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!

The Hulmeville Inn RULES

Thanks to the Hulmeville Inn, Jeff Lavin, and ALL the folks who gave so generously Sunday afternoon: we raised almost $1200 for pancreatic cancer research...WITH BEER!! You folks are beautiful! My thanks also to the folks who came to the Hulmeville for the first time just for this event (okay, and the six Russian River drafts they were pouring), including members of my church choir!

It was a great day. My dad never went to the Hulmeville, but twice the folks there have turned out their pockets in his memory, and to help smack down this swift, vicious killer. If Jeff will keep offering, I'll keep doing this; help me make this a big annual event. And bars/brewers: I'll be happy to come host a pancreatic cancer fundraiser at YOUR place of business. Just drop me a line and we'll talk. Thanks again!

Great beer, great cause, you, me, Hulmeville Inn, 11/20...what's not to like?

Jeff Lavin, the big-hearted beer-loving owner of the Hulmeville Inn (and congrats to him for pegging #36 on the FooBooz 50 Best Bars list!) is gonna help me memorialize my father again on November 20, and you're gonna want to be there: it's a Russian River-Sierra Nevada-Lew Bryson Collaboration, as I give up one of my two kegs of Sierra Nevada Exportation, the beer I helped design and make with the Philly Pholks at Sierra Nevada's Beer Camp last year...that we double-batched, half of it being sent to Russian River to age in wine barrels there for a year. I tasted some during Philly Beer Week, and it's a wonderful, lightly sour, very drinkable Baltic porter (you'll see by the huge variances in the BA tasting notes that it's a beer that takes some thought).

The last time we did this...that's Mike, The Hawk, and Jeff!

It is, of course, extremely rare at this point, as are Russian River beers outside of California, and you've got a chance to have all that as Jeff puts on the Exportation and at least two other RR drafts. Proceeds from the sales of Exportation will go to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network for research into this terribly swift killer. We'll be accepting direct donations as well (I'll be throwing in a hunk of cash, I urge, beg, cajole you to do the same), and will send it all in; please be generous. This is the disease that took Steve Jobs, and -- last June -- my father. It means a lot to me. Thanks, Jeff.

Hope to see you out there at the Hulmeville on November 20, starting at noon! 

10 - 10 - 10 at the Hulmeville Inn

We're setting up another Pennsylvania Breweries event at the Hulmeville Inn this Sunday, which is 10/10/10; kind of auspicious. I'll be signing books, and we'll be doing another charity keg (on Steve Hawk's back!) to benefit pancreatic cancer research. I'll also be donating $2 from each book to pancreatic cancer research, so come on out and get some Christmas presents! (We need to do a lot of books this time; Jeff  at the Hulmeville has competition issues, and he heard that the most books I ever signed at one event was 46; he aims to beat that!) We'll get underway at about 1:00. I'll be there shortly after that (I'm singing noon mass at St. Andrew's and will be headed down just after).

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.

THANK YOU to everyone at the Hulmeville Inn!

I went down to the Hulmeville Inn yesterday to celebrate Steve Hawk's win as Philly Beer Geek. When I got there, the first thing I did was order a Sierra Nevada ExPorter, because Jeff Lavin, the owner, had decided that he would donate the proceeds from the sales of that keg to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network in my father's memory. When I wanted to pay, the bartender told me, "You'll have to find The Mayor; he's got The Can." Hah?

Well, I knew who The Mayor is, anyway: Mike Sodano. So I went looking for Mike, and found Jeff. Jeff went to look for Mike, and I went back to my excellent beer (kept for me by my excellent wife and the charming Bryan and Patty Kolesar, and Philly Beer Geek organizer Carolyn Smagalski, who is recently engaged, congrats!). About ten minutes later, Mike and Jeff came and got me for pictures. Pictures? Yeah. What happened, before I got there, they'd strapped a 3 gallon keglet of ExPorter to Steve's back (at left), and he'd gone around telling people what was going on, and Mike followed him with a can for donations. Jeff handed me an envelope that had a check and and more cash donations that totaled $843 for pancreatic cancer research. (That's Mike, me, and Jeff in the picture below; we grabbed Christine Gumpper and got her in because she's such a sweetheart.)

I was stunned...but not speechless. Mike got the mike, quieted the crowd, and let me speak. I told them what they'd done, told them they were fantastic, thanked them "from the bottom of my beer-soaked heart," and toasted my father with them. It was a humbling moment. My thanks to everyone there that day. I will write a check for the cash, and send both checks into PCAN tomorrow.

I may have found a cause.

