Back on the Solstice...Up To Selin's Grove

Steve and me at the front door

Selin's Grove Brewing is one of my favorite places; not just favorite brewpub, or favorite bar, but favorite places. It's cozy, it's friendly, the beer and food are exceptional (and the food's largely locally sourced), and it's been that way for years. Which is why I like to be there for their opening-day anniversaries when I can; their anniversary falls on December 21, which is usually the day of the Winter Solstice, making it easy for me to remember. There was one year when I found myself in Harrisburg around 5 PM, finished up with business and wondering where to go...when I realized it was the solstice. Up the river I went!

Just a few weeks ago, I took the day off and headed up the river with three very important women: my mother Ruth, my wife Cathy, and my daughter Nora. We had some Christmas shopping planned, though that would mostly go astray: the shopping in Selinsgrove eluded us. Still, we stopped at Weaver's Market & Bakery in Port Trevorton (thanks again, Carolyn!) and did find some good stuff: whoopie pies, bread, apples, a rug, and some Amish-made sauerkraut that went right into the roaster on New Year's Day. Up the river we went, and soon we were parking above the pub.

Co-owner/brewer Steve Leason was down at the front door, handing out the traditional little gifts handed out on the anniversaries. This year it was a pin in the shape of their running dog logo. We shook hands, talked biz a bit (he assured me that they had no current plans to sell to A-B InBev (nor plans to buy them)), then the ladies and I headed inside.

Have you been to Selin's Grove? It's in the basement of a 200 year old stone house. You enter through the barroom, where you find the fireplace, the small bar, the tiny kitchen (our walk-in closet is bigger), and three other tables. Pass through into the main room, where there are about six other tables. We sat by the window, watching the people come and go outside.

And then, of course, we got beers. I started with a dunkelweizen (I've rarely gone wrong choosing a dunkelweizen), then after a taste of Cathy's choice, followed that up with a Solstice Dubbel. By then we were into dessert, and it was growler time. I got half-gallon jugs of the Dubbel and the Stealth Triple, and a quart 'grunter' of the superb Framboise. The Triple was not overly sweet, and scarily drinkable at just over 9%; the Framboise was densely fruity and delicious.

We had to head home (Nora drove), down the cold Susquehanna valley. But I think I'll be back for the 20th next year; we might have to get a room.

Victory to open a second brewpub (in addition to their second brewery)

Just got news confirming the rumors that Victory will be opening a second brewpub in Kennett Square "in the 2nd quarter of 2014." That's in addition to the large second production facility scheduled to open this fall in Parkesburg, PA. Here's the press release:

Victory in Kennett: Downingtown–based Brewery Announces Second Brewpub Location in Kennett Square, Pa 

DOWNINGTOWN, PA – Victory® Brewing Company (Victory) is pleased to announce that it will extend its craft beer experience in Chester County, signing a lease with Kennett Square Realty and committing to develop an upscale brewpub, with on-premise brewing and a takeout beer component, in Kennett Square, Pa.

“The announcement is a culmination of nearly a year’s worth of planning and effort, and we couldn’t be more excited than we are today to finally confirm for our excited fans, who have been asking, that yes we are in fact headed to Kennett!” said Matthew Krueger, Vice President of Retail Operations.

The nation’s 26^th largest craft brewery, Victory’s second brewpub location will occupy all 8,234 square feet of the bottom floor of a four-story, luxury apartment building in Kennett Realty Group’s latest upscale townhome, apartment and retail community, Magnolia Place.  Kennett Realty is owned and operated by the Pia Group, who also own Kaolin Mushroom Farms Inc. and South Mill Mushroom Sales.

Magnolia Place as it will look in a post-Victory world.

