La Cabra Brewing Opening in Berwyn This Summer

Vern Burling, Chris Linton, Dan Popernack

This summer, the Main Line town of Berwyn will have a special addition to their community—La Cabra Brewing—right across from the Berwyn train station.

Starting out as the town’s general store in the late 1800s, the building La Cabra resides in became several furniture stores, and then sat empty for a few years until partners Vern Burling, Andy Iott and Dan Popernack (also the head brewer) signed the lease on the historic building on 642 Lancaster Avenue.

On the first floor of the building will be a full-service dining room in the center with a bar to the left and then a flight of stairs to the right, which will lead to the Berwyn Social Club, a completely different vibe but still owned and operated by the guys at La Cabra.

Burling says that they want the social club to be “airy,” with a nice sky roof in the middle of the ceiling. There will be a bar with roughly twelve beers on tap, a fireplace with comfy chairs surrounding it, a record player, and games like backgammon. Around the corner from the main room is a smaller one with a big glass window that overlooks the brewing area, which will be used for private parties and educational purposes, like brew classes.

Soon these barrels will be aging sour beers.

The beer will be brewed by Popernack, an established home brewer whose beer has only already been called the “best beer you haven’t tasted.” has only been tasted by a handful of people. Popernack created the La Cabra brand years ago, and his plan to have a brewery is finally coming into fruition. When La Cabra opens, he’ll finally be able to sell his beer. Popernack is especially known for his barrel-aged sours, but La Cabra will have a whole variety of beers on tap, including session beers.

The food at La Cabra will be “Latin-inspired,” including foods like tacos and smoked meats (and they’re currently looking for a chef), and aside from food and beer, they’ll also serve Pennsylvania state wines. “PA state wine is much better than it was fifteen years ago, ten years ago, five years ago…there are options,” says Burling. They would like to have spirits from local distilleries available as well if that becomes allowed in the state at some point.

While opening a brewery is exciting enough, the guys at La Cabra are especially thrilled about being part of the Berwyn community. “There’s some new life coming to downtown Berwyn,” says Burling. “Our goal is to bring more people into Berwyn.”

They also strive to be good neighbors— for example, all of the new lumber they’re using for construction of the brewery is being purchased at Fritz Lumber right across the street. Next door is Shady Dog Records, which Burling hopes people will  purchased records from and then take to the social club to have a listen while drinking a beer. He calls the community an “ecosystem” with the local businesses supporting each other.

Construction is still very much in the works, but they really have come a long way, a whole new concrete floor has been installed. With head builder Chris Linton, who also built out Conshohocken Brewery and Tired Hands Brewery. it’s likely that La Cabra will turn out looking pretty good.

La Cabra Brewing [Foobooz]