The Grey Lodge: Sweet & Sour 16th

One of my earliest Grey Lodge pix, circa 1996.

A significant note from Scoats just showed up in my email. Now...I was at Victory before it opened. I was at Stoudt's way back in the late 1980s. I was at Memphis Taproom the day it opened. But...me and Scoats and the Grey Lodge, we have a special relationship. Although I live in another county, 16 miles away...I usually tell people that my local pub is The Grey Lodge.

Maybe it's because it's out in the Northeast, maybe it's because of the beer selection, maybe it's the constant change. But a lot of it is that when Scoats took over the place, he never dumped the regulars, never made anyone feel unwelcome. Which is why you'll still see guys sitting at the bar on Friday the Firkinteenth...drinking a bottle of Miller Lite. And that makes some people's heads explode -- it caught me off guard at first -- but I've realized that I love it. These are people, this is a bar that gets the idea that it's about the bar and the people first and always, and a great selection of beer (and whiskey!) can only help that, not be more important.

Groundhog Day, note the t-shirt date...

So I'm happy to put up this note about the Grey Lodge's 16th Anniversary Sweet and Sour 16 Party, this Saturday. I may or may not make it -- I have to sing early Sunday morning up in Lancaster -- but I will be there on Saturday at some time. It's family. Happy Anniversary, Scoats!

Ah, the good old days...

Hello Lew,

The Grey Lodge will celebrate its 16th Anniversary this Saturday, the 11th, from 5pm to 10pm. We don't celebrate our anniversary too often, but when we do, we try to do it epicly. This time around, it's just one day but the beer list is truly epic. Since we don't seem to anything normal-like, our Sweet 16 will be a Sweet and Sour 16, with all sour beers on tap. We'll have a greatest hits of canned beer too.
- 10 sour beers on tap, ranging from very accessible to truly extreme. Several of these beers we have been holding onto for years.
- big prize for the oldest Grey Lodge T-shirt
- prizes for any vintage Grey Lodge shirt
- free cake!

Full details at http://greylodge.com/sweet16.html

Thanks!

P.S. Thanks for your support and encouragement over the years. It has meant a lot.

To me, too, Scoats. Me too!

Groundhog Day 2012

Philly Beer Week - report

Well...we're over halfway through. I skipped the first two days for personal reasons, but Philly Beer Week is well underway. My first event was Sunday evening at the Grey Lodge: the New Jersey beer event. Scoats had an ambitious program of New Jersey beers planned, but we had some wholesaler issues and that fell through...but then River Horse came through with an unexpected pin of cask Hopalotamus, which was MOST welcome! I sang a rewritten version of John Gorka's "I'm From New Jersey", talking about what New Jersey beers were like ten years ago:

Beers from New Jersey —
We don't expect too much.
If those beers ended today
We would adjust

Beers from New Jersey
I don’t mean Rolling Rock;
That’s just Budweiser
with added corn

Beers from New Jersey
They’re mostly contract;
Some guy with a label
and a dumb idea.

...and so on. But like I said: ten years ago! Things are quite a bit different now. What we did note, Scoats and I, was that the breweries still look kind of 10 years ago: small, handicapped by state laws, the "no sales by the glass" for breweries and "no packaging" for the brewpubs (and only two locations, too). Excepting of course Flying Fish, where the new brewery is flipping huge... We had good beers -- the Cricket Hill was exceptional --talked to some good folks, but I won't lie to you: it wasn't crowded. NJ breweries are not the draw that the Upstate PA Beer Night has been in previous years.

An anonymous donor buying Jack's beers.

I left at 7 for the Scratch Off at Standard Tap, the head-to-head who'll-buy-the-most pints with the Tröegs beers Uncle Jack Curtin and I brewed: Biere de Grouch and Zwickel Licker, respectively. It was crazy, a madhouse, and we got silly rather quickly. It was, as someone said, a true Philly election: it was bought. I may have started that, buying ten glasses of "my" beer at the upstairs bar, and it escalated. Still, both beers were quite good, as was the Perpetual IPA that was also available, and the crowd was happy and having fun. The number sold teetered back and forth all night, but when the final totals came out at 9:00...it was 111 to 108, and Zwickel Licker was on the short end. Congratulations to Uncle Jack, and his well-heeled partisans! (And many thanks to my well-heeled partisans -- especially the ones from Al's of Hampden!)

Tuesday I did two events again, again starting at the Grey Lodge. The first one was the booze song karaoke we dreamed up, and I did get up there in front of everyone -- okay, about 20 very amused folks, including my Hulmeville Inn friends (Steve, Rob...got any pix you can send?) -- and sing songs like "A Jug of This," "I Drink Alone," "I Like Beer," and "Whiskey in the Jar," which was a big success and had most everyone singing along on the choruses. We ran out of songs around 8:30, so I tore into "Ring of Fire," which was right in the meat of my range, and "Love Me Two Times," and I'll admit that I have no idea why I sang that one. Maybe because I'd sung "Moon of Alabama" before and the karaoke guy thought I liked the Doors? Anyway, we wound up with the Hulmeville folks and Scoats and me roaring out The Dead Milkmen's "Punk Rock Girl," and that was great. Good times.

I ran out the door and drove down to Center City to join the Session Beer Panel in progress at Farmer's Cabinet. Stellar panel of east coast bar owners/managers (see the post below for the names and the beers we tasted), and a good crowd in the room...but I wish we'd had more discussion. It mostly came down to one person at a time talking about one beer or brewery at a time, which got a bit stultifying. Still, some excellent beers, and my pick, Yards Brawler, came off quite well among them. Terry Hawbaker's non-traditional Göse was quite good as well. That went till almost midnight...and I finally got home. Whew.

Last night I did two events just for fun; only one of them was mine. I went to the Great Lakes industry presentation on water quality and sustainability at the Waterworks, and it was just beautiful there. Never been before, and I intend to take the family back.The beer was excellent as well: The Wright Pilsner, Rally Drum Red (rare appearance of a pub-only brew), and of course, my beloved Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. Good eats from London Grill and Mad Mex, too. We had a very interesting presentation on Philadelphia brewing history from Rich Wagner, celebrating his new book, Philadelphia Beer. (I am quite proud that Rich asked me to write the foreword; cheers!)

After that, I drove up the hill to London Grill, where I hosted a cider event featuring Arsenal, Revolution, and Desiato ciders, all from Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh, Philly, and Bucks County, respectively), and all had their owners there. Arsenal's Bill Larkin, Revolution's Jonathan Gradman, and Desiato's Rich Smithson all did presentations on their ciders, all of which were quite different from the others. Arsenal's were more like dry apple wines at higher ABV; Revolution was unfiltered (a pale cloudy yellow, much like a witbier); and Desiato was quite rustic, interestingly rough. We had a good time talking and learning; I'm really an enthusiastic amateur when it comes to cider, and while I was happy to share what I knew, I was there to learn myself. A most satisfying event; not surprising at London.