“We could not have found a better partner than the Pia family, a group that shared—and are now helping us realize—our vision to bring Victory to Kennett,” Krueger continued, a sentiment echoed by Mike Pia, Jr., developer with the Kennett Realty Group.
“Victory’s mission to provide high quality food, a family-friendly environment, and of course, delicious craft beer, all with a focus on community, ethics and environmental stewardship, made them an ideal partner for this project,” said Pia.  “We’re looking forward to the exceptional experience they’ll bring to the community of Magnolia Place and the greater Kennett Square area.”
Called Victory at Magnolia, the location will accommodate a 250-seat restaurant with space for outdoor dining, and boast a chef inspired menu, featuring some of the company’s signature dishes, including their Hand Tossed Pretzel and Wings of Victory.  The space also will be equipped with a five-barrel brew house to keep new, site-specific brews—along with Victory’s existing lineup of world-class ales and lagers—flowing.
Victory at Magnolia is targeted to open in the second quarter, 2014.  The brewery also is finishing construction on its second production brewery in Parkesburg, Pa., expected to be operational this fall.

Drink Me at Tired Hands...but Be Nice

I found out yesterday that my face -- okay, an interpretation of my face -- is currently adorning the "new beer window" at Tired Hands Brewing in Ardmore, PA. Jean Broillet IV, the owner/brewer, inspired by...something, named his latest beer, a session IPA (Jean makes a lot of hoppy beers (really wonderfully aromatically hoppy beers), a lot of session beers, and a lot of funky beers), Be Nice. It clocks in at 4.2%, and he describes it as a reddish session IPA. When someone -- rightly -- asked if that wasn't the same thing as a pale ale, he responded that it drinks like a DIPA, and he didn't think anyone would guess that it was as low in ABV as it is.

I guess I'm going to have to make the trip out to Ardmore and try this one. I mean, I don't see any way I can not have one (or four) of these, right?! Thanks, Jean, pretty cool!

(A rare cross-posting from The Session Beer Project blog; been doing a lot more posting there these days, you should have a look.)

Forest and Main quickie

I have an extensive post on my recent trip to Iceland coming up, but meanwhile...Thursday, the day after I got back from the Land of Fire and Ice, I tucked in a quick first visit to Forest and Main, the new brewpub in Ambler. I was headed to a private bourbon dinner I was hired for, and realized I had time to stop in on the way. Stop in I did, and found a very pleasant suburban Philly version of North Country Brewing's setup: a little house, set back from the street just enough to have a small lawn. A brewpub with a lawn: how nice!

I walked in the front door, and ran into partner/brewer Gerard Olson right there. He welcomed me, and took me into the small bar, where partner/brewer Daniel Endicott was behind the bar. Gerald brews the Belgian beers; Daniel brews the more British ones, and since I was going to be driving and drinking bourbon later...wait, I didn't have to make a choice: there were session-strength beers on both side! Of the eight beers on tap, fully half were Session Beer Project™-approved session beers. Hot damn! 


I ordered a Spring Bitter at 3.5%, and it was cool and smooth. Chockfull of flavor? No...which is kind of the point. The Spring Bitter tasted great, but didn't attempt to fill every nook and cranny of my mouth with anything screaming or pounding. It was simply...good. So good, I had another. It was pleasant sitting at the small bar, talking to the people on either side of me (without having to talk over loud music, the one fly in an otherwise wonderful ointment at my Saturday visit to Deep Ellum, where I enjoyed Pretty Things 1945X and Notch Saison...), a beautiful location. As I left, at about 5:40, neighbors were filling up the outdoor tables, and the fish and chips smelled delish. Definitely going to be back to this one.

Barley Creek tasting

I've been a fan of Barley Creek brewpub in the Poconos, often in the face of negative reviews. Well, hell, folks, most of the negative reviews were about the food or service, and I've never had a problem. The food changed, but that's just evolution. The beer? Honestly, the last time I was in, I liked the beer just fine...but that was over two years ago. So when owner Trip Ruvane invited me to stop in and meet his new brewer, Joe Percoco, I thought it was, well, you know...my duty to drive up to the Poconos and spend an hour tasting new beers. Heavy burden and all, right?

