February 15th, 2010 Joe Sixpack
Count me among the many who don’t give a rat’s ass about the winter Olympics. But you don’t need to be into that sort of thing to appreciate the special that Devil’s Den (South Philly) is running throughout the games. Each night, the pub will tap a different Great American Beer Festival medalist.
Here’s the remaining lineup:
- Mon, Feb 15 - Steamwork Kolsch - Silver 07
- Tues, Feb 16 - Great Divide Old Ruffian - Gold 06, Bronze 09
- Wed, Feb 17 - Allagash Tripel - Gold 06, Silver 09
- Thurs, Feb 18Â - Tommyknocker Maple Nut Brown - Bronze 06
- Fri, Feb 19 - Flying Fish Abbey Dubbel - Silver 08
- Sat, Feb 20 - Great Lakes Edmond Fitzgerald Porter—Silver 08
- Sun, Feb 21 - Ithaca Cascazilla - Silver 08
- Mon, Feb 22 - Dogfish Head Midas Touch  - Silver 07, Bronze 09
- Tues, Feb 23 - Blue Point Toasted Lager - Silver 06 & 07
- Wed, Feb 24Â - Southampton Double White - Sliver 07, Bronze 06
- Thurs, Feb 25 - Dark Horse Scotty Karate - Silver 07
- Fri, Feb 26 - Stone Levitation - Gold 07
- Sat, Feb 27 - Sly Fox Pikeland Pils - Gold 07
- Sun, Feb 28 - Flying Dog In Heat Wheat - Bronze 06; Flying Dog Raging Bitch - Mid-Size Brewery on the Year 09
By the way, if you haven’t already, check out that Raging Bitch. It’s a Belgian-style IPA and it just might be the best new beer from Flying Dog since it moved to the east.
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February 12th, 2010 Joe Sixpack
- Cigar City Jai Alai @ Brady’s (Trevose) Bella Vista night (also Ballast Point & Boulder), today, 7 p.m.
- Founders Black Biscuit Barrel Aged Porter @ Union Jack’s on the Manatawny (Boyertown, Berks) Strong Ale Fest, Saturday (2/13), all day.
- Sweaty Betty @ Grey Lodge Pub (Mayfair) Boulder, Paper, Scissors night, Saturday (2/13), 7-10 p.m.
- Flying Dog Raging Bitch (half-price) @ Devil’s Den (South Philly) Anti-Valentine’s Day special, Sunday (2/14), 7-9 p.m.
- Ommegang Witte @ The Mad Batter (Cape May, N.J.) beer and cheese pairing, Sunday (2/14), 2 p.m.
- Bitto Honey IPA @ 3 Fish Pub (Port Richmond) Prism Brewing night, Tuesday (2/16), 7-9 p.m.
Oh, and one more: Molson Golden.
OK, it’s not really a great beer, but drinking it this week during the city’s Barstool Olympics is at least a great cause. Five local sports bars will be bringing you all the Winter Games action starting tonight, while raising money for the Fraternal Order of Police Survivors’ Fund through the sale of Molson (at a cheap 3 bucks per pint). Check out the Games (and the beer) at:
- Smiths Restaurant | Lounge (Rittenhouse Square)
- Kite and Key (Spring Garden)
- New Wave Cafe (Queen Village)
- South Philly Bar & Grill (Passyunk Ave.)
- Swift Half (Northern Liberties)
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February 5th, 2010 Joe Sixpack
I was one of more than 40 writers who contributed to Adrian Tierney-Jones’ just-released “1001 Beers You Must Taste Before You Die.” This door-stop tome of 960 pages is utterly impressive for its range of beers. And, yet, what you can’t help but think about as you page through it is: The list only skims the surface of great beer.
Consider that the book includes just four styles from Dogfish Head, two from Allagash and one from Weyerbacher. I mean, where do you draw the line?
I ponied up 49 reviews (it was supposed to be 50, but I lost count). Most were from the Northeast because, frankly, I was tired of seeing books like this completely omit fine breweries like Troegs, Yards and Flying Fish. Here’s my list (in alphabetical order); who’s on yours?
- Allagash Curieux
- Allagash Tripel Reserve
- Brewers Art Green Peppercorn Tripel
- Brooklyn Chocolate Stout
- Brooklyn Local 1
- Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse
- Clipper City Small Craft Warning
- Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
- Dogfish Head Midas Touch
- Dogfish Head Raison D’Etre
- Dogfish Head World Wide Stout
- Duck-Rabbit Baltic Porter
- Flying Fish Farmhouse Exit 11
- Geary’s Hampshire Special Ale
- Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold
- Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter
- Harpoon Munich Dark
- Lancaster Milk Stout
- Magic Hat Feast Of Fools
- Mamma Mia Pizza Beer
- Middle Ages Wailing Wrench
- Ommegang Abbey Dubbel
- Ommegang Three Philosophers
- Pabst Blue Ribbon
- Penn St Nikolaus Bock
- Rock Art Magnumus Ete Tomahawkus
- Sam Adams Boston Lager
- Sam Adams Irish Red
- Sam Adams Utopia
- Saranac Black Forest
- Shipyard Longfellow Winter Ale
- Sly Fox Pikeland Pils
- Smuttynose S’muttonator
- Smuttynose Wheat Wine
- Southampton Double White Ale
- Southern Tier Krampus Imperial Helles Lager
- Southern Tier Pumking
- St.
