Iron Hill Brewery, West Chester

By David Jones

This is my first in an on-going series of breweries, brew-pubs and craft houses. Iron Hill has lots of locations including; Lancaster, Phoenixville, West Chester and their flag ship in Delaware. They have had huge success in each location and their beers have won numerous awards both nationally and in Pennsylvania.

They have been good community partners in all of their locations as well. This is certainly true in West Chester where they have been supporting the Iron Hill Criterium for many years now. One could even argue that Iron Hill was in large part a key element to the renaissance of downtown West Chester when they renovated the old Woolworth’s store and created one of the first brew pubs in Chester County.

When it comes to food, Iron Hill has always had a penchant for all things German. They have lots of German influenced menu items, like schnitzel and a variety of brats. Since they are kid-friendly in all of their restaurants, they also feature a variety of sandwiches, flat breads, small plates and pizza.

This is one of the keys to their success in my opinion. They have really good beer for the adults in an atmosphere where young families are welcome. Even though you know you are in a really good restaurant and brewpub it also feels like a neighborhood place. As we enjoyed our recent meal there were lots of people walking about tables and saying hello to firneds. The casual atmosphere is a real plus.

We are not big beer drinkers and if I have one regular size beer I’m pretty much done. So, I usually opt for a sampler in a brewpub. At Iron Hill I went for the Vienna Red Lager, The Porter, Coffee Stout and Oatmeal Stout. The coffee and oatmeal stouts were both served on Nitro. This adds a creamy frothy feel and wonderful head to the beer.

I liked all of these beers. I prefer the darker and heavier stouts, but I found the Red Lager very good. I didn’t think any of these beers were heavy on the hops and they didn’t have a lot of the bitterness that many craft beers have. For my money, that’s a good thing.

Lin and I both liked the Coffee Stout the best. It had a rich aroma of coffee you could immediately smell as you raised the glass to take a sip. A sampler of 4 pours of 4 ounces each goes for $6.

In the food category Lin had the salmon salad. This was a very nice portion size and a wonderful mix of greens. When it comes to fish you can’t go wrong with salmon as long as it’s not overdone. We prefer fish that is just lightly finished so the flavor and distinctiveness of the fish is apparent. Iron Hill’s salmon salad is very good.

I had the beef tenderloin medallions. This dish came with mashed potatoes and asparagus. I go for medium rare in my beef and these two medallions were done perfectly to my taste. The mashed potatoes were just right (a little chunky).

There were ‘only’ three spears of asparagus, but they were just right as well. I do feel they could have sprung for five spears, but that’s a small issue really. Most people would find the portion size of this meal to be more than adequate.

The service at Iron Hill is very good and professional. The seats and tables are quite comfortable. They have a very popular outdoor seating area on the sidewalk. I say it’s popular, but for my taste, I just don’t get that. These seats are 10 feet from a very busy street with cars spewing exhaust non-stop.

I prefer being indoors and comfortable and if you just can’t eat without watching what’s happening on the sidewalk and who’s walking by, then you can take a table by the huge windows and spare yourself the carbon monoxide fumes.

We went to Iron Hill on a Tuesday evening early and by the time we were leaving (6:45) the place was packed. I advise calling ahead for a table so you don’t have to wait. This place gets very busy.

Although the place is comfortable and friendly, it can also be quite loud once the rooms fill up and they always do fill up. It’s not overbearing, but it can be a challenge at times for cross-table conversation.

Our bill was $57 including tax and a 20% tip.

All-in-all I’d give Iron Hill and enthusiastic recommendation.

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A native of Chester County and a 1968 graduate of Octorara Area High School, David Jones earned a Masters Degree in Medical Ethics from from Villanova University. Mr. Jones served as CEO of both Mayview and Wernersville State Hospitals. Jones and his wife Lynn make their home in Parkesburg and dine out frequently around the Delaware Valley.