
January 17, 2025
Ten7 head brewer Matthew Nitchke says wheat beers, including Weihenstephaner and Paulaner, were his 'gateway' into craft beer.
Before Bob and Joanne Heger became partial owners of Ten7 Brewing Co., they would go on trips to explore the beer scenes of other cities. While they were finding inspiration, back at their house in Montgomery County their dog sitter was enjoying whatever the homebrewers had on tap.
"I would always get to try the product and thought it was really awesome," said Matt Nitchke, who was elevated from dog sitter to head brewer shortly after the Hegers – along with Bob's sister Karen Coleman and their longtime friend Gerry Viglietti – opened the brewery in North Wales in the fall of 2018.
Nitchke grew up down the street from the Hegers and went to Lansdale Catholic High School with one of their daughters. He was a homebrewer for six years before getting the gig at Ten7 and said wheat beers, including Weihenstephaner and Paulaner, was his "gateway" into craft beer.
"We used to go to this bar called Stephanie's (in Doylestown) and all of my friends that were girls liked it because there was sort of a dance club vibe out of the basement, but I loved it because the upstairs had this craft beer bar with like 60 beers on tap," he said. "And that summer that I turned 21, I just basically spent almost every weekend there, and the bartender walked me through everything."
As he started making his own beers, Nitchke gravitated toward another fan-favorite style: hazy IPAs.
"That's what I liked brewing because I really liked the flavor profiles that we could do," he said.
So when Ten7 was deciding on a beer to mark its first anniversary, it went with a triple hazy IPA. The selection was a sign of things to come, as the style is the most common on the brewery's draft list. Year 1 (10.2% ABV) was recently rereleased and is one of six hazy IPAs Ten7 has on tap: See You, Space Cowboy (8.5%), Fam Squad (8.5%), Cloud Surfing (7.3%), Summers End (7%) and Relax (6.5%).
"Don't get me wrong, I love a bright, crisp lager that you can see through; that's gorgeous," Nitchke said. "But at the same time, if you have a nice orangish, yellowish, golden hazy IPA, when the sun hits that, it just looks like a glass of the freshest orange juice that you've ever seen. If you look at it, you're like, wow, I want to drink that. And when we make our beers, we try to get that really nice golden, orangey, yellow color."
In addition to brewing hazy IPAs, another Ten7 staple from the beginning is how they serve their flights. After "many late-night conversations," the owners settled on using stemless wine glasses in six-hole muffin pans with the two cups in the middle filled with pretzels.
"We wanted something that sort of cleanses the palate," Nitchke said of the salty snack that's included with the flights. "... So you're not drinking some crazy fruited sour and then going onto a stout and realizing I don't know if these work together that well."
Here's Matt Nitchke's handpicked six-pack. Each beer choice is based on prompts provided by PhillyVoice, and we asked him to limit selections of Ten7's beers. The answers have been edited for length and clarity.
Julius, Tree House, 6.8% ABV
There's a bunch that I view as inspiration and it's always changing. But I think getting my hands on some Julius from Tree House back in the day is really when I was blown away by what a hazy IPA could be. I had to find more like it, and as the years have gone by more and more people have perfected the style and really helped our industry grow. So whether you love 'em or hate 'em, you've got to respect 'em.
Tmavy 13°, Human Robot, 5.3% ABV
I'd say any good amber or dark lager pairs best with pretzels, and a dark lager that I'm always drinking is Human Robot's Tmavy 13°. It's one of my favorite beers they make. It's just crisp and clean with great lightly roasted character.
Hefeweizen, Weihenstephaner, 5.4% ABV
I'd say if you picked any beer on their tap list you can't go wrong. My personal favorite though would be Weihenstephaner's Hefeweizen. Wheat beers were my first introduction into craft beer, and that beer just brings me back to where it all started. It's just a beautiful beer, the color, smell and taste. Everything about it is magical.
Nitro Dry Irish Stout, Ten7, 4.6% ABV
I'm a big Guinness guy. So especially around St. Patrick's Day, my Guinness intake goes up. However, since we can't serve Guinness at the brewery, I have the next best thing which is our Nitro Dry Irish stout, inspired by Guinness.
DDH Bleed Green, Rebel Hill, 6.8% ABV
DDH Bleed Green from Rebel Hill is fantastic and so flavorful. And just the perfect name. It's been an uphill battle, but the Birds constantly get the job done and they truly bleed green for the city of Philadelphia. There's no better sports city than our city.
Hopivore, Ten7, 6.1% ABV
The beer I always have in my fridge is Hopivore from Ten7. It's piney, bitter with some citrus pithiness and finishes nice and dry. It's everything you want from a West Coast IPA, and it's one of my personal favorites, so I always have that stocked.