Iron Hill Newtown: At Long Last

I live near Newtown, Pennsylvania. I tend to tell people I live in Philly; if they're familiar with it, I say northern suburbs; if they ask where, I usually say "Langhorne," because that's my mailing address. But I don't actually live in Langhorne, and we do almost all of our grocery shopping, hardware store runs, takeout food pickup, and post office stuff in Newtown, I go to church in Newtown.

First bright tank off the truck

So a brewpub coming to Newtown, finally, after almost 30 years of living here, is a Big Deal. (No offense to Newtown Brewing, but a tasting room isn't the same as a brewpub.) It's even better that it's an Iron Hill. I've been pumped ever since I heard about it. And when I found out that the brewhouse was arriving today, well, I wanted to go see.

At least it wasn't raining or snowing. Pretty gray day, but the team was already at work when I got there, just taking the first bright tank off the truck. "The team," by the way, is all Iron Hill brewers. They get certified on the equipment, and rig it all. They knew I was coming, greeted me, got me in a hardhat and blaze yellow vest ASAP, and I was introduced to the new head brewer, Pete Corbett.

Pete was pretty stoked

Pete was the brewer at Iron Hill North Wales before. But Newtown already knows him, and not because he already lives in Langhorne. Pete grew up here; he's a Newtown homeboy. "I graduated from Council Rock [high school] in 1997," he said, and grinned. "Back when it was just Council Rock." He was referring to the school district having split into CR North and CR South.

It's not the first time he's worked here, either. Pete originally trained as a chef at the Restaurant School in Philly, and did his apprenticeship at the Brick Hotel here in Newtown. He also tended bar at Marita's Cantina (where El Barrio is now), which means he probably served me a few beers over the years. Funny how things work out. Anyway, after some more cooking ("I still like to cook, but I don't know how chefs do it. I burned out.") he turned to bartending, which is how he wound up at Iron Hill, six years ago.

Loving that mash/lauter vessel!

He worked his way up to brewing from serving, which is The Iron Hill Way. "I loved bartending, but homebrewing was a passion," he told me. "Then one morning I woke up, and realized I needed a career change. I didn't want to be a 60 year old bartender. I could be a brewer! It's like that old saying, love what you do, and you'll never work a day in your life."

Pete started sticking his head in the brewery whenever he could. His homebrewing was getting better, and he won an award with a Belgian type ale he did, Blame It On The Dog (and that's a homebrew name, right?). Iron Hill encourages homebrewing by giving employees free grain, hops, and yeast; "All I had to provide was the equipment, water, and propane," Pete said.

Then Iron Hill had a contest: the server who sold the most mug club memberships got to brew a batch on the house system, to be sold at the brewpub. Pete was motivated, sold like mad, and won. When brewer Doug Marchakitus told him they'd have to come up with a recipe and formulate it, Pete handed him the recipe for Blame It On The Dog, already scaled up. Which kind of made today inevitable, in a way.

Because today is the day that Pete Corbett takes over as head brewer at Iron Hill Newtown. He's running the brewery now, and no longer making the commute to North Wales. "It's only 15 minutes, and no tolls!" He told me with positive glee.

The beer list will have the signature Iron Hill beers like Light Lager, Vienna Lager, Philly Special IPA (a New England IPA, but we beat New England, so it's a PHLIPA), and Pig Iron Porter, but the wheats will be called Farmhouse Wheat and Farmhouse Berry. There will also be about a dozen specials. "I'm opening with a South Eagle IPA (the brewery is on South Eagle Rd.), and the Russian Imperial Stout," Pete said. "We always have five different IPAs on, a fruited sour, a pale lager, a second dark beer. Always two seasonals: I'll be opening with Lemon Cerveza, a Mexican-type lager with lemon juice and zest, not overpowering. And we'll have our Rivet Hard Seltzer, on draft." (Yes, I winced, but I did say brewpubs were different.)

The Iron Hill menu will be largely the same -- all made from scratch at the Newtown kitchen -- but there will be some changes. The menu's gotten a bit long, and they'll be trimming a few items. There will be a beer garden behind the brewhouse (away from the plaza), and roll-up windows in the bar area, which sounds wonderful.

Pete said they're currently on schedule for an April 29th opening, just two months away. If you're looking for a job, be aware that Iron Hill standards are high, and the training program for servers is intense. It works, though: service levels at Iron Hill are high. "That's the Iron Hill Way," Pete said. "Don't cut corners, no doing anything half-assed. Quality is the most important thing."

I'm looking forward to opening day. Cheers!


