August 28, 2012
Roundup: Philadelphia Leads The Way In The Canned Microbrew Revolution; Top Picks For Where To Drink Craft Beer In Cans

Philadelphia is one of the best cities on the entire planet to drink craft beer, and for those who prefer cans to bottles or drafts, options abound. Local brewery Sly Fox (above) is helping to lead the canned craft beer movement. (Photo by J. Smith for GPTMC)
When it comes to craft beer, Philadelphia is a can-do kind of town.
The canned beer revolution is gaining momentum, and Philadelphia restaurants and bars are embracing it.
Earlier this month, we shared the awesome news that craftcans.com named three Philadelphia spots to its roundup of the country’s 15 Cantastic Places to Get a Beer, with Percy Street Barbecue topping it and Memphis Taproom and BAR following behind at #15 and #10 respectively.
But beyond those three, there are plenty of bars and restaurants around Philadelphia where you can sip, sample and crush a can of craft beer.
Here’s a look at some of the best places to get canned craft beer:
Good Eats, Cheap Sips
• Percy Street Barbecue: 900 South Street. Canned beer makes the perfect accompaniment for Percy Street Barbecue’s Texas-style menu of burnt ends, deviled eggs and collard greens. The choice of more than 100 cans ranges from lagers to IPAs to quirky brews like Wild Onion Hop Slayer and Abita Purple Haze. We guess that’s why it was just named #1 Place In America For Craft Beer In Cans (!!). Hopefully they’ll resurrect this hilarious beer can Christmas tree this holiday season.
• Good Dog Bar: 224 S. 15th Street. Known for its killer burgers, mac and cheese and fries, Good Dog Bar’s comfort food goes down easy with the well-curated list of beers from Sly Fox, Central City and retro-favorite Pabst Blue Ribbon.
• The Blind Pig: 702 N. 2nd Street. A relative newcomer to the gastropub scene, Northern Liberties’ The Blind Pig rocks the canned beer trend with some 25 different choices, among them Caldera IPA, Butternuts Porkslap Pale Ale, Sixpoint Sweet Action and Sprecher Special Amber. The edibles include fried Thanksgiving turkey and stuffing balls, lamb sliders and homemade veggie spaetzle.
• American Sardine Bar: 1800 Federal Street. The canned sardine sandwich serves as the centerpiece of the menu at American Sardine Bar in Point Breeze, so it only follows that the rotating beer selection always includes a good number of cans, too, from Brooklyn, Sly Fox Brewery and farther afield.
• Varga Bar: 10th and Spruce Streets. The Kobe chili-cheese dog and duck confit chicken wings at Varga Bar go perfectly with any of the 25 cans regularly stocked here (think Sixpoint, Harpoon and Joseph James). Plus, you can enjoy them outdoors (even as it gets cold; the heat lamps are strong).
Dive-Bar Cans
• Trestle Inn: 339 N. 11th Street. Featuring burlesque dancers among other old-school entertainment, the recently revamped Trestle Inn is exactly the type of place one would expect to find canned beer, but the range and variety — from Avery Ellie’s Brown to Hell or High Watermelon Wheat — is strictly new school.
• BAR: 1309 Sansom Street. A no-frills joint with exposed brick and pool tables, BAR in Midtown Village delivers an appropriately unpretentious, all-domestic lineup of cans, including Brooklyn Lager, Yuengling, Schmidt’s and Genny Cream Ale. Insider tip: it’s also an awesome place to catch a Phillies or Eagles game if you hate the sloppy crowds but want to watch at a bar with great drink specials.
• The P.O.P.E.: 1501 Passyunk Avenue. At the hipster hangout P.O.P.E (Pub on Passyunk East), the décor is basic, but the beer menu is plenty special. Outside of the 14 taps and 60-some bottles, the bar also serves a healthy number of cans both foreign (Boddingtons) and domestic (Sly Fox, Pabst).
More picks, below.
Outdoor Drinking
• Morgan’s Pier: 221 N. Columbus Boulevard. Waterfront bar and live music venue Morgan’s Pier invites its diners to relax outdoors at picnic tables, munch on easygoing bar snacks and sip on any of the 20 different canned beers available, which include Miller, Tecate, Longtrail and even Fox Tail gluten-free American pale ale. Pair one with a lemonade for a lemon shandy (we love those).
• Drury Beer Garden: 1311 Sansom Street. Hidden behind Opa restaurant sits the laidback Drury Beer Garden, a colorfully painted back-alley hangout with ping-pong, light eats and budget cans like Wells Bombardier and Sixpoint Sweet Action.
• Memphis Taproom: 2331 E. Cumberland Street. Inside Fishtown’s Memphis Taproom, beer enthusiasts take their pick from a vast list of draft and bottle selections. Outside in the beer garden, it’s a strictly all-cans situation (Sly Fox Pikeland Pils, Cisco Summer Lager, Anderson Valley Boont Amber) — all $1 off during happy hour. Memphis Taproom recently got recognized by Craftcans.com as the #15 best place in the entire country to drink canned beer. So there’s that.
Beer, Beer & More Beer
• Grey Lodge Pub: 6235 Frankford Avenue. With national accolades and a beer list that just doesn’t quit, it’s no surprise that Grey Lodge Pub offers superior choices in the can department — at least 14, spanning local favorites like Sly Fox and Lancaster to trendy 21st Amendment and good-old Guinness.
• Craft Ale House: 708 W. Ridge Pike, Limerick. Limerick’s Craft Ale House boasts an eight-can menu, including Oskar Blues, Brewer’s Art and Young’s — this in addition to more than 300 bottles and 16 drafts.
• McKeever’s Tavern: 101 S. 5th Street, North Wales. They may come for the 14 taps or 12 growlers at McKeever’s Tavern in North Wales, but the beer aficionados are usually suitably impressed by the 11 cans on the list, such as Sly Fox, Oskar Blue’s and Magic Hat, all $1 off during happy hour.












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The Blind Pig has over 55 cans.And Blue Balls
Thanks for the mention!! I just want to let you know we have almost 60 different cans to choose from!!
Thanks for the mention!! The Blind Pig has almost 60 different can beers to choose from.