Old Forge Launching in Philly TODAY

The original, MUCH smaller brewery, and Damien.

Should've had this up earlier because Damien Malfara at Old Forge is a great guy and a talented brewer, but, well, here it is: Old Forge Brewing of Danville, PA (which is a very cool place, you should go) has pumped up their capacity significantly, and is launching in Philadelphia today at Standard Tap at 7:00. They'll have their two standards, T-Rail Pale Ale and Endless Summer Ale, in kegs and cans, but they're also bringing a Bourbon Barrel Aged Brown Ale in firkin, Ludwig's Lager, Bourbon Barrel Quad, Bourbon Barrel Aged Hank The Belgian Stout, Ol' Smithy Spiced Winter Ale, Underbite IPA, and Slack Tub Stout (on nitro, which I think is the sleeper hit in the pack, my go-to at Old Forge...unless there's a batch of altbier on).

Can't make it tonight? Try the Whole Foods in Plymouth Meeting tomorrow from 6 to 8; the Perch Pub at Broad & Locust on Friday for lunch with Damien, noon to 2; and then a quick canned happy hour (T-Rail and Endless are in 16 oz. cans) at Percy Street BBQ, and then from 6 to 8 at Beer Heaven on the river in Pennsport; Saturday you can find Damien at The Beer Store in Southampton from 2 to 4, and the whole wild trip winds up Saturday night at The Blind Pig in Northern Liberties from 6:00 until Damien falls over.


You should try to get out for this. Old Forge is smack-dab in the middle of the hottest brewing area in PA right now, and Damien's a Fox Chase boy who went off to the sticks to be with his sweetheart, and got thirsty, and had to make his own beer just to survive...and it was so good he thought he'd bring some back home. Go, taste, have some fun!

Tomorrow is Groundhog Day: WAKE UP, PHILLY!

Tomorrow is February 2, Groundhog Day.

If you drink beer in Philly, though...tomorrow is February 2, is Groundhog Day! That's when we start the day very very early at the Grey Lodge Pub, with the doors opening at 7 AM for the Hawaiian Shirt Beer Breakfast. There are little events all morning with Yards, Sierra Nevada, Tröegs, and Victory, culminating in the noontime beer prognostication by Wissinoming Winnie, the Grey Lodge's Lucky Cat. 

Hey, I know, but like Scoats says, 

The Groundhog Day Hawaiian Shirt Beer Breakfast and Lucky Cat Beer Prognostication is probably the stupitest event that we do at The Grey Lodge, and we set the bar on stupit pretty high (or should that be low?), so don't miss it. 

Right? See you there!

Do we want Philly to be Brussels-on-Schuylkill?

Philly is still in the running for New Belgium's east coast brewery, according to this story from Charlotte, N.C.'s WBTV. Crowing a bit over Sierra Nevada's decision to settle near Asheville -- and understandably so! -- WBTV noted:

New Belgium Brewing, known for its tasty Fat Tire beer, is also considering the Asheville area for a possible plant. New Belgium recently toured the Western NC area for possible sites. Both brewers want to expand beer output and to cut shipping costs with East Coast plants.
"Asheville and Philly are leading our short list of sites," New Belgium spokesman Bryan Simpson told the Denver Post last month.

Leading the short list. How does Sierra Nevada deciding on Asheville affect that? You could say -- as I'm sure many are thinking -- that New Belgium will now look away, since Sierra Nevada's in town. There's not room for two big breweries in town. That doesn't follow for sure; for instance, look at all the pharmaceutical industries around Philadelphia, look at Silicon Valley, or, if you prefer, look at Portland -- either Portland, where several good-sized craft breweries are in business quite close to each other.

This doesn't preclude New Belgium settling in Asheville at all. It's still attractive for the same reasons it always was, and now you've got an added attraction, in that having Sierra in the area will draw support industries, draw skilled workers, create an atmosphere even more supportive of craft beer. As our pharmaceutical businesses have learned, that's a tangible benefit.