I haven't written this kind of "a new brewery is opening in our town!!!" story in decades. I realize it won't be of much interest to most of my readers, but I'll tell you: after 30 years of waiting, it's pretty exciting for me. 

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!

Iron Hill Chestnut Hill open

Iron Hill finally made it to Philly Wednesday night. I headed out to the 4:00 opening tap about 3, and as I rolled through Langhorne, realized that the new place was not far from my daughter's school, and she just got out...I called her: want to go to a brewpub opening? Sure! I picked her up, she got her stuff in the car, got in, and started giggling as she worked her iPhone. What's so funny? "We had a drug and alcohol assembly in school today, and now I'm going to a brewpub opening, gotta update my Facebook status!" I am such a responsible parent...

Davies, Finn, Green, Edelson & Bass raise a toast

Anyway, the newest Iron Hill opened at 8400 Germantown Avenue in Chestnut Hill, and it was a full-scale Iron Hill production. There were nine beers on draft (with more coming) from former Iron Hill Lancaster brewer Paul Rutherford, a ready-to-roll staff, and the tasty Iron Hill menu. The show included (of course) Iron Hill founding partners Kevin Finn, Kevin Davies, and Mark Edelson (all looking quite relaxed; as Mark said, "This is a great day; the money starts coming in today, it's just been going out for six months!"); and two Philadelphia City Council members, veteran Bill Green and the newly-elected Cindy Bass, who was very excited to be opening Iron Hill as her first official public duty. She even had a sip of her beer (Green and the partners had more than a sip).

Of course, she was excited. Iron Hill brings 110 jobs to her district, solid jobs that will give the employees solid experience, jobs that won't go away: Iron Hill has not closed any of their operations since the first one opened in Newark, Delaware 15 years ago. That's a great track record for brewpubs, and an even better one for restaurants, and speaks volumes about the savvy Iron Hill's partners brought to this enterprise from day one.

This new operation is a beauty, with many of the signature Iron Hill decorating touches: the retro ad mural from North Wales, the ceiling and lights from Media, the decorative ironwork from Newark. Iron Hill manages to look experienced and broken-in from opening day at their new operations, and have a fantastic employee training program that makes their service levels a high standard for competitors to meet. With room for over 250 guests (and an off-street lot), they're ready for business.

Beer's great, of course. I had a glass of Paul's English brown ale, and it was quite tasty: chocolate, smooth, mellow, and all-too-easy to drink. Looking forward to more of this (and with Nora's graduation coming up in June, I think I know where we're headed after the ceremony!). 

Fifteen Years of Iron Hill

Iron Hill, our local/regional kick-ass chain of brewpubs, is celebrating 15 years this month with two events at their original location in Newark, Delaware. (Unfortunately, sounds like their first Philadelphia location in Chestnut Hill won't be open in time for the anniversary...but that just means another fun party.) Take it away, Iron Hill!

First, Monday, November 14, from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. – Fe15 Release Party at Iron Hill Newark, an exciting first taste of Iron Hill’s exclusive anniversary beer, named for the periodic table symbol for Iron (Fe) and 15, the number of years they’ve been brewing in Delaware and beyond.  The beer is very strong and hoppy, brewed with only American hops and pilsner malt with an ABV of 15%.  Guests can purchase 8 oz. draughts of Fe15, and enjoy complimentary Iron Hill Birthday Cake, baked exclusively for the event by Sweet Somethings Desserts.  Fe15 is the latest in Iron Hill’s Bottled Reserve Series, so 750 mL bottles of the beer will be available for $24.50 each.  A raffle will be held, as well, with the winner receiving one bottle of Fe15 and a commemorative t-shirt.

Bobby Douglas (Newark ass't brewer), Mark Edelson (partner, director of brewing), Kevin Davies (partner, director of culinary), Justin Sproul, (Newark head brewer), Kevin Finn (partner and president)

Next, Saturday, November 19, from 12 noon until 5 p.m. – Fifteen Firkins for Fifteen Years at Iron Hill Newark, a party celebrating Iron Hill’s official 15^th anniversary.  This fun and festive event will feature firkins from all eight Iron Hill locations and other local brewers, including Dogfish Head, Evolution, Flying Fish, Stewart’s and Yards, as well as retro menu items from the original Iron Hill menu such as Black & Tan Hummus and Chocolate Porter Cake.  Guests will enjoy special pricing on a variety of unusual beers, including Hoppopotamus, Cerebus IPA and Vanilla-Coffee Oatmeal Stout, available in three sizes: 4 oz. for $2, 10 oz. for $4.25 and 20 oz. for $6.25.  Two $16 Beer Samplers will also be offered, spanning all 15 beers.

