Winding up the year, starting the next one

Early Thursday morning

Well...I had a really horrible 9 hour drive through Wednesday's snowstorm (a drive that usually takes about 5 hours) to my in-laws in upstate New York. But at the end of it, we got stuck into some seriously good beers: DC Brau's On The Wings of Armageddon (a jaw-slapping double IPA) and a jug of Selin's Grove's SNAFU IPA from Friday the 21st (when Nora and I dropped in at the brewpub for their 16th anniversary), and then some Smuttynose Big Beers: Zinneke (a Belgian-type stout that was good but wasn't fantastic), Scottish (delicious malt pillow), and Gravitation (a marvelous quad-type that really kept the malt train rolling along, rich and tongue-heavy).

Thursday...we recovered, and then Friday the bros-in-law and I went out to Sticky Lips BBQ in Henrietta, NY. The catfish was good (the fried pickles were just okay), the ribs were good, and the pulled pork was great. I had an Ed Fitz Porter (an always favorite) and a Three Heads The Kind IPA (excellently hoppy and brisk, even more so at $4 a 16 oz. glass). I had some GoldenCold when we got home. Saturday? Another long drive through snow, and some beers at the end...and a few more tonight.

But look, tomorrow is New Year's Day! As we've done for a few years now, we'll be going to Memphis Taproom for a late lunch (they have their full brunch menu from 11 AM to 3 PM NYE and NYD; late lunch, late breakfast, whatever, right?), then picking up some bratwurst at Rieker's for our midnight grillfest. I've got a magnum of Dupont Avec les Bons Vouex for the celebration.

Now, New Year's Day is a conflicting set of traditions for me. I've been watching the Mummer's Parade since I was a little kid -- on television, never been able to get down there... -- but Cathy has never understood, appreciated, or wanted to get anywhere near the Mummers. At all. Which may have something to do with why I've never been able to get to the parade, come to think of it. The other tradition is spending the day with my brother-in-law Carl and his family...but they couldn't make it this year; neither could we, actually. So we're on our own, and it turns out that there are some really good things to do on New Year's Day.

Like we may start at Monk's Cafe,where Tom and Fergie have started their own odd little tradition of serving all stouts (and one excellent sour, TBA) on NYD. Here's the list so far:
1. Allagash Bourbon Black
2. Alvinne Catherine The Great3. Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout
4. Dogfish Head Bitches Brew
5. Dogfish Head Chicory Stout
6. Dupont Monks Stout7. Dogfish Head World Wide Stout
8. Emelisse Russian Imperial Stout
9. Founder's Breakfast Stout10. Great Divide oak aged Yeti
11. Lost Abbey Deliverance (cellared for a year)
12. Sierra Nevada Narwhal Imperial Stout
13. Stoudt's Fat Dog Stout
14. New Holland Poet Oatmeal Stout
15. Bells Java Stout
16. Laughing Dog Dogfather Imperial Stout
17. Smuttynose Zinneke Belgian-style Stout

Pretty sure we can find something (fancy a Narwhal?).

Then we've got a private drop-in party to hit, followed by the annual whoopee at Local 44, where they celebrate their opening anniversary on January 1st (I'm hoping to snag some of the Lees Moonraker). Then it's back home, where I guess we'll have to have some amount of pork and sauerkraut, just because I'm a Dutchman.

A Pretty Good Night

This video premiered last night at the Philly Beer Scene Best of Philly awards show at World Cafe Live, and while it wasn't the highlight of the night, it was an amusing moment. Almost as good as the line about a homebrew being so funky that Sam Calagione called for the recipe, or William Reed's Carol Stoudt impersonation.

Joe Gunn: a touch sarcastic

First, about the show: fantastic. Mat "Red Shoes" Falco put together an incredible thing, a fun in-crowd show that had a great back-up band in Swift Technique, an excellent venue (with great beer, as always -- I drank a lot of Nodding Head Grog and Ric Hoffman's IPA from Stewart's, with a tasty glass of Forest and Main IPA thrown in for fun), and an indefatigable machine of an MC, Jose Pistola's own Mighty Joe Gunn, who didn't really keep things moving...but he did keep them pretty damned fun.

No, really, it's not Carol Stoudt!