Onward! Tonight it's the Philly Beer Geek Finals at Manayunk...

Philly Beer Week with Lew Bryson: what I'm hosting

I know: it's about time I put this up! Here's what I'm hosting and appearing for during Philly Beer Week -- I took a break from the first two days to celebrate my daughter's high school graduation -- and I hope you'll join us for some of them!

TODAY - Sunday, June 3

Beer From New Jersey...You Don't Expect Too Much...

Okay, you may or may not be familiar with the John Gorka song, but New Jersey beer does tend to get overlooked, excepting maybe Flying Fish, and even that still gets dissed. Get over it! Scoats and I decided to ramble through the Garden State this year instead of our annual roll through upstate PA, and we came back with some excellent beer and some great stories. Join us at the Grey Lodge today, 5-7, for New Jersey beers and an up-to-date look at the state of beer in the Beer Garden State. PAYG.

Lew Vs. Jack: the Scratch Beer Showdown

You've been hearing about this -- the video, the trash talk, the successful sneak preview at Kite & Key on Friday -- and tonight it happens. Uncle Jack Curtin and I were each invited to brew a beer on the small Scratch system at Tröegs, to our design, both of which will be on tap at Standard Tap tonight, from 5-9. Jack brewed his favorite type of beer, the biere de garde; I brewed an unfiltered Dortmunder Export. The guys at the brewery dubbed them Biere de Grouch and Zwickel Licker, and I'm good with both names... We'd both like to win this, but I'm at an obvious handicap: due to scheduling problems (and Jack's fine hand...), I won't be able to get to Standard Tap till  about 7:20, and I know Jack will be pressuring people heavily during that first 2.5 hours. I'm counting on you to keep this fair by stopping in to have a couple Zwickel Lickers (just ask for "Lew's beer," that'll work). There's lots of stuff going on in the neighborhood (check the PhillyBeerWeek site or the app for Northern Liberties/Fishtown); come by and help me out!

TUESDAY - June 5

3 Bourbons, 3 Scotch, and 5 Beers

My singing partner: Jack Daniel

It's an open secret that I sing, and after the fun we had at last December's carol sing that I led at the Grey Lodge, Scoats asked me back for something a bit more topical. 'Pick out 3 of your favorite bourbons and Scotches, and 5 of your favorite beers,' he said, 'and we'll do some booze song karaoke.' Hey, I suck at karaoke, but this is passion; I intend to rise above, and I hope you'll come out and sing and drink with me. Here's the drinks list we came up with: bourbons - Baker's, Elijah Craig 12 Year Old, and Four Roses Yellow Label. Scotch - Glenfarclas 105, Johnnie Walker Black, and Highland Park 15. Beers - Flying Fish Farmhouse, Great Lakes Ed Fitz Porter, Saison Dupont, Stoudt's Pilsner, and Hill Farmstead Edward. The songs? Scotch and Soda, I Like Beer, Whiskey in the Jar, Jockey Full of Bourbon, A Pub with no Beer, A Jug of This...you get the idea. We're going to have some fun, and talk whiskey and beer...and sing a couple songs. That's Tuesday, 7-9, at the Grey Lodge.

Session Beer Panel 

But once again, my schedule is crazy, because I'll be leaving the Grey Lodge as soon as the last song is sung to fly to Center City for this huge Session Beer Panel at the Farmer's Cabinet. It starts at 8:00 -- I'll get there around 9:25 -- and it's going to be some of the most influential bar owners/managers on the East Coast, and they're worth mentioning by name and bar:

• Joe Carroll, owner of Spuyten Duyvil, Brooklyn, NY
• Dave Brodick (or his manager), owner of Blind Tiger, NYC
• Chris Lively, owner or Ebenezer's, Maine
• Greg Engert, partner/beer guy Churchkey, Wash DC
• Casey Hard, beer guy of Max's, Baltimore
• Daniel Lanigan, owner of Alewife, Boston & Baltimore, Lord Hobo's, Boston
• Alec Lopez, owner of Armsby Abbey & The Dive Bar, Boston
• Dave Pollack, owner of The Diamond, Brooklyn, NY

The panel is moderated by Dan Shelton of Shelton Brothers importers (so you know there will be outrageous controversial positions taken), and we'll be going till at least 10 PM...and Dan's a bit windy (not that I'm laconic), so it's probably going to go as late as you want. And this is a ticketed event, and it may seem a bit steep at first look: $50. But take a gander at what you get for that $50 besides the amazing panel. Not only do you get the delish cheese and charcuterie that Farmer's Cabinet is known for, you'll be getting pours -- not samples, pours -- of some of the best damned session beers available:

• Cantillon Gueuze (draft)
• De La Senne Taras Boulba (draft)
• De Molen Engels (firkin)
• Stillwater Premium (bottle)
• An english bitter from either: Timothy Taylor, Coniston, Titanic, or Adnams
• Thiriez Extra (bottle)
• Guinei Riner (bottle)
• Tuatara Pils (bottle)
• Cabinet Gose (draft)
• Amager Fusion (draft)
• Two Brothers Long Haul (bottle)
• Carton Boat Beer (bottle)
• Yards Brawler (bottle or firkin)
• Spezial Rauchbier (bottle)
• Mikkeller Drink In the Sun (draft)

And more, probably; every time I check my email, Dan's suggesting another. Come out and talk and drink session beer (and eat good eats); I guarantee a great time. It's a session beer festival with the best damned session beer seminar you've ever heard.

WEDNESDAY - June 6

Ciders at London Grill 

You probably didn't know that I'm a cider enthusiast; I don't write much about cider, though that's going to be changing. Get the first fruits of my growing research at London Grill, where we'll be pouring ciders from Pennsylvania -- Arsenal Cidery from Pittsburgh with head vintner Bill Larkin, Philly local Revolution Cidery and vintner Johnathon Gradman, and Bucks County's Desiato Cidery and Richard Smithson -- along with a few other very special ciders. There'll be a good range of ciders, and do not expect fizzy boozy apple juice. If you like serious cider, innovative stuff done with fermented apples, this is a great event to stop in and check out (and check out London's draft wine setup, too). We're going to take a great bite of the cider apple; join us! London Grill, 6-9 PM, PAYG.