So about three weeks ago, I drove up in light snow to do just that. Joe's a nice kid, quite young, who grew up locally after being born on Staten Island. He started laying out the beers, and I started tasting at the shallow end of the pool with the Blonde (30% wheat, pale gold with a nice light malt flavor and a surprising bitterness; I suggested that might be a bit too bitter for the frame and the aim), the Belgian Wit (the weakest of the lot; overly sweet and kind of undifferentiated, thought there was an interesting hint of ginger), and their old standby, Antler Brown (much improved over previous versions, with a bit of chocolate, rich but not full brown ale).

We moved on to the Black Lager (good, but a bit muddled; needed focus), Rescue IPA (very nice: dry-hopped in the serving tank after a lot of late addition hops to a malt-slippery, sweet/bitter beer with the classic American Cascades and Centennial piney/citrus aromas), and ESB (Nitro-poured and double-hopped; i.e., with American and English hops; great earthy/citrus hops flavor, a touch of bubble gum aroma, and a hugely bitter finish to clean it all up).

Then Joe went big on me. We started with a Bourbon Vanilla Cream Stout that Joe said he'd planned...and then trashed the recipe at the last minute and formulated a new recipe on the fly (he should stick with his instincts: this rocked, rich and full without being sticky, lots of vanilla and pit fruit, and scary drinkable). Next, a Chocolate Porter that was Hershey's syrup and chips added to a "good porter" (real milk chocolate character, and light enough to sup easily; not my favorite, but I could easily see others loving this).

Do you remember SuperHOP IPA? That used to be Barley Creek's IPA, and it was...well, a beer with hops in. It's more than that now: SuperHOP is a "triple IPA," at 13.1%, and let me tell you, it hides it well. I'd have guessed 8% at most. It's bitter but not crushing, sweet but not sickening, and believe you me, it's warming.

But my favorite beer of the tasting, easily, was the awkwardly named Double Mocha Latte Imperial Stout, made with cocoa powder and cacao nibs, and Kona and Colombian beans ground right into the mash. Sounds gloppy-gross, right? I was apprehensive, but this tasted like Joe had somehow crashed his brewery into a great espresso bar and filtered the wreckage into a serving tank: very adult drink, not overly rich, dry cocoa character, and solid coffee background. At 10% you'd want to watch yourself, but you'd also want at least two. This was one of the best coffee beers I've ever had, and one of the best chocolate/cocoa beers I've ever had. The coffee and chocolate were unrestrained, but sweetness that usually comes with them was not a factor. I like my coffee with a bit of cream (and plenty of crema) and no sugar; this hit me right between the eyes. Nice, nice job. And it's undoubtedly gone by now, but...he's gotta be making other good stuff.

I did get a tank sample of the 70 Shilling he had coming, a lightly-peated sub-4% session beer, and had that with lunch, the pork pot roast, and you better believe that gave me some ideas for cooking. Sat there with Trip, and we talked about the season, and the whiffleball stadium (Pint-Size Park), and he finally asked me...how do I get someone like you to talk about these beers, because this kid -- Joe; he is pretty young! -- is doing a great job? Easy, Tripp: make good beers, get me to taste them. Done.

And speaking of that...stopped in at Weyerbacher on the way home, had some of that Big Ern IPA they do for Uno's...and it was just pretty damned tasty. Might as well mention that, too, and tip the hat to that new logo they've got.

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!). 

Mudhook Brewing hopes to beat The York Curse

York, Pennsylvania has had several microbreweries. There was York Brewing -- failed -- and Freedom Brewing -- failed -- and the Brick Oven brewpub -- failed -- and several breweries that were planned, discussed, and trumpeted...and never opened. York County hasn't done much better; we're still waiting on Hanover Brewing. We talk about The Curse: opening a brewery in York just doesn't seem to work.

Two days ago, on Tuesday, Jeff Lau took his shot: Mudhook Brewing opened (at 34 N Cherry Lane, York), as reported here. Sounds like opening night was a success. To officially beat The Curse (and by "officially," I mean in my eyes...), Mudhook will have to still be in operation in January of 2013. Best of luck, Jeff and company!

Hello, Burlington!

