Porterhouse is just a steak

Heard through the hopvine that Porterhouse, the brewpub in Lahaska, is decommissioning their brewhouse and going full restaurant. The brewery's been down for over a year with a failed boiler.

Too bad, though it's understandable: the partners who bought the place (the former Buckingham Mountain brewpub of unlamented memory) were really looking for a restaurant. The brewpub set-up was on fire sale, so they took it all. There was a connection with River Horse, then Philadelphia Brewing, which led to my friend Dean Browne brewing there for a while (made a good porter, too). And, of course, I included it in the new Pennsylvania Breweries, so that's a word of warning: no brewery there any more! If you're one of the people who like to get signatures of brewers in your book, though, Dean's often available at Philadelphia Brewing, and he's real friendly; he's Canadian, you know.

I don't know if they'll still have a good selection of beer available; they'd be fools not to, in this area.

Clearly, the fracking near Williamsport has had an effect on the populace already...

GOTHIKA. A collaborative brewing of thick, black beer from two breweries in the nether hillcountry; where pagan rituals still occur, and have since time immemorial.

GOTHIKA. Terry and Mike have lost it. Cool.

Official Book Launch tickets now on sale

The launch event for Pennsylvania Breweries4th edition is at Victory Brewing, Tuesday October 5th, starting at 6:00. We're going to start with some convivial drinking, then have an hour-long panel discussion about Pennsylvania brewing and beer, featuring brewers from Victory, Nodding Head, Tröegs, Sly Fox, Weyerbacher, and Stoudt's (with me doing Ted Koppel moderation duties); that will include a Q&A session with the audience (that's you, right?). Then at 7:30 I'll start signing books till my hand falls off (and we'll probably wind up having another beer or two in the bar).

It's a ticketed event: $35 gets you a copy of the book, two beers, and a big old hors d'oeuvre selection. And the pleasure of each other's company, of course, hob-nobbing with Ron Barchet, Carol Stoudt, the Trogners, Curt Decker, Brian O'Reilly, and my stunningly personable self. Come on out to Downingtown and join us!

General Lafayette closed, to change hands; brewing continues

Just got this press release direct from Chris Leonard at the General Lafayette Inn:

The General Lafayette Inn & Brewery in Lafayette Hill, PA is ceasing its restaurant and guest house operations effective immediately. A sale has been pending for close to a year. During the continued sale negotiations, the current brewers will continue to operate the brewing facilities to produce craft beer for wholesale distribution. Once the buyer is able to complete the purchase, the current brewers will retain operating rights to the brewery and resume providing General Lafayette beer for on-site consumption via the Copper Crow Beer Company (Crow). The Crow shall also begin wholesale production at an alternate site in North Wales, sometime in October. (emphases added)

After rumors of the General closing over the past months, rumors that intensified over the past week, it's good to get some kind of resolution, even if only a confirmation of the intentions. I hope things work out the way Chris lays them out here. Never had a problem with his beer at the General at all.

Uncle Jack has more here.

Signings: Saturday the 25th

Come on out and get your copy of Pennsylvania Breweries 4th edition tomorrow. I'll be at Weyerbacher Brewing from noon to 2:45 for their regular open hours at their visitor center (tours, samples, Lew...), then I'll be at the Bulls Head Public House in Lititz from 4:30 to 6:00. Hope to see you there!

Pick-up and delivery

Yesterday was the day. I drove up to Stackpole Books in Mechanicsburg and met with my editor, Kyle Weaver...and took delivery of Pennsylvania Breweries, 4th Edition. A lot of books. We went to lunch at Grandpa's Growler (Guinness and chili; always a fave lunch), and then I hit the road. I drove down to my mother's, and delivered a signed copy, a tradition we've been following through the Breweries book. It was tough not having my father there. This edition is dedicated to him:

To Lewis M. Bryson II

Always at my side

Yeah. Anyway, I left, picked up Nora at school, and got home in time to tidy up, change shirts, and head down to the Hulmeville Inn for the first signing for the book. It was fun -- it always is there -- and we had some great beers from Philadelphia Brewing: three firkins pouring Newbold IPA, Pennsylvania Pale Ale (my first beer of the night; seemed appropriate, and even more so once I got that razory hoppiness in me), and Joe Coffee Porter, which was awesome out of the firkin: smooth, round, a really good porter and a really good coffee beer.

It was a good night. And Pennsylvania Breweries is on the road. See you soon: Weyerbacher and the Bulls Head tomorrow.

A Little Fun in Philly

I rolled down to Philadelphia yesterday evening for two fun things. First, I went to Resurrection Alehouse for their one-year anniversary. As noted earlier, it's been a busy year, what with raids and national praise of their fried chicken, but the celebration was typically low-key. Brendan Hartranft greeted me with a pint of Bombardier (that dry, slightly hair-tonic English malt character kept the interest up through the glass), and indulged me with a look at the new Randall the Enamel Animal V.3.0, the fabled beer infuser that Sam Calagione keeps messing with.

The new iteration (filled with JW Lees-infused prunes...) retains that picked-from-a-plumbing-warehouse look: that is PVC pipe at the base, and that's some kind of clear plastic thing on the right...you can just make out the prunes in there (and they were all swoll' up with the Lees, too; tasty-looking). It wasn't going to get hooked up until 8 PM, for a 'simul-tap' with 8 other bars; Sam, Sam, Sam, you are nuts and we love ya.

Anyway, I was going to leave, but I didn't. I talked myself into having a pint of Victory Festbier since it was now officially Fall, and didn't it just taste grand? A tray of mussel skewers came around -- brilliantly fresh and zesty with lemon -- and I talked to Leigh Maida and Valentine Bandit, Leigh and Brendan's beautiful little boy. Things are good at Resurrection: good vibe, good beers, good food. Nice neighborhood, too; hope the South Street Bridge re-opens before Valentine graduates from high school...