However...Philadelphia is also still attractive for the same reasons it always was, and -- no slight to Asheville -- we've got more to offer. Let me enumerate:

• You want outdoor? Hey, mountain kids: meet The Shore. That's right, we have an ocean right over there. And if you want hiking, the Appalachian Trail -- you've heard of that, right? -- is right over there. An hour to the ocean, two hours max to the AT.
• You want fun? Philly's got music, restaurants, bike trails, all this historical stuff you may have heard of, and...unlike Asheville OR Denver, we're a quick train ride or drive from three other major fun towns: NYC, Baltimore, and DC (and I can tell you, Boston's not that much farther).
• You want infrastructure? Multiple major highways, rail nexus, AND a major port. Growing breweries already in place to pull talent and suppliers, and some of them already on-board with the whole green idea. And there's that pharmaceutical industry I mentioned, with lots of crossover (like the dairy business was in the early days). 
• You want beer culture? Again, no slight to Asheville, but...Philly Beer Week. The most recognized Belgian bistro in America (plus several others), and what is said to be the biggest market for Belgian beer in the country. Craft taps in a substantial percentage of area bars. A beer-savvy local government. And again...Philly Beer Week.
• You want to sell beer? Guys...look at the map. Are there more craft beer drinkers within 300 miles of Asheville...or Philly. Nuff said. 

But what about the other side of this equation? Does Philly want New Belgium? I suspect our local brewers -- several of whom make a good living doing just what New Belgium does --  would not necessarily be up for that, but...if I were a local politician, if I were a local business owner, if I were a taxpayer?  

Welcome to Pennsylvania, Kim Jordan!

New Belgium means jobs. Good jobs, vested jobs. New Belgium means green manufacturing. They are a model for low-impact industry. New Belgium means an even larger beer culture. It's true; yes, Philly, we can do better (I wrote that almost 5 years ago, and it's still true). New Belgium means better beer. Everything I wrote earlier this week about Sierra Nevada forcing Asheville's brewers to up their game? Holds true here, too.

Not to mention...our local brewers can definitely hold their own. I have no doubt of it. Our guys -- from Victory, to Flying Fish, to Dogfish Head (yeah, they're local enough), to Yards and Philly Brewing, to Iron Hill and McKenzie, to Nodding Head, and even our man Dick Yuengling -- can handle this. They're good. Real good.

And that's good, because New Belgium brings resources and cooperation, too. They're good citizens in many ways. I also guarantee you that they'd bring new excitement and beer tourism to the area...which is good for everyone in the game. Including we drinkers!

I hope Philly's still in the hunt, and I hope our local governments are smart enough to be helping things along.

Sierra Nevada decides on the site for their Eastern brewery: is it time to run for the hills?

Sierra Nevada has chosen Asheville, North Carolina -- okay, Mills River, 12 miles south of Asheville, but from 100 miles or more away...it's Asheville, and you can bet that the beer-happy folks in Asheville will see it that way, too --  as the site for their new east coast expansion brewery. Plans are for a brewery with 300,000 bbls. initial capacity. “We are thrilled to have found an ideal location in western North Carolina for our second brewery,” says Ken Grossman, founder of Sierra Nevada. “The beer culture, water quality and quality of life are excellent. We feel lucky to be a part of this community.”

The brewery site. You can almost smell the mash.

More from Grossman:

Much like Chico, with its close proximity to many creeks, rivers and the Sierras, the location for our new brewery in North Carolina will be situated on property that borders the French Broad River, with the Blue Ridge Mountains as a backdrop. Of course, building a new brewery from the ground up is no small task, and we anticipate the construction to take between 18 and 24 months. Our East Coast brewery will be built with a sustainable and mindful approach and maintain the integrity of the property and beauty of the natural landscape. Construction will take approximately two years, and when completed, we anticipate the new brewery to be close to 200,000 square feet, with an on-site pub & restaurant.

How could you not like this? I've heard some concerns that Sierra Nevada will steamroller smaller craft brewers in the area, even in the wider mid-Atlantic. No, I don't think so, not any more than Sam Adams or Yuengling* have, though there was some of that at the very beginning. Sierra Nevada has clearly learned that if they want to keep growing -- and doing good! -- they're going to have to tune up their game, and they surely have: Torpedo, Ovila, Ruthless Rye, and the impressive run of one-offs they've been doing shows that.