I'm in Burlington, VT for the first time in about 14 years, and this is STILL a great beer town. Funny, it's still real New England-car, too: saw a Saab 900 and a Volvo 240. Anyway, the boy and I did Vermont Pub & Brewery for lunch -- Bombay Grab IPA -- nice, not crazy -- Dogbiter Bitter -- too strong, but good -- and Cream Ale -- good iteration -- then walked down to the lake, had some laughs with the gulls. We were looking for Irish music, but on St. Pat's Day that's a fool's errand; Ri Ra was flowing out into College Street. So I went to Three Needs -- Thomas got carded out and went window-shopping while I had one beer: Session Sour, which is good: maybe a bit over session, maybe not too sour, but it's a good drink. Whew. What a week!

Family Fun in Montreal

My son Thomas is home from Boston University on Spring Break. He and I decided to go to Quebec to get away. I'll be honest; I'm not sure how that happened, but I'm all for it.

We drove up yesterday: stopped at Brown's Brewing in Troy (formerly the Troy Brewpub, same owners), where I enjoyed my usual -- Porter! -- and Thomas had...iced tea. Quebec's only hours away, fella! We had a beautiful run up through the Adirondacks, no worries, and scooted into Plattsburgh to view the deep blue waters of Champlain (and fill up on relatively cheap diesel before entering The Dominion of Canada). The border crossing was, for a change, uneventful, and we drove north across the plains to Montreal.


We checked into Le Cartier B-and-B, a neat little place, and got the restaurant lecture for our host, Richard. The man eats out 365 days a year, he said, so we listened. Which is how we wound up going to Au Petit Extra, and had a great meal, and a great experience for the young man. Pretty Quebecois waitresses who all looked like they could be Cathy's cousins: dark hair, light complexion, slightly elfin features. We got the prix fixe dinner, which came with 6-8 choices for the first and second courses, five dessert choices/or a cheese plate, and plentiful delicious slices of baguette. The menu was all in French -- no kiddy English version -- but we managed to figure out what we wanted between Thomas's 1.5 semesters and my smattering of eating French.

We've had some glass-holding lessons since...

We ordered: for him, soup de poisson, duck confit and salad, creme brulee; for me, veal terrine in gelee, bouillabaisse, and the cheese plate, and a half liter of house red (the waitress approved of the choice of red; I felt smart for a moment). I waited to see what he'd think. Duck confit, creme brulee, the bread: thumbs up. Fish soup (a wonderful, smoky, thick thing), house red wine? Okay, but maybe not so much. My veal terrine? Definitely not for him. Not cheap, but a great experience. (My bouillabaisse and the cheese plate were very nice as well, BTW.) And we called it a day.

This morning I got some work done, as did he, and then took a cab to the Brasserie McAuslan, where master brewer Dave Brophy -- one of the original five employees -- showed me an almost fanatical devotion to quality and consistency. No wonder I've never had a disappointing McAuslan Oatmeal Stout. Fascinating comment: they contract brew Moosehead for Quebec, and Dave said that they did an extensive diacetyl rest for the lager. Then he referred to the McAuslan beers -- done in open fermentation tanks with Ringwood yeast -- and said that, of course, they have a different character; i.e., diacetyl is expected there. Well, there you are.

Thomas contemplates the menu at Saint-Bock; brewery is in the far background

Back to the room (cabbing it so as not to lose our parking space), and Thomas was about ready to go. We walked to Le Saint-Bock for lunch. I ordered an Encensoir, which was a nice 5% smoked lager; Thomas got an iced tea. About two minutes later it hits him: DOH! He could have had a beer! At which point he grabs my rauchbier, sips it, and says he'll have one of those. Good man! And he finished it, too.

After that, we slipped down into "The Underground City." Not really an attraction, much as it sounds it. Came up and headed up St. Laurent. There are lots of hipster clothing stores there, I told Thomas (and I can get to Schwartz's, I told myself). And you know, it worked out. We walked all the way up, he got to shop, and then we went to Schwartz's and got smoked meat sammiches and Cott's black cherry soda, a weirdly wonderful combo. Then we walked over to St. Denis, stopped in a Converse/Doc Marten store, and then had a great time in a Quebec artisanal store, talking bear teeth and gypsy swing with the owner while the "annual" anti-police protest marched loudly by outside.

