Troubles End brings a brewpub to Collegeville with 28 taps and Nashville chicken egg rolls

Collegeville Station, tucked off Ridge and Germantown Pikes in one of the region’s fastest-growing suburbs, will get a brewpub with a sterling pedigree on March 5.

The backers of Troubles End Brewing are brothers Dave and Nick Bellenzeni, brewer Zachary Svoboda (last at Forest & Main), and Casey Parker, a partner in the Pistola’s bars in Philly. Chef is Kris Serviss, formerly of the critically praised Blue Duck in Northeast Philadelphia and its short-lived Center City spin-offs, which sank in a partnership feud.

They’ve taken over the former Appalachian Brewing Co. (50 W. Third St., Collegeville), which wrapped a seven-year run in December 2018. It’s upstairs at Collegeville Station.

Spacious surroundings, lots of reclaimed wood, old windows, and corrugated steel, and — how about that? — not an Edison bulb in the place. There’s a stage for live music (Parker is a singer), and Svoboda’s brewing equipment is on display.

Troubles End has a whopping 28 taps — 20 for beer, six for wines, and two for cocktails. Dave Bellenzeni said it will open with five of its own beers and 15 guest taps. The idea is to do a 50-50 mix.

“We want some of the best beer from across the country and the world,” he said. “So if someone sits down and if they don’t want one of our beers, here’s 15 others you can try.”

Parker said he sees this all the time at the Pistola’s bars, as visiting brewers sip their own but like sampling others. “We want you to drink ours, yes, but if you’re not feeling it, have an Allagash white," he said. "That’s the vibe we want to bring.”

Svoboda will oversee both cocktails and beer. He favors saisons, pilsners, British bitters, and what he calls pub beers, and said he would open with a light saison, pale ale, light lagers, a stout, and probably a pilsner.

The draft cocktails, which lacked names when I dropped by, are an old-fashioned with Rittenhouse rye, Amaro Averna, Angostura, and orange bitters, as well as another with reposado tequila, sage and orange shrub, and blanco vermouth. Svoboda is making his own syrups, and his ginger obsession will inform the mule cocktail and his house ginger soda.

Be aware that Weight Watchers meets next door when you consider Serviss’ menu, a rich, creative collection that I’d describe as Blue Duck 2.0: Nashville chicken egg rolls, French onion mac and cheese, chicken fried pickles, waffle fry nachos, bang bang Brussels sprouts, a few salads, and a sandwich selection ranging from a three-cheese grilled cheese (with roasted tomato relish on the side) to a smoked brisket Reuben on grilled rye with Cooper American cheese, pickled red cabbage, pickles, barbecue-spiced Thousand Island dressing. Gluten-free buns will be available, as will a kid’s menu.

Save room for the Fluffer Nutter panna cotta, a peanut butter custard served with torched marshmallow Fluff, roasted peanuts, strawberry, and mint.

Hours: 4 p.m. to midnight Monday to Wednesday, 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday. Kitchen closes 11:30 p.m. Sunday to Wednesday, 1 a.m. Thursday to Saturday.

Brunch will start March 14: 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.