These folks do know how to throw a party. I made it to the Fe10 release five years ago, and it was a damned good time! Hope I can make one of these. 

(I apologize for the font sizes...if I had more time, I'd wrassle 'em.)

Iron Hill North Wales brings the bitter

A reminder to you Philly area folks: Iron Hill North Wales will be hosting an IPA event this Saturday, from 1-5, a pay-as-you-go sampling of Iron Hill hop monsters pitted against the bitterest offerings from local brewers. Check out the list for this Bitter Rivalry:

On Tap From the HOME TEAM:English Pale Ale (IHB Newark)
Gerardus Maximus (IHB West Chester)
English IPA (IHB Media)
Hopfection IPA (IHB Wilmington)
Ramrod (IHB North Wales)
Hoppopotamus (IHB Phoenixville)
Swagger (IHB Lancaster)
Black IPA (IHB Maple Shade)

On Tap From the AWAY TEAM:
75 Minute IPA On Cask (Dogfish Head)
IPA (Yards)
California Dreamin' (Manayunk Brewing Co.)
Flower Power (Ithaca Brewing Co.)
Prussia's Pride (Rock Bottom KOP)
Summit IPA (Stewart's)
Rt. 113 (Sly Fox)
HopFish (Flying Fish)

Should be fun.

Rumors of an Iron Chestnut...

There are rumors on PhiladelphiaSpeaks about a new Iron Hill slated for Chestnut Hill. Before you get all excited and start blogging... I contacted the folks at Iron Hill, and got this response: no comment. No surprise, Iron Hill never makes comment until things are signed and sealed, and there have been possibles in the past that never happened. Doesn't mean this one won't, but...that's about all it means. Keep waiting: Iron Hill still has money in the bank, and they're not done growing.

Iron Hill meets Iron Chef

Craft beer continues to infiltrate Philadelphia's excellent restaurant scene.Next Thursday, the 18th, at 7 PM, Iron Hill Maple Shade head brewer Chris LaPierre will host an Iron Hill beer dinner at Jose Garces's Chifa (707 Chestnut Street, 215-925-5555)

The menu, from the press release:

Hopuka Ceviche with sunchoke leche de tigre, sunflower tuile, pickled fresno and sweet potato, paired with Rising Sun IPA, a spicy, citrus pale ale brewed with Sorachi Ace hops;  Peruvian Stew with root vegetables, chorizo, braised beef and rabbit loin, paired with Victoria’s Bitter, a traditional, easy-drinking English pub ale with copper color, noticeable malt flavor and floral, bitter hop finish;  Roast Pig with apple-porter glaze, spicy wilted baby black kale and pork-porter humita, paired with Pig Iron Porter, a dark beer with roasted chocolate notes and slight bitterness;  and Five-Spice Bread Pudding with ginger-pecan ice cream and malted chocolate sauce, paired with Weizenbock, a full-bodied ale with a bready malt character and banana and clove notes.

The cost will be $65 per person, excluding tax and gratuity, and reservations are required. The Craft Beer at Chifa Dinner Series will continue this winter with the brothers from Troegs Brewing Co on Thursday, December 16 and Garrett Oliver from Brooklyn Brewery on Thursday, January 20.

I knew Chef Garces liked whisky; he's looking more and more like my kinda guy.

Perfect Ten going fast

Wow. You know that 10th anniversary beer at Iron Hill Media I told you about? I couldn't make it over that day, so I asked IH Big Mahoff Mark Edelson (you know, the Weekend Closer at the Hooters in Concordville?) how long he thought it would be on. Short answer: not long. Long answer:

On average, a batch is on for about 4 weeks. Bob and I estimated originally it would be 3 weeks. We released it on Thursday and have sold about 40% of it already. Lucky to get through the weekend. Now people who want it for 4th of July are asking me how long it will keep in a growler!!

Bob Barrar, ladies and gentlemen, Bob Barrar!

Down the other leg of the Trousers of Time

Picked this up from Uncle Jack's site,and it's everything he says it is and a bag of crisps. A goofy, cheap-video look at what happened around here in 1996: Dogfish Head, Iron Hill, Flying Fish, Yards, and Victory opened, and pressed on when other places didn't (Independence, Red Bell, Brandywine, Valley Forge, etc.). But don't for a moment think it's serious; it's not. It's goofy and fun and effin' brilliant. Fire it up, have a laugh, and be glad these guys didn't give up.

