Family Owned and Operated Brewery
We started Dancing Kilt Brewery as a way to bring locally brewed craft beer to Chester. Traveling Europe skiing the Alps, every town had their own local brewery, so why not our own home town? Our passion for the culinary arts has found brewing beer to be a natural extension. ~ Papa "P"
Our History
2014-2018
Concept to Planning
A seed was planted … Right after Christmas break within a two week period, twelve people asked if I was starting a brewery. The answer each time was emphatically “NO”. In retrospect, after twelve people asked in such a short period, perhaps I was just not listening. Time to do some research, and a feasibility study. The research turned into a business plan and site selection.
2018-2020
Breaking Ground
August 2018 we signed a lease. Time to start architectural design, ordering equipment, building permits, and scheduling contractors. After all the work was completed and equipment set in place, we passed all final inspections from various Federal, State, and Local authorities.
2020
Buildout complete – Government Shutdown – Navigating a Global Pandemic … rethinking delivery model
February 2020, we licensed to start brewing. Navigating federal, state, and local authorities we had our final inspections and ready to fire up the kettles. March 2020, we were asked to close for two weeks due to a global pandemic, CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19). Customers were not allowed into our tasting room. Rethinking our delivery model, we purchased a canning machine and 8oz cans for “Flights-to-GO”. A two week order cycle for canning equipment turned into months of delays.
2020-2021
Opening during a Pandemic | Flights-to-Go
Soft Opening June 30th: we served our first beer through Curbside Service. Customer purchased multiple flights-to-go for home tasting parties. August 11th we opened the tasting room with limited seating capacity including bar seating restrictions. We created a clean safe space with enhanced cleaning protocols. It was unfortunate we had to turn folks away due to limited seating capacity. During this time, many folks would not go out; however, would come to the brewery as they felt safe. We did not feel it was appropriate to advertise during a pandemic and turn folks away due to limited seating capacity. Our customer are so awesome, all social media including untappd was crowd sourced.
Grand Opening: One year after opening the tasting room, cautiously optimistic we had our outdoor Grand Opening. This was the first time we advertised outside of our local community. One month later, we brought home several medals (Gold, Silver, and two Bronze Medals).
2022
Expanding food menu and additions of wine, mead, & ciders
Our customers kept asking if we had beer alternatives, others were asking for more of the wines I crafted for the holidays. December 2021, we received our Wine License and have begun making wine, mead, and cider.
Brewing Philosophy