Drinking For My Dad (and Steve Hawk)

They're celebrating Steve Hawk's triumphant win as this year's Philly Beer Geek (Don reports it here, I was...delinquent, but I did have a great time judging) at the Hulmeville Inn this Sunday. Jeff Lavin's grilling up burgers and dogs, and there will be silliness galore, and the taplist -- so far -- is kick-ass: Russian River Registration, Russian River Consecration, Founders KBS, Bruery Coton, Lost Abbey Angel's Share, Yards Grodziski...and one more: a half of Sierra Nevada ExPorter, the 5.8% Baltic Porter I helped brew with a bunch of Philly BeerVolk out at Sierra Nevada in April. I got a half barrel to direct where I wanted, and since the Hulmeville's just down the hill from me, and Steve's a hell of a good guy, well, I decided that would be a good place for it.

Jeff one-upped me, though, God bless him. The proceeds from the sale of that keg of ExPorter will go to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, in memory of my dad. So please come out and help us drink it up! Things start at noon; I'll be getting there a bit later. Thanks, Jeff: class act, all the way.

Old Bart Strikes Again

I hadn't had enough Yards Old Bart New Year's Eve at Dawson Street. But I didn't really want to drive the whole way into Philly again...

Luckily I had another option: Tuesday night, Old Bart Day 6, featured a firkin of the stuff at the Hulmeville Inn, which is cool, the hangout of a bunch of buddies, and ridiculously close to my home. So I rolled down the hill, and found the usual suspects, plus two Yards bigshots, Steve Mashington and Tom Kehoe. And yes, that's a picture of Tom, with a firkin that has a picture of Tom's head attached...along with a wig and a black cape of sorts, and thereby hangs a tale.

The Hulmeville has a reputation for swarming firkins and draining them in short order. No way that's happening with 10+% Old Bart, says Kehoe! Oh, yeah, it will, says owner Jeff Lavin. By the time the trash-talking was done, a wager was made. If the firkin took more than 45 minutes to drain, Jeff would put all of Yards beers on tap at once, an all-Yards week. But if it took less than that, Kehoe would "dance with the firkin."

No suspense: it took 31 minutes (and I helped!), including the three pints of yeasty mung some brave souls took to help the cause ("Don't get far from the men's room after that," I overheard (Jeff had a reserve pin of Old Bart, and replaced their beer smoothies, no charge)). Kehoe was one hell of a sport: he danced with the firkin, first to "The Time of My Life" and then, quite appropriately, to "Dancin' With Myself."

The beer was great, again. "We're gonna have to bottle this next year," Mash said to me. Well, yeah! And make more of it, too! Enjoy the dance...

Exit 1 & Harvest From the Hood

I dropped down to the Hulmeville Inn last night for a couple quick beers; not just any beer, but the new Flying Fish Exit 1 Bayshore Oyster Stout (thanks to big Tom Linquist for the tip on the Flying Fish Exit 1 firkin). I had dinner ready when Cathy got home at 5:45; 'Look, dear, casserole's ready in 20 minutes...but they're tapping a firkin of Oyster Stout at Hulmeville at 6 and those firkins never last long do you want to come along aw come on you can go oh gotta pack for Scranton okay see ya bye!' (If you talk fast enough, you can be out the door while the sound is still hanging in the air...)

So I walk in the door and there's big Tom sitting at the bar right across the room: Hey! I joined him, and the rest of the friendly pack of beer lovers at the Inn, and got a pint of Exit 1 off the gravity-pour firkin (you can see Tom tapping -- er, mostly -- the previous firkin, Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin, below; in Tom's defense, I'd use a bigger mallet). First off, the stuff's very dark, close to black. It was not what I'd call 'rich,' though there was a nice hint of bitter chocolate to it; this was dry stout, with a good nip of bitterness on the end, a kind of bite that did not get in the way of having another at all. Nice beer...exceptional beer? Maybe not, but a real good pint. Good enough that I had another (and paid for this one, thanks for the first one, Jeff!).

Then Jeff (Lavin, the owner) brought out some small glasses and a 12 oz. sample of harvest from the Hood, Philadelphia Brewing's new fresh hop beer, using hops grown at the brewery and Greensgrow Farms, Philly's urban CSA (just down the street from Memphis Taproom). The hop aroma was huge -- it oughta be, the label cheekily notes that it's "Sextuple Hops Brewed" -- but not what you'd call 'delicate' or 'refined,' more like "big." This one's about as subtle as the label: Hey, sailor! It's quite hoppy, and a bit rough around the edges, which I think fits the beer's Kensington roots perfectly. This beer's got terroir, dammit! Looking forward to trying it on tap (don't look for bottles, there were only about two cases made for bar samples).

At that point, I decided to go home and get some of that casserole. I sweet-talked Jeff into filling a 12 oz. "growler" for Cathy (a brown-glass flip-top I use for sampling; quite handy) -- thanks again, Jeff -- and headed up the hill to home.