Pretend to Tour a Brewery, Drink Real Beer at Mad Rex

Blueprint Brewing Co. out of Harleysville, Pennsylvania, is getting in on the post-apocalyptic theme with Mad Rex IPA, a beer brewed for Fishtown’s Mad Rex, the restaurant and virtual reality lounge that opened in the fall. To keep things dystopian, the beer is being described as a “blood red rye IPA” that’s “the perfect beer for the post-apocalyptic survivor.” Sure. It’s been available on tap at Mad Rex (1000 Frankford Ave) and, as of this week, is now also being sold in cans and bottles at the restaurant and at the brewery. Plans are in the works to start selling the beer at bottle shops and other restaurants and bars in the spring. Beer drinkers should be able to spot the bottles pretty easily, if so inclined, since they’ll have a skull design Mad Rex says will go with the décor and props at the restaurant. As a refresher, those props include weapons, costumed mannequin torsos, and a graffiti-covered helicopter (all of which Eater thought was in questionable taste).

When they’re drinking the beer, Mad Rex diners can pretend to take a tour of Blueprint’s facility through a virtual reality set-up — which sounds a lot tamer than the zombie attacks and other VR on offer. Harleysville isn’t even that far from Philly, for the real thing. On the plus side, that particular VR experience is free this month. After February there’s a charge, same as with any of the VR options at the restaurant.

Blueprint opened last year.

• Mad Rex Is the Post-Apocalyptic Restaurant Philly Didn’t Know It Needed
• Look Inside Mad Rex, the Post-Apocalyptic Restaurant
• I Went to an Apocalypse-Themed Restaurant and All I Got Was Some Lousy Pita