And...that's when I realized I'd left my debit card in the ATM that morning. So we walked down to L'amère à boire to regroup and get info to cancel the card. I had the current Projet Elephant beer, a 3.6% Tmavé dark lager, wonderfully session. Thomas had a pilsner. I got the info I needed, canceled the card...and Thomas realized he'd left a shirt he'd bought at Schwartz's. So back up St. Laurent, and whattayaknow, they had it for him! Bravo, Schwartz's!

Dinnertime. Okay, beer time. Reservoir is practically around the corner, so we went, and I got a big glass of Noire, the dry stout that I swear is the best thing they make. We also had grilled cheese: raclette and sweated onions on grilled baguette. Nummy.

We were beat. Yes, beer geekerie: no Dieu du Ciel. I've been; it's great, but it's a long way off, and to be honest, I'd rather have spent much of the day drinking the Elephant beer, or even going to Benelux. Or maybe I'm just ornery. Anyway, we split a poutine, one more Montreal thing for the boy to experience, and called it a day. And now I'm going to bed. Good night!

Another new brewpub opens in PA's hot corridor

I've been telling people for the past three years that the hottest brewing area in PA is the arc from State College to the Wyoming Valley along the Appalachian ridges -- Otto's, Elk Creek, Bullfrog, River House, Bavarian Barbarian, Old Forge, Berwick, Breaker, and more to come, like Marley's in Bloomsburg, which opens Thursday! -- and another brewpub just opened this week: Yorkholo Brewing in Mansfield (19 N. Main St., 570-662-2920). It's pronounced "york hollow," from the name of brewer Jarrod York's grandfather's local dairy farm; according to the website, there were restrictions on the number of letters in naming a farm back in the day...well, whatever: it's not "[insert town here] Brewing Company", at least! York did the American Brewers Guild program and interned at Ithaca Brewing, so he should know what he's doing.

I'll be honest: I just found out about Yorkholo today, and they just opened Monday (and started legally selling beer today!). So I don't have much else to tell you. Just thought you'd be interested in a new brewery. I'll be visiting at my first opportunity. Congratulations to York and partner Ashley Rodgers!

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.

Gamble Pays Off

I hate putting unopened breweries in my books. I've been burned in the past when brewers swore they were in great shape, 'Yeah, you bet, we're gonna open!", only to have the whole plan collapse in a heap, leaving a ghost entry in my nice new book. So I was apprehensive when I did up an entry for Gamble Mills, a restaurant in Bellefonte, Penn., that was adding a house brewery. I wasn't optimistic, but I did it because I have a weak spot for this beautiful little town.

My optimism is rewarded: According to the Centre Daily Times yesterday, Gamble Mills' beers are just about ready to start pouring. The only thing holding them up -- tell me if you're surprised -- is a "minor licensing issue" that they hope to have cleared up by this Friday. That's when brewer Mike Smith -- late of Dogfish Head and Ithaca Brewing -- hopes to open the taps on HB 48, a golden session-strength ale named for the bill the restaurant's owners (Dave Fonash and Paul Kendeffy) had to hire a lawyer to shepherd through the state legislature to overcome their other problem. According to the article, "An old Pennsylvania law prohibited existing restaurants from converting into breweries." News to me, but given the crap that fills The Almighty Liquor Code, I'm not surprised. 

 

That's all taken care of now, though, and Smith will have HB 48, a saison, and a pale ale ready to roll on the 15th...assuming the PLCB manages to get their act together and get the licensing cleared (actually, that's not fair -- I don't know that it's a PLCB issue; it might be local). Best of luck...and thanks for making the book look good!

Porterhouse is just a steak

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

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

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

New brewpub in Bloomsburg?

