Sixpack Sez

March 7, 2008 | Stumble across town to celebrate greatness: Beer Week in Philadelphia

PULL UP A barstool and crack open a cold one. Welcome to Philly Beer Week, a celebration of the best beer-drinking city in America.

Over the next 10 days, area taverns, breweries and other venues are hosting at least 150 beer events in the city and suburbs. The calendar includes festivals, dinners, tastings, contests, tours and a series of "Meet the Brewer" events in which beer makers from across America and beyond will be in town to introduce you to their exceptional ales and lagers.

These pages are your guide to Philly Beer Week and more. You'll find a calendar of events, a tavern map and reports on beer styles and the breweries that produce them. Some of the material is reprinted from my new book, "Joe Sixpack's Philly Beer Guide: A Reporter's Notes on the Best Beer-Drinking City in America." (Camino Books).

I know what you're thinking: We're No. 1...in beer?

The truth is, if I had my choice, I'd take a World Series or Super Bowl championship.

Indeed, up until a few years ago, I'd kind of taken the city's beer scene for granted. Yeah, we've got some nice taverns, a great Belgian beer scene and world-class breweries. But then I'd look over the horizon and see the outstanding brewpubs of Portland, Ore., the inventive character of California, the edgy quality of Seattle and all I could think of was those stupid LCB rules and Mitch Williams grooving one to Joe Carter.

Really, after so many years of losing, it's not Philadelphia's nature to recognize its own excellence.

An out-of-town brewer straightened me out. It was 2005, and Philadelphia was hosting the annual Brewers Association conference. Hundreds of beermakers from all over the country poured into town and bellied up to its taverns. I caught up to one of them, Tomme Arthur, the highly regarded brewer from San Diego's Pizza Port chain, while he was working on a guest beer at the Nodding Head brewpub in Center City.

Over a steaming kettle, Arthur told me how blown away he was by the city's taverns.

Our bars? Those old joints?

Yeah, he told me. You know what's great about them: They're real.

The places where the bar is burnished by 10,000 elbows, where the Naugahyde trim on the barstool is cracked like an alligator's skin, where the Ortlieb's sign over the pool table buzzes and blinks, where the scuff marks on the brass rail might've been left by your grandfather - those places are honest and soulful and comfortable.

And when you put aside your jaded point of view for a moment, you realize they are special and worthy of pride.

Look around: The character of the city's taverns says more about Philadelphia than its sports teams ever could.

The friendly chatter around the horseshoe bar at Bridgid's...the diversity of the clientele at McMenamin's...the sophisticated palates at Monk's Café...the hip and grungy attitude at the Khyber...the sense of humor at the Grey Lodge...the devotion to our teams at O'Neal's...the rebirth of a neighborhood at the South Philadelphia Tap Room...the historical tradition at McGillin's Old Ale House...the cuisine at Standard Tap...

Other towns, you sit in a bar, you could be anywhere in the United States. You can't drink beer in this city and not feel Philadelphia.

I don't mean to suggest that we've all got dirt under our fingernails in the City of Brotherly Love. Hell, I even tuck my shirttail in when I hang out at the classy Tria Café.

But there are few pretensions in Philly. And that's why I think it's our beer — as much as our history, our art or our schools — that defines the city.

Beer is the Everyman's drink. It is democratic and affordable, yet it is capable of greatness. It is a balm and a muse. It comes in six-packs.

And even if there weren't a dearth of parades in this town, beer is worth celebrating. That's the spirit of Philly Beer Week. *

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NOTE: This is the lead article of the Philadelphia Daily News special 48-page Philly Beer Week insert. This is one of those occasions where you can't depend on the free Internet for coverage. Get your copy today - it's a keeper!

Philly.com has plenty, too, including a, let's say, vintage photograph of Tom Peters, plus this cool interactive beer map.