of the participants? The package arrived around a week prior to the webcast; plenty of time to chill down the cans of Watermelon Wheat and IPA. So, within approximately 7 minutes of finishing my run, I chugged two tall glasses of water, then poured the can of the 21A's newly-branded Hell or High Watermelon Wheat. The name is as far as they took change. Otherwise, it's still the same as when I first got to know it as one of my favorite summertime, thirst-quenching beers. A good wheat beer, with just a hint of watermelon rind; very nicely done. After a review of the company and some brewing notes about the Watermelon Wheat, Nico and Shaun instructed us to dive into the IPA. They didn't have to ask twice. From the second I popped the top, the hops made their way up to my face; this is an IPA. I wouldn't say "crazy IPA"..."west coast IPA"...or anything like that. Just a well-made, balanced IPA. Perhaps in that case it's not a "west coast IPA?" Throughout the almost sixty minute session (not to be confused with sixty minute IPA), I didn't learn a whole lot that I didn't already know about 21st Amendment or canned beer. I could tell for sure that there were others in the audience who had not previously had the 21A's beer or didn't know a whole lot about them. On the other hand, I did get the rare chance to drink 21st Amendment beer in my east coast home and experience a beer webcast. Hopefully, other breweries will begin to take advantage of this technology in order to get their name, product, and message out there. I lead and participate in webcasts every week in my "day job" and it's nice to join these "webeerinars" from industry folks like those at 21st Amendment. Oh, and the question about canned craft beer in vending machines? Priceless...and ingenious. But, admittedly, not likely. ...Canning good beer is not exactly new, but something that many beer drinkers are just discovering. An article over at Chow.com highlights what other breweries like Sly Fox, Oskar Blues, Surly, and New Belgium are putting in these much-improved cans. If you haven't had a can of beer lately, do yourself a favor and get one from a brewery near you. The ones mentioned above are regional breweries, guaranteeing that there's probably some craft beer in a can being made near you.