Just heard that there's a PLCB application sign for a brewpub at the old Harry's Grille location (20 W. Main) in Bloomsburg. Anyone heard anything about this? If so, PLEASE encourage them to get in touch with me! Thanks...

JoBoy's Brew Pub in Manheim

Well... I thought I was done with Pennsylvania Breweries 4th edition. Turns out I was wrong! JoBoy's Brew Pub opened April 1 (not an April Fool's joke!) in Manheim, in the old Summy House location. I talked to Kyle, my editor at Stackpole about it. The manuscript was already late -- my fault! -- but Kyle let me get this one last place in; Thanks, Kyle!

So I dropped in on the way back from the PLCB hearings in Harrisburg yesterday (more on that soon). The beer was good, very good for less than two weeks in business: clean, distinct, flavorful. The barbeque was impressive indeed; real hardwood-smoked, low and slow, 14 hours for the pulled pork. And Jeff and Jo are the real thing, open, friendly, sincere. But Jeff's working real hard already just to keep up with beer demand; he's working with a half-barrel SABCO system, like the old Mystic brewpub outside of Reading. That's why they're not open Sundays and Mondays: he needs both days to brew. Definitely worth a stop: this is real North Carolina 'que, with vinegar-based sauce, Memphis sauce, and dry rub (all their own make), fresh-made guacamole and salsa (their own make), and smoked cabbage (really!) and the soon-to-be-famous Atomic Buffalo Turds (you'll have to get some).

I snapped a picture of Jeff with the SABCO brewery, and the iPhone shows me a thumbnail of the picture, but otherwise refuses to admit it exists. Until I can resolve this, I got no pix; sorry!

Red Star to close in Greensburg

I've heard from two sources that the Red Star brewpub in Greensburg will be closing at the end of March. I'm sorry to see it go; Red Star was one of the best brewpub spaces I've seen, in the old train station, and Jeff Guidos brewed some simply awesome barleywines. Sigh... They had some real trouble with street construction in the area, and had some problems with identity/menu, too (they had re-styled themselves the "Red Star Agave Grill" recently, a change which appeared to be mostly cosmetic). I do hope Jeff lands on his feet.

A Visit to G. G. Brewers

I've been trying to get into G.G. Brewers for about six months, without success. I haven't been going by every day, mind you: it's out of my way, not really on my usual run, but I've been stopping in when I'm nearby. First time, I didn't realize they opened at 4...so I had a nice lunch at Athena and went home. Next time, it was after 4, late in the week...but they were closed. The next time, the lights were on, the TV was on...and the door was locked. That happened again about two weeks later. I kept trying, because I wanted to get them into PA Breweries 4. I wrote a letter -- no response -- I called -- no answer -- I sent an e-mail -- no answer.

But yesterday Cathy and I were over in Jenkintown to drop Nora off at a party, and I figured, what the hell, it's not that far out of the way...and fifteen minutes later, we were sitting at the bar.  Very small bar, too, and not many tables. It's easily the smallest brewpub I've ever been in: maybe 20, 25 seats. Couldn't see a brewery, but there were kegs stacked to one side of the room. The bartender was friendly, welcomed us, told us we were in the world's second-smallest brewpub (I had no real reason to doubt her!), and asked us what we wanted.

The brewer/owner, Gerry Martin was very much in evidence, bustling around the place. Nice guy, talkative, informative, even pumped about the Pennsylvania wines he had from Galen Glen: "They make wines in the German style," he said, which pricked my ears right up, and then he mentioned that even their sweet wines weren't all that gloppy sweet, and poured us a sample of the Winter Mountain Red (he was right, too: best Concord grape wine I remember having).

But we weren't there to drink wine! We actually already had our beers: Cathy got an Irish Stout (good, roasty, and solid, but we both caught a raspberry flavor in it; maybe the line had been used for a razzbeer before?), and I got the Bachelor Party beer. I was going to order a Pale Ale, but Gerry said if I wanted a hoppy beer I should get the Bachelor Party. Okay, I did, and it was good: clean, hop-flavored, real drinkable, and not overly bitter. The kind of beer a geek wouldn't give a second glance, but the kind that most other craft drinkers would happily neck all afternoon. It was called Bachelor Party, he said, because a group of guys had 'commissioned' it for the wind-up to a bachelor party they were having over the weekend...but they got snowbound in the Poconos, and he had to put it on anyway. Their loss; our gain.

