AS DIRECTOR OF the raucous celebration of America’s best beer-drinking city, I’ve tried to show up at as many of Philly Beer Week’s 1,000 events as possible.
One afternoon, I even hired my nephew as a chauffeur to cart me around town – and disappointingly managed to hit only a dozen bars. (Use the gas pedal, kid! )
Nonetheless, here … Read the rest
WITH ITS Independence Hall, Liberty Bell, Art Museum, Italian Market, Constitution Center, Fairmount Park, Antique Row, Society Hill, Convention Center, stadiums, universities, restaurants, music scene, cheesesteaks and Center City shopping (not to mention Rocky), it’s almost preposterous that anyone would visit Philadelphia for its beer.
And, yet, there it is as part of the region’s tourism marketing effort, a pitch … Read the rest
WHEN Mayor Nutter cracks open the official first keg of Philly Beer Week at Opening Tap at the Independence Visitor Center on June 4, the big splash will launch 10 days of beer drinking at more than 875 separate events throughout the city and suburbs.
Eight hundred seventy-five.
It’s kind of a daunting number, one that challenges me both as … Read the rest
PHILLY BEER Week (June 4-13) will feature more than 700 events at more than 140 bars in the city and suburbs. It’s a great chance to get out and bend an elbow at some of the region’s classic joints.
Just make sure you save a bit of liver capacity to explore a handful of new joints that have opened just … Read the rest
YOUR CORNER bar is your favorite beer haunt, of course, but every once in a while you’ve gotta stretch your legs.
This year, make your vacation plans around one of these five Beer Destinations You Must Visit Before You Die.
This 99-year-old former poorhouse on 74 acres in Troutdale, Ore., outside of Portland, is one of the McMenamin … Read the rest
THE FATHER of the American craft beer movement is moving on, and that has some beer lovers worried.
Fritz Maytag, owner of Anchor Brewing, said last week that he would sell his San Francisco brewery to a pair of investors with little background in brewing. The news set off a wave of fear and loathing among some beer fans worried … Read the rest
CATEGORY 23. It is the netherland of beer, a cryptic destination for brewer-artistes whose imaginations pry them from the realm of conventionality.
Category 23 is the final classification in the Beer Judge Certification Program’s biblical taxonomy of styles. The first 22 define traditional styles of ales and lagers: porter, wheat beer, Belgian ale, bock, pale ale, and so on. Category … Read the rest
LAST WEEK’S hearing on state beer registration rules left some observers scratching their heads: How is it, in an age when Pennsylvania boasts one of America’s top beer scenes, that state residents must contend with such a complex range of anachronistic of laws?
It’s a pain in the behind, for example, to have to go to one store for a … Read the rest
I JUST RECEIVED the latest addition to my substantial beer porn collection.
It’s another grand book filled with seductive color photographs of luscious lagers, creamy ales and tempting Trappist triples, just begging to be sipped, and sipped again.
If you’re in love with beer, your shelves undoubtedly have a few of these well-thumbed tomes, with titles like “Michael Jackson’s Great … Read the rest
COUNT ME among the happy guzzlers who, in the wake of the great American smokeout, breathe easier and stink less after throwing back pints at the corner bar. As countless cities and towns have outlawed smoking in even the diviest dives, the air has cleared and you can actually crawl out of bed the next morning without sucking on an … Read the rest