I had to run up to London Grill then. See, when I went to Beer Camp at Sierra Nevada back in April with all the Philly beervolk that went, we got to brew a beer, and Terry McNally, who owns London Grill, was agitating for an almond beer (Chico grows a lot of almonds). Pshaw, we said (and other things), and steamrollered her. Didn't the very next Beer Camp brew an almond märzen? And didn't Terry get a keg?! Yes, she did, and it went on last night, along with Tumbler, XXX, our own ExPorter, and the perpetual SNPA tap, it was a Sierra Nevada lovefest. The beer? Not much nut character; none, really. Terry happily agreed that the ExPorter was better. But Tumbler was great, a dry brown ale with a nice bitter pull at the end. Good stuff.

And then I went back to Newtown, and went to choir practice. It was a good night, especially when the thunderstorms hit during practice!

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.

BIPA: enough, already

Belgian IPA.

It wasn't until I got the Samuel Adams Longshot announcement today, where they listed the winners of this year's America's Got Homebrewing Talent competition (not their name, of course), that I realized how bloody tired I'm getting of seeing, hearing, and -- mostly -- tasting this classification of beer. (The winners, for the record, and congratulations to them: Richard Roper (Georgia), Friar Hop Ale (the probably just-fine BIPA that set me off), Rodney Kibzey (Illinois) Blackened Hops (a dark IPA...which I still like, for now), and Caitlin DeClerq, the Boston Beer Employee winner, with Honey Bee’s Lavender Wheat.)

It's just so freakin' American craft brewing. Take a familiar category of beer -- maibocks, brown ale, porter, or in this case, Belgian pale strong ales (a beautifully, broadly, Belgian category, admittedly, in which few are just like another) -- and hop the shit out of it, then proudly hold it up as A New Beer! Ta-daaaa! Never mind if it's freakishly sweet, or that the hop flavor clashes with the yeast character, or that every other brewer is going, 'Yeah, I gotta make me one of them' and the "style" becomes a glut (crap-ass sour beers, anyone?). Not to mention that American craft-brewing has become so influential -- a GREAT thing, overall, and very satisfying -- that Belgian brewers are doing it, with very varied results.

Yeah, I like some, like Poperings, De Ranke XX, The Bruery Mischief. Others -- like Green Flash Le Freak, Gouden Carolus Hopsinjoor, and the one-shot (thank you!) Duvel Tripel Hop -- really verge into that Frankenstein's monster territory for me. I understand that this is how we progress, that the good succeed and the bad simply suck, and that every beer is not meant for me, but...

The aspect that most bothers me, about BIPA and other herd beers, is just that: the herd. Someone does a new beer, a really new thing -- Vinnie Cilurzo does Blind Pig, for instance. A couple other brewers taste it -- at the brewery, at GABF -- get inspired, and they try it. Then one of them breaks big -- it happens faster these days, thanks to the beerwebs and the competitive "yeah, I've had that...a YEAR ago!" nature they've fostered -- and literally a hundred brewers make them, not so much inspired by the art as by the buck. I'm all for the buck, it keeps craft beer alive, but guys...have your own idea. It may or may not get you the attention. But you can't do this kind of thing, and still complain about Blue Moon and Shocktop, 'kay?

Example: Weyerbacher. I've been a fan from Day One, largely because of two things. First, Dan Weirback's a scrapper; he's hung in there when other people would have quit, and he keeps trying things. Second, he's been -- except for some exceptions -- a contrarian. When everyone else was making wheaty fruities, he made a beautiful raz imperial stout; when everyone else made sweet tripels, his was dry and spicy. The exception? Dan did some following in the years around 2000. It got a little boring. Then he found his way again (with the help of an excellent brewhouse crew, led by Chris Wilson; kind of like what's happening at Flying Fish with Casey Hughes), and Weyerbacher is not a follower any more. And we are the richer for it.

It's not really BIPA I'm tired of. I'm tired of seeing so many new ones. Either innovate, truly and wildly and brilliantly, or give me something beautiful and solid, like the gorgeously classic Saison Vautour from McKenzie Brewhouse, or the unimpeachable quality of Troegenator, or the simple lines of Geary's London Porter. Stop chasing flags (a little Dante reference for you there). Make beer. Find your heart first, and then follow it.

LaBan Torches City Tap House

Ouch. Just when you were starting to think that great beer was the key to a great review from Philadelphia Inquirer restaurant reviewer Craig LaBan (I'm kidding; but he has loved the gastropubs), he launches this flaming load of thisplacesucked at City Tap House. Wow.

Hey, I'll admit; I had my doubts about the place before it opened. But I really thought it was pretty good, pretty squared away. LaBan experienced dirty glassware (soapy, lipstick, and "with bread crumbs floating on top"), a mouse (admitted, running around outside where they have a grassy roof), and bland pizza. He didn't really find much good to say except about the fried oysters and the burger...and, of course, the beers.

Too bad. Guess I'll have to head back and see if things really do suck that bad.

A note on comments to this post, and any post on a particular place: I'm not going to publish your reviews of service/food/beer here. If it's a general comment and you have a short illustrative point, okay, but otherwise, I'll reject those comments. It's not because I don't agree with you, or think your review is too gushing or mean-spirited, or because I don't like you. It's because I don't want this turning into Yelp. Yelp is there for that; post there. Seriously, I do, and I read those reviews when I'm looking for new places. It's a much more appropriate place. Okay? No hard feelings, I hope.