THURSDAY - June 7

Philly Beer Geek Finals

If you've never been to the Philly Beer Geek finals...it's not just for the competitors and their friends, believe me. This event is a hoot, and the judges -- me and a very ready crew of Philly beer celebs -- will be doing our best to keep the contestants unbalanced, and you laughing your butt off. There's beer passion and knowledge and, well, insanity displayed, and not a bit of it is taken too seriously. Come join us for a surprisingly great time! Plenty of great beer available, too... 8-11 PM at Manayunk Brewing, PAYG. 

Saturday - June 9

Herr Bryson's Brewers Breakfast
Gotta wind up the week big. I usually do a wheat beer breakfast with Scoats at the Grey Lodge the first Saturday of PBW -- an event that the Houston Chronicle once cited as evidence that Philly was a city of drunks... -- but my daughter Nora graduated high school that morning. So...instead we moved it to Hop Angel Brauhaus, and made it a German brewer's breakfast, like you'd find at the gasthaus breweries in Germany -- Früh in Köln, Im Füchschen in Düsseldorf, Fässla in Bamberg -- big plates of wurst and cheese, plenty of pickled herring (hey, it's a buffet, you don't have to eat the herring; more for me), solid rye bread, and shtuff like that. And lots of German beers, and the great German-type beers that our local brewers make. I'll be telling you all about those great little places, and the beers, and why German breakfasts are one of my favorite meals. It's all PAYG, and starts at 11, runs till 2. Just the recovery you need from a hard week of Philly Beer Week...before you make that final event and have that final beer!

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!

This Friday is Double Trouble

This Friday is the first of three Friday the 13ths in 2012 -- the next one comes thirteen weeks later in April...followed by one thirteen weeks later in July. And I think we all know who's responsible for that: Mister Friday the Firkinteenth himself, Scoats "Mike Scotese" Grey Lodge. You know the guy, comes out from behind the bar on February 2nd, hugs old bearded rummies in parrot shirts, has a mad passion for numbers and wordplay, serves 20+ beers on cask every Friday the 13th? Yeah, that's him. The fun starts at noon, and there will be seven casks pouring till they're all gone, and it will be a madhouse, and I will be there. I've only missed a couple, and I'm not missing this one. Here, see what Scoats has to say:

This will be our 24th Friday the Firkinteenth; we've been doing it since 1998. We've gotten a little bit of press about it over the years and a couple of people have attended (Note to the inexperienced: he is understating to the point of sarcasm). For our 24th Firkinteenth, we will have our first cask cider, a bunch of English casks, the Philly debut of Fifty Fifty Rockslide IPA, what might be the debut of Flying Fish's newest beer - Scarlet Fever, plus a lot of usual suspect beers that could well be the sleeper standouts. Tapping begins at noon again this time around. At 11am our full menu will be available. For the Firkinteenth, all food service will be 2nd floor only.

Is that enough fun for one non-Philly Beer Week (which starts in only 143 days!) day for you? No? Okay, this Friday is also 113 Day, as in 1/13 (that's 13 January to all my Euro-friends), as in Sly Fox Rt. 113 IPA, and Sly Fox's Corey Reid is trying to turn it into a national holiday...but he'll settle for Phoenixville. For now. So...at Sly Fox's Phoenixville brewpub, anyone in the pub at 1:13 PM (Eastern...) can get one pint of Rt. 113 for $1.13 (bring change, help 'em out), and when the firkin of Rt. 113 is tapped at 5:00, you can get a 10 oz. pour for $1.13. Hey, now there's an economic stimulus for you. Come on out and get some number-based hoppiness!

Race you to Christmas!

I am becoming a slave to my calendar...yesterday was a taping for American Beer Blogger at Porter's Pub in Easton, had a great time with Larry Porter, and found out about Weyerbacher's coming new graphics and logo, and talked to owner Troy Reynard about Two Rivers Brewing, a new brewpub coming to town soon. Good taping, good fun, good beer...and then on the road along the river back home to make dinner before heading to a dress rehearsal.

After the second of those evening rehearsals this week, my church choir's Christmas concert is tonight (and of course, I'd be happy to see any of you at St. Andrew's RCC in Newtown: it's a very good concert, with a small string ensemble). Tomorrow night I'm at Appalachian Brewing in Harrisburg for a book signing and fundraiser for the "American Beer Blogger" Kickstarter campaign (come out and pledge!).

I get to spend the weekend with the family, then Tuesday 12/20 I'll be visiting Valley Malt in western Massachusetts to see their custom micromaltings operation, dropping in to check out Element Brewing, and checking in with Will Meyers at Cambridge Brewing to sample some beers he's made with Valley Malt...and then over to Craft Beer Cellar for a Kickstarter fund-raising event with Suzanne and Kate, and Chris Lohring will be there with plenty of Notch Session beers (including the new Černé Pivo dark lager), and brewer Nate Heck will be joining us from Harpoon with their latest 100 Barrel release; come on out, 4-6, get some Notch and fresh Harpoon, and make a pledge to bring great beer (and some real fun) to TV! (I then pick up my son and drive home...should get in around 1 AM...)

Thursday 12/22 is the Book Singing Party at the Grey Lodge! It's not a typo: have a beer, pick up a signed copy of Pennsylvania Breweries or New Jersey Breweries, and join the surprisingly musical crowd at the G Lodge in singing some Christmas carols. We just had a great time at the family's annual caroling party, and my pitchpipe's all warmed up. It's an old-time Christmas...in a bar! We'll be harmonizing from 7:30 to 9:00, and remember, we all sound better after a couple drinks. 

After that? Well, next Friday, the family's going to do our usual last-minute Christmas shopping and lunch and wandering around Bethlehem, PA (and maybe grabbing a couple quick beers at Bethlehem Brew Works and the Hotel Bethlehem). After that...it's into the Christmas/New Year's week, and a chance to relax before I start on a round of Kickstarter fundraisers...more about that later!

Philly Beer Week 2011: I'm All In

Here we are, only three days from opening tap...and I've finally nailed down my Philly Beer Week events. Sigh. I was ready to publicize these last week, then Blogger went down (I did throw them up on Facebook, but...it's like writing on water), and then it was the holiday weekend and I had no computer access, then the volcano erupted and the dogs ate my homework...

Anyway... here we go! (No, no Bud Light at my events. I promise.)

FRIDAY, June 3, I'll be signing books at Opening Tap: see you there!

SATURDAY, June 4: The popular Wheat Beer Breakfast -- which was ridiculed as far away as Texas last year, I'm so proud -- moves to Hop Angel this year, 10-2. We've got great wheats of all types lined up, and beer-appropriate breakfast and brunch chow. Wheat beer: Breakfast o' Champions, and an awesome way to start your big First Saturday of Philly Beer Week!

