Iron Hill Brewery reopens in Hershey with beer, food, and events

Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant has reclaimed its spot on West Chocolate Avenue, reopening in Hershey on Monday, June 1, after a brief absence that left a visible gap in the town’s beer-and-dining lineup.

The return is built around the same draw that made Iron Hill one of the better-known regional brewery-restaurant brands in Pennsylvania and Delaware: award-winning beer brewed on-site, scratch-made food, and a menu that still leans into the kind of dishes that keep a brewpub busy well beyond happy hour. Cheesesteak egg rolls are back in the mix, along with the broader sit-down experience that made the original location a familiar stop for locals looking for beer with a meal instead of a quick pint.

This reopening also comes with a more deliberate effort to look like part of Hershey again, not just a restaurant chain reopening a door. Iron Hill said it was leaning into local hiring, live music, neighborhood events, and a partnership with Cocoa Packs, a signal that the brand sees value in building around the community as much as serving it. That matters in a year when many brewery concepts are shrinking or retooling. Iron Hill is choosing the opposite path, bringing back a full brewpub model rather than a stripped-down version.

The company’s heritage gives the comeback extra weight. Iron Hill has operated for about 30 years, and its own website traces the brand back to homebrewed beer recipes and a goal of being “the best local brewery in the world.” That history sits behind flagship beers that still carry cachet, including Russian Imperial Stout and Vienna Red Lager, both of which help frame the reopening as a return to a known beer identity rather than a fresh experiment.

The Hershey reopening also follows a bruising stretch for the chain. Iron Hill closed all of its locations and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the prior year, and WGAL reported in March that Rightlane LLC was planning to reopen five former Iron Hill sites, including Hershey and Lancaster. At the time, the expectation was that the Hershey and Lancaster locations would be back by the end of June if permits, staffing, and equipment lined up.

For Hershey, the comeback restored more than a familiar name. It brought back a brewpub built around beer, food, and programming, with a local nonprofit tie-in that already has proven value. After Iron Hill’s sudden closure in September 2025, Cocoa Packs said it rescued nearly $15,000 worth of food and turned it into meals for more than 1,000 children. On West Chocolate Avenue, that makes the reopening feel less like a simple relaunch and more like a test of whether a long-running brewpub can still matter as a neighborhood anchor.