Who we are.
SUCCESSION Fermentory was founded by partners Keith Hartwig and Justin Kerber in the Fall of ‘21. Hartwig is a brewer, artist, and educator whose work builds connections between people, food producers, and their local environments. Kerber is a chef with over a decade of experience working in Philadelphia’s best restaurants. He is passionate about supporting local growers through his culinary practice and discovering the terroir of the Chester County region. Benjamin Devon, wine aficionado and food industry expert, joined the team in the Fall of ‘22.
What we do.
At SUCCESSION Fermentory we grow, we forage, and we ferment with the aim of capturing flavors and experience that our unique to our region and our place in time. The work we do keeps our environmental footprint small, while supporting our local economy and contributing to the growing diversity of local agricultural practices and products. We are a true farmhouse brewery.
What is succession?
Succession is the biological term for the change over time in species structure that occurs in an ecological community. This process of transformation is observed at all scales of life and time, from fields becoming forests over decades and centuries, to sweet wort becoming complex and mature beer over months and years. Preceding generations of organisms within the ecological community shape their environment, setting the stage for their successors. In spontaneously fermented beer, a cascade of microorganisms, each modifying the beer through their metabolic actions, eventually yield complex and characterful beers greater than the sum of their parts.
Our Koelschip being filled with hot wort. Here the wort cools overnight through ambient heat exchange and is exposed to wild yeast and bacteria that will trigger the spontaneous fermentation.
At SUCCESSION we lay the foundation for this fascinating process through the use of our koelschip, open fermentation, and barrel aging; each integral components in the time honored tradition of producing spontaneously fermented beers.
In addition to our spontaneously fermented beer program, we also produce a range of sour and farmhouse beers that reflect the quality and uniqueness of PA agriculture and ecology. Our products are a reflection of the places that we live, work, and play!