That, in turn, is clearly good for everyone, because it serves notice that Sierra Nevada's impressive plant and talent pool and immense reservoir of goodwill are not going to simply be used to pump out more Pale Ale. No,they're going to be doing what Sierra Nevada has done from the very beginning, and what successful craft brewers have always done: challenging other brewers to bring their best, and thereby delivering the goods to us -- The Thirsty.

Cheers, this is good news.

*No, I'm not saying Yuengling is a craft brewery; don't freak out. But Yuengling did tend to suck up the taps reserved for "different" in bars in the region. 

Ernest & Scott, and Paris in London

Put some miles on the car last Thursday; drove down to Wilmington for the opening of Ernest & Scott Taproom (902 N. Market St.), the new beer bar in town. It's a whopper, too; restaurateur Scott Morrison laid down some serious bucks to outfit this large, balconied space. There's a solid commitment to cask ale, which explains why I ran into Paul Pendyck there (I had just seen Paul on Tuesday; took my mother to dinner at his Bulls Head Public House in Lititz and enjoyed two fine cask ales).

The beer engines weren't actually operating (someone had screwed up getting the breathers there), but there were seven firkins pouring, and I got stuck right into some Dogfish Head 75 Minute IPA, poured by Sam Calagione. Sam's been consulting on the beer program, and since is such a big deal for beer in Delaware, that's no surprise. The beer scene in Wilmington has been an on-again off-again proposition for years (except for Iron Hill on the riverside, and the excellent Washington Street Alehouse), and Delaware and area brewers would love to see this city in Philly's backyard pick up the pace.

It's a handsome place, solidly built (it's a former bank), and the beer engines are ready to go. The food I sampled was quite nice, and the beers... Yards ESA, in about as fine a condition I can recall; an excellent Stewarts IPA (poured by brewer Ric Hoffman himself, and thus much more tasty), and a tasty Evolution altbier that was tucked away in a neat little space upstairs.

Okay, just one other thing. I liked the place, and I wish it well, but trying to get around in downtown Wilmington just about did me in. Some idiot planner thought it would be a good idea to narrow all the streets, and push parking out to the edge of the commercial area, and just generally make it inconvenient to drive. Well, forget your suburban traffic, guys, and there's not enough city there to make this work. Wilmington's got to be more welcoming to visitors, because after this experience...I don't really want to go back, no matter how cool this place is.

Once I got the hell out of Wilmington (which wasn't easy either), I ran up to Philly (which I'd never thought of as particularly car-friendly before...) and stopped off at London Grill, where Terry Berch McNally was throwing a little fling for outgoing Sierra Nevada rep Patrick Mullin (actually, he's pretty much outgone already; he's running sales at Sly Fox now, and congrats to both of them), pouring her last keg of our Exportation porter from Sierra Nevada Beer Camp, the three SN Ovilas (Dubbel, Saison, & Quad), and the new Ruthless Rye.

Briefly: the Exportation is a mildly sour version of a mild Baltic Porter, and was quite tasty and easily enjoyed, not a smack in the chops or a pucker in the cheeks. Ovila Dubbel is a nice example of the style, rich but not sticky; the Saison is spicy and brisk, very enjoyable. And the Ruthless Rye was great, a battling mouthful of beer, shot full of spicy rye character that blended marvelously with the bold hops. A very nice beer indeed.

We spent some pleasant minutes talking, getting caught up (me, Terry, Exton Beverage's Greg Ramirez, Scoats of the Grey Lodge, Patrick, and Brendan from Memphis Taproom), then I asked Terry to take me to Paris. We got there in about 45 seconds; Paris is the new wine bar Terry's opened in the adjoining building. It's small, intimate, and the wine is on draft; a popular form of dispense in Europe and gaining momentum in the U.S., presumably for the same reason: freshness, ease of service, and of course, the excellent environmental advantages. This is, I believe, a first for Pennsylvania; best of luck to her!

