Rachel H.
Yelp
I stumbled across PBBC's "Opening Weekend" Facebook event in the feed randomly this week and I came to find out that one of the owners I went to school with growing up with in the Greater Northeast. It's always great to see people doing cool ass shit with their lives, like congrats guys, seriously! There are always new things happening on the outskirts of Fishtown and with the revamp of American Street, this place is sure to become a local favorite.
The overall space is pretty cozy, and although it was crowded I wouldn't say it was packed. I only say this, because I couldn't actually hear my boyfriend who was sitting right next to me. They may need to look into something to dampen the noise levels (or reverb...?) because the space is pretty tight and all of the voices were ricocheting off the walls (I'm no scientist, just an assumption), making it feel noisier than it probably was.
They had 4 of their own beers on tap, but additionally had Pizza Boy, 2SP, and Tröeges. I got to try three of their beers, but their fourth was kicked (next time!). The beers I got to try were the Clutch Session Ale( light and crisp brewed with Cascade and Centennial) Love Bug Hazelnut (malt forward with hazelnut and chocolate), and the Punch Buggy Yellow (blonde ale with clean and well balanced flavor). I think it's really fun that all of the beer names play off the Punch Buggy namesake. The Love Bug Hazelnut, although not my favorite of the three, had the most interesting flavor. Definitely something to try even if Hazelnut isn't your thing.
My boyfriend read somewhere that when asked whether or not this brewery was going to be serving food that their response was something along the lines of "Yes, we'll have food, but we'll be focusing mostly on artisanal grilled cheese." If that's not what was said, and I'm taking y'all out of context, I'm sorry, but that response had my boyfriend and I headed down to check y'all out for sure just based on the grilled cheese.
We got the Jalapeño grilled cheese as well as the pepperoni grilled cheese and I will say that the Jalapeño was just a tad bit better. The combination of the cheeses (which I would actually suggest that you print which cheeses you're using for each grilled cheese on the menu, because I didn't see that they were listed and have no idea what cheeses were on the sandwiches even though they were great) and the jalapeño flavor with a kick was amazing. I liked the Pepperoni Pizza grilled cheese, but I would've liked it more if it had bigger slices of pepperoni in it. I understand why they chopped up the pep, (so that you'd be more likely to have every bite have the flavor) but I feel like it diminished the presence of the flavor overall. I wouldn't say to use the deli sized pep, but maybe the smaller ones, because the pepperoni flavor was barely there. Pretty good, but sadly barely there.
We also had the Black Bean Chipotle Hummus and it was hands down top three hummuses that I've had in my entire life. The heat hits you like 4-5 seconds into chewing the chip and the flavor profile is insanely unique for hummus. The only suggestion I would have would be to up the game on the chip pairing. The Tortilla chips were not on the same level as the godliness that is that hummus. The saltiness of the tortilla chips took away from the flavor of the hummus (which was neutral at first and then hit you with the heat) maybe some stronger tortilla chips or some unsalted pita chips would be a better pairing.
Overall the vibe of this place was pretty chill, and I'll surely be back. I can really see this brewery as the place that everyone loves to come hang out at on Tuesdays for trivia or something like that. Also their Hoppy Buggy logo is amazing. Super awesome. Cannot wait to see what the future holds for this business! Prost!