Awards? They were presented by a full spectrum of the folks from Philadelphia's beer scene (appropriately, right?), from brewers to bar owners to wholesalers to distributors to homebrewers, and even beer writers, and that was a lot of fun too; sometimes intentionally. I haven't found a full list yet, but...here's what I remember, and it's not necessarily in order, because things didn't completely correspond to the list I was given. I'll flesh this out later. (Actually, Uncle Jack did, with a complete list that includes awards that weren't even mentioned last night...lookie here.)

Carolyn Smagalski & Mat: Red Shoes!

• Best Brewery Rep: Weyerbacher's Mike Lubieski
• Best Distributor in the City: Bella Vista
• Best Local Lager: Victory Prima Pils
• Best Local Belgian-style Beer: Weyerbacher Merry Monks
• Best Bottle Shop in the City: Craft Beer Outlet
• Wholesaler of the Year: Origlio
• The Philly Tap Finder award for the Most Searched For Beer of the Year: Tröegs Nugget Nectar
• Best Homebrew Shop: Keystone Homebrew
• Best European Beer Bar: Monk's Cafe
• Best Local Stout/Porter: Victory Storm King
• Best Local Barrel-Aged Beer: Weyerbacher Insanity
• Best Local Pale Ale/IPA: Yards Philly Pale
• Best Brewpub: Iron Hill
• Best New Bar in the City: Barcade
• Best Bar in the Burbs: Hulmeville Inn
• Best Brewery: Victory Brewing

The Weyerbacher Love Crew (Colin Presby w/the award for Best Barrel-aged Beer)

Uncle Jack Curtin and I got to present the final award, for Brewmaster of the Year, and I have to admit, by that time, we were all dragging a bit. So it was a good thing that they ran that Tröegs video (which is, of course, about the event Jack and I are doing at Standard Tap on June 3rd), which gave us a chance to sit and relax before taking the stage. We made a few weak jokes, then got right down to it: the winner was Chris Wilson of Weyerbacher, which brought the whole Weyerbacher Love Crew up on stage again, and Chris, resplendent in a white dinner jacket and green Weyerbacher t-shirt, made an acceptance speech that was pure Chris. And that...was that.

Jack announcing; I'm having a private moment w/my award.

Except for one other thing: I won Best Beer Writer of the Year, which I have to admit floored me. Because the competition has seriously stepped up around here, truth be told. From Uncle Jack's shoot-from-the-hip opinions, to Bryan Kolesar's in-depth reporting, Lisa Grimm's thoughtful considerations, Suzy Woods's personable and personal enthusiasm, and of course Don Russell's completely connected professionalism...plus Craig LaBan's great occasional beer forays in the Inky and all the local blogs, Philly's a great place to read about beer, too. Winning this award was humbling, and I want to thank all the people who voted, as well as all the fantastic people who make this such a great business.

Got some odd looks with the trophy on the way home on the train, but talking to Eddie Friedland on the way was well worth it. A good night, indeed.

All photos courtesy of Stephen "Click-click" Lyford; thanks, fella!

Many Beers Ago...

I was pulling out some old papers and notes today, and came across these pictures from the 1995 Christmas beer dinner at Copa, Too!, which was, I think, my first Tom Peters Christmas dinner. We were so much younger then...

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!

The Monk's Christmas Dinner: 16 Years and Kicking!

Tom Peters, you mad son of fun.

You know there are a lot of perks to this crazy life I lead, but one of the very best is the Christmas dinner at Monk's Cafe. I've been going since before it was at Monk's: Tom Peters started doing these crazy dinners when he was managing Copa, Too!. There's always great beer, and there's always...the Buche de Noel.

Tonight's was no exception. I was at the bar, hobnobbing with UPenn Museum's Bruce Nichols, Uncle Jack, Carolyn Smagalski, and Don "Joe Sixpack" Russell, as well as Home Sweet Homebrew's George and Nancy, and Philly beer historian Rich Wagner. I could wax enthusiastic, but to be truthful, my waxing is waning right now: I'm exhausted. I'll just list the menu.

Sly Fox Christmas Ale 2007 with mussels and chorizo steamed in more Sly Fox Christmas.

Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza with spinach salad with hearts of palm, strawberries, and toasted pine nuts (this one worked well for me, cutting the sour of the beer).

La Rulles Cuvee Meilleurs Voeux, & St. Germain Page 24 Biere de Noel with a beautiful pan seared scallop, topped with grated beet, sitting atop sauteed beet greens and a beet risotto (it could not be beat).