SUNDAY, June 5: I bring Pennsylvania Breweries home to the Grey Lodge for the UPstate PA Beer Trek, 7-9. We've got SEVEN kegs from far-flung and tiny PA breweries: Otto's, Elk Creek, Old Forge, Marley's, Benny Brew, Breaker, and Kutztown Tavern, of which I'm pretty sure two of them are making their Philly debut; Benny Brew and Marley's are less than a year old. Why drive 470 miles, like Scoats and I did? Just come to the G-Lodge!

MONDAY, June 6: Actually, I'm not doing anything Monday night. A guy's gotta recharge!

TUESDAY, June 7: Do you like smoked beer? Do you like it a lot? Join me at Hop Angel, starting at 7:00 for an all-smoked beer/all-smoked food dinner! (PAYG option, too) SEVEN smoked beers (including the return of Unibroue Raftman!), smoked meat (including Rieker's awesome triple-smoked bacon), smoked fish, smoked cheese -- I am not blowing smoke up your ass, this is gonna be SMOKIN'!!! (Rare sideways plug: If you don't like smoked beer -- and I don't get that, but I know you're out there -- consider the event I'd be at if I weren't here: a B.United Importers dinner at Resurrection Ale House. I don't know if the name rings a bell, but Matthias Niedhart has been bringing in amazing beers for years, and does crazy things to keep them fresh on the way. You should come to my dinner! ...but if you don't, you should go here.)

WEDNESDAY, June 8: I'll be co-hosting a non-Philly Beer Week event on Long Island with Marnie Old (standing in for Sam Calagione...better bring my A game).

THURSDAY, June 9: Not all of Philly BeerWeek is in Philly! Join me for a PAYG pub crawl in Doylestown, starting at 7:00 (more info on which bars, but you can be sure that Stephanie's and Mesquito Grille will be on the list) and get to know this town's burgeoning bar scene; bet it's bigger than you knew! Brewers, reps, PA Breweries signings, and great times, Bucks County-style!

FRIDAY, June 10: Bonus day: I'm doing two events! First, blow off Friday afternoon -- like you're working hard during Philly Beer Week anyway -- and join me at City Tap House for a Pennsylvania Breweries tap takeover lunch, 11:30-1:30. A ton of PA beers, PA Local food, and plenty of the latest dope on what's happening in the PA beer scene.

After we've recovered, join me at the Old Eagle Tavern for a bourbon and beer dinner. Good bourbons -- you can bet Eagle Rare will be there! -- good bourbon-aged beers, and the cozy confines of the Old Eagle...and the booming laugh of yours truly. Ask anyone who was at my Percy Street bourbon dinner: this is going to be so much fun you'll barely notice how much you learn about bourbon.


SATURDAY, June 11: My final event is at Devil's Den, and it's called Big Wood with Lew Bryson. We'll be sampling wood-aged beers of many types, enjoying the many ways wood brings flavor to beer. Be careful; you just might learn something as I bring my whiskey-led beer knowledge to bear!

More details available at the Philly Beer Week page, on the Philly Beer Week app (iPhone and Android), and at the individual venue websites. I do hope to see you at one of these, at least!

Upstate Beer Run 2011

Scoats and I did our annual "Upstate Beer Run" yesterday, as folks who follow either of us on Twitter might already know (check #pabeerrun). This is for our event at the Grey Lodge Pub on Sunday, June 5th, 7-9 PM*, when we'll put seven kegs of rarely/never-seen Pennsylvania beers on at the Grey Lodge, and regale you with our tales of the great places to find beer in the busiest brewing area in Pennsylvania: the curve from State College to Wilke-Barre that I call The Appalachian Front in Pennsylvania Breweries 4. Things are popping along here, and two of the beers come from breweries that have been open for less than six months.

We made the run yesterday, and it was quite productive. Scoats showed up in Langhorne at 7:30, we jumped in the Jetta and took off down the Turnpike. Just about the time I was feeling the need for a bit more caffeine, I saw a sign that the totally re-built rest stop at Lawn (just east of Harrisburg) was re-opening that day! How exciting! A rest stop grand opening! We were shocked to find neither flags nor brass bands, but I did park the Jetta in one of the new low-emissions vehicle slots...how silly.

Onward! Up the river, past the Susquehanna Statue of Liberty, through the narrows, and then through State College because of a detour, and finally to Otto's. We were greeted in the parking lot by owners Charlie Schnable and Roger Garthwaite, and by my good friend (and Malt Advocate copy editor) Sam Komlenic. (Unfortunately, brewer Chris Brugger was not there...thwarting my intention to greet him with greetings from a substantial number of Philadelphians.) Charlie showed us an impressively stocked coldbox, told us of plans for expansion (a new bottling line, more tanks, actual larger building) and of how the beer's selling in State College and beyond -- well-deserved success. We picked up a sixtel of Double D and hit the road.

Next on the agenda was Elk Creek, but...we had some extra time, so we slipped up to Bellefonte to visit Mike Smith at Gamble Mill Tavern. The bar wasn't open, but the hostess cheerfully located Mike, and we were soon sampling his beers. The first, HB48 Session Ale, was a hit: light but flavorful, quite nicely done. We had the Lame Devil Farmhouse (great body, a middleweight saison, with a nice peppery note), J. Rose Pale (nice, maybe a bit on the light side), Monte Weizen (not overly-clovey, well-done), Bush House Brown (good but...I'm just not big on brown ales), and Pig Iron IPA (solid stuff, great hop flavor and aroma). All beers were clean, pretty much flawless, and the place was quite cool. Nice to have somewhere to go for beer in Bellefonte again!

We were now late (and it's clearly Mike's fault, you know...), so we scooted down to Elk Creek. Loved the run, new roads for me, and some great PA scenery. Elk Creek wasn't open, but brewer Tim Yarrington knew we were coming and we met him out back at the brewhouse. We talked about how he was seeing the same thing as Otto's: everyone in the area wants Elk Creek beer, even the Millheim Hotel four doors down, even the firehall across the street. There are places around here, he said (and for the record, "around here" is mighty damned pleasant, but definitely in the sticks), that are putting an impressive small selection of craft on tap, mostly focused on local stuff. He's even hooked up with a wholesaler to get beer into the Wyoming Valley, which blew my mind. We grabbed a sixtel of Poe Paddy Porter, had a sample of Tim's MFA Ale ("F*** style!" he told us he said when he formulated this one, and a tip for brewers: the "MF" in the name stands for what you might think, and Tim reports that beers with profanity in the name sell like...a MF'er), which was brown, hoppy, a little bit of biscuit, and kickass refreshing. ON the road again!

