Beat 2020 blues with some brews

Evil Genius has always been putting out very serious silly names for very serious beers, but now Philadelphians will have more of a chance to taste what the lab from best friends Luke Bowen and Trevor Hayward has to offer. 

Evil Genius recently opened up two more pop-up locations in Northern Liberties and the Rittenhouse neighborhoods of Philadelphia. These two new locations mark the first venture for the company to expand past their brick and mortar location in Fishtown. The new Kwik-E Beer Pop-up Shops opened up just in time for the holidays, and with the New Year coming in, there will be ample opportunity to see what the new shops have to offer. 

“With current restrictions in place, Evil Genius Beer Company needed new ways to pivot and expand our footprint without indoor dining and with cold weather impeding our outdoor activities,” said co-owner Trevor Hayward said in a statement. “The new Evil Genius Kwik-E Beer Pop-up concepts give us the opportunity to retain as many jobs as possible for our front of house staff and bring our product to all new places in new ways. With roots in Fishtown, the brewery is excited to expand to Center City’s Rittenhouse neighborhood and to Northern Liberties. These will be long term through the early to late winter – and we can’t wait to meet everyone that comes to visit us.”

This first step for the brand to explore a new direction is one that was necessary, especially since the pandemic has forced many businesses to shift their model. Pivoting is in the nature of Evil Genius as well—in the last two years they also made the switch to making their very own hard seltzers and when quarantine hit, Evil Genius Beer Company and Miller High Life announced they teamed up to release a brand-new collaboration brew. 

That collaboration brew will be available in the new shop. The new drink was inspired by the champagne of beers and is here to take its own spin on the popular libation now being dubbed the “mimosa of beers,” with the official name being the Brunch So Hard Orange and Mango IPA. On Miller High Life’s end, this new collaboration is to date their largest, having launched in three states. The goal from High Life was to support a well-respected and local craft brewing company with an affinity for High Life, which they previously did with Off Color Brewing and Terrapin Beer Co. Out of 8,000 craft breweries, Evil Genius was selected—which in 2020 is not just a life saver, but a full life raft helping to keep this beloved Philly business ahead of the fallout from COVID-19. 

A few other brews that will be available in the shops include the Stacy’s Mom: Citra IPA; the Purple Monkey Dishwasher: Chocolate PB Porter; the #adulting: Guava IPA; the You’re Killin’ Me, Smalls: Raspberry Shandy; the Turtle Power: Grapefruit Pale Ale; the #icanteven: Watermelon Ale; the Jameson Purple Monkey Dishwasher: Barrel-Aged Chocolate PB Porter; The Gang Turns 9: Hazy IPA; The Gang gets Quarantined: Peach and Mango Sour; the Fly Like an Eagle: Oat IPA; Konami Code: Double IPA; and the Might do a workout class today, might eat a whole pizza. It’s called balance sweetie, look it up: American Pilsner. 

Any beer lover will enjoy the variety which ranges from sours to IPAs to shandys to barrel-aged chocolate peanut butter porters. They are also offering some merchandise and gear including Evil Genius pint glasses, tin tackers, beanies, snapback hats, crewneck sweatshirts, BEER t-shirts and #adulting baseball t-shirts.

To learn more information about Evil Genius’ new pop-up stores, visit @evilgeniusbeer on Instagram for updates about hours, inventory and/or dates. For more about Evil Genius Beer Company and their location in Fishtown, visit evilgeniusbeer.com