The Pour House’s Hoppy White Ale—a Hip Hop Collaboration

pour house hoppy whiteCreating a “house brew” for The Pour House restaurant was no simple task. Especially when the existing craft beer list already touts more than 100 bottles of the good stuff with 18 rotating taps; the loyal customer following is a consistent blend of suburbanites—families, young professionals and the bearded hipster crowd; and an inspired menu is already well-known for upscale pub fare including killer burgers.

Giving the signature brew its birth required the alliance of PJW Restaurant Group (which runs The Pour House as well as the highly successful PJ Whelihan’s) and local brewmeister Victory Brewing Company.

“Collaborations like this thrive on knowledge, trust and growth. They become long-lasting, evolving and in the end everyone benefits—most importantly, the customer,” said Jim Fris, chief operating officer of PJW Restaurant Group. “We’ve been working with Victory Brewing Company for 10 years (this being the team’s fourth effort together). We first collaborated on our flagship “copper lager” in the Cherry Hill PJ Whelihan’s location. This was when craft beer was starting to take off and we wanted to come up with a great value for our customer.”

The goal of The Pour House project was to create an exclusive house beer that is sessionable, light-but-bold and will be a good anchor for the menu. “The process began with about three or four brew experts from each team getting together,” said beverage director of PJW Jake Karley. “We knew which styles we liked and which styles were selling well at our locations.”

“We brought several beers with us and we all tasted—and tasted some more to give the brewmasters a feel for the profile that we wanted,” said Karley. The first batch blended and fermented by the Victory gurus was great but had an ABV percent that was too high for what we were looking to do.” It was back to the drawing board.

pour house hoppy white feature

A few months later, the second round was brought to the table with a 5.9% ABV. Hoppy White was agreed upon as a very drinkable and refreshing ale, boasting orange and earthy hop flavors resulting from the use of citra hops late in the boil. Once state approvals were obtained, it was time to create a vehicle that would show off the partnered brew in the best light.

The Libbey munique 16.5 ounce tulip glass was chosen to give the beer room to breathe and allow the aroma to enhance the flavor experience for the customer. The classic gold-rimmed goblet was branded with a whimsical red and white shout-out to the collaboration, and the name Hoppy White Ale was placed prominently around the bulb of the glass.

pour house collage

In April of this year, Hoppy White was introduced at a pairing dinner that included several beer and food enthusiasts throughout the tri-state area. The $5 pint (available at all three Pour House locations) can be described as “a full-bodied wheat ale with heavy citrus aromas.”

Several items on the reasonably priced menu were highlighted with the new beer, including the award-winning Second Coming burger with chopped tomatoes, roasted garlic aioli and gruyère cheese; roasted beet salad; smoked porter wings; goat cheese fritters with a spiced honey drizzle; spicy fried chicken sandwich served with sriracha mayo on a potato bun and the Skillet Cookie Sundae featuring a warm and gooey chocolate chip cookie, vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.

“We were thrilled to work with our friends at Victory again,” said Fris. “They understand better than anyone our commitment to serving great beer. We are proud of the reputation The Pour House has earned as beer-lovers’ craft beer bar, and we hope our loyal fans love Hoppy White Ale as much as we loved making it.”

Find The Pour House at 116 Pottstown Pike in Exton; phone: (610) 280-7900.

  • Photography: Ed Williams