August 12th, 2008 Joe Sixpack
With the malware problems on my site (I’m supposedly OK now, says Google), I was reluctant to add events. But there’s plenty of stuff on the agenda, so here goes:
Wednesday, Aug. 13 - Beer Dinner at Maria’s Ristorante on Summit (Summit & Ridge, Roxborough). This is my local Italian joint and it’s their first beer dinner. I love their food and I’m absolutely ecstatic that they’ve finally discovered craft beer. Info: 215-508-5600.
Thursday, Aug. 14 - Homebrewed Live & Local. Triumph Brewing (117 Chestnut St., Old City) hosts a night of local beer and local music. The $10 cover gets you 10 different acts, one free beer plus $3 Triumph & Flying Fish drafts all night. 5 p.m. - 1 a.m.
Saturday, Aug. 16 - Beer Fest at the Ballpark. The Phils are on the road this weekend, but the suds will be flowing during the first ever Beer Fest at the Ballpark tomorrow. The event, with 18 local breweries, features a bizarre keg pyramid contest in which the winner will be served at McFadden’s at Citizens Bank Ballpark for the rest of the season. Tix: $30/$40 door. 3-7 p.m. Info: www.mcfaddensballpark.com.
Tuesday, Aug. 19 - Belgian Family Brewers Beer Dinner. Yet another local restaurant is getting into beer dinners. This time it’s Valanni (1229 Spruce St., Center City), with a dinner featuring Kasteel, St. Louis, Brigand and Gouden Carolus. Tix for the five-course dinner are $55. Info here.
Friday, Aug. 22 - Beer & Cheese. Philadelphia Brewing rolls out some special brews for this tasting at DiBruno Bros. (1730 Chestnut St., Center City). In addition to its regular lineup, enjoy a new seasonal wheatwhine and a cask of Dean’s bourbon-barrel old ale. Info: 215.665.1659.
Thursday, Aug. 28 - Yappy Hour. Tavern 17 (220 S. 17th St., Rittenhouse Square) provides an opportunity for you to share a beer with your best friend. No, not that loser who mooches your smokes - your dog! Bring your mutt from 5-7 p.m. Portion of sales benefits the Pennsylvania SPCA.Â
Aug. 29-31 - Mystery Beer Weekend. Memphis Taproom (2331 E. Cumberland St., Port Richmond)Â hosts a weird guess-the-beer event with $10 flights of three beers. Owners Spanky and Leigh say, “The winning ballot with the most correct beers filled in will win a beer-filled prize package (not to mention bar-wide fame and a their name engraved on a trophy we picked up at a recent yard sale for a buck).”
Thursday, Sept. 11 - Meet the Brewer. Rich Fleischer, firefighter and brewmaster for Hook & Ladder Brewing, will fight the flames with a few cold ones at McGillin’s Old Ale House (1310 Drury St., Center City).
Saturday, Sept. 13 - Beer Olympics. Twenty four-person teams are set to compete in an annual pentathlon of beer-related events at Manayunk Brewery & Restaurant. Events include blind tasting, beer pong and flip cup. Registration is $50. Info here.
Sunday, Sept. 21 - Bike Fresh, Bike Local. The bike ride (25-, 50-, 75-mile routes), supporting the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, starts and ends at Victory Brewing in Downingtown. Details here.
Monday, Oct. 6 - Chimay tasting. Enjoy three classic Chimay styles at Morton’s, Philly’s classic steakhouse. Tix: $45, includes appys. Benefits Make a Wish Foundation.
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August 11th, 2008 Joe Sixpack
I’m hearing lots of noise in South Philly, and I’ll be writing at length about new developments soon. To me, the most exciting news is the plans for not one, but two big-time sixpack-to-go shops (beer by the bottle, not case).
The folks behind South Philly Tap Room have said they’ll open Bierista, an 800-bottle shop at 15th & Mifflin. Meanwhile, I just got off the phone with Chris Fetfatzes of Bella Vista Beer Distributor who tells me he has plans to open a 1,200-bottle shop at 11th and Fitzwater.