We zipped over the hills, remarked on the quaint beauty of Mifflinburg, crawled through Lewisburg, and slid into Danville to have lunch -- and naturally pick up a keg -- at Old Forge Brewing. I finally met long-time reader Rev. Bob Van Deusen at the bar, too: a real pleasure to meet you, Bob! We also met Tim Egan (the fellow with the awesome moustache in the picture to the left) for whom the beer we picked up -- Loadmaster ESB -- was named; similarly a pleasure, Tim was a good guy to talk beer with. So was our host, Damien, and lunch was excellent (jalapeno soft pretzel, brewer's chili, and the chicken-apple quesadilla for me, Scoats had a turkey cheese sandwich he tore into). I got alt and kölsch, and while the alt was as good as always, the kölsch was a bit sulfury and a bit sharp; Damien said he'd tried a different fermentation regime on this batch...and was going back to his old one. Thus we learn! His new production facility -- a few-score yards away -- is sitting ready for construction to begin, waiting only on -- stop me if you've heard this before -- PLCB paperwork approval. With luck, they hope to be brewing by -- I think he said -- September. More beer in this hottest of PA beer areas.

Off we went, to another brand-new place, Marley's in Bloomsburg. We sampled Mark Braunwarth's dunkelweizen and Belgian Pale, and decided that while both were good, the dunkelweizen was a style we didn't see enough of, and loaded a half into the back of the Jetta. We toured the brewery -- whew, is it hot down there in the basement! -- and got a tank-sample of his upcoming chocolate stout (real cocoa, and it tasted chocolatey indeed). Marley's is rolling, and I've heard good things from several friends about it.

We were rolling too, the short run to Berwick Brewing. Always a pleasure to stop in, but we'd screwed things up by being so late (I'd actually planned to be there about noon, but turned the trip around by starting at Otto's; it was now just before 5!), and it wasn't clear what kegs were spoken for. Tom Clark was going to be back in about 20 minutes, but...we'd hosed ourselves, and had to get moving. We made our apologies and rolled on.

Traffic was getting a little thick, but only in Shickshinny (happy 150th anniversary!), and as we crossed the bridge into Nanticoke, we were catching up to schedule a bit. Minerva, my long-suffering and well-abused GPS, was leading us to Marty's Blue Room and Benny Brew, and the more turns we took, the less-likely it seemed...but she was dead on the money. Nice small-town bar with what looked like a great menu, and the nanobrewery you see in the picture to the right. Benny -- Ben Schonfeld -- and his dad Jim ("Marty" was the former owner) showed us the brewery and we tasted the Amber Lager (juicy and malty), Wit (I'm witted-out right now, but this was still quite good), Summer Ale (light and hoppy, pretty nice too), and Hopenstein IPA (good, though a bit too sweet: Benny said it was lacking the usual dry-hopping -- there was a long, involved, and at times amusing story to go with that -- which usually balanced out that sweet, and he was planning to go back to that). Our general impression: for a one-man operation in a bar on a half-barrel system, these were pretty damned good beers, and clean as a whistle. Nice work!

Whew. One more stop, and a relaxed one: Breaker Brewing. Chris and Mark are like old buddies now, and we just rolled up, settled in, and all grabbed glasses of Lunchbucket Pale. Mighty nice, too. I'm very appreciative of a good pale ale lately. They're days away from setting on a new place, and it's a huge step up: acres of land, a solid brick production building, and...lots of parking. For the planned pub. Really. It's the former St. Joseph's Monastery -- again, really -- in nearby Georgetown (not far from Krugel's Deli). According to the guys, the Church is real touchy about breweries in churches after the Church Brew Works -- apparently, the diocese didn't take enough out of there, and it looks too...churchy, which is a source of embarrassment. They're taking out the altar, the stained glass, even requiring that the steeple be removed (or maybe just the cross on top of the steeple, they seemed unsure). Well, okay. But when the diocese is closing about 100 churches (according to Mark), it seems like they might have other things to be worried about. Anyway, they have their zoning variance, they're close to having the property, and then...well, then things get crazy. Looking forward to this, because I know I'm far from the only person who's said, over and over and over, that the Wyoming Valley needs a proper, well-run brewpub. These are the guys to do it.

We picked up our last sixtel -- Goldies Summer, their usual blonde with an addition of citrus peel and coriander, light and refreshing -- and headed down the PA TP Extension to home with a butt-load of great, small-brewery beer. See you on June 5th!

* I've got three PBW events with Scoats:

• The Wheat Beer Brunch is at HopAngel this year, Saturday June 4th, from 10-2, supplying you with all of those wonderful breakfast beers made with wheat, and beer-soaked breakfast/brunch food. 
• The Upstate Beer Run event is at the Grey Lodge, Sunday, June 5th, 7-9 PM.
• And on Tuesday, June 7th, 7-10 back at HopAngel, we're doing the Smoked Stuff Dinner, a dinner with ALL smoked beers and at least one smoked food in each course. With the great smoked stuff right across the street at Rieker's, and the great local smoked beers...how can we lose?

Will you feel lucky this Friday?

What can it mean?

• Cigar City Humidor IPA
• Cricket Hill Reserve Series Brown
• Dock Street TBA
• Dogfish Head 75 Minute IPA
• Flying Fish Farmhouse
• Fullers London Pride
• Lancaster Milk Stout
• Manayunk Brewerytown Brown Ale
• Manayunk Hop Phanatic
• Nodding Head Marauder
• Philly Fleur de Lehigh
• Prism Bitto Honey
• Sixpoint Modern Rye
• Sly Fox 113 IPA
• Sly Fox Chester County Bitter
• Stouts Pils
• Stouts special bourbon barrel aged Scarlet Lady ESB
• Troegs Hopback Amber
• Troegs Javahead
• Victory Headwaters Pale Ale
• Wells Banana Bread
• Wells Bombadier
• Weyerbacher Verboten with camomille tea
• Yards ESA 

It can only mean one thing: Friday the Firkinteenth. Starts at noon, this Friday.

Merry (Monk's Cafe) Christmas (Dinner)!

I haven't been to a Monk's Cafe dinner in a while, so when the invite came, I shuffled my schedule (more about that shortly) and said yes! I was not disappointed. I left home Tuesday night in a blowing snow shower -- I'd driven out of it within ten minutes and only had the cold wind to contend with. I stopped on the way at the Grey Lodge Pub; that was the schedule I had to shuffle. Scoats had put together a 'holiday mix,' 24 cases of Christmas/holiday/winter beers, 24 people, mixing cases so we each got one of the 24 beers (hey, it's a Pennsylvania thing!)...and I had picked up Cape Anne Navigator (a holiday doublebock) and Wachusett Winter (an ESB, this year) when I was in Massachusetts last month, so I had to drop them off to be mixed. I headed on down to Monk's from there, figuring to leave the dinner a bit early to get back for the mix.

