Winding up the year, starting the next one

Early Thursday morning

Well...I had a really horrible 9 hour drive through Wednesday's snowstorm (a drive that usually takes about 5 hours) to my in-laws in upstate New York. But at the end of it, we got stuck into some seriously good beers: DC Brau's On The Wings of Armageddon (a jaw-slapping double IPA) and a jug of Selin's Grove's SNAFU IPA from Friday the 21st (when Nora and I dropped in at the brewpub for their 16th anniversary), and then some Smuttynose Big Beers: Zinneke (a Belgian-type stout that was good but wasn't fantastic), Scottish (delicious malt pillow), and Gravitation (a marvelous quad-type that really kept the malt train rolling along, rich and tongue-heavy).

Thursday...we recovered, and then Friday the bros-in-law and I went out to Sticky Lips BBQ in Henrietta, NY. The catfish was good (the fried pickles were just okay), the ribs were good, and the pulled pork was great. I had an Ed Fitz Porter (an always favorite) and a Three Heads The Kind IPA (excellently hoppy and brisk, even more so at $4 a 16 oz. glass). I had some GoldenCold when we got home. Saturday? Another long drive through snow, and some beers at the end...and a few more tonight.

But look, tomorrow is New Year's Day! As we've done for a few years now, we'll be going to Memphis Taproom for a late lunch (they have their full brunch menu from 11 AM to 3 PM NYE and NYD; late lunch, late breakfast, whatever, right?), then picking up some bratwurst at Rieker's for our midnight grillfest. I've got a magnum of Dupont Avec les Bons Vouex for the celebration.

Now, New Year's Day is a conflicting set of traditions for me. I've been watching the Mummer's Parade since I was a little kid -- on television, never been able to get down there... -- but Cathy has never understood, appreciated, or wanted to get anywhere near the Mummers. At all. Which may have something to do with why I've never been able to get to the parade, come to think of it. The other tradition is spending the day with my brother-in-law Carl and his family...but they couldn't make it this year; neither could we, actually. So we're on our own, and it turns out that there are some really good things to do on New Year's Day.

Like we may start at Monk's Cafe,where Tom and Fergie have started their own odd little tradition of serving all stouts (and one excellent sour, TBA) on NYD. Here's the list so far:
1. Allagash Bourbon Black
2. Alvinne Catherine The Great3. Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout
4. Dogfish Head Bitches Brew
5. Dogfish Head Chicory Stout
6. Dupont Monks Stout7. Dogfish Head World Wide Stout
8. Emelisse Russian Imperial Stout
9. Founder's Breakfast Stout10. Great Divide oak aged Yeti
11. Lost Abbey Deliverance (cellared for a year)
12. Sierra Nevada Narwhal Imperial Stout
13. Stoudt's Fat Dog Stout
14. New Holland Poet Oatmeal Stout
15. Bells Java Stout
16. Laughing Dog Dogfather Imperial Stout
17. Smuttynose Zinneke Belgian-style Stout

Pretty sure we can find something (fancy a Narwhal?).

Then we've got a private drop-in party to hit, followed by the annual whoopee at Local 44, where they celebrate their opening anniversary on January 1st (I'm hoping to snag some of the Lees Moonraker). Then it's back home, where I guess we'll have to have some amount of pork and sauerkraut, just because I'm a Dutchman.

Congratulations, Asheville

Awwww...crap.

New Belgium Brewing Announces Asheville as Site for Second Brewery

Brewer will expand production capacity with east coast facility

Fort Collins, CO, April 5, 2012 - New Belgium Brewing announced today that Asheville, NC has been selected as the new location for a second brewery. The 400,000-barrel brewery and packaging facility will provide New Belgium with additional capacity allowing the Colorado-based brewer to expand into new areas of distribution. Upon completion in 2015, the facility will initially create 50 new jobs in the Asheville area with more than 100 positions expected at full buildout.

