After more than two years of planning and renovation, Second District Brewing opens its doors in the Newbold/Point Breeze section of South Philadelphia this week.

The brewpub, located across two floors of adjoining buildings at the corner of Bancroft and McKean (between 16th and 17th), is a joint project from John Longacre of South Philadelphia Tap Room/American Sardine Bar and Curt Decker of Nodding Head.

A tasting of early beers — including a 9.5% ABV vanilla barleywine that’s way too easy to drink — and a look at the menu by Sardine Bar’s Doreen DeMarco (foot-long Lancaster corn dog, anyone?) bodes well for the pub’s success.

Ben Potts is head brewer, building on an impressive resume that includes time at Tired Hands in Ardmore and several years at Dogfish Head in Delaware.

“Ben was my first choice,” said Decker, who had been impressed with Potts’ talents for years. “He’s on his way to becoming a beer world rockstar. I was thrilled to get him.”

House beers on tap — which will be the only beer served at the long, poured-concrete bar, along with PA wines on tap and drinks with locally-made spirits — are brewed on the very same seven-barrel brewhouse that for nearly 15 years was used at Nodding Head’s Sansom Street location in Center City.

February 13, 2017 | Billy Penn