Beers, Cocktails and Brotherly Love

This past weekend, Sam and I made a quick trip to Philadelphia to visit my brother, Greg and his wife, Betsy. It had been 4 years since our last visit (it's a long story) so we couldn't have been more excited to catch up and see the city. Since our visit was so quick and we opted to leave the kids at home (thanks Rose!), our itinerary centered around a few kid-unfrienldly establishments. We hope to bring Maddie and Mac back in the Spring and check some of the more touristy attractions off our list.

YARDS Brewing Company - Greg and Betsy were very excited to check out our firs stop, as the Taproom had just recently open. They also produce Betsy's favorite beer, the Phildelphia Pale Ale . We chose beer flights and hot pretzels over taking a tour (shocking) but they offer them every 30min on the weekend for $5, which includes beer samples.

As we were finishing our flights at YARDS, Sam made the executive decision to book tour tickets at our next stop, Philadelphia Distilling, which we really enjoyed! Fun fact: Philadelphia Distilling, which opened in 2005, was the first craft distillery to open in the state of Pennsylvania since Prohibition - crazy right?! Since then, there are over 80 craft distilleries in the state - talk about trendsetters! They occupy the former Ajax Metal Company building which was abandoned in the mid 1940s. It is a VERY cool space and features a cocktail bar & lounge, tasting room/private event space, retail store, and outdoor patio. My only other distillery experience was visiting Jameson in Dublin over 10 years ago, so while my knowledge on the subject is quite limited, I did find this place rather impressive. The tour, which was $15/person lasted about 1 hour and included delicious craft cocktail and ended with a private tasting. I would love to return to this spot and spend some time in the lounge area.

Jen's wrap shirt - Madewell - Jeans - Madewell - Booties - Sam Edelman (similar)

Betsy's shawl - Anthropologie

We made a quick stop at the new Goose Island Brewhouse before we headed to dinner and I really loved the atmosphere here. Goose Island is within walking distance of the distillery as well as Frankford Hall which is a German-style beer garden which we had checked out on our last visit. I would definitely recommend visiting this area of the city, known as Fishtown, if you are looking for a fun afternoon.

We had a great dinner at Wm. Mulherin’s Sons where we had to order the Leslie Chow pizza for the name alone and ended our night at Hop Sing Laundromat, but that's a story for another day...

Thanks for a great 20 hours in Philly, Greg & Betsy! XO

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