For anyone who hasn’t been to the town of Yardley, I would plan a trip out there as soon as you can. Vault Brewing Company is located on one of the main streets of the town and is very popular among the local community. If you want to learn more about the history of Vault and my experience please continue reading!
Historic Appeal
Before Vault became a brewing company the building was known as the Yardley National Bank. The building has been standing since 1889 but unfortunately the National bank went under during the Great Depression. During the time following the Great Depression, the building was home to various financial institutions, but became vacant in 2009. Owners James, Jim and John Cain purchased the vacant building in March of 2012 due to the historic town, the proximity to the Delaware River, plus its location is close to the neighboring towns of Washington Crossing, Newtown, New Hope and Langhorne.
Once they moved in, the brothers and father decided to remodel and expand the building so they could add-on a brewpub and house their brewing materials and equipment. The building still maintains the enormous vault used by the original bank, but today it is a cellar for storing their kegs. James, Jim and John agreed to name their brewing company after the vault so they could share the history of the building and the brewpub with their beerlovers.
The brewpub is unique to Yardley due to its speakeasy atmosphere, gastro-pub style dishes and recorded/live jazz and funk music. The owners work hard to create an environment where families and friends can come and enjoy themselves in an upscale and relaxed brewery and brewpub.
Brewing At Vault
Mark Thomas is the head brewer at Vault Brewing Company and has been there since its opening in Fall 2012. Mark graduated with a degree in computer science from the University of Delaware. Mark was a homebrewer for 10 years before the Cains offered him the job as headbrewer at Vault. All of the beers at the brewery are unfiltered and brewed in-house within their 310 gallon brewery.
The brewing area is tiny but they are impressively able to maintain five rotating craft beers on a bi-weekly basis. Mark and his team brew twice a week and their beer lines run directly from the serving tanks behind the bar. Their beers are served via draft, nitro, or cask. To see a list of the beers currently on tap click here.
My Experience
Richard Bolster is a fabulous tour guide and one of the four brewers at Vault. Around noon this past Saturday, my mom and I ventured out to Yardley to attend their weekly brewery tour. Richard greeted us as we walked into the brewpub and handed us our own personal Vault tasting glass. He began the tour by telling us about the history of the building and how they incorporated the bank’s remaining aspects into the brewery’s overall atmosphere. After sharing with us how the brewery got its name, we were able to see first hand what the inside of the vault looks like.
Next, we moved over towards the brewing area where we got a look at how the magic happens. During the duration of the tour, Richard kindly filled up our tasting glasses with all the beers on tap. Before joining the team at Vault, Richard was a homebrewer for about 10 years. On top of his homebrewing skills, he also wrote publications about beer (Click here to read one!). If I were you I would definitely check out what his tour has to offer (click here to see what a tour include), it was a great experience. When the tour was finished, my mom and I were planning on heading home…until we saw some of the food plates (to see menu click here).
Once we saw that they served Buffalo Cauliflower, we had no other choice but to sit down and grab some food. The hostess was very friendly and got us sat quite quickly even though we were there during their lunch rush. We enjoyed the Buffalo Cauliflower, Prosciutto & Fig salad, and the Bacon and Broccoli pizza. I hope to get back to Vault brewing for some more delicious food and beer as soon as I can.
Review Time!
For those of you that took my quiz at the end of “The Five Basic Styles of Pale Ales” post, here are the answers.
- If you are new to beer, what would be the perfect pale ale to try? Blonde Ale
- Where was the American Amber ale first made popular? California
- Fish and Chips would be the perfect food pairing for which style pale ale? English-style bitter
- What temperature are most pale ales served at? 45-55 degrees Fahrenheit
- What century did the term “pale ale” come to be? the 18th century
Make sure to check back next week to learn about another type of beer and its various styles!
The Philly Beergrimage 