“After several years of searching, we are incredibly excited to have landed in Asheville,” said Kim Jordan, CEO and co-founder of New Belgium. “From the deep sense of community to the rich natural environment and the opportunity to revitalize a brownfield site near a vibrant downtown, Asheville has everything we’ve been looking for in a location for our second brewery.”

The 17.5-acre site located in the heart of the River Arts District will accommodate the 150,000 sq. ft. facility. The brewery will feature a 200-barrel brewing system, a tasting facility, and a process wastewater treatment center on-site. Tours will be available to the public. Total cost projections are over $100 million.     

“Today’s announcement by New Belgium will enhance the craft brewery cluster that is growing in North Carolina,” said Gov. Bev Perdue.  “The jobs and investment the company is committing will be a major boon for the region and for the state.” 

Construction is expected to begin in early 2013 with beer rolling off the line in early 2015. 

Time to move on, Philly. Wonder if Gary Fish is interested in Deschutes East...

Old Forge Launching in Philly TODAY

The original, MUCH smaller brewery, and Damien.

Should've had this up earlier because Damien Malfara at Old Forge is a great guy and a talented brewer, but, well, here it is: Old Forge Brewing of Danville, PA (which is a very cool place, you should go) has pumped up their capacity significantly, and is launching in Philadelphia today at Standard Tap at 7:00. They'll have their two standards, T-Rail Pale Ale and Endless Summer Ale, in kegs and cans, but they're also bringing a Bourbon Barrel Aged Brown Ale in firkin, Ludwig's Lager, Bourbon Barrel Quad, Bourbon Barrel Aged Hank The Belgian Stout, Ol' Smithy Spiced Winter Ale, Underbite IPA, and Slack Tub Stout (on nitro, which I think is the sleeper hit in the pack, my go-to at Old Forge...unless there's a batch of altbier on).

Can't make it tonight? Try the Whole Foods in Plymouth Meeting tomorrow from 6 to 8; the Perch Pub at Broad & Locust on Friday for lunch with Damien, noon to 2; and then a quick canned happy hour (T-Rail and Endless are in 16 oz. cans) at Percy Street BBQ, and then from 6 to 8 at Beer Heaven on the river in Pennsport; Saturday you can find Damien at The Beer Store in Southampton from 2 to 4, and the whole wild trip winds up Saturday night at The Blind Pig in Northern Liberties from 6:00 until Damien falls over.


You should try to get out for this. Old Forge is smack-dab in the middle of the hottest brewing area in PA right now, and Damien's a Fox Chase boy who went off to the sticks to be with his sweetheart, and got thirsty, and had to make his own beer just to survive...and it was so good he thought he'd bring some back home. Go, taste, have some fun!

Do we want Philly to be Brussels-on-Schuylkill?

Philly is still in the running for New Belgium's east coast brewery, according to this story from Charlotte, N.C.'s WBTV. Crowing a bit over Sierra Nevada's decision to settle near Asheville -- and understandably so! -- WBTV noted:

New Belgium Brewing, known for its tasty Fat Tire beer, is also considering the Asheville area for a possible plant. New Belgium recently toured the Western NC area for possible sites. Both brewers want to expand beer output and to cut shipping costs with East Coast plants.
"Asheville and Philly are leading our short list of sites," New Belgium spokesman Bryan Simpson told the Denver Post last month.

Leading the short list. How does Sierra Nevada deciding on Asheville affect that? You could say -- as I'm sure many are thinking -- that New Belgium will now look away, since Sierra Nevada's in town. There's not room for two big breweries in town. That doesn't follow for sure; for instance, look at all the pharmaceutical industries around Philadelphia, look at Silicon Valley, or, if you prefer, look at Portland -- either Portland, where several good-sized craft breweries are in business quite close to each other.

This doesn't preclude New Belgium settling in Asheville at all. It's still attractive for the same reasons it always was, and now you've got an added attraction, in that having Sierra in the area will draw support industries, draw skilled workers, create an atmosphere even more supportive of craft beer. As our pharmaceutical businesses have learned, that's a tangible benefit.