Traffic was bloody awful -- I hate the lights on the Boulevard -- so by the time I got the beers dropped off and got parked in Center City, I was at Monk's ten minutes late. No big deal, they were just serving the warm-up beer, De Ranke Pere Noel. I saw there was bouillabaisse coming, so decided to hold off on the De Ranke, and got a glass of Tripel Karmeliet to tide me over. Saw friends and said hi to Bryan Kolesar, Jeff Linkous, and my NJ Breweries co-author Mark Haynie (congrats on upcoming retirement, and happy birthday!), then sat down with George Hummel and Nancy Rigberg at the back bar to get ready for fun.

The promised bouillabaisse was -- hey, it's Monk's -- crazy. Big shrimp hanging over the side, lots of creamy-textured fish inside, and a toasty crust with cheese jammed in there. The De Ranke was...okay. Good beer, dry, tasty, but not sure about how it worked with the feesh. The next pairing more than made up for that (and the best was yet to come): Lost Abbey Gift of the Magi and a rabbit terrine (What's the diff twixt terrine and pate, I asked George. 'The shape?' he speculated, and looking at the goopy goodness I assumed was an additional small portion of pate on my plate, I guessed he was right.) The beer, tasty and yet restrained, was the perfect foil for the rich bunny meat, easily matching and mediating the delicious fattiness.

Next up was the Mikeller Red/White Christmas. Good beer, but I'll admit: I pretty much forgot the beer when I tasted the next course: pork loin stuffed with pancetta on apple sauerkraut, with a nice knob of roquefort on the side and sweet potato straws on the top. That was delicious. Then came another Scandinavian beer: Nøgne Ø Holiday Ale. It was a seriously spiced beer, with sage and juniper, and I didn't know what they were going to pair this one with to make it sing...because honestly, it was a bit overpowering.

The pairing was genius. Butternut squash ravioli with sage brown butter, topped with fried sage leaves. This is what beer pairing is about: the two together changed each other. The ravioli came alive, and the beer mellowed into spicy richness. I exclaimed out loud (no, really, I did), and enjoyed this one terrifically. Unfortunately, I had to leave at that point to get to the Grey Lodge, and there were three courses yet to come! (Cassoulete w/Corsendonk Christmas, cheeses with T'sjeeses Reserva, and the traditional buche de noel with 2009 Port Brewing Santa's Little Helper and a jeroboam of Mad Elf). Thanks, Tom Peters: he made me up a take-home plate of the cassoulete!

Up the road to the Lodge, where I stayed till 11 PM, talking with old friends, and drinking a glass of Sly Fox Rauchbier, and a sample of this year's Philly Brewing Winter Wunder (nicely done, guys). A very nice night indeed.

Thanks to Bryan Kolesar for scanning the menu and sending it to me: I left mine on the bar!

Good stuff from Uncle Jack

Jack Curtin has two newsy notes of great interest to Philly-area beer fans (and if they aren't of great interest to you, I have to question your depth of fandom...). Here he has the word on Scoats's latest, the opening of Hop Angel Brauhaus (the old Blue Ox, across from Rieker's Deli, and you will love that, my friends); and here, a less-happy note, is a quote from ex-Triumph brewer Patrick Jones on why he's an ex-Triumph brewer, what he's planning (or not), and a tip of the hat to another well-regarded ex-brewer.

Word to people with money and brains: a well-trained, multiple-medal winning brewer like Jones will not be on the sidewalk forever. Get your brewery plan together and snap this guy up. Or maybe...Gordon Biersch will finally get their heads out of their collective butt and come to Philly, and Patrick can re-enter that fold. Or even better, my grand Yuengling Philadelphia Brewpub scheme could come to fruition... Dreaming, I'm dreaming. I should go back to bed.

I am doing a Philly Beer Week event...

I'm going to be AWOL from much of Philly Beer Week: Thomas graduates from Holy Ghost Prep on June 5, so I'm not real focused. But I am hosting an event at the Grey Lodge Pub the next day, June 6th at 6 PM, the event that only the author of Pennsylvania Breweries could do: Scoats and Lew's Upstate PA Brewery Haul.

The "Haul" itself is taking place this Tuesday, when Scoats and I will go get kegs from ShawneeCraft, Breaker Brewing, Berwick Brewing (where we'll be dropping off some empties, too: this is a full-service beer run), Bullfrog Brewery (Terry's cutting loose of one of his precious sour casks for us, and some bottles), Bavarian Barbarian, Copper Kettle (bottles only; they don't do kegs), Elk Creek Cafe, and Old Forge. I think this will be a Philly debut for Old Forge; might be for ShawneeCraft and Copper Kettle, too, but I'm not quite as sure about that. One thing I do know: this is the only place you're going to see all of these together and be able to sample them at the same time.

I did deliver the PAB4 edits yesterday, by the way, and had a lunch with my editor, Kyle Weaver, that resulted in my sending him one quick addition to the book: Coakley's in New Cumberland served us a delish lunch (I had a Cuban quesadilla, Kyle had a generous shepherd's pie) and fresh, snappy glasses of Stoudt's Karnival Kölsch that really hit the spot on a surprisingly hot May afternoon. Coakley's: welcome to Pennsylvania Breweries!

Weyerbacher XIII

Woof.

Just had Weyerbacher XIII last night at the Grey Lodge Pub. In a small glass. Thirteen celebrated the brewery's 13th anniversary (last year), so of course the Grey Lodge had it on Saturday for their own 13th anniversary festivities (it was a good time, wish I could have stayed for more). But I didn't get to that, I was there at the wrong hour...So I made up for it at last night's Gary Bredbenner memorial (very nicely done, some tears, good eats, good beers, good friends).

Briefly? Thirteen kicked big beer ass. It's an imperial stout mashbill (five malts and some oats) with made with the Belgian yeast strain Weyerbacher uses for their Quad and Merry Monks. You've got the chocolate from the dark malts -- without the burnt bitterness that often comes with, that I usually like to find in an impy -- but with the curling spice from the yeast, and a dark pitfruit note, probably from the five malt mix. Wish I would have tried this last year, but damn, it's aging quite gracefully.

Gary Bredbenner memorial at the Grey Lodge Tuesday night

Tomorrow night, August 18, the Grey Lodge is hosting a memorial service for Gary Bredbenner, who died way too young last month. The memorial service is for those who could not get to the funeral up in Danville.

