PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — It took nearly a year, but the Philadelphia Brewing Company in Kensington got a check from the city for the revenue lost after city crews mistakenly cut down their hops crop needed for a fall beer.
In September 2022, a Community Life Improvement Program’s crew that maintains vacant lots in the city cut down the hops in a garden that Philadelphia Brewing Company maintained in partnership with the New Kensington Community Development Corporation. It was an 18-by-70-foot lot on Frankford Avenue that the company had been using for about a decade.
The crew thought the hops, an essential ingredient in the beer, were overgrown weeds.
Because of this, the once-a-year brewed beer “Harvest From the Hood” was unable to be made. The city admitted to its mistake and gave the business a check for tens of thousands of dollars to compensate.
“They did apologize up and down,” said Nancy Barton, co-owner of Philadelphia Brewing Company in Kensington. “We did have to file a complaint, a form with them, and we had to show all kinds of paperwork and lost revenue.”
This year’s hops crop has been safely harvested and the wet-hopped brew will be ready to drink this fall at a big party on Sunday, Oct. 1. It will take place at Philadelphia Brewing Company from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.