Dock Street Truffled Old Ale

Getting caught up on my blogging after a loooong ten days or so of action-packed stuff. First up was the Dock Street Truffled Old Ale release; we got an advance tasting at the Four Seasons on January 23rd (Craig LaBan got an even advanceder tasting, and wrote this). I took the train down, endearing myself to my green friends, I'm sure, and walked over to the Four Seasons from Suburban Station...and then started really wishing I'd worn something nicer than the old nylon windbreaker I'd pulled on over sweater and jeans.

The Swann Lounge at the Four Seasons is more upscale than you'll usually find for a beer launch, but Rosemarie Certo is doing this to prove a point; the same one that the original Dock Street brewpub proved not 100 yards from there* in the 1990s. Beer is the people's beverage, to be sure, but beer is protean: it can effortlessly go from washing down chicken wings at trestle tables as commentators cry the latest play of the game to pouring luxuriously into ballooned wine glasses as jazz floats above the conversations of the rich and well-dressed. Why not go upscale? Beer is certainly not diminished in its role as social leveler when it becomes 'fancy' or 'extreme,' any more than it is demeaned by going light and getting gulped by the gallon. Beer is all things to all people; or at least, it could be...and that's the point of this.

But enough bibbling (that's the drinking version of babbling) about what 'beer' is or can be; this beer was, as I noted to Scott "Dude" Morrison (who is back brewing at Dock Street, in case you live under a rock, or don't read Uncle Jack's blog), full of the flavors of the wine barrels it briefly aged in, and unctuous from the truffles (Yes, I actually immediately thought and used the word "unctuous"; I blame all the whiskey reviews I've been doing). I didn't get a lot of that earthy, stanky truffle character...but as Scott said, you can easily overdo that, especially in a beer (I kind of thought that the truffled mayonnaise served with the frites they put out for the tasting was a little overdone...but only a little). They took 12 ounces of truffles (which was, trust me, ridiculously expensive), shaved them, and then left it in vodka for the alcohol to pull the flavor out, an essence of truffle, which they then put in the aging beer. (Is all this legal by strict ATTTB standards? Honestly, don't know, and certainly don't give a damn.)

They're going to be doing three more of these "Four Seasonals" beers, and I'd say they're off to a good start with this one.I'm looking forward to the others, and when I go to the Swann Lounge to drink them...I'll dress a bit better. The beer deserves that.


*The space at 18th and Cherry is now the Public House, and it looks reassuringly like the old Dock Street -- minus the brewery, of course, and the big backbar mural -- while offering a decent selection of taps. I did stop in on the way back to the train, and sank a quick, well-kept pint of Yards IPA. It was good to be back at that long bar; really good, actually. Great memories at Dock Street, and I missed the place.

Dock Street Brewers Return to Capistrano -- er, to U-City

Just got this from Rosemarie at Dock Street, a cool happening. The event itself is a press thing, followed by a party for employees of the original Dock Street brewpub. But you'll get to drink the beer in March...

DOCK STREET’S PAST COMES TOGETHER WITH DOCK STREET’S PRESENT


Dock Street Celebrates Brewer’s Homecoming February 27, 2010

Philadelphia- Victor Novak [nice to see Victor still giving props to his Dock Street heritage], a favorite son of the original Dock Street Brewery and present head brewer for Taps Brewery in California, is coming home to Dock Street to brew his Cream Ale. This special brew day will take place on Saturday, February 27th.

Victor was born into the world of brewing at Dock Street’s original 18th Street location in the early 90’s. He started as a waiter and within two years worked his way to full-time brewer. Here he learned the art of craft brewing under the guidance of Head Brewer Nick Funnell. He also worked and learned with Eric Savage. The two taught him to brew a vast array of styles. It was at Dock Street that Victor first brewed the Cream Ale in open-style fermenters. Through their direction, he cultivated the passion that would allow him to soar in his career. Victor’s beers are highly decorated, including a gold and bronze award at the Great American Beer Festival for the aforementioned Cream Ale.

Dock Street is eager to embrace Victor as he comes home to his roots. The excitement of his visit calls forth a celebration of Dock Street’s own past and the very special place we hold in the heart of Philadelphia and the craft brewing industry. To properly salute the occasion, Victor and Dock Street’s 50th Street Head Brewer, Ben Potts, will brew the nostalgic Cream Ale. In Victor’s own words it is one of the greatest light-bodied beers on the planet and a constant reminder of his love of Philly and his brewing roots here. It has tremendous character for a light-bodied beer: crisp and smooth, but nice and fruity and extremely drinkable.

