Yards Brewing Company

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yards Brewing Company
Location	901 North Delaware Avenue Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19123 USA
Owner(s)	Tom Kehoe
Year opened	1994
Annual production	10,000
Active beers
Thomas Jefferson Tavern Ale	Imperial Golden Ale
General Washington Tavern Porter	Robust Porter
Poor Richard's Tavern Spruce	Herbed/Spiced Beer
Extra Special Ale	American Special Bitter Ale
Philadelphia Pale Ale	Pale ale
India Pale Ale	India Pale Ale
Love Stout	English-style stout
Saison	Saison
Trubbel de Yards	Strong Dark Belgian Ale
PYNK	Fruit Beer
Brawler	English Ruby Mild Ale

Philadelphia Portal

Yards Brewing Company is a production brewery in Philadelphia.

Despite Philadelphia's history as a home to thousands of brewers and a regional brewing center, a number of factors--including the consolidation of the brewing industry and the city's decline, led to the demise of the city's breweries one by one. The closure of Schmidt's in 1987--the final hold out, left the city without a brewery for the first time in its 305-year history.

In 1988, two cash-strapped collegiate wrestlers realized they could quench their thirst for quality beer and preserve their modest savings by brewing beer themselves. So began the friendship of Tom Kehoe and Jon Bovit. As they made their way through college, Bovit and Kehoe experimented with homebrewing and formulated many new recipes. Proud of their beer, they eagerly shared it with friends. Their brews were popular, and before long their modest homebrewing operation could no longer satisfy the growing demand.

An American microbrewery revolution began in the late 1970s as a response to the bland and tasteless products produced by the nation's large industrial breweries. During the 1990s, the industry experienced an unprecedented boom as more and more homebrewers made the move from kitchen to "real" brewery. While working in a small English-style brewery in Western Maryland, Kehoe and Bovit decided to take matters into their own hands and start their own business. In 1994, they founded Yards Brewing Company.

Bovit and Kehoe used their personal savings to get started and made the first Yards beers in a small, garage-sized brewery in the Manayunk section of Philadelphia. They brewed on a homemade three-barrel brewing system. Their lineup included soon-to-be cult favorites like the "Entire Porter" and "Old Bart." When they unveiled their Extra Special Ale (ESA) at the Philadelphia Craft Beer Festival in April of 1995, Philadelphia's beer drinkers were flabbergasted.

A star was born.

Within a few months, bars were clamoring for their wares and "the Yards Guys" were supplying them with six-keg batches of ESA, Entire Porter, and several other cask-conditioned ales. They delivered the beer themselves, and made a point of being there whenever a bar tapped its first keg.

As demand increased, the company found it needed a larger brewery. In 1996, Yards moved to the Roxborough section of Philadelphia and built a new production facility. Yards now bottled its beer for the first time. Production of Extra Special Ale increased and Yards introduced several new beers--including Brawler Ale.

However, costs associated with the expansion pushed the company to the edge of bankruptcy. In 1998, Jon Bovit was no longer able to support his family financially and left the company. Nancy Barton and her husband Bill soon joined Yards and in 1999 they became partners with Kehoe and began managing daily operations. At this time, the brewery's lineup expanded to include India Pale Ale, Saison, Philadelphia Pale Ale and other seasonal specialties.

In 2001, Yards Brewing Company moved into the old Weisbrod & Hess Brewery in the Kensington section of Philadelphia. The Bartons located and renovated the building--which had been vacant since 1939. The new location allowed Yards to increase production yet again and their beers began to receive wider recognition.

In 2003, Yards partnered with Philadelphia's City Tavern — a reconstructed version of a historic tavern frequented by the nation's founding fathers — to create Ales of the Revolution. This line of beers was derived from the original recipes of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Ben Franklin and featured unusual ingredients such as organic spruce tips.

The Yards team of brewers continued to tweak and refine their recipes and their beers garnered increasing critical acclaim and local loyalty. As Philadelphia's reputation as a craft-brewing mecca solidified in 2004-2005, Yards products increasingly became the "go to" beers for the city's beer lovers. In 2006, the New York Times called Philadelphia Pale Ale "one of the best" pale ales in the United States.

Ironically, growth led to restrictions in distribution as the brewery found it could barely keep up with demand in the local five-county area. Frequently, inventory was so tight that the beer was loaded onto trucks for distribution within hours--sometimes minutes--of being packaged. This meant that Yards was usually the freshest beer available in bars and stores.

In the summer of 2007, beer lovers in the city of "Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection" were shocked to learn that, citing irreconcilable differences, the Bartons and Kehoe had dissolved their partnership.

According to local press^[1]^[2], the Bartons retained ownership of the Kensington brewery building as well as all brewery equipment while Kehoe retained the rights to the Yards name, recipes and brands. The two sides agreed to a deal that allowed Yards to continue to be produced at the Kensington brewery until December 31, 2007. This allowed Yards Brewing Co. to establish a contract to have its beers made at the Lion Brewery in Wilkes Barre, PA and also find a new facility. Meanwhile, the Bartons and the entire former Yards brewery staff formed the Philadelphia Brewing Co. and recommenced operations once Kehoe vacated the premises.

Five months after the split, Yards Brewing Company and Kunda Beverage announced that they had reached a settlement for the ongoing lawsuit with regards to distribution rights for the Yards brand^[3]. Previously Yards had been self-distributed since the sale of the Edward Friedland Co. to Kunda. This allowed Muller Beverage, Inc. to purchase the distribution rights for Yards Brewing Company^[4].

In January of 2008, Yards Brewing Company moved to the location of a former metal shop and skate park at 901 N. Delaware Avenue Philadelphia, PA. They purchased new equipment from the Ybor City Brewing Company of Tampa, Florida and shipped it to Philadelphia. However, the new building's floors were unable to support the weight of the brewery's tanks and required structural reinforcement. This delayed the installation of the brewery's equipment as well as production at the new facility.

Currently, Yards products are brewed under contract by the Lion Brewing Company, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Local beer bloggers claim that brewing will commence sometime in summer 2008.