However...Philadelphia is also still attractive for the same reasons it always was, and -- no slight to Asheville -- we've got more to offer. Let me enumerate:

• You want outdoor? Hey, mountain kids: meet The Shore. That's right, we have an ocean right over there. And if you want hiking, the Appalachian Trail -- you've heard of that, right? -- is right over there. An hour to the ocean, two hours max to the AT.
• You want fun? Philly's got music, restaurants, bike trails, all this historical stuff you may have heard of, and...unlike Asheville OR Denver, we're a quick train ride or drive from three other major fun towns: NYC, Baltimore, and DC (and I can tell you, Boston's not that much farther).
• You want infrastructure? Multiple major highways, rail nexus, AND a major port. Growing breweries already in place to pull talent and suppliers, and some of them already on-board with the whole green idea. And there's that pharmaceutical industry I mentioned, with lots of crossover (like the dairy business was in the early days). 
• You want beer culture? Again, no slight to Asheville, but...Philly Beer Week. The most recognized Belgian bistro in America (plus several others), and what is said to be the biggest market for Belgian beer in the country. Craft taps in a substantial percentage of area bars. A beer-savvy local government. And again...Philly Beer Week.
• You want to sell beer? Guys...look at the map. Are there more craft beer drinkers within 300 miles of Asheville...or Philly. Nuff said. 

But what about the other side of this equation? Does Philly want New Belgium? I suspect our local brewers -- several of whom make a good living doing just what New Belgium does --  would not necessarily be up for that, but...if I were a local politician, if I were a local business owner, if I were a taxpayer?  

Welcome to Pennsylvania, Kim Jordan!

New Belgium means jobs. Good jobs, vested jobs. New Belgium means green manufacturing. They are a model for low-impact industry. New Belgium means an even larger beer culture. It's true; yes, Philly, we can do better (I wrote that almost 5 years ago, and it's still true). New Belgium means better beer. Everything I wrote earlier this week about Sierra Nevada forcing Asheville's brewers to up their game? Holds true here, too.

Not to mention...our local brewers can definitely hold their own. I have no doubt of it. Our guys -- from Victory, to Flying Fish, to Dogfish Head (yeah, they're local enough), to Yards and Philly Brewing, to Iron Hill and McKenzie, to Nodding Head, and even our man Dick Yuengling -- can handle this. They're good. Real good.

And that's good, because New Belgium brings resources and cooperation, too. They're good citizens in many ways. I also guarantee you that they'd bring new excitement and beer tourism to the area...which is good for everyone in the game. Including we drinkers!

I hope Philly's still in the hunt, and I hope our local governments are smart enough to be helping things along.

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!). 

Happy New Year's Resolutions!

I will blog more often this year...I promise.

Yesterday was a really good day. Didn't start out so auspiciously, though. Bro-in-law Carl Childs and I got up at 7:30 AM -- painful, but coffee helped -- strapped my new bike rack (thanks, Cathy!) to the Jetta and loaded our bikes, shoved our middle-aged bodies into spandex pants, and headed for Pennypack Trail to ride across Philly. I screwed up and we hit the trailhead at Lorimer Park...which meant we wound up wiggling our way down to Shady Lane and over roads to the trailhead in Fairmout Park I meant to start from! That wasn't so bad, though, and we rolled onto the paved trail, enjoying the warming day -- when we hit the first hill and Carl's chain popped. Not off the gears, he lost a pin! That's the end of that ride, so I turned around and rode back to the car, loaded up, came back and picked him up, and decided to go to Rieker's Meats (Hop Angel wasn't open yet). Carl went and got coffee, while I got some spätzel and Nürnberger bratwurst, some Ansbach Uralt brandy candy, and a link of pfefferwurst for the ride home.

