A “tiny but mighty” microbrewery and retro arcade is set to level up Springfield this summer.
Battle Royale Brewing Co., owned by Matthew Courchain and his wife, Stephanie, will open at 21 E. Springfield Rd.
“I’m excited, it’s like hanging in somebody’s basement. You get to see friends, have some beers with them, play some games, challenge people,” Courchain told What Now Philadelphia.
The Courchains describe themselves as “just a couple of elder millennial parents who are also big lovers of beer, music, all things ’80s and ’90s.”
Battle Royale Brewing Co. aims to channel the same kind of throwback, hangout energy often associated with “MTV Cribs.”
“The building’s like a parallelogram, there’s some weird corners. I want to have a corner stacked with CRT screens where I’ll play vintage MTV—really pinning down the nostalgia,” he said.
Courchain bought a large number of glow-in-the-dark slinkies and plans to turn them into a decorative fixture. The idea is to hang the slinkies in a circular shape, such as around a hula hoop, and place black lights inside so they glow. The result would be a “slinky chandelier” serving as a design feature in the space.
The microbrewery will feature a mix of pinball and arcade games with a pay-by-the-quarter model instead of hourly pricing.
The pinball machines are newer Stern models, including “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Stranger Things,” “John Wick,” “X-Men” and two “Avengers” machines, along with a vintage early 1990s “The Simpsons” unit.
The arcade lineup includes about eight to 10 vintage machines such as “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “Ms. Pac-Man,” “Galaga,” “Centipede,” “Cruis’n USA,” “Time Crisis 3” and “Xevious,” plus a Sega sit-down “Strike Fighter.”
The space will also feature TVs connected to Nintendo Switch consoles for “Super Mario” and “Super Smash Bros.” tournaments, along with a Wii system for “Guitar Hero.”
Courchain plans to host a variety of events, including themed Quizzo, karaoke and bring-your-own-vinyl nights.
The microbrewery will offer beer, seltzers and nonalcoholic beverages, including birch beer and root beer.
Courchain will personally brew the beer using a two-barrel system.
“Basically with beer, you add grains to water, heat it up, boil the water, cool it down, put it in a fermentor, and add some yeast. Yeast eats the sugar and turns it into alcohol,” he said. “I’m going to have a good array of beers. I’d like to broaden my horizons with dark beers, ambers, and a nice, crisp Pilsner.”
Battle Royale Brewing Co. will include a “dirty seltzer” bar, where customers can choose from a variety of flavors to add to the team’s house-brewed, unflavored seltzers.
A snack bar will offer light bites including hot dogs and popcorn, and guests are also welcome to order from nearby restaurants.
“There’s a deli attached to us named Sleep Hollow Deli. They have really good food. It’s a pillar of the community. It’s been there for 60 years and we can order food from them. There’s also a pizza shop around the block named Sciarrino’s and then there’s Napoletanos. I’m planning to work with them to collaborate on beer,” Courchain said.
While an official opening date has not been announced, once open the new hangout will operate from 3 p.m. to midnight on weekdays and from noon to midnight on weekends.
Visit the Battle Royale Brewing Co. website and follow along on Instagram and Facebook for the latest updates on the build-out and grand opening.
[Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include an interview with Matt Courchain.]
