PHOENIXVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA
About two miles from Phoenixville’s downtown in the not-so-distant outskirts, REBEL HILL BREWING COMPANY occupies a glass-fronted corner spot at the Westside retail mall. Its earth-toned stone exterior and prominent round-topped gray insignia retain a truly distinguishing mark.
Ex-homebrewer Doug Green, “a transitional bartender,” provides an interesting array of well-designed small-batch beers for the left-walled bar’s twelve draught lines. Its elegant wood-lacquered design adds a studio-like pub appeal and the walk-in cooler supplies the draughts. The open backspace includes a seven barrel system with four fermenters and an in-house canning line.
Though Rebel Hill’s out of flagship Bleed Green IPA, a Mosaic-hopped fave, and its hand-pulled ESB, I navigated my way thru eight diverse hand-crafted elixirs at the community-tabled side deck late afternoon mid-August ’20.
Easygoing pinkish amber-hued Hot Wit Ends, a juicily fruited hybridized witbier, sprayed lemon zest onto its floral-cologned spicing, Lemondrop-hopped dragon fruit adjunct and auxiliary watermelon-passionfruit-guava illusions, gaining mild astringency from the hay-dried spine.
Dry-hopped pale ale, Scratch The Surface, employed fruity Citra-Mosaic hops to engage its dank wood surface and oats-flaked pilsner malt base.
Summery dry-hopped cucumber IPA, I’m Just Visiting, a celery-crisped beige yellowed moderation, draped cucumber-pureed citrus spicing all over limey watermelon souring and leathery wheated oats.
Tempered vanilla bean creaming gained lactic insistence for tangy mango-pureed tropical fruit, Cosmic Passage, a vibrant milkshake NEIPA with juicy orange-tangerine tanginess caressing its sweet ‘n sour dessert-like spectrum.
Utilizing Norwegian Kviek yeast to brighten its tropical-fruited Galaxy/ Vic Secret hops, Norse Star IPA left lemon-limed pineapple, grapefruit and peach tang on the brisk piney trail to a wispy white wheat bottom.
Clean mineral-watered Kviek yeast also fortified the woody citrus hop foundation of The Four Norseman, a sunny IPA with candied tangerine and sour passionfruit riffs (as well as tertiary pineapple, peach and mandarin orange snips) parading thru its delicate oats-flaked malting.
“Red Hawaiian Punch”-like Windows of Hoppiness unleashed cedar-sweetened candied fruiting upon its zesty lemon sunshine and soft-toned pine bittering.
Milk-sugared vanilla and coffee beans paced luxurious lactic-aided hybrid, Calmer Than Cream Cafe Ole, a delightfully smooth pale-malted moderation with spritzy lemon zesting adding citric sunshine to the cinnamon-toasted pastry midst and coffee-caked brown sugar finish.