Every time we travel, I’m drawn to things ending in ‘-ery’ – whether that’s a meadery, cidery, winery, distillery, or brewery. I’ve gone behind the scenes at wineries in Greece, done a mead tasting in New Jersey, and a cidery tour in Boston, but somehow I don’t recall ever taking a brewery tour before this! Generally Philadelphia clears out during the Memorial Day holiday and heads to the shore, so we took advantage and booked our Yards brewery tour.

Each tour group is up to 15 people, $10 per person, and takes about an hour. I recommend booking in advance to be safe. Keep in mind you must be 21+ and you’re required to wear close-toed shoes.

Want to make a day of visiting different Philly breweries? Check out my favorites here.

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Yards Brewery Tour Details

You are asked to check in 15 minutes before the start of your tour, and while you wait you can go up to the bar for a sample of a seasonal beer. We were taken back to the brewing area by our tour guide Mike Hans, who said he’d been giving tours there for more than a decade! We only had a group of 7.

At the start of the tour, you’re given a choice of one of 4 walking-beers (cans to drink during our tour). Our options were the Philly Standard, Pale Ale, Summer Crush, and Level Up. There were two rules you were asked to follow before you could have your beer: 1. Don’t lean on anything – you could hurt yourself. 2. No video/audio recording. Funny enough, Jasper actually broke the first rule almost immediately! He leaned on the intro beer cooler pictured below, but got a pass as long as he didn’t do it again on the actual tour.

Some Fun Facts/Highlights:

• They are fully solar and wind powered and are working towards being fully off the grid (meaning they’d run off solar power only).
• As an amateur baker, I really enjoyed the cake analogy used for the brewing process. Like how the “Hopback” stage is basically the cake batter stage. Sure its got all the ingredients, but you wouldn’t call it beer yet.
• None of the beers are pasteurized, so they only deliver within Pennsylvania and to the surrounding states. Its recommended you drink their beer within 4-6 months of it being made, and you’ll find the brew date on the bottom of their cans.
• Mike said they are nowhere near capacity, which will allow them to easily expand production in the future. This also allows other breweries to use their facilities to brew/bottle in the meantime. We saw cans from both Cape May & Evil Genius.
• They can pump out 240 cans per minute! Unfortunately we couldn’t see it in action, as none of the machinery was running because of the holiday weekend (Memorial Day).
• Everyone gets a “special gift” at the end of the tour. Usually it is a pint glass, but apparently they’d run out so we were each given a bottle opener keychain instead. I don’t think I have any more room for pint glasses in my kitchen, so it was probably for the best.

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Looking for more to do after your Yards Brewery tour?
Check out these other food/drink related tours!

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Taproom

After the tour, definitely stop by the taproom for more beer and some food! Every other time we stopped by it was PACKED. I’m not crazy about crowds, so I was glad for the holiday weekend lull. We opted for the cheesesteak egg rolls (which we try any time its on a Philly menu) and burgers. You’ll find other brewery standards on the menu as well, like pretzels, onion rings, and a variety of sandwiches. Besides beer, they also have a variety of cocktails and wine to choose from. It was really hot that weekend, so as the non-beer drinker in the group Jasper ordered a fun frozen drink. They have lots of seating, both indoors and outdoors, as well as plenty of TVs for watching any of the Philly sports teams.

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Getting to the Brewery

Both I and Yards recommend taking public transportation. The SEPTA 43 bus stops right on the corner in front of the brewery, at 5th & Spring Garden. The Market Frankfurt Line (MFL) train stops at the Spring Garden Station, which is just an 8 minute walk away. I hate city traffic, so I try to avoid driving in Philly (or anywhere really) whenever possible. But if you HAVE to drive, there is a parking lot on 5th/around the back.

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