Bella Vista is already building a massive, new beer warehouse on 11th Street, where it’ll re-locate its operation in September or October. After it vacates its current facility, the plan is to convert part of the building into a bottle shop under a second liquor license. “The two businesses are separate, but they’ll complement each other,” Fetfatzes told me. “You’ll be able to try out a single bottle or, if you like it, walk across the street and buy an entire case.”Â
I realize out-of-staters scratch their heads in astonishment at what we have to go through here to buy bottled beer. But in Pennsylvania, this amounts to a revolutionary convenience.
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August 5th, 2008 Joe Sixpack
After a mere 132 years, Anheuser-Busch has finally put the Budweiser label on an ale. My sample arrived today in a handsome package with the proper glassware and a bit of press info.
The cover letter signed by brewmaster Eric Beck says that “Budweiser has defined the American-style lager, yet no single ale recipe has emerged to define the American-style ale - grown from domestic barley and hops, brewed in the American tradition, and appealing to the new American palate. We believe we have found that beer in the new Budweiser American Ale.”
Let’s deconstruct that statement.
Budweisier has defined the American-style lager… Twenty years ago, I would’ve conceded that point. Nobody sold more beer than Budweiser. True, its recipe was based on a European style, but it was tweaked and lightened enough (thank you, rice) to be a different, wholly American lager. From the end of Prohibition to 1980, when you said beer, you probably meant something very much like Budweiser. But today’s prototypical American-style lager is not Budweiser. It’s Bud Lite - much lighter in body, flavor, aroma, everything.
Yet no single ale recipe has emerged to define the American-style ale… Probably true. And that’s a good thing. The marvel of the craft beer is the variety of flavors manifested by dozens of distinct styles of ale. Pale ale, amber ale, India pale ale, barleywine, stout, porter, abbey ale. The fundamental character of American brewing today is that our beer can not be defined by one, single style. Our brewers are not hemmed in by Old World conventions that dictate the flavor of, say, a German lager or an English bitter. They’ve evolved, and so has the palate of many beer drinkers. Indeed, you might even say that if it weren’t for that growth, for the willingness to embrace a variety of flavors (say, something other than run-of-the-mill American industrial lager), there would be no such thing as Budweiser American Ale.
Grown from domestic barley and hops… So now the origin of the ingredients defines “American?” First of all, provenance is a wine conceit. Second, not even the UAW toes that line any more. The good news, though, is that this is an all-malt beer - no corn and rice, domestic or otherwise.
Brewed in the American tradition… With: downsized workforces; reduced health insurance coverage and underfunded pensions; outsourced customer service; tax breaks for its millionaire owners; non-existent federal oversight; disregard for environmental regulations; and foreign ownership.
And appealing to the new American palate…  I can’t even imagine what this empty claim means. Most Americans still eat at McDonald’s, still buy white bread, still drink Bud Light. If there’s anything “new,” it’s the fact that America’s biggest brewery has finally conceded that there’s a small but growing segment that enjoys fuller, fresher flavors from local producers. But Anheuser-Busch can never be small or local, and it would go out of business if its products weren’t aimed at more mainstream tastes.
So, how does this stuff taste?
No one who favors the pale ales from, say, Yards or Smuttynose, is going to drink Budweiser American Ale. I’m assuming it’ll be priced to compete against Sam Adams, but even there it falls way short in overall character and flavor. It pours bright, more red than amber. It’s not as crisp as Budweiser, but it has a clean finish. Though it has been dry-hopped with Cascades, its nose carries only a mild hop aroma. I get only a little of the fruitiness of a standard pale ale and surprisingly (given its color) very little malt. The hop flavor is noticeable but, at a reported 28 IBUs, is on the low side for an amber ale. I’d define the flavor as lowest common denominator - but since we’re talking ale, that means it’s far more distinctive than the usual fizzy yellow water. The big disappointment for me is body; it just feels thin and overly filtered, as if A-B’s tastemasters can’t believe Americans will drink something that isn’t as over-processed as Coca-Cola.
Look for it on tap in mid-September, and in bottles by Sept. 30. I doubt it’ll be a bust like Miller Lite’s craft beer debacle. But it won’t be Michelob Ultra, either.
But, hey, here’s a bonus. You know how when forget you’ve got half a bottle of regular Bud left, and it turns lukewarm and tastes like piss? Budweiser American Ale still actually tastes OK above 50 degrees.
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