SEPTA's Lansdale-Doylestown Line Brewery Crawl

The Line:
SEPTA's Lansdale-Doylestown Line runs from center city Philadelphia to its last station in Doylestown. The Line's section from center city to Lansdale was originally part of the Reading Railroad's route from Philadelphia to Bethlehem and the Lansdale to Doylestown section was the Reading Railroad's Doylestown branch. The Line's electrified service originally went as far as West Trenton when it was opened in 1931, with plans to extend electrified service to Jersey City, but this never happened as a result of the Great Depression. 
As automobiles took over, ridership dropped to areas such as Bethlehem and the Leigh Valley area, resulting in the termination of the line north of Lansdale. 

The Breweries:
Six breweries were chosen for this crawl, starting in downtown Philadelphia and ending in Chalfont, PA. Doylestown Brewing Company currently is contract brewing, but they plan to open a location right in the center of town, so look forward to that addition. 

1. Nodding Head Brewery and Restaurant- This little second floor brewery is adorned with many little bobble heads of various personages. They maintain a small rotating tap list, which features many beers worthy of tasting. Having opened in January 2000 at the location of a former Samuel Adams Brew House, their beers have been earning awards, most recently at the Great American Beer Festival.
1. Note: Originally Triumph Brewing Company in the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia was the first stop on the crawl. Unfortunately is was discovered in January 2014 they would be selling this location (they still have locations at Princeton, NJ and New Hope, PA. They have officially closed as of April 2014; hopefully a new brewery will open there soon, the Inquirer article mentions the possibility, so lets hope!
2. GG Brewers- This little place often gets overlooked in the Philly beer scene. As far as size goes, they claim to be the world's 2nd smallest independent brewpub (I have no statistics to back that up).
3. Forest & Main Brewing Company- In a refurbished Victorian house located at the intersection of Forest Ave and Main St, is this cozy brewpub which serves up beers of both British and Belgium inspiration. With many small rooms and two levels to choose from, it is easy to find yourself a nice little corner to enjoy your beer.
4. Prism Brewing Company- This brewery got their start brewing at the now closed General Lafayette Inn and Brewery. They were able to open their own brewery in October 2010 and in less then a year also had a taproom in operation. In addition to their beer, you will also find PA Wine and gourmet hot dogs available to supplement your visit. Tours are at 3pm on Sundays.
5. Round Guys Brewing Company- Started by two friends (a biologist and an engineer), this Lansdale brewery is humming along. They have a tasting room where you can try their year round and seasonal beers. The host bands as well, so if you're lucky you will have some live music to enjoy your beer with.
6. Crabby Larry's Brewpub Steak and Crab House- You will be pleased to know that their really is a "Crabby Larry" and he just so happens to be a part of the duo, Larry and Dani, who run this Caribbean themed restaurant and brewpub. Starting out as a seafood restaurant, they decided decided to add brewpub to the mix after trying their hand at brewing. You'll find an assortment of beers that the couple has brewed using their 50 gallon batch system.    
7. Doylestown Brewing Company- (Note: No physical location; do not actually go to Doylestown in search of this brewery, you won't find it.) A new entrant to the beer scene, this brewery is currently contract brewing at City Brewing Co in Latrobe, PA. The plan, though, is to open up a brewery right in the middle of town for the operations where tours and tasting will be available. Their website indicates it will be coming Fall of 2014.

The Tour:

1. The tour will start in downtown Philadelphia and like the Keystone Line Crawl, start at Nodding Head (1516 Sansom Street); you’ll find them up the stairs on the 2nd floor.
2. After finishing at Nodding Head, walk to Suburban Station at 16th St and JFK Blvd where you will catch the Lansdale-Doylestown train. This underground station was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad and opened in 1930 to replace the original Broad Street Station.
3. Your first stop will be at Glenside for GG Brewers (282 North Keswick Ave). Take note of the historic Keswick Theater just across the street from the brewpub.   
4. The next station you will want to jump off the train at is Ambler in order to taste the brews of Forest & Main (61 North Main St). As you leave the station, you'll see the old Ambler station just across Butler Pike, now the Trax Restaurant & Cafe.
5. After another short train jaunt you will find yourself in North Wales and walking to Prism Brewing (810 Dickerson Rd). The roads for this walk generally do not have side walks and sometime not even a good shoulder is available for walking. If you want to take a longer route through more residential area it might provide for a safer visit.
6. The next station is Lansdale for a stop at Round Guys Brewing (324 West Main St), which is only a short walk down the street. Just north of the station, you can see the main tracks that in the line's heyday would take trains to Bethlehem.
7. The last stop will be at Chalfont to visit Crabby Larrys (237 West Butler Ave). The road here also does not always have a sidewalk, so be careful. Enjoy a beer and maybe a crab cake before getting that train back to downtown.

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For a quick roundup of the Philadelphia areas breweries, check out this list from visitphilly.com.