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Yards Brewing Company, a brewery located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Yards specializes in brewing ales, particularly in the English tradition. Yards was established founded in 1994 by friends Tom Kehoe and Jon Bovit, who began producing their own homebrews in 1988. Within the first few months, "the Yards Guys" were producing one six-keg batch at a time out of their 3.5-barrel brewhouse, and supplying ESA, Entire Porter, and several other cask-conditioned ales to bars. As of 2015, Yards Brewery output capacity has reached 55,000 barrels.

History
Yards ESA was first publicly poured at the Philadelphia Craft Beer Festival on April 29, 1995 in booth 406. Many people refer to this day as "Ground Zero" for today’s Philadelphia beer scene. Dawson Street Pub purchased one of the first ESA kegs from Yards, and offered hand-pumped pours to customers during a happy hour on Friday May 19, 1995. The remaining ESA kegs were self-delivered by Bovit and Kehoe to Khyber Pass, Cavanaugh's 39th Street, and Sugar Mom's. Later this same year, Yards introduced Imperial Stout, Olde Bartholomew Barleywine and Entire Porter

Yards outgrew its first garage-sized brewery in the Manayunk section of Northwest Philadelphia, which reached a final output capacity of 795 barrels. By the end of 1996, Yards had released Saison, Old Ale, Grand Cru, Oyster Stout and Imperial Stout. The following year, (1997) Yards moved to the neighboring section of Roxborough. This larger facility, located at 5050 Umbria Street, allowed Yards to bottle its beer for the first time. After a lack of sales with Oyster Stout, the brewery followed suit from Jake and Oliver's House of Brews decision in changing the beer's name to Love Stout. This same year, Yards released their IPA, expanded production of Extra Special Ale, and began working on an early version of Brawler.

By 1998, Yards had received the Best Local Beer award from Philadelphia Magazine's "Best of Philly." Their distribution area had extended to reach New Jersey and Pittsburgh. During this time, Yards was contract brewing for other local breweries, including Manayunk Brewing Company, Dock Street Brewing Company, Barley Creek, and Gravity Brewing Co. (closed). The following year, Yards partnered with City Tavern, which specializes in recreating 18th century recipes, to to create the Ales of the Revolution. Yards drew inspiration for this series from recipes belonging to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin, to recreate a line of historic beer. Co-founder Jon Bovit left the company this same year, stating that he wished to spend more time with his family. Under sole ownership in the year 2000, Tom Kehoe had brewed 2,100 barrels and released Philadelphia Pale Ale, paying tribute to the pre-prohibition Continetal Brewing Company's Philadelaphia Pale Ale.

In 2001, Yards Brewing Company moved into the old Weisbrod & Hess Brewery in the Kensington section of Northeast Philadelphia. Bill Barton and his wife Nancy located the new brewery site. Vacant since 1939, Yards improved the facility and steadily increased production.

In July 2007, Kehoe and the Bartons announced that they were dissolving their partnership, effective August 2007. Kehoe retained the Yards brand and recipes. He moved to 901 North Delaware Avenue in the Northern Liberties section of North Philadelphia. This location once again increased their production capabilities and expanded their product line.

In 2009 Yards was the recipient of the Penn Future Green Power Purchaser Small Business Award for becoming the first 100% wind powered brewery in Pennsylvania and for continued commitment to sustainability.

In 2010 Yards opened its Tasting Room, a 100-person capacity pub room with a 12-tap system. The tasting room features a century-old billiards table.

Philadelphia Pale Ale won Philadelphia Magazine's Best Of Philly award for "Best Local Beer" in 2012, and ESA took home the bronze medal at the Great American Beer Festival that same year.

Yards ales are currently distributed throughout the Mid-Atlantic region with 80% of its nearly 40,000 barrel production being distributed in the Philadelphia tri-state area (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware). As of May 2015 Yards is the largest brewery operating in the city of Philadelphia.

Events

 * Smoke ‘Em if Yous Got ‘Em: A smoked beer and barbecue event on the brewery grounds takes place later in the year. The festival highlights smoked or rauch beers and features many other breweries as well as homebrewers.
 * Philadelphia Real Ale Invitational: A session focused around cask conditioned beers is offered once a year on site at the brewery. This event features a wide array of firkins of varied ales from a large selection of breweries in addition to the traditional Yards lineup and one-offs. Food and entertainment are offered.