Sylvester Somewhere Saison Athene
- Stoudt’s Fat Dog Stout
- Terrapin Big Hoppy Monster
- Three Floyds Dark Lord Imperial Stout
- Three Floyds Gumballhead
- Troegs Mad Elf
- Troegs Troegenator
- Victory HopDevil
- Victory Prima Pils
- Weyerbacher Simcoe Double IPA
- Yards George Washington Tavern Porter
- Yuengling Porter
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January 30th, 2010 Joe Sixpack
I guess if you say and write it enough times, it comes true. Go to Google Maps and search for “Best Beer-Drinking City in America.”
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January 29th, 2010 Joe Sixpack
- Mojo Risin’ @ Mad Mex (University City) Boulder, Paper, Scissors, today, 8 p.m.
- Iron Hill Au Ciel @ Johnny Brenda’s (Fishtown) The Trouble with Trippels, Saturday (1/30).
- Weyerbacher Hops Infusion @ South Philly Tap Room (South Philly) beef & beer, Sunday (1/31), 5-9 p.m. Tix $50.
- Prism Bitto Honey @ Grey Lodge (Mayfair) Groundhog Day breakfast, Tuesday (2/2), 7 a.m.
- Kerplunk Imperial Chocolate Stout @ TJ’s (Paoli) Spring House tasting, Tuesday (2/2), 6-8 p.m.
- Emelisse Russian Imperial Stout @ The Tap & Table (Emmaus) 12% Imports tasting, Thursday (2/4), 4 p.m.
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January 25th, 2010 Joe Sixpack
At the opening party for the tasting room at Yards Brewing, artist Jen Roder was showing off some very cool jewelry made from recycled bottle caps. Featuring the logos of many brands, her earrings were a fine example of beer as a work of art.
You can check out her work at rotorcaps.com.
How many of brands can you identify?
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January 20th, 2010 Joe Sixpack
Ran into Jordan from Bella Vista Beverage this afternoon, who tells me that he’ll be bringing AleSmith’s brews into the city.
This is another one of those San Diego breweries (Ballast Point, Green Flash, Port Brewing, Stone) that’s a hot item among beer freaks. Speedway Stout is its monster (#18 on RateBeer’s Top 100 list).
Add: It was a busy afternoon (Philly Beer Week organizational meeting), and I shudda let Jordan finish… He adds, via email:
Can you please give the credit to my brother, Chris? He is the one who made and maintained contact with Peter Zein and remain friends today. This all happened because of our close relationships with Coronado and Ballast Point both in San Diego, members of the San Diego brewers guild and active members in the San Diego home brew scene!
Oh, we also just landed Cascade.. this year’s Gold and Silver Medal winner in the Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer category: a gold medal for Bourbonic Plague and a silver for Vlad the Imp Aler.
Caldera also from Oregon will soon show its cans out here!
I’m not familiar with Caldera, but Cascade’s arrival here is excellent news. I visited with founder Art Larrance (known primarily for Raccoon Lodge brewpub in Portland, Oregon) during GABF in Denver where those medal winners above and others attracted huge lines (and raves). They’re all oak-aged and lactic-fermented - truly fine brews. The kriek, if I recall correctly, was just outstanding. I imagine these will show up in town in the form of corked 750ml bottles.
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January 18th, 2010 Joe Sixpack
Last week’s column about milk stouts should’ve included this fine bottle from River Horse. Only, I didn’t discover it till the day after deadline, when I was shopping for a variety case for poker night.
This was the first I’ve seen an Oatmeal Milk Stout, and River Horse - of course, of course - has nothing about it on its decidedly useless website.
Anyway, I’m drinking it right now. It’s dark - near black, actually - with a smaller head than you’d expect from an oatmeal stout. Mostly burnt malt in the nose. Very smooth mouthfeel, really soft carbonation. Coffee flavors, a bit of chocolate with some dried fruit in the background. Not particularly sweet for a milk stout, and the bitterness is definitely a product of the roasted malt, not the hops. There’s no indication of alcohol on the label, but Beer Advocate says 6.7%, which feels about right.
I just noticed that the neck label says “Oatmeal Milk Stout Ale redux.” So I guess this is a re-issue. Never had it the first time around
This is a really nice beer, especially since it’s part of a variety case that also includes Double Wit, which I think is River Horse’s best beer. If you haven’t tried River Horse lately, give the variety case a try - it was about $32 at my distributor.
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January 18th, 2010 Joe Sixpack
Three things I learned about Saison Vautour in just 5 minutes on the phone with Ryan Michaels, brewer at McKenzie Brew House (Chadds Ford), where I’ll be the guest speaker at their inaugural Belgian Beer Reserve Dinner on Thursday. (Tix are just $39, still available.)
- Vautour is French for vulture. The guys at the brewery saw a bunch of them flying overhead and decided to name their Saison after them. Saison Vautour has won GABF gold twice in the past 3 years, and it’ll be one of the featured beers at Thursday’s dinner.
- The current version was made with a touch of Brettanomyces, which gives it just a funky edge.
- Starting in February, Saison Vautour (which has mainly been available by bottle only) will be on tap year-round at both McKenzie’s locations.
Something else I didn’t know: McKenzie’s is now doing some barrel-aging. We’ll be serving two varieties on Thursday.
Come join me - especially you city-dwellers. This is a great opportunity to get a taste of the very best from a suburban brewpub that’s been making waves with its farmhouse ales for quite a few years.
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January 18th, 2010 Joe Sixpack
If your spouse drags you to “Men’s Night Out” at the Philadelphia Home Show tomorrow night (1/19) at the Pa. Convention Center, be sure to look for the Flying Fish booth. They’ll be pouring samples of Winter Grand Cru with cheesesteaks from Tony Luke’s.
Frankly it’s probably the women who could use the pop, after listening to their pathetic husbands whine all night about buying a pool table
Also, get your tix online and save $3.
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