Three Breweries Took Turns in This Bank Street Room. Now the Distillery That Shared the Building Runs It.

At 518 Bank St. in Emmaus, the room with the open kitchen and the house-smoked brisket chili has worn several names. Yergey Brewing poured there. So did Funk Brewing. Weyerbacher Brewing Co. was the last brewery to use it as a taproom. The room is now the dining room of The Railyard, the expanded venue run by Triple Sun Spirits Co. This fall the distillery held a grand opening for the renovated space.

The difference this time is who signed for the room. Triple Sun had been working at the same address the whole time. Its tasting room and stills sat in the same building while the breweries rotated through. With The Railyard, the distillery took the entire footprint. Two of the room's earlier brewers, Funk's successor and Yergey, still pour at their own addresses in downtown Emmaus.

How One Room Kept Changing Hands

The rotation started years ago. In 2022, The Morning Call reported that Funk Brewing was moving its taproom to 518 Bank St. and keeping its brewery at 19 S. 6th St. Yergey Brewing also used the space at one point. Weyerbacher, the Easton brewery, opened its Emmaus Tap Room there in June 2024.

That run ended this year. In February, lehighvalleylive.com reported that the Emmaus Tap Room would close effective March 29, 2026. The taproom had posted that its lease would not be renewed and thanked everyone who had stopped in "for a beer, came out for trivia, shared a laugh."

Next, Triple Sun closed its own tasting room for renovations. According to The Morning Call's July 21 preview, the work included custom-built bars, a new game area, and a new dining area in the space Weyerbacher had left. The venue held a sneak peek in July and several soft-opening weekends before its grand opening.

Four Rooms Where There Used to Be Two Businesses

Before, the building held two separate operations: a brewery's taproom and a distillery's tasting room. Now each part of the building has a job, and three of them have their own bar. The table below compares each space with what it was before, as described in WFMZ's report on the grand opening.

The pinball lineup is specific. It includes Foo Fighters, Pokemon and 007: You Only Live Twice, along with Ms. Pac-Man and a Fast & Furious SuperCars racing game. The walls are covered in Philadelphia sports pennants. Partner Robert Johnson told WFMZ that each of the three rooms has its own bar and identity, and that guests can walk from one to the next.

The production room is still part of the building. It connects to the lounge and is open to the public for tours. Triple Sun distills gin, rum, corn whiskey and Pennsylvania straight bourbon there. Founder Kristofer Kwant opened the distillery in 2016, so the renovation also marks its tenth year.

The Kitchen Comes From a Food Truck

The menu tells you who joined. Johnson became a Triple Sun partner in January. He is also the chef and owner of the Licensed 2 Grill food truck, which has served a seasonal menu at events since 2015 and still runs as a separate business. The kitchen smokes its chicken, pork and other proteins on site.

The handhelds come on a brioche bun or a 10-inch Italian roll. WFMZ listed these among the current selections:

• Keystone BLT: house-smoked beef belly bacon, lemon-poppy dressed arugula, beefsteak tomatoes, garlic aioli
• Pacific Pitmaster: sweet and spicy Asian smoked pork, jalapeño bacon jam, Thai peanut sauce, Asian slaw
• Reading Line: house-smoked chicken and bacon, brown sugar bourbon glaze, creamy BBQ slaw, house pickles

House-smoked brisket chili, a Santa Fe wedge salad and a South-West Cobb round out the list. Johnson told WFMZ that the menus will change with the seasons, based on what local farmers have fresh each week. He has also said he wants to host a recurring food truck gathering outside the building. That's still an idea, and no schedule has been set.

A Distillery Bar That Pours Other People's Drinks

The new name signals that the bar now serves more than Triple Sun's own spirits. Co-owner Rob Johnson told The Morning Call the rename was "primarily a designation of the concept that we offer more than just Triple Sun product," and Kris Kwant said the name fits because the building is "right along the tracks."

Beer on Bank Street now comes from a partner instead of a tenant. The Railyard's craft beer partner is Lost Tavern Brewing, with nearly a dozen Lost Tavern beers on tap. They include Tapper, a Japanese rice lager; Onomatopoeia, a fruited sour ale; and Catching Fire, a New England IPA. The bar also carries spirits from Bluebird and Eight Oaks and beer from McCall, Victory and Yuengling.

Triple Sun's own cocktails are still on the list. Two of them are a smoked maple Manhattan and the Railside Alchemist, made with house gin, cucumber, mint, lime and a little jalapeño. The distillery also launched Reilly's Rebellion, a mid-tier line of vodka, gin, bourbon and spiced rum. The original Triple Sun bottles remain its ultra-premium line.

Regular hours are 4 to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Those replace the Thursday-to-Saturday hours announced in July. Triple Sun's older Emmaus web page may still list the space as closed for renovations, so the hours above are the ones to use.

Where the Room's Former Brewers Pour Now

Two of the room's three brewers are still in Emmaus, pouring at their own addresses. The third went back to its Easton base.

• Illumination Brewing, 19 S. 6th St. This is Funk's original brewery address. Illumination Brewing was founded in 2023 and acquired the Funk Brewing brand. Its Emmaus taproom sits inside the brewery and offers eight draft lines, cocktails, pet-friendly outdoor seating and food trucks every day. Hours are 4 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, 4 to 10 p.m. Thursday, 1 to 10 p.m. Friday, noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. It's closed Monday and Tuesday.
• Yergey Brewing, 235 Main St. Yergey runs its own taproom brewery on Main Street and keeps an events calendar on its website.
• Weyerbacher. After the Emmaus Tap Room closed, the company's Easton production brewery and barroom remained its home base.

Before, a night out on Bank Street meant whichever brewery currently had the room. Now The Railyard, Illumination and Yergey each have a permanent address in downtown Emmaus, and two of them run kitchens or food trucks.

Building a Saturday Around December 5

The first big night on the winter calendar falls on a Saturday when both The Railyard and Illumination are open. Emmaus Old Fashioned Christmas takes over Triangle Park at Fourth and Main streets on Saturday, December 5, 2026. The Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce listing runs the event from 4 to 7 p.m. Emmaus Rotary is looking for volunteers and food donations for the East Penn Food Program. It hasn't published the full program yet.

Here's how the posted hours line up that day:

1. Noon: Illumination Brewing opens on S. 6th Street, with food trucks outside.
2. 4 p.m.: The Railyard opens on Bank Street, and Old Fashioned Christmas starts on the Triangle.
3. 7 p.m.: Old Fashioned Christmas wraps up on the Triangle.
4. 10 p.m.: The Railyard and Illumination both close.

Check Yergey's website for its Saturday hours before you head to Main Street. By early December, the Bank Street room will also be on its winter menu. Brisket chili and the speakeasy lounge make it a good spot to warm up after an evening outdoors on the Triangle.

I've spent thirty years taking apart and rebuilding buildings like 518 Bank St., and this renovation shows what careful planning can do. Triple Sun turned a taproom, an event room and a tasting room into four connected spaces without moving out of its footprint. If you own a commercial or mixed-use building in downtown Emmaus and want to know what a renovation could do for its value, Jeff Adams can walk the space with you and scope the work. Start with a free valuation.