Construction Update 10/15/2016: La Cabra Brewing Company in Berwyn, Pa. is set to open

(Eight to nine drafts to be available on opening day, October 25, with more to come in the days and weeks after.)
Let's get this breaking news out of the way first thing — La Cabra Brewing Company is cleared to open its doors to the public for the first time at 3 p.m. on October 25.

They've come a long way in the last few months and since I last visited a little over a month ago. Now all the powers-that-be have given had their say and the beer lines have been hooked up to the brite/serving tanks. All that's left are some remaining construction touches and final staff prepping.

I stopped by yesterday morning to find brewer and operating partner Dan Popernack and chef John Hearn busy at work but willing to take time to show me a bit of what's changed, give me an update on the remaining week's work, and slide a few tastes of beer and food my way.

They plan to open La Cabra's doors on Tuesday, October 25 as if it was just another day of business. This way, they hope to be able to gently break in the staff, work out any kinks, and give customers the smoothest introduction in the early days and weeks to one of the area's most anticipated new brewpub ventures.

While the second floor and mezzanine room will eventually be available for private party rentals, the entire facility (total capacity around 240) will be open and available for all customers to explore in the first weeks. There's a full bar on both the first and second floors and Popernack expects to have eight or nine of his taps flowing with a variety of his beers on opening day.

(Flights of great taste at La Cabra.)
My initial samplings confirm that there will be a diverse representation of quality beers for customers to look forward to both at the bar by themselves as well as paired together on the dining room tables. The Coquette (3.5% ABV) is a wonderful display of berries in a barrel-aged fruit beer. Should work well as a light refreshing interlude (i.e. not overwhelming with fruit) or in pairings as a breakfast or dessert beer.

Belma (5.7% ABV) is a Belgian Pale Ale that takes advantage of a new experimental hop from the Pacific NW. It helps bring out a light fruit character, strawberry for one, in a very drinkable Belgian Pale. Juno (4.8% ABV) is an American Blonde Ale with Rosemary and Lime that I expect to work very well with some entries on Hearn's Latin American-themed kitchen menu.

Two IPAs should please the hop heads. One is the Tabula Rasa, deemed a Session IPA, which will be different from batch to batch and always feature a single hop. The one I tasted (4.4% ABV) showcased the always enjoyable Mosaic. The second is Leo (6.3% ABV) that Popernack is still working to find the balance in malt and hops that he is most happy with. I think he's nearly there and this will be turn out to be a great go-to IPA.

(Sneak peek, and taste, of the excellent Crispy Pork Belly to be on the menu at La Cabra Brewing Company in Berwyn, Pa.)
Finally, the Cassiopeia (4.8% ABV) is an "Amber Kölsch" that Popernack is looking forward to making his own style and one that I'm looking forward to sampling more of. It definitely bucks the traditional Kölsch style guidelines but yet when I drank it along with the Crispy Pork Belly that Hearn brought out of the kitchen for me, I found myself not giving that a second thought. The roasted nature of the Cassiopeia worked nicely with the pork belly (great ratio of meat-to-fat -- very important to me) as I would imagine so too would the Roggenbier that Popernack says will be coming up in the near future.

Lots of intriguing promise awaits in Berwyn. Just a little over a week until we get to see the full production. By the way, in case you didn't pick up on it in my last update, if you're coming out from Philly by train, get off at the Berwyn station and simply cross over Lancaster Avenue that parallels the train tracks and you're there.

(First floor interior of La Cabra Brewing Company in Berwyn, Pa.)

(First floor bar of La Cabra Brewing Company in Berwyn, Pa.)

(First floor interior of La Cabra Brewing Company in Berwyn, Pa.)

(First floor interior of La Cabra Brewing Company in Berwyn, Pa.)

(Cemetery gates over the second floor bar at La Cabra Brewing Company in Berwyn, Pa.)

(Second floor interior of La Cabra Brewing Company in Berwyn, Pa.)

(Second floor interior of La Cabra Brewing Company in Berwyn, Pa.)

(Memento from the now-shuttered Fritz Lumber, since 1863, across the street.)

(Back door entrance of La Cabra Brewing Company in Berwyn, Pa.)

(Back staircase and brewhouse entrance of La Cabra Brewing Company in Berwyn, Pa.)

(Fear not, there will be available parking in Berwyn.)

(Soon there will be a much larger sign announcing the new La Cabra Brewing Company in Berwyn, Pa.)