We got home, got changed, and started chivvying everyone about for a run into Philly. Carl and bro-in-law Curt wanted to go to the Italian/9th Street Market, so we put our three families into two cars and did that trip. It was busy, but not crazy; hit Claudio's and DiBruno Brothers for cheese and stuff, Carl got some hot pepper shooters, and we chatted with vendors. I talked to DiBruno's manager Hunter Fike about getting something stinky and soft to add to a cheese array that included Prima Donna, Bruder Basil, Brie, chevre, a buttermilk blue (Roth Käse, and it's a very good blue for the price), and Delice de Bourgogne. He showed me two, and one of them popped for me: St. James, a washed rind sheep's milk cheese from England that had some unctuous and earthy notes of cauliflower; not your typical stinky cheese, but bold enough to stand up to whisky. I'm not sure, I said; I don't know if anyone else is going to like it. "They'll be eating the Prima Donna," he said, with a look of "Am I right, or am I right?" on his face. Done!

We realized we had to get Thomas home fairly soon -- he had to work scooping ice cream at Goodnoe's in Newtown last night -- so it was time for our late lunch at Memphis Taproom. It took almost 20 minutes to fight our way across town, but it was worth it: the draft list included two cask ales I'd been hunting for -- Marston's Pedigree and Ruddles County Ale. Excellent! They set up a table for ten in the back room, and I soon had my first Marston's: the freshness was clear as soon as I got a whiff of the legendary "Burton Snatch," a sulfury note in the aroma, followed by a clean, delicious malty beer. Awesome. My nephew Matt got a Ruddles on my advice (liked it so much he had another), and it was a sharper snap of a beer; still softly cask-conditioned (and both beers were brilliant, nicely cellared), but with a crisper flip of fruit and hops. Carl got a Firestone Union Jack (not done in their Burton Union system, which would have been a sweet synchronicity) that was eye-popping in hoppiness compared to the English cask beers; and his wife Joan got a Sam Smith cider, a delish example.

Food? Yum. I got the brisket sandwich, loving the cooked carrots that came with it. The rest of the table: pulled pork, fish & chips, Port Richmond Platter (kielbasa and pierogies and kraut), cheeseburgers, kielbasa grinder, and the smoked coconut club was enjoyed by our newly vegetarian niece, Abbey. She let me have a bite -- I'd always been intrigued by this sandwich, but not enough to order it -- and it was stunningly smokey, a wonderful impact of flavor and texture. More of the excellent veg cooking at Memphis. I grabbed another pint at the bar while the bill was being taken care of by Carl -- thanks, Carl, you didn't really have to! -- and downed it in a quick yet respectful manner.

We thanked the bartender and left, back home to Langhorne, where we sat down to watch Season One of Justified, the excellent FX series about US Marshall Raylan Givens -- we're hooked, and got the rest of the family going on it. We had a couple beers: Yards ESA (still a fave), Bend Brewery Hop Head (big, good, hoppy as promised), New Holland Dragon's Milk (woof: big old bourbony stout), New Belgium Snow Day (big and hoppy: new trend for New Belgium?), and Wolaver's Alta Gracia coffee stout (nicely understated vanilla bean effect; too many vanilla stouts overdo it). The cheeses were put out with sliced "baguette" (sorry, but anything that comes frozen and gets "baked" in a supermarket's bakery oven...gets "quotes") and crackers; we had a couple pounds of chilled shrimp, chips and dips, cookies, candy, pickled eggs and the pepper shooters, olives, pickled mushrooms, and peanuts -- this was a good six hours after the Memphis lunch by now!

Nora's friend Kate came over for the party and got wrapped up in Justified, Thomas came home from work with three friends from high school (all 20 now, and still drinking soda and "sparkling cider", our last non-worried NYE?), and they were watching it. The over-40 crowd were out back on the deck, around the blaze of wood in the firepit, drinking Apfelkorn schnapps and beers (and a little Jameson 18 for some of us), and wondering when they would let Dick Clark retire. When the ball dropped, we toasted with prosecco, hugged and kissed and wished each other a happy new year, then joined the neighborhood in making a lot of noise! Geese were circling overhead, woken and spooked into flight by the local fireworks; Maud and Penderyn were excited by the geese and the noise and the fire and the food; and the kids went back to Justified.

