Night Shift Brewing Adds Distribution in Pennsylvania

Night Shift Brewing is headed to Pennsylvania — just not with as big of a splash as the Everett, Massachusetts-headquartered craft brewery had once hoped.

Starting in mid-November, Night Shift’s beer will begin arriving in the Keystone State to be distributed by Penn Beer Distributors, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Night Shift co-founder Rob Burns told Brewbound that the craft brewery’s products will be available in Philadelphia, Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lehigh, Montgomery and Northampton counties.

“We are starting with just that footprint, and then [we’ll] look to expand after we get things rolling,” he said.

The company will initially ship core brands such as Santilli IPA, Whirlpool New England pale ale, Nite Lite lager and Hoot Hard Seltzer, among others.

Night Shift’s ambitions in Pennsylvania aren’t small. The company anticipates Penn Beer Distributors becoming its biggest wholesaler outside of its self-distribution business, Night Shift Distributing, in its home state of Massachusetts.

Outside of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, Night Shift sells beer in three counties around Portland, Maine, via Nappi Distributors; New Hampshire, by Amoskeag Beverages; New York City, with Sarene Craft Beer Distributors; and Connecticut, where it began deliveries two weeks ago via its recently launched self-distribution business.

In May, Night Shift scrapped a $12 million plan to open a 130,000 sq. ft. production brewery and taproom in Philadelphia due to the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, Burns and co-founders Michael Oxton and Mike O’Mara said pushing forward with the proposed Philadelphia brewery was “too dangerous, threatening a potential collapse of NSB” if they didn’t pull the plug.

Burns, Oxton and O’Mara haven’t completely shut the door on resurrecting the project in the future.

Asked if expanding distribution via Penn would lock Night Shift into a franchise agreement or if the company had worked out a similar arrangement as it had in Connecticut with Sarene, Burns said “Penn is well aware of our past plans and future plans. So the relationship is very honest and transparent.”

Speaking of Connecticut, Burns said Night Shift’s self-distribution business in the state is “off to a great start,” with 50 accounts secured and “a whole lot more” coming in the months ahead as the company brings on additional NSD partners.

Where could Night Shift go next? New Jersey makes sense, in terms of connecting geographies. Burns said the Garden State is on the company’s radar “but likely not in the near term.”