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Construction Update: La Cabra Brewing Company in Berwyn, Pa. - 9/9/2016

(Looking south across Lancaster Avenue at the future home of La Cabra Brewing Company in Berywn, Pa.)
La Cabra Brewing Company is shaping up to be one of the Philadelphia area's most anticipated new brewpub ventures of 2016. With nearly all the licensing and inspection hurdles out of the way, it's construction progress and finishing touches that will pave the critical path to an anticipated opening date in late October/early November.

(In the brewhouse at the future home of La Cabra Brewing Company — Chuck Golder, GM, and Dan Popernack, Brewer and Operating Partner)
Dan Popernack (Operating Partner and, currently sole, brewer), Chuck Golder (General Manager), and John Hearn (Chef) are the three faces that will be most commonly seen at the two-story brewpub across from the Berwyn train station. They project to eventually have 30-40 staff covering the combined front- and back-of-the-house operations.

The kitchen staff will be turning out a menu that is being described as Latin-American, a cuisine that Popernack, with his South American travels and time lived in Spain, believes has plenty of untapped pairing potential with the beer world. Additionally, in his former life, he was a high school Spanish teacher. Golder has worked his entire career in food and beverage, most recently at Merion Country Club. With this team, Popernack reports feeling "blessed because both the left and right hands of the business are strong" and they "wouldn't be where we are today otherwise" and he "wouldn't be as confident as I am looking forward to opening" if it wasn't for the dependable experience across the board at La Cabra.

(Customers will have a second floor glimpse into the brewhouse at La Cabra Brewing Company in Berwyn, Pa.)
Popernack grew his brewing prowess from his Malvern home garage while he sought the perfect location for his business vision. After nearly two years of searching, he and the executive partnership group (comprised of six individuals in total that he says shares his same passion for the brewpub's vision) purchased the location at 642 Lancaster Avenue, former home of a futon business and a spot that they were assured "could never house a brewery".

In fact, it will house two floors with multiple rooms and seating areas for customers, a full brewhouse, a basement with upwards of 100 new American oak barrels, and two bars running 12 CO2 draft lines, 1 local cider tap, 1 nitrogen tap, 2 handpumps, and a PA bottled wine list. Coming out of the brewhouse, Popernack expects to do it all up and down the spectrum of beer styles from big beers to easy-drinking approachable beers. His passion has shown through in barrel-aged and sour beers and admittedly will ultimately settle into a menu that is most well-received by the customers.

(Barrels will play an important role in the beer menu at La Cabra Brewing Company in Berwyn, Pa.)
Berwyn has been making a slow transformation from a town often seen as a drive-through from Wayne to Paoli along Lancaster Avenue (route 30). There's a recently new pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks and continued development taking place (e.g. longtime Fritz's Lumber has been sold and will be cleared for future development) that La Cabra looks to be part of in making Berwyn a more walkable town of destination bars, restaurants, and shops. Maybe not ultimately like nearby Wayne, but much more than it was ten years ago. Between on-street parking, train station parking, and nearly 40 additional parking spaces being made available behind La Cabra, it's good to see that this important aspect is also being addressed.

I look forward to what thus far sounds like a very promising brewing establishment addition to the area. Considering that between Tired Hands and Iron Hill in Ardmore and Victory in Downingtown, the only other brewing entity along the "Main Line" is McKenzie Brew House, La Cabra should certainly have little trouble tapping into a thirsty beer crowd. And, in Berwyn, there's certainly space for them amongst an already diverse set of established restaurants and bars such as Fellini's (byo Italian), Tiramisu (unique Jewish-Roman), Berwyn Tavern (a down-to-earth bar), Casey's (similar to BT), 30 Main (live music), Nectar (upscale), and others.

Popernack sees this as an advantage and vows to "bend over backwards to grow in Berwyn and work with the community". He mentioned in describing the La Cabra vision how "gran vecino" is the brewpub's motto which literally translates to "great neighbor".

(You'll get plenty of reminders of what La Cabra translates to at La Cabra Brewing Company in Berwyn, Pa.)
Also, with regard to the name La Cabra which translates to goat in Spanish - that "goats are intelligent, persistent, and fun. And who can look at a goat and not say 'I'd like to hang out with a goat'?!" Which ties into another important concept to Popernack and the team - fun. "If beer becomes unfun," he says, "we're losing our critical advantage over other beverages."

Furthermore, he and the ownership group see value beyond the beer and beyond the profits - that is, giving employees a "positive environment in which to work" and "supporting charitable groups in everyday operations", something that he hopes to grow quickly into a standard program at La Cabra.

Lots of potential goodness brewing at La Cabra in Berwyn. Being nearly in my backyard has me excited for this to finally come to fruition and you can bet I'll be reporting back frequently as it grows.

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