Around 1 AM, we were wondering what to do next when I remembered those bratwurst...and soon we had a big bowl of grilled bratwurst on the table, sliced into chunks and stirred up with spätzel and buttery caramelized onions. That disappeared in short order among agreement that we'd found a new tradition. Carl and I split one last beer: a Deschutes Black Butte XXIII, and it was tremendous. Chocolatey, orange notes, depth, and a compelling complexity that kept me mumbling under my breath; great end-of-the-night beer. Around 3 AM, we finally sent the boys home and everyone else to bed, shut down the TV, and called it a night. I was up at 8:45 this morning to start the pork and sauerkraut roasting and sing at 10:30 mass...and the year began again. Happy New Year!

Oh, by the way...Farmer's Cabinet may be buying a brewery

A lot happened during Philly Beer Week... Wow, what an unnecessary statement. But one of the things that happened was that Tuesday night, after meeting 'Gansett rep Zach Antczak for a couple Narragansett Summers (and The Famous Woody, too) at MidAtlantic, and hosting the smoked beer/food dinner at Hop Angel (which, if you missed -- and almost all of you did -- you missed a great dinner and some surprisingly good pairings, like Raftman and smoked trout/mussels, and Schlenkerla Oak Smoke with vanilla ice cream, caramel, and smoked salt)...I met Terry Hawbaker at the Prohibition Taproom for a beer. (And Christine Gumpper was there as well; I think I may have seen her more than anyone else during PBW!)

So...enough about my day, let's cut to the chase. Terry, of course, is not only a good friend and nice guy, he's also the former brewer at Bullfrog and currently at Farmer's Cabinet. He was hired to open an in-house nanobrewery for them, making one-off beers to complement their exotic beer selection. Well, Terry told me, they'd had real problems with paperwork -- city, state, federal? not sure -- and weren't sure when they'd be able to get the brewery up and running. So when someone noticed that Shenandoah Brewing was for sale (and about to go down for lack of a buyer), wheels started to turn.

Shenandoah, you see, is Brew-On-Premise in Alexandria, Virginia. They are set up to do small batches, lots of small batches, exactly what Terry and the FC folks were planning. They have a ton of room.  

Amended here: I've been told that this is NOT a done deal, and I apologize for that. I thought I had checked on this, but I was wrong. Again: the purchase is NOT certain at this point.

Seem crazy? It's not that far to Alexandria, especially if you travel at the hours Terry is used to anyway. It's a perfect set-up. And the options are endless. Not as convenient as it could be, maybe, but it has interesting potential.

Yeah, yeah, I know: aren't these the same people who just closed two (or three, depending on how you parse it) places? Where'd they get the money to buy a brewery? Two answers: first, I don't know, and second, there's plenty of ways to skin that cat, even in this economy. And before anyone starts making trash comments about this situation...I won't allow them to post. Keep it clean, keep it reasonable, or you'll be wasting your time. Okay? Game on.

Everyone gets it

Reading Karen Heller's Inky column today on the total Mongolian cluster-***k that is the Philadelphia school district, and being saddened by her main point, which is that this crappy school district -- out of control violence, cronyism, corruption, and a total lack of simple brains when it comes to budget planning -- is one more thing, a big one, that's crushing the whole Next Great City idea.

And there, right in the middle of things, she drops this little hop-cone of acknowledgment to Philly Beer Week and all that it stands for:

There is a gash in the middle of the city's population. Philadelphia has been wildly successful in attracting younger adults ages 20 to 34, due in part to our central location, affordable housing, bike lanes, and, of course, eminence as a beer-imbiber's paradise. The city has more babies, and more baby boomers.

A grateful city full of the people who have made it that paradise thank you for noticing...and for being cool enough to mention it. To be honest, it was the "of course" that was truly endearing.

Now if we could just get some more brewpubs in the city...we might have something. Too bad neighborhoods still have this weird idea that brewpubs will destroy them. It's the other way around, just look at Denver!

More Terry/Grainery news

It just keeps leaking out... From PhillyBeerScene:

Its going to be located [at] 1113 Walnut St and he’s calling the place The Grainery. The highlight of the new concept has to be the arrival of former Bullfrog brewmaster Terry Hawbaker. The Grainery won’t be a brewpub but Terry will have 4 of the bar's 24+ taps for his beers that he’ll be brewing on an extremely small, artisan scale. 

How much would you pay for that?! But wait, there's more!

On top of having a great beer program, they are also bringing in Damon Dyer, an extremely talented mixologist from NYC, to put together a Victorian style cocktail menu....As for food, the details were brief but look for rustic fare with lots of house cured meets and game dishes.... Look for the new bar to open around April.

Oh my...Victorian cocktails? Different than the speakeasy stuff, maybe more punches, raw eggs, and Old Tom? Woo woo!

Hawbaker to Philly and a Center City brewpub

Following up on the earlier post, I got this from Terry Hawbaker:

The new place is called The Grainery. It will be located in center city Philly and is being put together by the Fork and Barrel folks. Think Fork and Barrel meets the Bookstore Speakeasy with a small artisanal brewery on premise.Very small brewery focusing on farmhouse ales, barrel-aged wild beers and all the freaky fun stuff... in addition there will be several more beers on tap and in bottle from all over the world with a bent towards the small, artisan producers from Scandinavia, Belgium, Italy, Germany and so forth. 

Which sounds exactly like the kind of place Philly's beer scene needs. Because like I said before,  Philadelphia needs more brewpubs to truly be a great beer town. This would be one more. I know of at maybe two others that are coming. Look, I love the ones we have, truly, I do, but Portland is laughing at us. You want to put up with that? I don't. I want more brewpubs. We can support them, God knows.

The problem I keep hearing is that it's so expensive, and we're not talking about real estate. We're talking about licenses, and inspections, and taxes, and labor costs... Hey, the city may need a government finance enema, but you know? There are still restaurants opening! Sell a brewpub to Starr, for God's sake, or to our man Garces, let's GO!

Folks: Terry's coming to town. He's gonna need competition to get his game tuned up proper.

More snowy fun in Philly...sigh...

From the Tria/Biba family. This is getting annoying. If it snows out here, all I can do is pop open fantastic beers and whiskeys and watch the Corgis romp; fun, but not real social!



Michael's Got a Case of... Sexy Sparkling Sekt
Sekt is what Austrians call their méthode champenoise (Champagne-style) sparkling wines.  Tonight's rendition, crafted from Chardonnay blended with trendy Grüner Veltliner, comes from Terry Theise, the eccentric importer who put Austrian wines in American minds.  Our special price is worthy of celebration.  But remember: Sparkling wine is not just for special occasions.

The Case Sekt, Nigl, '07 (Kremstal, Austria)  $15   $7½
Location Biba Wine Bar
Date Tuesday, January 11 TONIGHT!
Hours 5-7pm

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Drink and Eat Your Oatmeal!
We generally pair beer with cheese, but tonight we're pairing Terrapin Wake 'N' Bake Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout with oatmeal raisin cookies from The Famous 4th Street Cookie Co.  A delicious combo for your inner child and a special price.

The Combo Terrapin Wake 'N' Bake (10oz) plus large cookie   $5½
Location Tria Rittenhouse Square
Date Tuesday, January 11 TONIGHT!
Hours Starts at 4pm

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Big Weather Calls for Big Beer
We're tapping Dogfish Head's legendary Olde School Barleywine today at 4pm.  If this monster of a brew doesn't keep you warm, you'd better check your pulse.  Plus enjoy our 5 for 5. 5 to 7 happy hour - from 5 to 7, of course.

The Beer Dogfish Head Olde School Barleywine (5oz)   $5
Location Tria Wash West
Date Tuesday, January 11 TONIGHT!
Hours  Starts at 4pm

Snow in/from the Sierras at Resurrection

Look...I know I've been gone. More about that later. I'm healthy, just busy. And I'm sorry.

But back to work. And that's letting Philadelphians know that once again I'm going to miss the snowy beer fun, but you don't have to. I'm sure there are numerous snowy fun things planned, but Resurrection Ale House got this to me, and it looks really good (I'm gritting my teeth at not going), so here you are:

Shovel? Check.
Salt? Check.
Day off of work tomorrow? Looking ever more likely.
We've got a plan to help you make the most of tomorrow's impending snow day! Join us all day (1/11/11) for a Sierra Nevada tap take over...ALL DRAFTS are just $4 from 4-6pm!

Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale
30th Anniversary - Fritz And Ken's Ale
30th Anniversary - Charlie, Fred And Ken's Ale
30th Anniversary - Jack & Ken's Ale
Estate Brewers Harvest Ale
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Hoptimum (a Beer Camp Imperial IPA)

2425 Grays Ferry Avenue (Corner of Catharine + Grays Ferry)

Other snow treks are welcome to pile on in the comments. Be safe out there, folks: don't leave anyone behind. Have 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.

You know how I feel about pumpkin beers...

I've made my feelings about pumpkin beers pretty damned clear:  "pumpkin beers mostly suck." But I also admitted that I liked some of them, and there are a couple I absolutely adore, like the amazing ShawneeCraft Pumpkin Saison. It's getting creative and crazy and genius..ish with pumpkin beers that I like. Which is why I'm telling you about this event at Hawthornes Beer Cafe that I'm gonna miss because I'll be in Pittsburgh signing books.

Join us for our 1st Annual Pumpkin Beer Dinner! 7-9 PM Sunday November 14th. We will be serving 4 savory courses paired beautifully with 4 different pumpkin beers. Southern Tier Pumking, Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin, River Horse Hipp-O-Lantern and Dogfish Head Punkin'.

Amuse Bouche: Pumpkin Seed Brittle w/ cranberry and mint
1st: Pan seared Pumpkin Gnocchi, shitake mushrooms, mascarpone pancetta sage butter, pumpkin seed pesto
2nd: Coconut Curry Pumpkin Bisque w/autumn pear creme fraiche
3rd: Oven Roasted Pork Tenderloin stuffed w/spinach and sharp cheddar served over sweet bourbon walnut mash and blackberry gastrique
4th: Pumpkin Mousse w/toffee gingersnap cookie crumble
Reservations are required for this event. $50 per person plus tax and gratuity.

Sounds good to me!

Just got an e-mail not a minute after I posted this: Devil's Den is doing a pumpkin event Thursday, Oct. 28th, with 7 draft gourd brews and 6 bottled pumpkineers, and a squash-based menu: Pumpkin Soup topped with toasted pumpkin seeds, Pumpkin Ravioli with a sage brown butter, Stuffed Pork Chop with Pumpkin Stuffing, and Pumpkin Mousse. Holy gastropumpkinpub!

Looking for "The Drink That Satisfies"

I'm not huge on sweet drinks; I'm a beer and whiskey man, and generally a lush bourbon or a Speyside, a good barleywine is about as sweet as I go. But when I do want a little sweet something, usually late on a winter's evening, as often as not the bottle I reach for is Drambuie, the Scottish liqueur. The herbs and honey and whisky make a wonderful warming sensation (and it's great in a hot cup of Earl Grey tea, too).

That's why when I was asked if I wanted to be a judge in a Drambuie cocktail competition, I said "Sure!" Best of all, you can join me. It's called "Nail or Fail," a reference to the classic Rusty Nail cocktail, it's at Ladder 15 on Sansom St., and it starts at 7 PM on Monday the 18th. The winner will be announced at 10 PM.

