Sixpack Sez

Mar. 30, 2007 | A tip of the pint to Scott 'The Dude' Morrison

WE'RE STILL waiting for a happy ending for Scott Morrison, the popular, award-winning brewer who was abruptly fired from his job at the McKenzie Brewhouse chain two weeks before Christmas.

In the meantime, his brief appearance tonight at the Sly Fox Brewery Brewhouse & Eatery in Phoenixville will have to do. Morrison, known to his friends as "The Dude," will be on hand while the brewpub pours his Biere de Dude, a one-time-only collaboration with Sly Fox brewer Brian O'Reilly.

Morrison, left, with O'Reilly at Sly Fox

The beer, I'm certain, will be excellent. But that's not the real focus of this event, being touted as "The Dude in Exile."

This is more of a celebration of a well-respected professional and a chance for his fans to say thanks. And it's a gesture that shows, again, just how tight the Philly beer scene can be.

A 1982 graduate of Garnet Valley High, Morrison, 43, had worked at McKenzie's Glen Mills brewpub for five years and was responsible for opening its second brewery in Frazer.

Though both places sell mainly standard ales and lagers, Morrison was known for his unusual, hand-bottled Belgian- and French-style farmhouse ales. The brewpub sold only a few hundred bottles of those a year, but that was enough for the place to earn a following of savvy beer freaks all over the East Coast.

In October 2004, Morrison's Bavay, a French-style ale, won a bronze medal at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, the world's most important beer-judging event. It was his third in two years. Two weeks later, the New York Times cited Bavay for its complexity and flavor, earning the brewpub national publicity.

In local circles, The Dude was a rock star, surrounded by fans at beer festivals and gossiped about online.

His celebrity was all the more remarkable because McKenzie's is an otherwise run-of-the-mill suburban restaurant - y'know, frozen daquiri happy hours and fried mozzarella.

Any other brewpub with a GABF medal under its belt and a positive review in the Times would be thumping its chest and proudly pouring the award-winning beer.

Not McKenzie's.

Shortly after the spate of publicity, said Morrison, the brewpub's owner ordered him to stop bottling Bavay and his other specialties. Those in the know murmured that it was only a matter of time til Morrison and McKenzie's parted ways. Even a fourth GABF medal, a silver for his Baltic porter last October, couldn't save Morrison's job. Two months later, he got the pink slip.

McKenzie's owner, Bill Mangan, declined to comment on the dismissal, saying, "It's best for everybody to move on." Morrison is reluctant to talk in detail about the events that led to his dismissal. Anyway, that's not what this story is about.

Three weeks ago, as an early March sun showed signs of cracking through the gray winter, I got to watch Morrison get back to work for the first time since his departure.

The scene was the cramped brewhouse just behind the bar at Sly Fox. O'Reilly, the house brewer, had invited Morrison over to run off a batch of his famous biere de garde. This malty ale was originally made by French farmers, to be cellared for consumption during the hot summer. (Biere de garde means "beer for storage.")

Though O'Reilly and Morrison both were taught by Phil Markowski, now at New York's Southampton Brewing, they had never brewed together. Still, it was clear they were on the same page, working at the same pace.

O'Reilly would take a quick reading of the beer's specific gravity and Morrison would nod, "Right on the mark." They joked over who had to pull the steaming, spent grain from the mash tun.

For Morrison, the day-long brew only confirmed the feelings he'd been trying to sort out since his dismissal. "During the layoff, I've learned more than ever how passionate I am about brewing, and how much I miss it," he said. "I really can't see myself doing anything else."

Morrison is still looking for a full-time gig, maybe even his own brewpub. There is no happy ending - not yet.

But there is happiness. Tonight at 6, they'll tap Biere de Dude at Sly Fox (519 Kimberton Road, Phoenixville).

"It's kind of a celebration of The Dude," O'Reilly said. "We really believe that brewers matter."

Phillies lineup

When the home team takes the field on Monday, look for baseball's best beer selection to get even stronger. Aramark tells me it's adding Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA and Stoudt's American Pale Ale to the draft lines.

The rookies will join Flying Fish Extra Pale Ale, Dock Street Amber, Victory HopDevil, Yards Philly Pale Ale, Troegs Sunshine Pils and Sly Fox Pikeland Pils on the local tap list.

Other newbies include Otter Creek Copper Ale; Wolaver's Pale Ale; Summer Ale and Boston Lager from Samuel Adams; Leinenkugel Sunset Wheat; Grolsch, and A-B's Red Bridge, the gluten-free lager.

Those bottles are in addition to a fine list that already includes Anchor Steam, Straub's and, of course, Yuengling.