Go to Iron Hill Media Today -- Right Now

Just got the word: big Bob Barrar, the Medal Machine brewer of Iron Hill Media, is celebrating today's 10th anniversary of Media's opening with an Imperial IPA called Perfect 10. Here's the description:

A Full bodied Imperial IPA with ten things that make this beer perfect:

1. TEN different hop varieties

2. One Hundred and TEN IBU’s

3. TEN Percent ABV

4. TEN lbs. of Orange Blossom Honey per barrel

5. TEN lbs. of hops per barrel

6. TEN grams of servo (yeast nutrient)

7. TEN years of Media Brewing

8. TEN minutes in the Hop Back on 46 lbs. of hops

9. TEN years of Bob Barrar, Head Brewer

10.TEN year celebration of Media Hop Heads

Go get it, folks!

Phoenixville Pub Crawl

Uncle Jack's plugging it, and so am I: the best event I missed at last year's Philly Beer Week...and I'm going to miss it again this year, dammit. The Phoenixville Pub Crawl is on June 5th, and features bars hosting brewers and brewpubs hosting...you. It was so much fun last year that Uncle Jack took a month to recover.

I can't be there -- Thomas graduates that day -- so stand in for me, willya? Head out to one of the suburbs' best beer towns for some good beer and good fun.

Hmmm...If Philly is America's Best Beer-Drinking City, and it is -- as I've said before -- a relatively small city in square miles with some of its best beer in the suburbs...what is Philly's Best Beer Suburb? Anyone?

Far as that goes, can anyone tell me what county in Pennsylvania has the most breweries? Anyone?

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!

It's Official: Lappy has arrived in Maple Shade

Of course, you all know that Chris Lapierre is brewing at the new Iron Hill Maple Shade. But now the local paper knows it. Nice piece on one of the nicest guys in the biz, right here.

Iron Hill's "Roll Your Own" Saison-a-thon

To my knowledge, this is a unique idea: Iron Hill West Chester will be hosting a 'season your own saison' contest among their employees. Each group (I assume there's one from each of the eight Iron Hills) gets five gallons of saison to fiddle with: add spices, herbs, fruit, vegetables, brewing bugs, gunpowder, whatever. Then they are all presented on Thursday August 20 at the brewpub, and for five bucks you get to taste each one and vote for your fave. The favorite will be brewed in full-size batches at the brewpubs.

Maybe not as much fun as brewing it yourself, but a lot easier. A lot being done with saison-style beers lately, and that's a good thing.

New Jersey Breweries is now officially out of date

That's right, New Jersey Breweries is now officially out of date, and Mark and I could not be happier. It's out of date because Iron Hill Maple Shade officially opened last night (there was a soft opening over the weekend, Iron Hill's usual gig), and it was a pretty solid success. Mark and I joined the pre-opening throng for a couple beers and dinner (India Black Ale, an IPA with roasted malt; Kellerbound, an unfiltered Ironbound ale on nitro (!); and my go-to Iron Hill tap choice, Pig Iron Porter; I had a simple, delish bowl of pasta bolognese (that's our waitress, Nancy, at top middle of the picture below, flanked by drinking co-founder Mark Edelson and hard-working Maple Shade brewer Chris LaPierre)).

But hey, there was a lot more to this than just drinking and eating and saying congratulations. This, as I mentioned to IH co-founder Kevin Finn, was epochal: this is a solidly financed, experienced brewpub opening in South Jersey, in a beer wasteland so sparsely dotted with good beerspots that it is legend in southern PA. I have no doubt that this will affect the business at Philly beer bars, because there will be a lot of NJ beervolk who will no longer feel the need to cross the Delaware as often. Iron Hill Maple Shade was hopping last night, and I'm sure they're going to do very well.

I am also convinced that this will change the rules in this area entirely, those rules being "stick to what sells, don't get that fancy micro-shit beer." Iron Hill is going to show South Jersey bar owners and restaurateurs that craft beer not only sells, it sells well at a higher price; Iron Hill is going to rub their noses in that. And those rules will change, and there are going to be new bars, and new beer selections. You bet there are. This is very big, and will affect Philly bars, will affect Flying Fish, Yards, and Philadelphia Brewing (and every other packaging brewer who's ready to capitalize on it).

If you live in South Jersey, and you've been waiting for this for years...welcome home. Your brewpub just arrived.

Iron Hill Triple Bock, and Two Years of STAG at a Post a Day

This post means that once again I've made my average of a post a day. This is 731 published posts (there are about seven more in there that are not seeing the light of day for various reasons; don't bother asking) since I started STAG on January 31 in 2007. That's one a day, including the extra day for leap year. Once again, I did way too much blogging in January. Hope you all appreciate it (more than my editors did, at least).

Still, it was a good year for my blogging. I started two new blogs -- Why the PLCB Should Be Abolished and the brand-new Session Beer Project -- even though I dropped the ball on the PLCB blog for three months. I have high hopes for the Session Beer Project blog; I think we've really got things rolling there, and this might be a little extra push. My whole theory on session vs. extreme beers is that the extreme beers get all the press, mostly from folks like me. The Session Beer Project is my way of trying to change that balance; on my side, and encouraging others to do the same. It's already working: there have been more articles on session beers in the past year than I ever remember seeing before. So we'll see where that goes.

Anyway... I made my average (or will, if I get this done by midnight!), so I'm celebrating with a bottle of Iron Hill Triple Bock, a small, strong, special bottle. It's very dark, it's very fruity, and rich. It's got a lot happening: overripe cherry, prune, some brighter notes of peach and nectarine, and chocolate and just the barest hint of anise. And of course, it's quite sweet, but they manage to keep it fairly clean at the end. Really, it's just a damned luscious dessert beer.

Here's to my third year.

Iron Hill Lambic-style beers go full-time

Iron Hill, the regional brewpub group in these parts (seven brewpubs -- all brewing -- and counting; Maple Shade, NJ slated for the spring, now how about Bucks County?), never seems to get enough respect from some of the geekerie. Oh, the beer's good, but nothing's really special, they say (which I assume means over 12% ABV, hopped like a crank-shooting bunny, and/or sour-assed puckery). This, despite many GABF awards for their big beers, their sour beers, and their "ordinary" beers, seems a bit out of touch to me, to put it politely.

You may hear a mass sucking sound this weekend as heads are finally pulled out of ... orifices by the launch of Iron Hill's bottled lambic-style beers. Four of these beers, Kreik de Hill (isn't that supposed to be "kriek"?), Lambic de Hill, Framboise de Hill, and Cassis de Hill, are now available in take-home bottles, not just on draft for special occasions. Iron Hill's lambic-type beers have won awards, critical acclaim, and built a fan base locally. They're damned good, and they should be, with the amount of work, love, and expense the brewery has put into them. They've won five GABF medals between them, including three golds.

To celebrate, there will be launch parties this weekend. Saturday, Dec. 6, from 2-5 at Iron Hill Wilmington, and Sunday, from 2-5 at Iron Hill Media. All four beers will be available at Wilmington, the Cassis will not be at Media. These two locations will be the only ones selling these bottles.

American craft brewers. If they can imagine it, they can make it. Iron Hill invites comparison to the Belgian classics.

Iron Hill Black & Tan cask lineup for Nov. 15

Here's the run-down on what's going to be at that Iron Hill cask Black & Tan event I told you about last week. It all goes down at noon at Iron Hill Newark. Mix it up!

IRON HILL CASKS
Iron Hill West Chester – Baltic Porter (7% ABV)
Iron Hill Wilmington – Bourbon Double Brown Ale (8.5%)
Iron Hill Lancaster – Belgian Pale Ale (5.0%)
Iron Hill North Wales – ESB (4.5%)
Iron Hill Phoenixville – Sticke Altbier (7.2%)

Guest Casks
Flying Fish – Extra Pale Ale (4.8% ABV)
Sly Fox – Oatmeal Stout (5.2%)
Stewart’s – Coffee Stout (5.9%)
General Lafayette Inn – Red Velvet, a blend of Chocolate Thunder Porter (6.7%) and Sunset Red Ale (5.9%)
Victory – Storm King Stout (9.1%)
Nodding Head – BPA Bill Payer Ale (6.5%)
Earth Bread + Brewery – The Bradley Effect (dark gruit ale; 4.2% ABV)
Yards – IPA (7.0%)
Triumph Philadelphia – Bengal Gold IPA (6.5%)

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.

Iron Hill does some pretty damned good German

Hey, I forgot about this, but it's been a damned busy month. Iron Hill has a great prix fixe German dinner on this month for Oktoberfest, two courses of wicked tasty meat. First course is a sausage salad: grilled bratwurst and knockwurst on braised lentils, with a big healthy helping of watercress, drizzled all over with thinned stone ground mustard. Not enough meat fer ya? The second course is roasted pork tenderloin with beer-braised red cabbage, house made apple sauce (which was wicked delish), and mashed potatoes with gingersnap gravy.

Let me tell you...Good eating. Cathy and I had this a few weeks ago at North Wales, and while I was tempted by Vienna, pilsner, and Ofest, I tried the dark lager first...and just stuck to that. Damned good beer. (If they've got the apple pie when you're there, well, it goes with that, too!)