Everyone who knew Gary is welcome. The memories begin at 6:30 in the upstairs bar. Nothing official, but I'd say dress in Phillies or Eagles gear, or your favorite beer shirt, and come thirsty for the hoppy beers Gary loved. We'll send him off into the Great Brewpub of the Beyond in proper style.

(Anyone know where the Hammer of Glory is? Can we borrow it?)

13 Years of Grey Lodge = 13 hours of Grey Lodge

The Grey Lodge Pub is probably the only bar where I come close to being a regular. It's been a favorite of mine for years, since Thomas was in first grade...and he's looking at colleges now. The place has changed a lot, but one thing stayed the same: everyone is welcome. Actually, two things: it's always been a bit different. "Quirky," as Uncle Jack put it, and the owner, Scoats, embraced the word.

He's embracing it with both arms on August 15th, when the Grey Lodge celebrates its 13th anniversary. And at a place that celebrates Friday the 13th, you can bet that the 13th anniversary is gonna be big. Check it out: they're doing 13 events in 13 hours.

It's all here. Dock Street brewed a special beer, there's stand-up comedy, Philly Brewing's bringing a firkin of Mayfair IPA, Weyerbacher 13 (appropriate), some VERY Old Old Horizontal (23 bottles from 1997), Stoudt's Keller Pils (I want that!), birthday cake, a bar mitzvah, two Yards firkins (including the new Cape of Good Hope IPA), Sly Fox eggs, Sunshine Pils, and ring toss with Casey Hughes (you want to toss the rings over the traffic cone on Casey's head; if that's too silly, you can just piss off MADD instead and drink Exit 4 and Exit 11).

It is, in short, something that would have warmed P.T. Barnum's heart, and definitely "quirky." A crazy marathon of beer, food, music, and fun. I'll be down in the afternoon; hope to see you there.

Gary Bredbenner memorial 8/18

For those of you who could not make it up to Danville for Gary Bredbenner's funeral on Monday, Scoats has very graciously agreed to host a memorial evening at the Grey Lodge on August 18, beginning at 6:30 PM. There will be a buffet, plenty of beers, and lots of talk about our missing friend. Come on down; I'll see you there.

Turkish fish and such

Forgot to put this up last Friday. We were going to go down to the Grey Lodge for Christmas in July, and I figured when Cathy got home, we'd head down into Philly for a quick dinner, just the two of us, and then get beers at the G-Lodge. (Not that I don't like the food there, it's great, but I wanted a chance for Cathy and I to spend some time alone.) I started free-associating a little on Yelp and Chowhound and Google, checking reviews on the local food blogs, and came up with Kilyos Fish & Grill, in Bustleton, a Turkish seafood place. I was intrigued.

I was also wicked pleased. The place itself was nothing to look at: a storefront in a small strip-plaza on Bustleton Ave. But Riza Canca, the owner, greeted us at the door, a very soft-spoken and gently friendly man (he greeted everyone at the door; we were just diners, not reviewers (or drinkers: Kilyos is BYOB, and we didn't BYO, figuring we'd save room for the Christmas treats at the Lodge)), and showed us to a table in the simple, quiet dining room. He explained that the restaurant specialized in simple grilled fish, very fresh, but also had meat and salads.

It smelled wonderful, and we quickly ordered: zucchini pancakes with garlic yogurt sauce (the remnants of which you see above; creamy-rich, with a cool but punchy sauce), eggplant with tomato sauce (if only we knew how to get such a concentration of flavor in eggplant, and what a smooth, melting texture; it could have been less cold, though), and for our meals, St. Peter's Fish (tilapia, filleted and grilled, simple and excellent, without the plastic flakiness I've found in so much tilapia) and grilled lamb patties (juicy, tender, and knock-out aromatic; real lamb what weren't afraid to taste like lamb). We wanted the baklava, but we were both gorged, and promised to come back another time.

God bless the Internet. A storefront in Bustleton, called "Fish & Grill"? (The 'Kilyos' part was hard to find on the sign.) We'd never have found it. So...keep posting reviews on sites like Yelp. It helps. Thanks to everyone who did so for Fish & Grill. It made our Friday.

(Wait, a small rant. Keep posting reviews, but don't be one of those people who bitches about "this waitress" or "the mean bartender." That's not really helpful. If you go back, and service persistently sucks? Okay, mention it, but separate it from the food. I'm willing to put up with crap service if the food's good. Besides...maybe it's you.)

Oh, Christmas in July? Excellent. The Mad Elf alone was worth it, though I went off-topic and got a New Holland Golden Cap Saison, and that was pretty damned good, too.

More Saints at the Grey Lodge

I whimpered a bit to Scoats that while he was celebrating saint's days -- St. Patrick's Day (of course), St. George's Day, and St. Andrew's Day -- he was missing -- in this very Welsh region -- St. David's Day. There are Welsh beers available, after all, and the Welsh whisky -- excuse me, wisgi -- Penderyn. (Which is an excuse to run a picture of my good Welsh boy.)

Well, not only did Scoats agree that March 1 of next year would see a St. David's Day celebration at the Grey Lodge, he one-upped me. This Wednesday, June 24th, will be St. Jean-Baptiste Day (hell, I didn't know there was a Grey Lodge blog!) at the Grey Lodge, a celebration of the patron saint of Quebec.

There will be a bunch of Unibroue beers -- always cause for a celebration -- and authentic poutine: 'authentic' meaning the fries are the G-Lodge's fresh-cut double-cooked fries, the cheese curds are real cheese curds, and -- again, that one-upmanship! -- the brown gravy is made with Unibroue Don de Dieu. French-speaking gravy! If you thought the whole "freedom fries" thing was absolutely ridiculous, this is your chance to get some seriously French fries. No Montreal smoked meat, unfortunately -- next year, Scoats says -- but they will have smoked pork with maple onions, and pork and beans: homeboy Quebecois food, I guess.

Je me souviens! I will remember this, Scoats: see you in March, and maybe on Wednesday, too. Sante!

Lew & Scoats' Excellent Beer Run

Scoats and I did the Upstate Beer Run on Wednesday, gathering up the final beers for the Upstate PA Beer tasting we're doing at the Grey Lodge Sunday night. Scoats came out to my place early Wednesday morning, and while I was finishing my Cheerios and strawberries, Cathy made him a quick bowl of oatmeal. Sustaining. We set out, Passat rolling (I'd get 39 MPG on the day, too), and telling each other tales.