Abbaye de St. Martin Cuvee de Noel & de Struise Tjeeses with elk loin, brussel sprouts, and a sweet potato stoempf. Tjeeses was good, very good, but the St. Martin really grew on me.

Scaldis Prestige 2007 with three marvelous cheeses: Molierno (sheep milk from Sardinia), Balyey Hazen Bleu (crumbly blue from VT), and Quadrello di Bufala (a hard buffalo milk cheese, packed with flavor).

Troegs Mad Elf Jeroboam & Port Brewing Santa's Little Helper with the Buche de Noel. Yum. The Mad Elf was great, the SLH was big and warmingly medicinal. Nice job on both. (That 'mushroom' was delish, BTW)

Particularly poignant, because this was chef Adam Glickman's last night, after steering the kitchen for 9 years. He got a bit choked up, and it's understandable. Great run, Adam. Fantastic food, that did honor to the beer.

Monk's Cafe has re-opened...mostly

Uncle Jack's reporting that Monk's Cafe has re-opened; the two front rooms, that is. The back bar won't re-open till next week. Hats off to Tom and Fergie...and, of course, to all those who accused them of being overly optimistic about re-opening by today. You just don't know these guys. Things happen.

The Terrible Situation at Monk's Cafe

There was a tragic death and serious injury at the building that houses Monk's Cafe over the weekend, and the landmark bar and restaurant is closed for the present, until the city and the building's landlord hash out what needs to be done. Uncle Jack's all over the story, in his usual thorough way, so I won't add to that. I'll just say that I hope the beer community doesn't forget the people involved in their 'grief' over Monk's Cafe being closed. Spare a prayer or a thought for Steven Lee, who died in the fall, and his unnamed friend, who is in Hahnemann in critical condition.

And while we're at it, it wouldn't hurt to spare a thought for Michael Jackson, our Michael Jackson: yesterday was the second anniversary of his death.

Duvel Green: Draft

Philadelphia exerted itself -- that's America's Best Beer-Drinking City -- and, ahead of Manhattan, ahead of Boston, ahead of everyone else, tonight hosted the debut of Duvel Green Draft, the new -- truly new -- beer from Moortgat, at -- where else? -- Monk's Cafe. Everyone took pains to point out that this is not just Duvel on draft. Duvel Green is single-fermented and filtered, where Duvel is fermented twice (second time in the bottle, both using the same yeast, we were told), and it comes in at a reduced 6.8% ABV. It is, however, brewed with that same yeast, same Styrian Golding and Saaz hops, and the same pilsner malt as the original. It is a completely new beer, not the "Duvel Gefilterd Green," not Duvel without the second fermentation. (Update: Michael Moortgat, quoted on BeerAdvocate today, directly contradicts this: "Duvel Green is certainly not a new beer," he said. Looking forward to getting this straightened out...)

Tom Peters and Fergus Carey went to Belgium, put the pressure on -- what, you're going to debut Duvel Green Draft in Manhattan? In Boston? You're not going to debut it in the biggest market for Belgian beer in North America? -- and Duvel Moortgat thought twice. There was some quid pro quo, of course. The beer's not officially in Pennsylvania: Duvel gave the beer to Monk's, and Monk's gave it away at a private, invitation-only event. Manhattan will get the beer officially: "20 accounts, so we know if it's going to be a success, and then Philly gets it next" said Duvel rep Megan McGuire. (I think that's how she spells it; if not, my apologies, and I'll fix it ASAP.) And if anyone gets really official about it, it never happened. But lookie here, Manhattan, sniff this, Boston: Philly got it phirst. Damned right we did; Ommegang's Larry Bennett told me the kegs had just been filled in Belgium on Friday. Anyone else get any yet? No, didn't think so.

How was it? Scary drinkable for 6.8%, as you might expect. Light-bodied, with a spicy nose (Duvel is a bit heavier and has a more complex nose; more carbonation, too), very refreshing. One other thing, which was the serendipitous result of Monk's foods put out for the tasting (diver scallops in a Duvel beurre blanc, fine sausage with coarse mustard, and a salmon poached in Duvel and Hallertauer hops): I may have finally found a beer that truly goes well with fish, something I've hunted for without much personal satisfaction. The salmon and Duvel Green really complemented each other: the fish was clean and toothsome, the beer had a slight hollow in the middle filled in by the fish. It was great. (That's Tom Peters handing a glass to Moortgat/Ommegang's Bill Wetmore.)

As for the whole Manhattan-first thing, let me say right up front that I think it's a mistake. Here's why. Foreign brewers always want to be in the New York market first; why? Because they think it's the most important city in the richest beer market in the world (sorry, China, but that's true, too: there's more beer sold in China, but there's more profit made on beer sales in the U.S.). Sure, that's true, but success in the Manhattan beer market comes only with application of much money in promotion, advertising, and buying leather jackets for bartenders. And when you stop spending money, well, guess what? It's "What have you done for me lately?"

New York is a market that lives on the Flavor of The Month, and when your month is over, you're done. As we said to Megan, you know what you need to succeed in the Philly market? Good beer. And as Flying Fish brewer Casey Hughes correctly pointed out, if you try that promotion/advertising/leather jacket stuff in Philly, it's likely to backfire on you anyway.

We'll be happy with having beat the world once again. I only feel sorry that more people couldn't share in our victory. Blame the marketers. Blame them for "Duvel Green," too, by the way: we were told that "Green" was chosen because the beer is younger than Duvel. Green. As in 'not ripe?' I have to believe that no one at Moortgat speaks colloquial English, and they have a tendency to not listen to their American employees who do. Green? Why not just say, "Because it's not Duvel Red. It's different." Hearing this explanation made me uncomfortable.

By the way, that Heavenhill Anniversary Bourbon, the sample I told you to ask me for when you saw me? Well...I took it along, and some people made pigs out of themselves. All that's left is about 2 oz., just enough for me to make my notes. Sorry. I will say this: it is a lot better with a splash of water. Downright wonderful, in fact.

Rob Tod, Allagash, and Monk's Cafe

Just a quick note about last night's Allagash dinner at Monk's Cafe. Tom invited me to come down, which I wanted to do: Rob's a great guy, and a good friend, and Heaven knows his beers are excellent, but I was meeting with another friend last night to help pick out music for her wedding. So Cathy and I left late, and got to Monk's at about 8 (after an amazingly fast run down to Philly; where was the traffic?).

Matt "Beer Yard" Guyer graciously made a place for us at the infamous "press ghetto" table in the front window, and I plonked down beside Don Russell just in time to catch a glass of Allagash Triple, which was tasting fine, better than I remember: clean, crisp, and drinkable. (Yes, I know, those are the classic adjectives for describing Budweiser; this stuff isn't Budweiser.) We also got a retrograde glass of White, which I enjoyed and should have kept to have refreshed through the night as a calibration tool.

We'd already eaten, not knowing how long the music selection would take, so we passed on Tom's gracious offer to feed us. Although...when he urged me to try a bite of the salmon with a Curieux mole, I did, and I was glad; the Curieux was tasting just a bit top-heavy on its own, and the fish and heat-kissed sauce knocked that top-hamper right off, making it a delightful mouthful.

I talked a little New Jersey Breweries business with co-author Mark Haynie, who was in for the dinner. He's making brewery visits next week, I'm going to start hitting bars -- tough work, but some poor sucker's gotta do it (You got any good NJ bar suggestions, particularly in the vicinity of a New Jersey brewery, send 'em in!).

We got Musette (Rob's take on the Belgian take on Scotch ale) and barrel-aged Four with dinner (dinner was a 'barbequed' brisket (the 'quotes' are there for the barbeque fanatic who wrote a comment recently on my post about Clem's in Port Matilda; fanatic, I didn't put the post up because it was too long and a bit too vicious, not because I want to censor anyone who disagrees with me), mashed yams, and collard greens). The Musette was nice, malty with an edge, and the Four was just huge, bourbony, and deep, lots going on once you dove deep under the bourbon layer.

We did eat dessert, a chocolate fig cake with Allagash Double. It had been quite a while since I'd had Double, and it was great, flavorful, but not huge, and good at picking up the fig notes in the cake. Pretty much general lusciousness.

After that, we hung around a while, helping Bryan Kolesar and his wife celebrate their 9th anniversary (Congratulations!), talking about the Michael Jackson toast plans with Tom, and introducing Cathy to Rob. Rob Tod's talk, by the way, was one of the most fact-filled yet engaging talks I've ever heard at Monk's: focused, but fun, in his self-deprecating way. His passion for his beers, and for the thrill of trying new techniques, has always been exciting, and it came across clearly last night.

Thanks to Tom for the invite: another great time at Monk's Cafe.