Tag Archives: CLAYMONT DE

APOTHECARY BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

CLAYMONT, DELAWARE

At the Town And Country Shopping Center in Claymont (just outside Wilmington), APOTHECARY BREWING COMPANY took over Hangman Brewery’s former space October 2025. Long time homebrewers John Ponte and Andy Poole craft well rounded fare for the community-focused pub that hosts local talent at its small stage and features an art gallery.

In a mustard yellow side shop, the rustic white-walled, cement-floored, brown aluminum-ceilinged mill opens up to a bark-laden bar with three draught boards (offering 20-plus taps). There are several chaired tables and TV’s at all sides.

During a bustling chili cookoff on a Sunday in February ’26, my wife and I stand at the bar and try four fine draughts amongst the standing room only crowd. We missed out on caramelized Greazed Scotsman Scottish Ale, juicy-fruited In Between Haze IPA, citric Philadelphia Pike Pale Ale and Arch-Bier Amber Ale. Ciders and meads were also available.

Crisply clean pale-cleared flagship, Claymont Cream Ale, placed corn-sugared sweet beading across grassy hop astringency and herbal whims.

Soft-toned, flattish Cupid’s Arrow Blonde Ale stayed mild as tart passionfruit and hibiscus adjuncts picked up floral-daubed kuzu lemon, mandarin orange and tangerine snips.

On the dark side were two robustly full bodied enchanters.

Dry medium-roast coffee nuttiness consumed The Queen Is Dead English Porter, leaving dark chocolate bittering on its wood-burnt hop char.

On the sweet side, Stone School Stout, an Apothecary staple, combined caramelized nuttiness with roasted chocolate, creamy vanilla and milk-sugared coffee tones.

HANGMAN BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

HANGMAN BREWING COMPANY - 19 Photos - Breweries - 2703 Philadelphia Pike, Claymont, DE - Phone Number

CLAYMONT, DELAWARE

Just outside of Wilmington in the sleepy village of Claymont, HANGMAN BREWING COMPANY sprung into action March ’20 after a years worth of delays. Inside a tan-bricked mall (with blue awning) at the Town & Country Shopping Center at a former lawnmower repair shop, Hangman’s founding manager Brad Wagner and head brewer Matthew Presley then had to shutdown due to Covid19 before reopening the tavern-like brewpub many months hence (closing permanently 2024).

A cavernous pipe-exposed ceiling provides airy spaciousness to Hangman’s otherwise compact one-room main space. An octagon-shaped, railroad tie-fronted lacquered wood bar (with 16 tap handles and 20 seats) spreads across one side of the cement-floored interior while high chair-bound seating and a cornered music stage fill out the rest.  A mezzanine area and small outdoor caged deck provide further seating.

Local wines and spirits are available alongside a steady stream of fine small-batch ales emanating from the brew tanks hidden behind the bar.

My wife and I converse with bartender Mo Russ and proprietor Wagner while downing four rangy (generically named) IPA’s, a snazzy tripel, a fruited sour and flagship cream ale.

Basic maize-dried barleycorn crisping suited grassy-hopped Hangman Light, a dry cream ale with mild herbal snips.

Salted passionfruit tartness surfaced alongside sour lime for slightly acidic Passionfruit Sour, a mouth-puckering sucker given guava, gooseberry and white grape wisps.

A fulsome standout, Belgian Tripel loaded lemon-wedged orange peel zesting and banana bubblegum sweetness with spicy white-peppered Chardonnay buttering above honeyed wheat base.

Dewy compost earthiness sunk into the orange-tangerine oiling of Citra-hopped American IPA, an oats-based moderation.

A fruity bouquet propels East Coast IPA, leaving red berry, red cherry, navel orange and tangerine tanginess as well as perfumed grapefruit zesting to outdo its piney remnant.

Tingly sugar-spiced orange, pineapple and grapefruit juiciness sparked wood-dried West Coast IPA.

Floral-perfumed lemony orange spicing paced dry Hazy IPA, a vaguely New England-styled medium body.

On New Years Eve, 2021, revisited Hangman to imbibe another four diverse brews.

Lemony raspberry spritz gained vinous green grape tartness as well as sour raw honeyed respite for Honey Raspberry Lemonade Sour, tendering a puckered sweet-tart finish.

Dryly soft-toned NEIPA, Frosty The Hangman, brought candi-sugared Belgian yeast to delicate mandarin orange, tangerine and tangelo tanginess for a lovely Belgo-American treat.

Dry English Brown Ale, Dark, let dewy brown leaf astringency pick up oily nuttiness above its burnt toast base.

Mild ancho-adobo peppering and lightly seared nutty dark chocolate swayed Hot Kat Porter, leaving wintry spices on the back end.