Just 8 miles south of Philadelphia lies Chester, the oldest city in Pennsylvania and the largest in Delaware County. Once a thriving port city full of manufacturing, Chester has hit a serious economic downturn over the last several decades. Efforts have been made in recent years to try and reverse that trend though, including Harrah’s Casino and Racetrack, Chester Waterside Station, the Philadelphia Union’s Talen Energy Stadium, and now a craft brewery.
The Larimer Beer Company originally began in 2017 as a gypsy brewery based in Denver. Recently they began building a brewery and taproom located right next door to the Philadelphia Union in Chester. The brewery is named after General William Larimer, a Pennsylvania native who pioneered out west as a railroad baron and founded the city of Denver.
Larimer is the brainchild of former X Games star Matt Lindenmuth. After conquering skating, BMX biking, and snowboarding, Matt turned his attention to beer. He started Saucony Creek Craft Brewery in 2013 in his hometown of Kutztown. It began as a distribution-only brewery but driven by the success they added a taproom in 2015 and a gastropub in 2016.
Spending more and more time in Colorado, Lindenmuth started Larimer as a side project with his girlfriend Danielle Scotland in 2017. Now with a little Rocky Mountain success under their belts, Larimer is betting (with some significant economic redevelopment money) on Chester.
They are starting off small with just a 3 barrel system (for reference, Love City is a 20 barrel system). This size they hope will give them the flexibility to experiment with different styles and to do collaborations, including an upcoming one with Dogfish Head. Bigger batch brewing and canning will be done up the road at Mainstay Independent (the old Yards Brewing) on Delaware Ave.
Construction is currently humming along and they’ve set a goal for the taproom to be open by Memorial Day, just in time for Philly Beer Week.
Check them out at thelarimer.com or check out a tour of multiple great Philadelphia breweries with City Brew Tours.