What happens when a food scientist tastes his first craft beer?
Naturally, he wants to figure out how it’s made, and that is where the Zony Mash Beer Project story begins. Fast forward years later, head brewer Mitch Grittman has moved to New Orleans to pursue a career in food science, developing flavor profiles for the Smoothie King franchise by day, while becoming an award-winning home-brewer by night. His path eventually crossed with native Philadelphia restauranteur and developer, Adam Ritter, and conversations about a shared love of beer lead to late nights crafting brews on a small set-up in a warehouse owned by Ritter on Broad Street. The brew sessions inspired thoughts of opening a full-scale brewery, and when an irresistible opportunity dropped in their lap, they grabbed it. The duo moved a few doors down from the warehouse into the historic Gem Theater - one of only two remaining African American movie theaters still standing in the city – taking over a recently shuttered brewery and began transforming the space, and the local beer scene.