So I was able to take this bullshit in stride, an AP story that hit the Houston Chronicle this morning:
Drunk by noon? Perfectly acceptable in PhillyJust another idiot who can't tell the difference between "drinking" and "drunk," which I'd guess says more about them than about us. Anyway...at least they spelled my name right. As of this evening, it appeared that the Chronic was the only paper that had picked up the story...guess newspaper editors aren't that stupid after all. Smarter than the editors at the AP, anyway.
In many places, drinking before noon is something to hide. Not in Philadelphia. The second annual Philly Beer Week has eight scheduled beer-drinking events before noon on Saturday.
For example, an event called "Lew Bryson's Wheat Beer Breakfast of Champions" begins at 9 a.m. Saturday at a tavern in Philadelphia's Tacony neighborhood. Later in the morning, there's an event called "Kegs and Eggs" at an Irish pub in the Old City historic district.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter used a ceremonial mallet dubbed the "Hammer of Glory" to kick off the event Friday night. He used it to open a keg [of] Philadelphia-brewed Yards ESA. Earlier Friday, the mallet was carried Olympic-torch-style through various Philadelphia neighborhoods. Hundreds of other events are planned through March 15.
27 comments:
Sadly this is a consistent pattern of thought in this neck of the woods that on my worse days has me itching to leave.
I'm having a lot of worse days!
Glad you stayed on the road.
KYW and the Hooston Cornicle didnt do that much better than Ch. 6 ABC did on Friday night's 11PM news, Lewski.
In fairness to the AP, that story was almost certainly a boilerplate piece that was edited - basically re-written - by the Houston Chronicle wire desk. It was Friday night, so almost certainly it was a fill-in editor. A reformed alcoholic, I'd guess.
Oops, never mind - I just saw Pete's link. Same story up here - my word!
It's Back!
Sigh... unfortunately an all-too-typical attitude. I for one thoroughly enjoyed having a couple beers with breakfast (that spicy egg wrap was scrumptious!). And I still managed to drive home safely and have a productive afternoon and evening. Imagine that!!!
Good to finally talk to you, too. Hopefully a trend that continues.
:o)
Phila. NPR station, WHYY has had some pretty good mentions of Beer Week on it's news programs, tho' they ended this morning's report with the faux "Ben Franklin" beer quote.
I know Franklin's big in Philly, but didn't Robert Smith, Christian Schmidt or even Joe Ortlieb ever say anything quotable?
JK... Didja have to bring that up? I have this brewer's ghost problem on the blog...
What are you going to do about this(besides preach to us, the converted?) I would suggest finding out who the AP stringer is and perhaps educating him/her about the world we live in. I would also suggest that newspapers hire Liberal Arts majors instead of Journalism majors. And I apologize if you were a journo major.
Ed,
I'm a writer. I've done what I do. It's been my experience that anti-alcohol types -- which the fella who wrote the Chronic's headline almost undoubtedly is -- are immune to anything. And it's not really in my interest to have angry e-mail sent to an AP doofer. Ridicule works just fine, and it really does work, given time.
"I have this brewer's ghost problem on the blog..."
Ya know, I thought of that "phenomenon" just as I hit the "publish" button.
My apologies to you (and to Messrs. Poth, Esslinger, Hornung, Hohenadel, Betz Weisbord & Hess and all the others I've forgotten, including all the pre-Proh.guys- I won't even attempt that list).
Less about attitudes toward beer or alcohol and more about busting Phila's chops any chance we get. Texans talking trash about Filly, color me shocked.
You know what, I just went to the link. People in Houston obviously have no idea what Philadelphia is about. They think we are all alcoholics. Also, one person ripped the cheese steak. You can't get mad at this. They can not respect the art of enjoying great beer. How can you enjoy the beer if you are getting drunk? It's not like were cracking open Miller's and Bud's and pounding them with our breakfast. I wish I was off on Sat to enjoy the event. I look forward to next year!
Really? Texans talk trash about Philly? We've come up in the world, I didn't even know you noticed!
What does anyone in Houston know anyway? It's a plastic city, totally devoid of culture.
My wife and I had a great time at both your events yesterday. We look forward to hoisting a pint with you again sometime in the future.
Lew, sad thing is a not insignifcant percentage attending Philly Beer Week are there to consume massive amounts of alcohol. You might not be the exception but you also are not the rule. It's beer, it contains alcohol and it can and will be abused. Look at a few replies on the sessions blog, people are upset that there will not be high alcohol hop bombs at the connoisseur session at the Kennett Brewfest. You think they went to savor the subtle flavors or to get drunk, quickly? So there is a bit of truth to the article. Just be glad they got your name right.
1S,
I don't know. The festival, maybe. But I didn't see anyone getting wrecked at the Opening Tap, or even trying. Only saw one person messed up at my two events on Saturday, and he'd clearly been at it before he arrived.
But I wouldn't say the folks who want the big beers at KennettFest are drunks, or just want them for high alcohol. They have this idea that the only interesting beers are imperials and doubles. It's not the alcohol, it's the BIG. Maybe I'm giving them too much benefit of the doubt, but I don't think they're drunks.
Well, geez, what happened to the ol' saying that "there ain't no such thing as bad publicity"? Face reality, if you do something like a big Beer Week complete with a beer breakfast or two, you HAVE to expect this kind of reaction or disrespect. Thanks to the vast majority of beer being consumed in North America, as well as the stand-out actions of a few abusers, this is what anybody involved in booze is going to have to confront, and frankly I can't think of a good response or retort.
Indeed, Sandy...you did notice the title of the post, right?
This kind of crap drives me bonkers. I'm glad I live in Portland were an Anderson Valley Oatmeal Stout is a suggested pairing with my Belgian Waffle.
A lazy day beer brunch with your wife is one of life's great simple pleasures.
Sure, I did, Lou. >;-D
all anybody needs to say is that we are progressive here regarding beer, just like Florida and Alabama are at promoting boiled peanuts. I bought some of these at two different roadside stands...just to try them. One was cajun flavor and I do not recommend it. :D
Perfect--just today I learned the German word fruhschoppen, an early drink, like wheat beer with weisswurst at breakfast. An excellent concept to explain to the beer-is-just-the-yellow-fizz-you-drink-to-get-drunk crowd.
Oh for pete's sake a taste or two in the morning never hurt anybody. I have been known to take a taste of Irish whiskey in my coffee or esspreso corretto with fernet or slivovice and am no worse for wear. Beer is not the first thing that comes to my mind when i think of breakfast but i am sure it can be pretty good in the morning, Especially a real malty brew kind of like Ovaltine. Although, I bet if you cooked some oatmeal/cereal in oatmeal stout it would be pretty good.
Also Lew, I love your ghost brewer problem. Shows the depth or your readers and acknowledges our brewing heritige
Every brewer worth his weight in salt knows that the best time to sample the days product is 7am when the buds are fresh. That's how we did it at our brewery and that's how the Schmidt's did it and even that quirky bike riding Wm Gretz did it.
I think the only one's who dont are that outfit from St. Louis that are so worried about their damn drinkability.
Better hope that AP writer and the Chronk don't ever catch wind of the Foam Rangers' 8:30 a.m. Barleywine tasting during their annual Dixie Cup competition. And that's right there in Houston, too.
Post a Comment