Brooklyn’s buzzy Other Half Brewing opens a taproom in Philadelphia

Other Half Brewing’s huge fan base came out to greet its new 150-seat taproom and brewery in Fishtown, which opened last month to almost wall-to-wall crowds.

Other Half, in that entertainment zone across from Punch Line, the Fillmore, Philadelphia Distilling, and Brooklyn Bowl just off Delaware Avenue and Canal Street, imported the initial batches of beers from its Brooklyn flagship. The on-site brewing is now ramping up on modified equipment from previous occupant Goose Island, which closed in December 2020.

For now, the food menu is a work in progress. It’s mainly of the burgers-and-fries variety. In addition to the draft beers, cans and bottles are offered to go.

Other Half brightened up the place and added multiple TVs on the side walls to complement the big screens behind the two-sided bar. An enormous beer garden will be set up on the lawn outside in season.

Other Half joins a still-growing Fishtown beer scene, which recently saw the debut of Source Farmhouse Brewery, which took over the former Fishtown Brewpub around the corner at 1101 Frankford Ave. Brewery ARS has a soon-to-open taproom at 2223 Frankford Ave. Though not beer, per se, hard-seltzer brand Two Robbers plans a midyear opening of Burgers and Seltzers at 1221 Frankford Ave.

Other Half is best known for hazy IPAs, pastry stouts, and fruit-packed sours, carrying such names as Laid Back Peach Sour IPA, Double Forever Cashmere, and More Simcoe Than All Simcoe.

Almost from its inception in 2014, Other Half drew a following, and curiously became a darling of Wall Street bros. In 2017, the drinks publication Punch wrote, “If wine-obsessed Wall Streeters were once said to favor wines that were ‘big, bold and brash’ to match their own personalities, Other Half’s beers fit the bill: potent, aromatic and juicy — you don’t particularly need a connoisseur’s palate to enjoy them.” It owns breweries in Carroll Gardens and Williamsburg, Brooklyn; Finger Lakes, N.Y.; Washington, D.C.; and a taproom at Rockefeller Center in New York City.

Andrew Burman and cofounders Sam Richardson (the brewmaster) and Matt Monahan had an interest in making fresh beers that would be sold locally. Their website explains the name: “The craft beer industry is often made up of sameness: predictable styles, formulaic taprooms, and a homogeneous culture. Some of it is good and some of it not so good. Either way, we’re not that.”

Opening hours are 3 to 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday, noon to 9 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.