If you've never had Drambuie -- or any drink like it -- you ought to take the opportunity. I've developed a new appreciation for the sweet drinks, as in, you don't need to just drink them as is -- wow, they're sweet! -- or in coffee/tea -- though that is good -- you can drink them in cocktails (I've been enjoying the hell out of the Frisco cocktail: 2 oz. of good bourbon, 1/4 oz. of Benedictine, stirred with ice, strained, and a twist of lemon peel) or cut/contrast them (I was on a Kahlua press trip in Mexico in February (story coming in January in Massachusetts Beverage Business) and learned that Kahlua on ice with a big wedge of lime is awesome). So I'm looking forward to seeing what some pros can do with Drambuie.

Happy to see Zitner's succeed

Cheering story in the Inquirer this morning about the Zitner Candy company. The local (North Philly) company is 90 years old, and was a family business for the first 70 years, under Sam and Annie Zitner, and then their nephew Leon Sherman. Sidney Rosenblatt bought the company after Sherman's death in 1990, then sold it last August to partners Evan Prochniak, Kenneth Schuster, and Sam Sherman...90 years, only four owners. That's almost as good as Yuengling!

The story just made me smile. Zitner's is locally famed for their Easter candies: chocolate 'eggs' filled with peanut butter (yum!), coconut and marshmallow (I guess you have to make those, but I don't know why), and their signature Butter Krak eggs. I get one Butter Krak egg a year, simply because if I got more than one, I'd buy a case a week and weigh 450 pounds. Seriously, folks, they're not called "krak" for nothing.

It's great to see a local candy company surviving -- excelling! -- and selling candy in every convenience store in the area, not just specialty places. It's good stuff. Are there better chocolates? Of course. But Zitner's is solidly local, and like Peeps, they're doing well against the nationals. I always love to see that. Don't forget to get your Butter Krak on when spring rolls around!

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.

Happy birthday, Resurrection!

Resurrection Ale House celebrates their one-year anniversary this Wednesday (Sept. 22, beginning at 5 PM). What a year it's been, with national recognition, local infamy (er...temporary infamy that turned into near-sainthood!), and, well, just one hell of a lot of good beer and food (and a proximity to some other great emerging places that turned this unlikely Gray's Ferry corner into a beer/food destination). How do you celebrate something like that?

How about stewed prunes?

Oh, sure, they'll have the usual Maida/Hartranft anniversary celebration stuff; complimentary butlered snackies, and some really neat drafts -- ho-hum, right? HA! -- but they'll also be participating in a simultaneous unveiling of Dogfish Head's new generation Randall the Enamel Animal, Sam Calagione's insanely-engineered beer infuser, and they're going to be packing theirs with prunes...that were soaked in 1997 JW Lees barleywine, and then running Dogfish Head Olde School (made with figs, I'd remind you) through it. Nummy.

The kids are more than all right, The Who and Annette Benning be damned. These kids rock.

Rare 'Poonage at Misconduct Tavern next week

I think I told you my son's now attending Boston University which, among other changes in my life, has occasioned a convenient reason to renew my pleasant relations with Boston bars, brewpubs and Boston-based breweries...like Harpoon. I've been a Harpoon fan for years, always happy to run into it, and the folks from the brewery are great, including the president, Rich Doyle, who has served both Harpoon and the larger craft-brewing community for years with insightful leadership.

That's why I'll be at Misconduct Tavern next Tuesday (6-8 PM) to join Rich Doyle for a tasting of some rare Harpoon beers that often don't get outside of Boston Metro. It's an open event, with flights of smaller glasses, so you can try more than a couple without staggering home.

The lineup, on draft first:
Harpoon Leviathan Triticus
Harpoon 100 Barrel Series Glacier Wet Hop
Harpoon Octoberfest
Harpoon Belgian Pale Ale

And in Bottles:
Harpoon IPA
Harpoon 100 Barrel Series Island Creek Oyster Stout
 
I'm really looking forward to the oyster stout, it sounds like a very special beer. So maybe I'll see you there? Come on down, taste beers from one of the oldest, largest craft brewers on the East Coast.