South Jersey Brewery Makes Exclusive Phillies Beer For London Series

Major League Baseball "invades" London, England as the Philadelphia Phillies face off with their National East Advasaries New York Mets. The classic rivalry between Philadelphia and New York will be on full display inside London Stadium.

While lifelong Phillies fan Rob McElhenney has to make a difficult decision to make ahead of the first pitch in London, back here in the United States all Phillies and Mets fans will be watching on TV.

Down in South Jersey, a local Craft Brewery is releasing a new brew to celebrate this unique matchup between the Phillies and Mets in London. This new Craft Beer will debut right before the 1:10 pm EST First Pitch of the Phillies-Mets game on Saturday, June 8th.

What Is The New Beer For Phillies London Series

Gusto Brewing Company, located in North Cape May, has collaborated with Major League Brews to release a new Craft Beer called "EEPHUS". In honor of the Phillies playing in London, this English-style premium Bitter Ale is made with a rare batch of hops.

According to Gusto Brewing Owner Zack Pashley, the hops they got for this new craft brew is Bramling Cross. This rare breed of hops dates back to the early 1900s and was first harvested by Wye College located about two hours southeast of London Stadium.

Even though Wye College closed its doors in 2009, the legend of the Bramling Cross Hops still lives for Craft Beer Enthusiasts. Only appropriate for a rare English Breed of Hops would be used by Gusto Brewing Company and Major League Brews for the Phillies London Series versus the Mets.

Keeping with Gusto Brewing Company's theme of "Keep It Weird", this collaboration brew is named after one of the most infamous pitches in Baseball History.  "EEPHUS" comes from the Hebrew word for "nothing" and Pittsburgh Pirates Pitcher Rip Sewell developed the pitch as a slower version of the classic Breaking Ball.

Over the following decades, pitchers such as the Boston Red Sox Bill Lee (1970s), Toronto Blue Jays Dave Stieb (1980s), and New York Yankees Orlando Hernandez (1998-2004) all threw variations of the classic EEPHUS pitch.

I spoke with Gusto Brewing's Zack Pashley about how this new Craft Beer for the Phillies London Series came to life:

"The idea was presented to us by Anthony Armando, who operates Major League Brews on social media. Anthony says to me 'Hey! You guys love making classic English beers and you love the Phillies… ' then we collaborated to create the new EEPHUS."

The collaboration beer will debut on Saturday, June 8th when Gusto Brewing Company opens their doors to the public at 1 pm. Phillies and Craft Beer fans are both invited to come out and enjoy the new EEPHUS brew while watching the Phillies play the Mets on the TVs inside the tasting room.

Gusto Brewing Company will also open at 11 am on Sunday, June 9th, the earliest time they can open under New Jersey's Craft Brewery Laws. But the Phillies-Mets game will still be on the TVs and you can come out to enjoy this special Phillies in London Beer.
The EEPHUS Craft Beer will also be available for sale in special commemorative cans.

Featuring the Phillies mascot The Phanatic in a London Royal Guard uniform, the can is wrapped in a Wooden Baseball Bat design.

For more information about Gusto Brewing Company and their upcoming events, you can visit their Facebook page.

Speaking of Gusto Brewing Company, the 2024 Summer Season is here and some of the best summertime Craft Beers can be found in South Jersey.  Here is a list of the 16 Craft Brews you can find at local breweries for summer drinking: