Boo!

Once I got home, I immediately carved the jack o'lantern (which I almost always do on Hallowe'en; it's fresher that way). The big one was a different kind of pumpkin, a very tough shell, so I got the damned Sawzall out and man, did the squash ever fly!









I was fairly pleased with the results, and got some compliments from the neighbors:

Great Day for a Parade

We meant to take public transit.

But it was monumentally overwhelmed. I was already at Rhawn and the Boulevard, doing platelet donation, so I just kept going in (parked on 7th, just south of Market); Cathy tried to get the kids to the Woodbourne station, but the parking lot was overflowing. She drove in with no problems -- thank you to all the suckers who stood on the SEPTA platforms watching train after train blow by full...to be fair, it sounds like no one expected the crowds they got for the parade, estimated this afternoon at 2.2 million people along the parade route and in the two arenas. That's some Phillies pride. (We even like our mascot.)





I walked down to The Foodery to score some cans of Sly Fox (open at 9:50, thanks!), some sodas for the kids, and a couple snacks, then couldn't resist stopping by McGillan's for a quick Penn Dark on my way up to City Hall. Met up with the family on the southwest corner, and that's where we stayed for two hours until the parade came. Lots of police, the Clydesdales (with Pat Burrell riding with the driver), the Phanatic, and then the team, with head coach Charlie Manuel -- in a pinstripe suit -- right there. We howled, we cheered, we clapped, and we grinned and told each other how great it was. As the truck made its way around City Hall to Broad Street, Mayor Nutter was holding up the trophy, and it was grand, just great. (Later in the afternoon it came to me that if this had happened last year, and Mayor Street had been holding the trophy, I'd have been incensed. Funny.)

And then we slowly made our way back through City Hall, got in the cars and went to Memphis Taproom for a late lunch. A very, very good day. Congratulations to the team, and thank you for bringing Philadelphia something so special: pride.

You bet we are

We're going to the victory parade on Friday. If it takes us through McGillin's, Moriarty's, Fergie's, and Memphis on the way home, we're going. (ummmm...by SEPTA. I can walk home from there if I really have to.)

You goin'?

PHILLIES RULE!!!!

The Drought is OVER.

Drive home from choir practice with 1210 AM on (after rabid Phils fan choir director cuts practice short for the first time in memory), hear the Fightin's score a run to go ahead again after having the lead ripped from them by the bullshit "rain un-delay" decision Monday night. Scream with insane delight. Get home, greet family exultantly, head for stockpiled beer on frigid back deck.

Miltenberger Helles Hefe Weizen.

Phils score, Devil Rays score.

Sierra Nevada Porter.

Phils score, Devil Rays suck wind.

Deschutes Jubelale 2008.

Cathy: "Oh God, I can't stand it." Me: "It's Lidge: pop-out, strike-out." Lidge shuts the door: line drive caught by Werth, strikeout, game frickin' over, and the Phillies win!!!

Sly Fox Incubus.

Mind you, I hear some people didn't drink Philly beer to celebrate. Come on, man!

Yards is thinking big

"When the farmers were coming in -- "

The who?

"The farmers, who were putting in the silo, from up in Lancaster," Tom Kehoe explained.

That's when I knew that despite the big new digs at 901 N. Delaware Ave., the big new brewhouse, and the sign out front (Yards! With a sign!), Tom Kehoe and Yards Brewing hadn't really changed all that much.

I went down to visit Tom (and Steve Mashington and Tim Roberts) at Yards for the first time last week (and I'd have posted this sooner, but I misplaced my notes). The first brew was on August 29, two months ago, and beer is getting out into the Five County area already; draft-only, but bottling was supposed to have started this past weekend. They were doing final testing on the bottling line while I was there.

Basics: Year-rounds will be ESA, Philly Pale, IPA, and Brawler. Remember Brawler, the "pugilist-style ale"? It's a 4.0% malt-forward session beer, "A ruby mild, really," Tom said. I'm eager to see if a session beer can hold its own in wider distribution, of course. Seasonals, for now, are Love Stout in the fall and winter, Saison in the spring and summer. (Tom gleefully told me that Love Stout made an unannounced appearance in Kevin Smith's new film, Zack and Miri Make a Porno; can you think of a more appropriate beer?) Will the oysters return to Love Stout? "We're asking the ATTTB about the oysters," said Tom. Oh, and the real reason they're in there? Just because.

There will also be some one-offs coming from the old original Yards brewing system, the little three-barrel baby from the old brewery up on the hill in Manayunk. "We can do all kinds of fun stuff with it, we just need to get it bricked up," said Tom.

But don't think this is a precious "do it for the love" brewery. Kehoe intends to put a serious amount of beer out the door. With the tanks that are coming in the next couple weeks (and the fourth vessel of the brewhouse), the capacity of the brewery will be "more than twice what we had before." He doesn't expect to hit that right away, of course -- and there's evidently some interest in contract-brewing to take up some of that -- but "There's been a buzz about Yards [outside of Philadelphia]. People want our beer. Our spigots are down, sure, but people are willing to jump right back in. They were turned off by the perception of the Lion's quality."

Distribution will be through Clement Muller this time, not self-distribution. "We're not planning to go farther than we were before," Tom said. "Muller's bring us the four counties [Bucks, Montgomery, Delaware, and Chester], and we're probably looking at New York City. Why not, everyone else is."

Meanwhile, Kehoe and Mashington are doing cask nights at area bars. "It's a totally different market," Kehoe told me. "Bars love to put a cask on the bar." It's not just the usual suspects, either: "Philadelphia Fish Company is doing cask on the bar. If we had the casks, we could be doing five times the events we're doing."

(The picture here is of Kehoe and his production brewer, Tim Roberts, who kept the Independence brewpub in fine beers for years before it finally went down. Frank Winslow is the QA brewer, running the fancy, well-equipped lab at the brewery.)

When the split came between Yards and Philadelphia Brewing -- or, better put, between Kehoe and former partner Bill Barton -- they divvied up the casks between them. Kehoe is getting some new firkins in. Don't expect to see a lot more cask Yards, though. "No one's cellaring," Kehoe complained. "It's too hard for people to deal with. (insert blogger's disgusted pause for the condition of bar owners these days) And when we do events, we get the cask right back at the end of the night, which is so much better."

So, about that split. I didn't really ask much, and I don't intend to ask the Bartons much when I sit down with them -- soon, I hope -- to talk about Philadelphia Brewing. It doesn't have much to do with the beer, way I see it.

About the beer...I sat down with Tom with glasses of one of the first batches of Philly Pale. "Don't judge by this one," he said, "we were still getting the brewhouse dialed in, and the next batch is much better already." It was still nice to be sitting in Philly, drinking Philly-brewed Philly Pale.

About where we were sitting. 901 N. Delaware Ave is right down the block from the proposed site of the controversial Sugarhouse casino; in fact, we stood out back and watched the heavy machines levelling the site. (It's also not far at all from Memphis Taproom...as I found out, thanks to my girlfriend.) So what's planned for the brewery visitor?

Despite rumors and hopes of food by City Tavern's Walter Staib (and that would be grand), Tom said clearly that it's about the beer. "We're going to do a tasting room," he said, "but we want people to be able to buy a full beer, or a case of beer. My idea is an English beer garden, but we're focused on the beer. The beer experience is the tour."

He laughed. "Of course, with all the Sugarhouse stuff, who knows?!"

Then we walked outside, and looked up at that big, beautiful Yards sign. "We never had a location that advertised itself before," Tom said. "The location and the sign are going to let more people know about Yards."

As I drove off into the gorgeous October afternoon, I remember talking with folks ten years ago about why places like Red Bell, Poor Henry's, and Independence always got all the money and all the attention, while all Yards got was critical acclaim -- and critical criticism when it would go through an occasional off-period -- and beer geek love...but not much in the way of sales. Tom Kehoe's ready to roll the dice and grow the brand. After years of suburban domination, we may get a big production brewery in Philly yet.

And of course, it might turn out to be Philadelphia Brewing. I'll be visiting there next.

Iron Hill cask event: I'm getting me some of that!

Got a release on the next Iron Hill Brewers' Reserve event: a 'roll your own' Black and Tan* cask ale event at their Newark brewpub on November 15, starting at noon. Iron Hill brewers will supply "cask conditioned dark and pale ales", as will brewers from Stewart’s, Nodding Head, Yards, General Lafayette Inn, Sly Fox, Triumph, and Earth Bread + Brewery (I assume I don't have to tell you that these are some of our best cask brewers in the area, right?). Customers will, says the release, "be encouraged to create their own “Black and Tan” combinations." Beers will be sold by the pint till it all runs out. I missed the SPBW Real Ale event a few weeks ago, I'll be damned if I'm gonna miss this one! See you there.

*Before the inevitable "Black and Tan is offensive to the Irish!" comments come rolling in (and I won't allow them to post, so don't waste your time and mine)... The Royal Irish Constabulary Reserve Force, the British paramilitary group that quickly gained a reputation for brutality in the early 1920s in Ireland, became known as the "Black & Tans" because of their uniform colors, true enough. But "black and tan" as the name for a mix of a dark and lighter beer actually pre-dates that, going back into the 1800s. So stop being all Irish-American (like me and my wife are) and in my face with it, and relax, and enjoy this delicious mixture for what it is: beer.

Return of The Blob('s Park)!

Ah, good news, my gemütlichkeit-loving friends: Blob's Park will be re-opening! Open since the 1930s, and holding an annual Oktoberfest since 1947, Blob's Park, the beloved German beerhall/garden in Jessup, Maryland, closed last New Year's Eve. It was a sad time. But now there's news that Max Blob's great-nephew, Max Eggrel, is renovating (about $250,000 worth), and hopes to be open by this New Year's Eve. That's some kind of oompah, brother.

No World Series tonight, I'm thinking

That's the view out my dining room window just now. Actually, in the five minutes since I took that, the deck is even whiter. It's coming down steadily and the temperature is dropping (it's currently 34F). Wherever you may be reading this, believe me: snow on October 28 is not normal around here.

Might be a good afternoon for whiskey in the coffee.

Big Iron arrives in Danville

I mentioned on my website that a brewpub called Old Forge is planned for Danville, PA (282 Mill Street). I got in touch with founder Damien Malfara a while back, and here's what he had to say.

We are still in the preliminary stages (scraping plaster off of interior brick walls, tearing down ceilings, etc., etc.). We are hoping to be open by Thanksgiving if we are lucky. We are a brewpub with no plans for packaging at this time.

In the meantime, we ordered a 5 bbl direct-fired system from Premier Stainless...it should arrive by early September. We plan to have 8 beers on tap...4 flagship beers and 4 rotating specialties and seasonals (planned beers are on the website).

We will have a fun casual atmosphere, with a focus on healthy pub fare (both meat-lovers and vegetarian friendly!) and fresh brewed beer. Our theme is centered around craftsmanship...hand crafted beer, hand crafted wooden and forged steel bar and booths from a local woodworker/metalworker, hand crafted dishes and mugs from a local potter, hand crafted tap handles from a local wood/metal sculptor, food sourced from local farms wherever possible.

We are looking to hire a chef in October to help build the menu around our ideas and get the kitchen and kitchen staff up and running...I'm currently talking with various culinary schools to list the job posting in their alumni/career services departments.

Anyway, today a reader (thanks, Reverend!) sent me a link to a video clip on the local news about Old Forge finally getting in their tanks. Things are a bit behind schedule -- what a shock in a brewpub opening! -- and they're now aimed at opening by year's end, but things look good.

Danville's up there in the Selinsgrove/Berwick/Williamsport/Millmont quadrangle that's been so damned beer-hot lately. More ferment in what used to be Pennsylvania's Beermuda Triangle!

Great Divide Hibernation Ale

Do you remember drinking craft beer in the mid-90s? When Old Horizontal was the absolute shit*, and people still thought Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale were pretty good beers†, and you made a Christmas beer by going in the brewery, grabbing the Beer-Making-Volume Control and cranking that bad boy up to 11?‡

I took a step back in time Tuesday afternoon at the Memphis Taproom. I was on my way back from Yards (a visit that's going to get blogged soon) and thought, hell, I've got time for one...and it was such a beautiful October afternoon, and they had the door open, and I saw Great Divide Hibernation on the taplist. It's been years since I had a Hibernation. I went to Great Divide's GABF party back in 1995 and 1996 and had a blast, drinking years of Hibernation with Brian and Tara Dunn. When it made it East, I was happy to sup up more.

But times changed, and beers came and went, and I think the last time I had one was about 2000. This pint of 2008 Hibernation came dark and solid, and totally old-school winter ale. It's big -- just a little bit boozy, which is good, it keeps you honest and aware -- it's unashamedly hoppy, it's malty but doesn't overdo the esters, and it just tasted so good that if I hadn't told myself I'd keep it to one, I'd have put it away all too quickly. This was the way brewers used to make big beers: dynamic balance, tension, nothing overwhelming, like a game of Blockhead 6 feet high and 4 feet wide.

Be damned if it's going to be 8 years before I have another!

*And it still pretty much is.

†And they still are.

‡And you can obviously still make a damned good beer that way.