Inside the Massive $20 Million Iron Hill Brewery Bankruptcy
Plus, what Guy Fieri, Sammy Hagar, and Lansdale have in common.
The now-shuttered Market Street outpost of Iron Hill Brewery. Iron Hill has declared bankruptcy. (Photo via Google Maps)
Check phillymag.com each morning Monday through Thursday for the latest edition of Philly Today. And if you have a news tip for our hardworking Philly Mag reporters, please direct it here. You can also use that form to send us reader mail. We love reader mail!
Inside the Massive $20 Million Iron Hill Brewery Bankruptcy
Way back in February 2016, which seems like a lifetime ago, Philly Mag’s business reporter ran a story headlined “Iron Hill Brewery Is About to Grow at Hyper Speed.” And then Iron Hill proceeded to do just that. Nearly 10 years later, it has all crashed and burned, and Iron Hill recently closed all locations and just filed for bankruptcy on Saturday.
This isn’t the “good” type of bankruptcy, the type where you declare bankruptcy so you can restructure your business and move on. This is the bad type of bankruptcy, where you throw your hands up in the air and scream, “I’m done!”
Bankruptcy documents filed in federal court in New Jersey paint a bleak picture of Iron Hill’s financial situation. The company says that it has just $125,000 in its checking account. Meanwhile, Iron Hill has amassed debt of more than $20 million, $20,013,291.14 to be exact.
The vast majority of that debt – around $17,250,000 – is attributed to commercial banker BankUnited, which has a lien against Iron Hill. And then there is a long, long list of other companies and people Iron Hill owes money to, $14,000 and change here to a menu printing company, $700 there to advertise in the Pennsylvania Convention Center Visitors Guide, $500 to local musician Evan Joyce who hosted open mic nights… you get the idea.
So what do you do with that $100 Iron Hill gift card that your boss gave you instead of a raise last year? The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office has been receiving complaints about just that, and you can file your own complaint here. Or you can just cut your losses. If I had to wager, you, like most of their creditors, are never going to see a dime.
Transit Troubles
Due to that NTSB report indicating the dangers of SEPTA’s Regional Rail trains, you can expect significant delays and crowded train cars this month as SEPTA rushes to pull cars out of service and inspect them.
A Most Unexpected Combination
It’s not every day that I get to share with you a heist story that combines Guy Fieri, Sammy Hagar, 24,000 bottles of tequila, and Lansdale, so thanks to 60 Minutes for this one.
By the Numbers
+2200: After Monday night’s loss to the Dodgers, the new odds online gambling sites are giving to the Phillies winning the World Series. That means we have the worst odds among all the potential contenders. We’ll have to see what happens on Wednesday when the Phillies play the Dodgers again in L.A. One more loss, and we’re out.
47 degrees: Forecasted low for Wednesday, making it the coolest day we’ve seen since May. The high is supposed to be right around 70 degrees.
10: Years ago that the Canadian hitchhiking robot HitchBOT was found decapitated in Elfreth’s Alley. And the alley’s museum just commemorated the occasion with a big event. 550 people showed up!
Local Talent
Happy anniversary to Cecily Tynan, who just celebrated 30 years working at 6 ABC. That’s 30 years of blown forecasts. I jest. I jest. Sort of.
