USA, PA: Brewery in Philadelphia loses all its hop crop due to city crew mistake

A brewery in Philadelphia’s East Kensington neighborhood was outraged after they say a city crew cut down a legally grown hop crop grown annually for a seasonal beer, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported on September 15.

The Philadelphia Brewing Company makes a beer called "Harvest From the Hood" every year. The brewery said the hops they grow in an adjacent 18-by-70-foot lot on Frankford Avenue are an essential ingredient in that beer.

The owner said a Community Life Improvement Programs (CLIP) crew that maintains vacant lots in the city destroyed the plants on September 13. The crew apparently thought the plants were overgrown weeds.

Because all of the hops were destroyed, the brewery said the batch of that particular beer won't happen this year.