What do you get when a couple of high school friends decide to pursue their passion of making beer after 20 years of friendship? East Branch Brewing!
We recently visited this Downingtown brewery and were lucky enough to spend time with head brewer Kevin McGovern. When it comes to opening a craft brewery you can’t have much of a better background than Kevin does. He started out as most brewery owners; with a love of beer that can only come from the passion of home brewing. But he didn’t just get his knowledge from experimenting with beer in his garage; he also spent many years working at Victory Brewing. So when it came time to open East Branch, it’s safe to say Kevin was more than ready.
For those familiar with the Downingtown landscape, East Branch is located at the old Molly McGuires pub on E Lancaster Avenue. Located on the first floor of the building this location is ideal for any beer drinker who wants to enjoy a true craft beer setting. When you settle up to the bar you have a clear sight line of the brewing operations for your eyes to enjoy.
However, while this location is ideal for those who love the feel of a hometown craft brewery, things will be changing. We spoke with Kevin and it is clear they chose the location on E Lancaster Ave for a reason. At three stories tall it is East Branches long term goal to move the bar to the second floor while also adding a roof top deck. (Roof top drinking is so much fun!) So we highly suggest you get to East Branch soon, because what you see now could be morphing in a very short period of time.
A cool location means absolutely nothing if you don’t have the beer to back it up. And when it comes to beer, East Branch does not disappoint. With Kevin’s background in beer making, it was pretty obvious these beers were going to hit a home run. Personally we enjoyed the American Pale Ale “Sprayne”, the DIPA “Wayward Sun” and OAT IPA “St James”. But it doesn’t stop there! From a Rye Pale Ale to a West Coast IPA, and everything in between, the styles at East Branch feel endless.
We could describe each beer individually, but we’ll let their tap list do the talking for them….
Love the beer like we did? Don’t worry you can get some to go!
And of course, what would a craft brewery be without a food truck? Ask any craft beer veteran, the two go hand in hand. And East Branch has that covered. We were lucky enough to enjoy The Road Rancher during our visit. And as we were told; anytime you come to East Branch there will usually be a delicious truck out front putting together meals for the hungry beer lovers inside.
East Branch Brewing has only been open for less than a month, but after one visit there you would never believe it. While Victory rules the roost in Downingtown, Kevin McGovern has successfully put together a location with a hometown feel that is second to none. Make sure to follow them on Facebook and Instagram to see the excitement for yourself. And of course, get yourself to their brewery on E Lancaster Ave immediately to experience all of this first hand!
