Philadelphia brewery to lose tens of thousands of dollars after city cuts down its hops garden

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philadelphia Brewing Company's hop garden is in ruins after the city brought in a team of weed whackers to cut down more than six months of hard work.

"To come in yesterday to this it was sad," said Nancy Barton, co-owner of the brewery. "You could walk around any neighborhood in this city and there are a million lots that are overgrown and trashed or whatever. We have a sign that says what we're doing."

The garden is fenced in right next to the Kensington brewery and has a sign that clearly explains how they're growing hops for their fall beer called "Harvest from the Hood."

Barton says the city issued a violation for overgrown vegetation and had an inspector come out to verify that it was in fact a garden they were maintaining.

"He came back out he said, 'I get it. I see what happened, violation is closed. No fine. Case is closed and you guys are good,'" recalled Barton.

However, the city's Community Life Improvement Program came back Tuesday and removed almost all the hops.

A city spokesperson released a statement saying "Regrettably, due to miscommunication and staff error, the hops were removed as they were initially marked as a violation as it appeared the lot was overgrown."

"It's pretty sad because they were looking healthy this year," said brewery worker Chris Pickwell.

Now customers will have to wait until next year for their limited release of "Harvest from the Hood" pale ale.

"It was my favorite beer so I'm sad it won't be making a return this year," said Pickwell.

Barton says it's going to cost them tens of thousands of dollars in lost revenue.

The city also says they are exploring ways to rectify this situation and engaging with staff on the ground to ensure that proper procedures are followed in the future.