From discovering how not to brew beer to finding unique ways to quench the thirst of Chester County drinkers, Iron Hill Brewery has pioneered new frontiers in craft brewing and helped pull the industry’s bandwagon.

“Over the last 20 years in the Philadelphia area, we’ve probably created more craft beer drinkers than anybody else,” Co-Owner Kevin Finn said in a Philly.com special report. “We’ve probably introduced tens or hundreds of thousands of people to craft beer.”

Great craft beer, actually. The restaurant that now serves 1 million customers every year in West Chester, Phoenixville, Media, Ardmore, Chestnut Hill and beyond has garnered 44 medals from the Great American Beer Festival, winning at least one for 19 years straight, and been World Beer Cup-awarded too.

“Aside from making its six house beers, Iron Hill’s brewers are allowed room to fill in their menus with upwards of eight or nine beers unique to their restaurant,” the article explained.

Iron Hill serves beer and food at 12 current locations, with an initiative to expand to 20 by 2020 under way.

The Iron Hill tap wasn’t always so sought-after, though. Finn and Co-Owner Mark Edelson still recall their inaugural kit-made batch, affectionately named the “Dog Blaster” pale ale after the lucky recipient of the “horrible” concoction: a roommate’s pooch.

Fortunately, their experiments have gotten a whole lot better since then, and creativity is just as much of a key ingredient as it was in 1996 when Iron Hill was christened.

“A brewer is not 100 percent technical. They want to create,” Edelson said in the article. “They’re just like a chef.”

The latest innovation is a pumpkin brew to celebrate Halloween with, and the company is also moving into canned beer that customers can take home.

Read more about the beginnings of Iron Hill Brewery and what else it has dabbled in on Philly.com here, and check out previous VISTA Today coverage of Chester County’s craft brew scene here.