We ordered a round of pot-stickers. I was a bit surprised to find them deep-fried instead of pan-fried, but they were good (dipping sauce was a bit thick, but tasty). The menu was very reasonably priced (especially for Glenside), and covered steaks, seafood, pasta, and sandwiches, with most things under $14.

Just one beer and the dumplings; we had to get home for the dogs, they'd been cooped up for 7 hours at that point. Pleasant stop. I had been in once before not long after they'd opened, and the beer was clean, but...muddled. It's clearly found its way. Gerry has a reputation for not allowing note-taking in the pub (apparently some guy taking notes had berated a server for not knowing enough about the beer -- I'm shocked, shocked to hear that about a beer geek!) and he'd since asked folks not to indulge in that. Well, kinda odd, but eccentricity is hardly unique in the brewing and tavern trade. I'd go back again, especially the next time we go to a show at the Keswick.

Open message: I can do a very simple entry at this point, Gerry, but I'd love to do more. Give me a shout sometime soon! (If you know Gerry, or if you're a regular at GG, please let him know about this. Thanks!)

Richbrau Closes

Just saw that Richbrau has closed its doors yesterday in the Shockoe Slip area of Richmond. Richbrau had issues, but the Porter was always good, the seasonals were great, and it was good to have a brewpub in this cool section of town. Sad to see you go, Richbrau.

Is This Unique?

Full Pint Brewing is getting closer to opening -- being allowed to open -- by going over the local zoning board's heads to get the zoning interpretation changed, rather than getting an individual variance. So I'm going to go ahead and put them in PA Breweries 4...the only non-open brewery that's going in. Not an easy decision, but these guys have the money, the brewery, the building, and most importantly, four experienced brewers who have also run successful businesses (and they were still smart enough to bring in an experienced business partner, Mark Kegg -- and if you can't see the Sign From God in that name, give it up).

Full Pint is, I believe, unique. You have four brewers who are currently brewing beers at two different brewpubs (40 miles apart) that are also two completely separate businesses, joining together to form a production brewery -- a third independent business -- that will keg and bottle 8 beers: four new ones and two from each of the the two brewpubs (with the full cooperation of the owners of the two brewpubs, of course). The brewers who made -- and still make! -- the beers at the brewpubs will be brewing them at Full Pint.

So...here's my question. Is that unique? I mean, this takes collaboration to a new level. This isn't contract brewing, per se. Do you know of any breweries where the partners are brewers at other breweries, and the beers they're making are beers from those other breweries? I can barely parse it! The closest thing I can think of is Port/Lost Abbey, but that's one brewery and one (brand of) brewpub. Anyone know of anything like this?

Bad news, Good news

Bad news first: Michael Klein says the "brewpub" in negotiations at Liberty Place is a chimera.

A "brewpub" coming to Liberty Place's food court? Not so. Insiders say that the only alcohol-based tenant negotiating a lease is Vintage Irving, the NYC wine bar I told you about last week.

Damn. He also says that Stephen Starr's beer garden, planned to be across from Johnny Brenda's, will be outdoor-only in its first summer, and will not be named "Bier Garten," as rumored in Phoodie (I'd put the link up, but Phoodie appears to be down right now...) Which is a relief. (BTW: my insiders say that a beer hall/garden may be coming to Philly in a big way. When I get more, I'll spill, but you're gonna squeal with delight.)

Good news: Don "Joe Sixpack" Russell reports that Yards' tasting room opened Friday night, serving Yards beers (duh), PA wine, and a full menu of chili and grilled cheese sandwiches. Reminds me of the old days at Legend, in Richmond, when you could get chili, omelettes, or chili omelettes.