I'd like to say I went home after this, but...I stopped at the Grey Lodge for just one more (honest, Ernest & Scott were just pouring 3 oz. samples!). It's still pleasant to stop in there, and I do it often on my way home from Philly events to wind down.

Session Beer Project revived

I'm not just blogging more here, I've revived The Session Beer Project blog as well. There are two new posts up over there, one on 21st Amendment's Bitter American going year-round (at 4.4%!) and Victory's new 3.9% take on their Dark Lager. Have a look!

American Beer Blogger pilot is funded!

Thanks to all who have pledged for American Beer Blogger: we have reached our $6,000 goal on Kickstarter! If you still want to pledge, please do: anything extra means a better show (maybe some travel expenses...).

We are in the TV business. Very excited right now.

Winter Rental: surprisingly welcoming

I got a sample from East Coast Beer Co. back in December, their Winter Rental schwarzbier. I was all "ho-hum, another New Jersey contract brewer," because these outfits haven't had a great track record. (Anyone remember Coffaro Beer? Diving Horse Lager?) It's brewed at Genesee, as you can tell by the "Rochester, NY" on the label, where they've done a great job on the Narragansett seasonals, but...to be honest, I wasn't in a rush to try it.


But then I needed to get some tasting notes together for a column I do in the local weekly paper (nice source of pocket money), so Tuesday afternoon I popped it. Okay, I'd made a mistake waiting this long! The beer smelled rich and malty from almost a foot away, but it was not thick and sweet on the tongue: smoothly refreshing (sounds like a 60s beer ad, I know, but it is), a little hop bite up front that swooshes into lightly chocolatey malt with a slight crunch of roast; saunters off into a clean finish.

I have to apologize to you: shouldn't have waited so long on this one. If you like schwarzbier, get out and give this one a shot. It's 5.6% ABV, and quite tasty.

American Beer Blogger, next round!

As you probably know, we failed to raise $60,000 on Kickstarter to fund six episodes of "American Beer Blogger," the TV show I'm working on with Green Leaf Productions. It was an ambitious goal, and despite some solid support, we only raised a little over 10% of the goal. But we are not giving up. We're scaling back a bit, and there's a NEW Kickstarter out there: we're trying to raise $6,000 to do one pilot episode. We got that much before, but we had 60 days that time. Kickstarter only gives you two weeks on second chances, so we've got to push hard on this.




Two things are working in our favor, though. We've got people repeating their pledges already -- we're at 31 pledges after only two days, and we're 30% of the way to goal -- and it's a much more reasonable goal. The original premise still holds, too: the money all goes to the screen, getting the show on cable. I'm not getting any of this, it's all going to production, and we're going to make sure you get a great show. Jump in, help us make it happen!

And let me tell you; I suspect we're going to have one hell of a blooper reel...

More good eats

Whipped up dinner out of Ruth van Waerebeek's Everybody Eats Well in Belgium cookbook tonight, which I haven't opened in years. Glad I got it out! I did the Roast Pork with Mustard and Onions, because I happened to see a nice little pork loin roast at Giant, and then a bag of frozen pearl onions (I'd get fresh, but I didn't have time to peel them).

Rubbed the roast with a split garlic clove, then plastered it with 3 tablespoons of mustard, a mix of Dijon and a green peppercorn mustard I had, and drizzled olive oil on it before sticking it in a 450 degree oven for 15 minutes; turned it twice. Then I poured in half a cup of water and about 2 dozen pearl onions, sprinkled thyme and pepper and salt over everything and put it in the oven, turned down to 350, for about 50 minutes. I made some Israeli couscous and steamed cauliflower for sides.

When the roast was done, I put it on a carving board to rest, and put the pan on two burners, and added another 1/4 cup of water to deglaze, then made a slurry of a tablespoon each of cornstarch and balsamic vinegar and poured it in, stirring. Things thickened up pretty quickly, and when it started bubbling, I pulled it off the heat. I sliced the pork in thin slices, arranged them in two concentric circles on a warm plate, and poured the sauce and whole onions in the middle. Then I popped the cork on a bottle of Unibroue Blonde de Chambly, and the whole thing was quite delish!