To honor the moment, Dock Street 18th Street consulting brewer Bill Moeller will join the party. Bill, who is nearing his 84th birthday, is a true patriarch in Philadelphia brewing history and a seasoned professional brewer with over 60 years of experience. Most of his career was spent with Schmidt and he was also was a consulting brewer for Brooklyn Brewery. Other Dock Street celebrities in attendance: Eric Savage, Iron Hill Head Brewer Chris Lapierre, and Yards Brewer Tim Roberts.

As old meets new and past meets present, we at Dock Street are pleased to celebrate the interconnectedness and heritage that we hold as one of the first microbreweries in the country and the first in Philadelphia. It is a time to pay tribute to our past and share our dreams for the future. In the spirit of commitment and passion for brewing sublime beers we invite you to join us.

Hell, this would be worth it just to see Bill Moeller!

Bits & Pieces

Still really busy writing PA Breweries 4th, but I wanted to tell you a few things I came across.

• Nodding Head has a 10th anniversary version of 3C out called 4C, because it adds Columbus hops to the Cascades, Chinook, and Centennial hops that are in 3C...and turns it up to 11...percent, that is, not as brewed by Nigel Tufnel. It tastes so damned fresh-hoppy that it's like licking the inside of a hops bale wrapper. "We're generally less bitter," says Gordon Grubb, "but we use more hops."
• Bube's Brewery has a pretty damned nice 6% Nut Brown Ale on right now, and one of their two brewers' names really is Bryan Teets, which I can only guess has earned him a couple rations of crap. 
•  Crabby Larry owner Larry Jones got bit by the brewing bug; found it so interesting that he's doing most of the brewing now, and has exchanged his oversized tanks for smaller ones: the beers are the better for it, fresher, less oxidized. His Irish stout's pretty nice right now, and the fish -- as always -- is worth the trip.
• Doug Marchakatus is tweaking and adding beers at Manayunk: "It's a constantly evolving brewery," he said. Manyunk's beer is like an archeological dig: you can still see evidence of each of the prior brewers, all the way back to Tom Cizauskas. Doug's St. Alpha Belgo-IPA has a beguiling aroma of apricots.
• I finally got to Shank's Tavern in Marietta, after trying to hit it when it's open for years (really. Years.), and it was worth the wait: neat old bar, good fresh beers (decent assortment of local crafts on tap and bottle) and an excellent bowl of chili that really hit the spot on a cold afternoon before the snow started falling. Walked down to McCleary's Pub, too, ridiculously close in this tiny town, and had one of the shortest, tastiest pub crawls I remember.
• Talked to Bill Moore at Lancaster Brewing and got the important nub of the recent management shift (Christian Heim and John Frantz were fired on Dec. 30): plans for a production facility are on hold, but "I wouldn't say it's completely off the table." With all their bottles currently being done at The Lion, and Bill working his long-time wholesaler connections to build sales, a production facility could fit in Lanc's future nicely...just sayin'.
• Paul Rutherford is doing some beastly good lagers at Iron Hill Lancaster; had his brand-new helles yesterday, and it was bread-fresh, spot-on accurate.
• Spring House's Planet Bean Coffee Stout has a huge amount of coffee flavor without the bottom-of-the-pot bean bitterness you get in some coffee beers. Nicely done.
• Swashbuckler brewer Mark Braunwirth has a hellish good kölsch on, and their pub (right beside the...pirate ship) is open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday through April. Good chance to try Mark's truly good beers without the whole RenFaire thing...
• Tom Baker at Earth, Bread + Brewery ("Please don't call it "Earth Bread"", said Peggy. "It sounds like bread made of dirt.") told me he'd made his 48th beer since opening, "and none of them were the same." So that's one plan that's working...
• Carol Stoudt told me the Stoudt's Gold has been picking up strongly in sales lately; anecdotal evidence of something I expect to see: people who don't normally drink "craft beer" discovering that "craft beer" doesn't necessarily mean "hoppy, strong, and dark."
• Kutztown Tavern is running 11 beers these days. "We've found our niche," said brewer Bob Sica (a NJ guy who thought he was going to be a musician and started brewing on the side...and now does an acoustic set at the brewery every Saturday night...he found his niche, too). "We hustled for outside accounts for a while, but I couldn't do 11 taps here if I still was." They've got a bottle shop out front with a good craft selection...and the biggest selection of cheap-ass beers and malt liquors I've ever seen. Hey, college town, right?
• The General Lafayette is still open, and Chris Leonard is getting by on what sounds like about 8 hours of sleep a week. He's finally given in, and is brewing a new line of beers: Copper Crow, starting with an IPA.
• Holy crap: the big Sam Adams brewery (I call it that because there's a big Sam Adams sign over the entrance) up outside of Allentown (you know; the former Schaeffer/Stroh/Pabst brewery/Diageo malt drink mixer-uppery) is rocking: 30,000 pounds of malt per batch, crazy amount of tank space, and all Boston Beer production now in-house. No longer a contract brewer. Wow. A seismic shift.
• Tried four beers at Dock Street, and they were uniformly excellent; Rosemarie poured me a glass of the Boho Pils that was simply beer porn, looked good enough to lick; I took a picture and posted it on Facebook.  

