Beer Radar

Prof. Sixpack’s class is in session

Still a few seats left for Philly Beer 101 on Tuesday night (5/13). Get your ass to class! Register here.

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This week’s column

An authentic lambic from the Lehigh Valley? Technically that’s impossible (lambic is an appellation controlee), but the World Beer Cup says Bethlehem Brew Works’ Framboise is right up there with the likes of Geuze Boon. Here’s my take on the funky brew.

And here’s the rest of the Philly area’s 2008 winners.

• German-Style Pilsener - bronze - Troegs Sunshine Pils
• Traditional German-Style Bock  - bronze - Troegs Troegenator Double Bock
• Vienna-Style Lager - silver - Iron Hill (Wilmington) Vienna Red Lager
• Strong Scotch Ale  - silver - Iron Hill (Wilmington) Wee Heavy
• German-Style Kölsch/Köln-Style Kölsch - gold - Stewarts Wind Blown Blonde
• Specialty Honey Lager or Ale - bronze - Dogfish Head Midas Touch

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Joe Sixpack crosses the Delaware

 

Warm weather like today’s always gets me thinking of Flying Fish Farmhouse Summer Ale. You can get a taste of this season’s batch during Happy Hour over in Jersey this Friday (5/9) for a fun beer-drinking session at Flying Fish Brewery (1940 Olney Avenue, Cherry Hill). Gene, Casey and the crew promise they’ll be pouring something special, and I’ll be signing copies of Joe Sixpack’s Philly Beer Guide. Stop in from 5-7 p.m.

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Beer in Philly… and Burkina Faso

This week’s column looks at how beer (and, in this case, Johnny Brenda’s Tavern) helps build a neighborhood. Of course, my loving, loyal readers in Fishtown are already griping because I didn’t mention their favorite holes.  

Meanwhile, my local rag - the Roxborough Review - continues publishing a series of pieces from, of all places, Burkina Faso, by a former staffer who’s posted there with the Peace Corps. Never mind why a paper whose distribution doesn’t reach beyond Northwestern Avenue would devote so much space to an impoverished African nation - the reports are absolutely fascinating. This week’s, linked here, mainly focuses on brewing dolo in the village of Zogore. It’s made with sorghum in big, plastic trash barrels.

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Kosher-Asian-Mexican-German Beer Dinner

That’s right, we’ll be pairing beers with a wild cross-section of flavors at Yi-Tzi Peking (145 Montgomery Ave., Bala Cynwyd) on Monday night (5/5) at 6:30. We’re still working out the kinks, but the menu will include Mock crab cakes, something in honor of Cinqo de Mayo, Kielbasa, Texas bbq brisket and chocolate dessert.

The beer? This menu tested me, but it looks like a broad range of lagers, from German-style pils to Rauchbier. We’ll also be cracking open bottles of Weltenburger Dunkel, which Nima up at Shangy’s has been raving about lately.

Tix are $75 and available at the restaurant. Call 484-562-9489 for details.

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