Crime & Punishment: Putting brewery back in Brewerytown

Someone's putting the brewery back in Brewerytown, the slice of North Philadelphia just to the east of the Philadelphia Zoo that decades ago had as many as 20 companies turning Schuylkill water into lagers and ales. The last, Red Bell, closed in 2002.

Seven people are behind the brewpub Crime & Punishment at 2711 W. Girard Ave. - all friends of onetime homebrewer Michael Wambolt, who during breaks from his job as a commercial painter was reading the Dostoevsky novel.

"I said to myself, 'That would be a great name for a brewery,'" he said.

Crime & Punishment, turns out, has a back story worthy of Kafka - a long zoning battle and a protracted red tape (fairly expected when a brewpub opens), plus a successful Indiegogo fundraiser.

Work on the narrow storefront began last September.

Saturday, July 11 will be C&P's grand opening from noon to midnight. The first two hours will be ticketed ($25 a head), which will buy a commemorative glass, two beers, and a kielbasa (from Czerw's in Port Richmond) with sauerkraut and potato salad.

Eight beers will be on tap.

After July 11, C&P will close to regroup and then reopen for business starting July 16. For the first six weeks or so, it will be open Thursday to Sunday before regular operation (six days a week) begins.

The menu is heavily Eastern European. Besides salads, they'll offer pierogie/pelmeni dumplings, borscht, sweet dumplings and sweet crépes.

The beer list:

Also in the partnership are brewer Mike Paul, Danny Grivjack, Kristen Snow, Adam Fussaro, Scott Hatch, and John Kolodziey.