And a bunch of other stuff...but I gotta get back to writing. Cheers!

Dock Street: bare bones place, stylish beer

I finally got to the new Dock Street Brewery, out at 50th and Baltimore in Philly. I apologize to all for taking so long, especially to myself: because it was really good.

I stopped in around lunchtime and started with a glass of Rye IPA. I'm told that this is going out into bar accounts (carried by Origlio, for whom I do some freelance writing, in the interests of disclosure), and you should keep your eye out for it: snappy, clean, hoppy and peppery, a very refreshing and bold beer.

Once I got my beer, I looked around. I hadn't been here since the celebration of their license, when things were pretty bare and sparse. Things are still pretty bare and sparse -- concrete floor, high unadorned ceilings, a bar and a minimal open kitchen -- and I found that I really liked that. I've said before that brewpubs need to be more varied: not just pub-grub places, not just family-friendly places, not just white linen fine dining, even. This one takes me back to the old days, when brewpubs were dodgy enterprises thrown together on a shoestring. I loved that era; I'm a dodgy enterprise myself some days.

There's a big difference, of course: the beer's totally solid. Scott "The Dude" Morrison is back in the brewhouse again, with competent assistance, and the three beers I had were excellent. I also had a Gold Stock Ale, which was one of the best pale ales I've had in quite a while, not overly hopped and with a bedrock maltiness to it; and a Cuckoo's Nest Red Ale, a malty soother that grew on me as I sipped it. I also got a nip of the Barleywine, which was not a typical "American-style" barleywine/double IPA, but a rip-roaring fire-well of malty depth.

The food's not bad either. There's a lengthy menu of pizzas well outside the normal range, including the return of Dock Street's Alsatian beauty, the flammenküche pizza, which is what I got; hell, I had to. It was outstanding: caramelized onions, creme fraiche, and some delicious double-smoked bacon. Big surprise: the cook was none other than Jeff "Dock Street" Ware, brewpub owner Rosemarie Certo's husband. Jeff in da house!

I spotted Rick Nichols in the house as well; the Inquirer's food writer stopped in with a friend for a beer. Smart move, and one I think I'll be making more often, even though this location is way off my usual haunts. It's worth the trip.

Dock Street News

Just spoke to a brewer I know who told me he had just talked to The Dude: first brewing was done today at Dock Street, and the opening is looking good for about two weeks from now. Wow. Kinda weird that it's finally happening.

Dock Street: One Step Closer

I went to a Dock Street event tonight, the re-launch of Illuminator. Wow. How long has it been since we've said that? This time, of course, it's the new Dock Street, Dock Street at the Firehouse (seen above on the right), out at 50th and Baltimore. It's a changing, gentrifying University City/West Philly neighborhood. The last time I was out that way was about 7 years ago, and things have definitely changed.

But I couldn't tell you if Illuminator had changed or not. The beloved Dock Street doublebock died too long ago for me to remember it, sadly. The new one (currently brewed and bottled at Mendocino in Saratoga, NY) was rich, thick, malty, and boozy, with just a hint of licorice on the end: grand stuff on a late winter evening. The Dock Street Amber I had was too cold to really appreciate.

That's Chris Lapierre and Dock Street owner Rosemarie Certo on the left. I managed to catch a moment where Lapierre, who started brewing at the old Dock Street brewpub at 18th & Cherry, came in and gave Rosemarie a bottle of beer he'd brewed at Iron Hill West Chester, where he's the head brewer now. A happy moment that no one else really caught the significance of. I didn't get to talk to Rosemarie for more than a minute, she was very busy.

But the executive director of the University City District did speak, and what he said was heartening. "We're here to celebrate Dock Street, and it's been a long time coming." This was just the first celebration, he said: contruction is about to begin after a long zoning battle (Church leaders: get educated. Alcohol is coming to your neighborhood, but getting it in the form of a brewpub is a much better deal), and "Dock Street will jump-start the revival of the Baltimore Avenue Corridor." No solid word on when it will open ("open later this year," and you know what that's worth), or who the brewer is ("they have one, but they're not saying who it is" said one of the brewers there tonight).

I love to hear community leaders who understand that brewpubs raise neighborhoods up, not knock them down. Brewpubs are the kind of drinking establishment you want in your neighborhood. They celebrate the drink, not its effects; they raise beer and food together. They attract a different breed of cat.

So I went to Dock Street tonight. Still feels weird to say that, but I suspect I'm going to get more practice.