Philly Brewing's Hops Garden Destroyed By City

PHILADLEPHIA, PA — One of the region's premier brewing companies is reeling after city of Philadelphia workers destroyed its hops garden in the city's East Kensington neighborhood.

The crew, charged with cleaning up overgrown vegetation on lots around the city, apparently mistook the Philadelphia Brewing Company's hop garden for weeds, KYW News reports.

Philadelphia Brewing said that they had "clear signage" and a fenced off area, and don't understand how the mistake could have been made.

"As a result, we lost over 60 pounds of hops that were to be used in our beloved wet-hopped IPA," the Company said. "For a decade it’s been our favorite fall beer release."

The beer began as a collaboration with Mary Seton Corboy, the founder of the nationally renown Greensgrow urban farm, and pays homage to Kensington by using hops grown in the neighborhood.

In a statement, the city said that the garden was initially marked as a "violation" and says they will "explore what we can do to rectify this situation."

The destruction means that the Brewing Company will not be able to produce any of their "Harvest from the Hood" beer. Their other IPA, Space Cowboy, will still be released.