Pottstown Brew Fest, Good for What Ales You

Photos by Evan Brandt

Even before the general admission gates opened, the tent for the Pottstown Brew Fest was packed with those who paid extra to come early and get first crack at all the micro-brews.

It was all good under the  big tent.

Sunday, the Pottstown Brew Fest held the second half of its first-ever event and by all accounts, it was a smashing success.

Steve Armstrong, owner of Armstrong Ales, will open a brew pub in the
spring, in partnership with Lilly's Grill, in the old Warrick Jewelers
in the 200 block of High Street.

It certainly seemed so to those of us who were there.

Your faithful reporter was there working The Mercury's table, giving away papers and goodies and, in the spirit of having the full experience, sampled a few of the brews as well.

In addition to see lots of people I know, which is always nice, I saw many many more people I do not know, which is, in many ways, more important.

This event brought people IN to Pottstown from the outside. According to organizer Tim Hennessey, the event sold about 1,200 tickets of a possible 1,500. Not too shabby when you consider that just 36 hours before it began, the word "hurricane" was on everyone's lips.

Russell and Christa Bender, left, came from Birdsboro and
Joe Kolarz from Boyertown, all brought their own pretzel necklaces.

Someone, who shall remain nameless, even whispered to me that people from (gasp!) Phoenixville, came here, to Pottstown, for some fun.

We could use more of that.

Not only were many, many of the brewers local; so too was most of the food providers.

I enjoyed an excellent crab chowder and pulled pork sandwich from the Heart Food Truck and Lilly's Grill, respectively.

Also local was the band, Celtic Spirit, which played Celtic music and Celtic versions of more modern songs, including works by The Doors and Simon & Garfunkel.


Games like giant Jenga; bean bags (questionably called "corn hole" by some) and a game where you swung a ring on a string and tried to get it to land on a hook were all available and surprisingly addictive.

Hats off to Hennessey and we hope to see an even bigger and more successful event next year!

Here are some Tweets from the day: