Philadelphia Brewing Co. — Attraction in Philadelphia

I really wanted to like this place. My boyfriend and I were walking around Fishtown and decided to pop into Philadelphia Brewing Company because it looked like a fun, welcoming spot. Unfortunately, our experience was anything but.

When we arrived, we took a few minutes to look over the menu since I'm not a big beer drinker and wasn’t sure what to order. We let the bartender know, and she asked us to step aside while she helped someone else — totally understandable. But once we were ready, things quickly went downhill.

My boyfriend placed his order, and I asked if I could sample a few beers to see if there was something I might like. The bartender rolled her eyes and asked what I usually drink. I told her tequila, and she asked, “Well, what do you like with your tequila?” I mentioned margaritas and offered to look at the cocktail list so I could make it easy — but instead of being helpful, she told me to just “keep my order simple” and avoid asking for anything complicated. That wasn’t my intention at all — I was just trying to find something I’d enjoy. Her attitude made me feel like I was being a burden for even asking.

After we placed our order, she asked if we’d be sitting inside or outside. We said outside. She began making the drinks without telling us we needed to stay and pick them up. When my boyfriend asked how it usually works, she rolled her eyes again and said, “I dont walk out the drinks to you.”

We had never been here before, and the lack of hospitality completely ruined what could’ve been a great first visit. I didn’t even end up drinking my margarita because I was so put off. We left pretty quickly after that.

There are too many great places in Philly with friendly staff and good energy — this wasn’t one of them....

I've been to my fair share of breweries and this is probably the best one I've been on. What's to love about it?

Tours are free - you just have to make sure you show up on Saturday between 12 and 3, since that's the only time that tours run. There are no tickets, so it is first come, first serve. Our 1:30 ish tour (which lasted about 45 minutes) had about 30 people on it. Our guide (wish I remembered his name) was also very friendly and you could tell he was trying to make it an interactive tour, rather than a spewing facts tour. Plus, this was the first time I got to see beer-bottling in action. For most brewery tours I've been to, I've gone on a weekend, and they typically don't bottle on the weekends. So I'm glad that I finally got the opportunity to see that.

Beer tastings are 5 3 oz. samples for $10. They give you a sheet (almost like a punch card) and they'll mark down which ones you've tasted so far.

The beers are really great. Whenever I do beer tastings, there's only maybe one or two that I like. But here, I liked pretty much all of them. My favorite was the Fleur de Lehigh (which is a seasonal Spring beer). The Joe Coffee Porter was excellent. I usually don't like coffee porters because they just tend to have a bitter taste, and not much flavor. But this one had a great, fresh coffee flavor.

Tip - be sure to check out their store. If the season is over, you can get some SUPER cheap beer. When I went in April, their Winter Wunder was just $5 for a 12-pack. Probably the only time I wished I lived in Philly so that I can bring a bunch of...

I highly recommend PBC’s Tasting Room as a great place to have a party or private event. We held my wife's birthday party there and had a phenomenal experience from the moment that I hit ‘send’ on the initial email inquiry I sent.

Angela, their head of events, is extremely responsive, answers every question and makes you feel comfortable asking questions. All of the guests at the party were very impressed with the venue, the lighting and overall vibe of the room. The venue provided speakers and a microphone that were perfect for the dance party section of our party.

The bar staff were so cordial, friendly and accommodating and made my wife and all of our guests thoroughly enjoy the entire experience. It goes without saying the beer offerings were delicious (especially the Black Lager and Session Beer), but our guests also loved the wine offerings and the hard seltzer that PBC had on the menu.

As someone who worked for years in the event planning business, I can say that Angela is an absolute pro and is so kind and is such a pleasure to work with. She answered every email very promptly and thoroughly, made herself available for a walk through and made preparations for the party a fun and stress free experience.

We will certainly be considering PBC for other important events in the future. Lastly, I will mention that PBC are very up front about rental fees and different party packages, you will never have to wonder about hidden fees, PBC is all about...