As we wind up 2025 everywhere you look there are stories and lists of the “Best of the Year” or the “Highlights of 2025”. It’s natural to do a look back at the past year and what helped define it. For many BeerAppreciators this leads to checking out published lists of “the Best Beers of 2025” the “Best New Beer Styles”, or “America’s Best Breweries”.
2025 was not a great year for the beer industry overall, with all beer continuing to lose ground to shifting tastes to alternatives like canned premixed cocktails, flavored seltzer concoctions, N/A beers and the like. But, even within this cloud one can find some silver linings, and one of them is a new brewery (about one year old) in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties neighborhood called “Future Days”.
Welcome to the Future Days Beer Company
I didn’t know of Future Days, but one lazy holiday afternoon I was skimming though one of the “Best of” lists in the fine blog on beverages “Vine Pair” and in a list of “Best New Breweries 2025” there it was – “ Future Days Beer Co” in Philadelphia. How did I miss that one? Well, I got myself up there to check it out.
It opened about a year ago as the fruits of the labor of essentially four people with a passion for great beer – partners Sean McGuire and Nick Mata along with their very significant others – including Brielle Saracini – Sean’s significant, who was pouring beers at the bar a recent brisk Saturday afternoon.
The place is not large, located in a clean, rehabbed small carriage house on Fairmont street near 5th. As you walk up the stairway to the tap room you are greeted with a bright, clean and inviting semi-industrial tap room. The honey colored wooden bar is inviting as well, and Brielle was welcoming – happy to talk with patrons while she cheerfully filled their glasses and mugs.
I started out my journey with a clean, clear, and nicely bitter “West Coast IPA”, a style that is harder to find today than you would think. It was served in a stylish branded stem glass, and was delicious. To my personal preference, “Cavern” IPA clocked in at just 5.6% ABV making it very drinkable, and crushable at the same time. I noticed that most all of the beers on tap – the two New England IPA’s, Pale Ale, Alt Beer and Coffee porter were all about 5% give or take. When I asked if the lower ABV trend was intentional, Sean said “not really, but yes”. They make and serve really good “beer-flavored beer” in solid, clean, lower ABV styles for those who really appreciate craft beer.
Comfortable at the bar with fine beers
Two of their standouts included their refreshing Kolsh eponymously named “Future Days” and their delicately flavored smoked Helles Pils “Sympathy”. The latter is a great example of using restraint and control in brewing, while at the same time creating a flavorful drinking experience. It was clear that the folks at Future Days really cared about not only their beer but how it was created, presented and served. Yes, they rinsed off the outside of the glass after pouring, and yes they had multiple side pour taps for their lagers. (Later I enjoyed a “milk tube” or “Mlíko” pour of their black IPA which was refreshing and creamy).
Brielle and Sean were very accessible and more than willing to talk about what they have been doing with Future Days, and also happy to ask their patrons about their interests. Brielle even asked me what kind of music I liked (after I commented on their “Yoga with Bowie” event poster). Of course, I was ready for them to laugh at my 1980’s and 90’s musical preferences, but instead Brielle offered “I love Tom Petty too – we saw him at Music Fest just before he died..” Later, as I whiled away my time tasting several delicious beers at the bar, I swear I heard a number Tom Petty songs on the play list. “Running Down a Dream” indeed.
Sean and Brielle, working hard and living the dream…
And quite a dream it’s been for Sean and Nick – home brewing for a decade and perfecting their recipes, going to craft breweries in New York state to get inspirations for what they wanted to do. I asked Sean if there was any one brewery the inspired him, and he said that it was “Suarez Brothers” in Hudson New York. (This highly regarded brewery is known in the northeast for their straight forward but inventive approach to brewing). This naturally lead to a lively discussion about our favorite breweries, and we quickly agreed on Kane, The Seed, and one of Sean’s favorites “Fox Farm” in Connecticut.
Sean rising off the outside of the glasses – another touch of care at Future Days
We talked about the challenges they faced spinning up Future Days, the four of them doing everything from tending bar, brewing, endless cleaning, to managing the brewery’s finances – doing everything themselves. “Scaling up was difficult” Sean related. “Not really the recipes themselves, but the equipment, the operations – we wanted to offer a selection of beers as soon as we could, but we wanted it to be right, we didn’t want to rush things. The beer had to be ready”.
Usually brewing 5 barrel batches once a week in a 10 barrel brew house, Sean feels that they can still grow with their current set up, though the facilities are tight. “I’d love to have another kettle for our lagers” he remarked, as the slow, cold fermentation process ties up the equipment. But, the quality of the beer is the reward!
It’s not often that I find a new brewery that really stands out like “Future Days” – classic styles brewed with quality and care. I was happy to find that while craft beer appears to be losing market share and the mindshare of many younger imbibers, in 2026 there are still new, high quality, intentional breweries popping up like this one. Future Days is managed by passionate and skilled people who really care about beer. I think all BeerAppreciators can agree that we all look forward to more Future Days ahead.
YUM! Mliko pour, get it before it settles!