First stop was to be the Bullfrog Brewery, but we were ahead of schedule, so we went up over the mountain to see One Guy. Guy pulled in just after we did, and we met the Two Other Guys (he's hired assistants) as we went in. We sampled the hefe -- nice, tart -- the Berwick Lager -- clean, smooth -- and the IPL, a batch of Atomic Punk IPA Guy made with lager yeast. "I could sell this," Scoats said, and he's definitely right: good stuff, clean, hoppy, like Prima Pils with more body. We toured the huge place (huge place, tiny brewery), saw the pizza oven (waiting on time and money), the beer garden (waiting on time and money), and the bottling area (waiting on...).

We got out, and now, of course, we're late (sorry, Terry), and get to Bullfrog about 11:20. No problem, Terry says, and takes us downstairs to see the operation (That first picture is Terry and me down in the midst of things). Wow. Lots of barrels, "kegs gone wild," bottling tanks just for the wild ales... Terry's found a big niche market for soured beers in Williamsport; who knew? He gave us a sample of his latest: a beer brewed with wild yeasts and 100% cacao chocolate. An amazingly layered beer that punches funk and chocolate in ways that are quite appealing. We put away 2/3 of a pint in short order. Once we grabbed a sixtel of Beesting Saison, away we went.

Not far, though. We just went over a few blocks to Kimball's Pub, a place that wasn't much to look at (clean, but real plain), but had a damned nice selection of beer. We were picking up another sixtel: Bavarian Barbarian Square Feet Wheat dunkeweizen. Mike Hiller had dropped it off there for us; he was in DC on Wednesday, showing off his First Snow winter warmer at the Brickskeller. Not bad for your first year!

Off we went, down Rt. 220, then over the ridges to Millheim, where we spent some very pleasant time with Tim Bowser and the crew at Elk Creek Cafe (my man Sam Komlenic was there, too; always a pleasure, Sam: that's Tim and Sam with Elk Creek's brewhouse to the right), sampling and shooting the breeze. Elk Creek's a beautiful place and no doubt; if you haven't been, go. A sixtel of Belgian strong, and we were on our way (after a quick stop at Penns Valley Meat Market for some house-made ring bologna and jerky).

One more stop: Old Forge Brewing, in Danville. Wanted to get here for months now, and I have: worth the trip. Great, simple place, well-populated even at 4 on a Wednesday afternoon. I got the alt, and it was good: proper hop bite, not over-alcohol'd, not too much hop aroma; maybe a bit dark, maybe a bit sweet, but Damien said he was aware of that and on top of it, this was the first batch. I did get a glass of Sensessionale, and it was excellent session stuff, a definite all-day sucker.

What really put us both away, though, was the food. I'd been told the menu was simple but well-executed, and man, was that true. Best $6 quesadilla I've ever had, perfectly done, cheesey, chicken, thin-sliced apple, just great. And the soft pretzels are very German, big, soft, chewy-tasty (and made the WaWa 'soft pretzel' I had on the way to Philly Beer Geek last night taste like a hard sponge); made at a Mifflinburg bakery. Great eats.

And then we drove home. Good day, good beer.

A big thanks to Scoats for the pix: I forgot my camera!

Good Day in the Inquirer

Philly Beer Week got a beautiful piece in the Inquirer today, along with a great picture of Scoats tapping a firkin of Iron Hill (West Chester) Ironbound Ale (yeah, unlike the guy who wrote the caption and said it was Bourbon Porter, I can read the tag in the picture). Craig LaBan did a pretty good job encompassing this juggernaut, including taking a swipe at the "other" so-called "beer weeks" that have sprung up.

But the Inky also had a front page story about cigarette taxes -- how New Jersey raised them and got less money -- it's the "paradox" that an increase in the tax on cigarettes often (make that "almost always") results in a decrease in revenue from the tax. Amazing, ain't it? These anti-smoking groups have been saying for years that if you raise taxes on cigs, people won't smoke as much; have those chickens come home to roost (and crapped all over New Jersey's budget crisis), ruining the happy, cautious dance of hypocritical 'sin tax' balanced against cynical greed?

Truth is, this is how it usually happens, and it happens for more reasons than people quitting. A quote from the story:

"When you're in a high-tax state, smokers, like anybody else, are price-sensitive, so they're going to go looking for cigarettes where they're cheaper," said Gregg Edwards, president of the Center for Policy Research of New Jersey. "There is a small number of folks who just wouldn't absorb the price increase and just decided to quit, but most of those folks just go to other places."

Which neatly sums up why excessively high taxes like these are, essentially, a government stimulus plan for smugglers. When anti-whatever groups publish their neat little "taxes up, sale of [insert targetted "Bad Thing" here] down, yay!" policy studies and reports, they never mention that the most likely outcome is that the people are just buying the "bad thing" somewhere else. People cross the border to buy their cigarettes, or organized crime outfits bring truckloads of them from low-tax states like South Carolina. Are the benefits worth the crime, or the normalization of crime?

Michael LaFaive of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy recently studied the impact of cigarette taxes in Michigan, California and New Jersey... LaFaive's study estimated that 40 percent of cigarettes smoked in New Jersey come from out-of-state or illegal lines of distribution. The figure was based on smoking rates, the number of adults in the state, and the number of legal sales per adult.

Bump the tax up enough, and you'll get hijacking and theft, too. We had a case near here a couple years ago where someone smashed a pickup truck through the glass front of a store at night, grabbed armloads of cigarette cartons, tossed them in the back of the truck, and drove off with thousands of dollars worth of cigarettes (and taxes). Great idea, those higher taxes.

Okay, pay-off time. You probably know -- and if you don't, you do now -- that I don't smoke. So cigarette tax increases are not a personal issue. But folks: replace "cigarette" with "beer" or "booze" and "smoke" with "drink," and you've got the same issue, same problem. Beer tax increases usually don't raise revenue. Revenue stays the same, or drops, and less beer is sold, which means less money is made by brewers, importers, wholesalers, and retailers, which means less revenue from that part of the chain, and jobs are usually lost, which means less tax revenue and more benefit payments. It's a brilliant cycle.

What's the solution? End excise taxes. Stop taxing targetted industries. If you don't think people should smoke, make it illegal (and good luck to you if it's just one state at a time). Don't try to balance the do-gooder "raise taxes so people stop smoking" with the darkly cynical "raise taxes and hope they don't stop smoking so much that we lose revenue." Do away with all these ridiculous taxes and fees and charges and nickel-dime bullshit. Tax income and property, things everyone has to pay (you can be progressive about it, I'm not touting a flat tax) and no one can avoid by smuggling their home into another state.

You'll have a more honest government, a government that isn't meddling in people's lives with tax policy voodoo. You won't be subsidizing crime: hijacking, theft, smuggling. And you won't look stupid when the inevitable happens.