It’s just “regular” IPA

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Behold the “regular” IPA.

It is not fruity or hazy or juicy or dank.

It’s not from New England, it’s not from Northwest.

It is not dry or tropical or thick as a milkshake.

And for god’s sake, don’t stand in line for it like you’re on some kind of quest.

It’s not black or brown or imperial or brut,

It’s not sessionable (but drink as many as you’re able).

It’s a “regular” IPA, which is not a style.

It’s just what comes to mind when I think of an India pale ale.

You’ll excuse my bit of doggerel, but I just popped open a can of Old Forge Overbite, a beer that has been unfortunately missing from Philadelphia since the Montour County brewery shrank its sales footprint. I grabbed a sixpack when I visited Old Forge’s taproom in York, Pa. during a What’s Brewing shoot earlier this month.

It’s what used to be known simply as an American IPA, to distinguish it from its blander, less-hoppy British father. This is way before the era of clickbait brews, when every IPA had a certified hops lineage and a fruit salad flavor profile.

And, yes, I know – things change. I’m happy that brewers can express themselves through the wonders of double dry-hopping.

But sometimes I just wanna a “regular” IPA – one that doesn’t have me wondering if it’s going to explode because its 72-hour best-by date has expired.

Overbite is just the ticket. It is smooth and full-bodied, not juicy. That background flavor you’re wondering about? It’s called malt.

And, importantly – because this is an IPA, after all – it is apologetically bitter. A tangy, mouth-drying bitterness with a satisfying finish. When you’re finished, you’re going to want to drink another one.

Or maybe just grab another “regular” IPA. They don’t get much ink, and maybe you’ve forgotten about them. But give one a try.

Here are some of my local favorites:

- Flying Fish HopFish (Jersey) – No one talks about this beer, which is a shame. A completely solid brew with plenty of satisfying hop flavor.
- Spellbound IPA (Jersey) – If you really need that huge hoppy aroma in a “regular” IPA, grab this one.
- Conshohocken IPA (Montco) – Unfortunately, the brewery stopped canning this one as it was eclipsed by the likes of Type A and Hop Life. I mention it here only because my co-host, Glen Macnow, reads Joe Sixpack and I hear he has some influence at Conshy.
- Iron Hill Ore House IPA (All locations) -This is what happens when you let a bunch of brewers get together and make the beer that they want to drink. It does lean toward the citrus side of things, but it’s not a juice bomb.
- Ship Bottom The Shack IPA (Jersey Shore) – Ship Bottom has been known to add fruit and even peppers to this one, but it’s a near perfect glass of bitterness the way it is.

Have you got a favorite “regular” IPA? Let me know.

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Philly Beer Week into the weeds

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Philly Loves Beer… and weed, apparently.

The non-profit organization that runs Philly Beer Week says its goal is to promote the city’s “authentic beer experiences.”

Yet, the title sponsor of beer week’s Opening Tap festival is a decidedly un-beerlike company: TerraVida Holistic Centers, Pennsylvania’s largest medical marijuana dispensary.

The company paid an undisclosed amount to have its logo plastered on Opening Tap promotional materials – a move that sparked considerable dissension among some members of the non-profit’s board of directors.

My sources at Philly Loves Beer say TerraVida’s sponsorship was sprung on the board by its executive committee during a board meeting this week. There was no board discussion or vote before the organization cashed the sponsorship check, the sources say; the decision was reportedly made by the group’s five-member executive committee.

In an email, the organization’s executive director, Christina Dowd defended the decision to take the pot check:

“As a non-profit, we look for sponsorships from a variety of different sources. We don’t see medical marijuana and beer as competing. Our organization vetted this sponsorship extensively from both the staff and the Executive Board.”

After I contacted other board members for comment last night, they told me they had received emails from the organization’s leadership warning them not to speak with me.

“They’re freaking out over how this is going to look,” one board member told me.

(Disclosure: I was a founder and first executive director of Philly Beer Week. I left the position in 2013.)

Cannabis is a hot-button issue in the craft beer industry.

At first glance, weed would seem to be a direct competitor with craft beer and a mortal threat to bars and breweries. (And, yes, I know this is “medical” marijuana. But that’s only for now; even TerraVida acknowledges its long game is recreational use.)

Some marijuana proponents say it should be embraced because there’s a natural crossover between weed and craft beer, with many people enjoying both. Indeed, there is a growing trend of non-alcoholic beer infused with THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, or cannabidiol (CBD).

(Currently, it is illegal in the United States to manufacture pot-infused beer containing alcohol.)

Many in the beer industry worry that legal cannabis will cut into its market – especially as craft beer sales growth has flattened over the past year. As one local brewery owner told me, “Weed is my competition.”

A 2017 retail study by industry groups predicted recreational marijuana could steal more than 7 percent of beer revenues. However, a recent study by the Brewers Association showed that threat may be overblown because recreational pot smokers do not automatically give up alcohol once cannabis is legal.

At least one big beermaker is hedging its bets: Anheuser-Busch InBev recently announced it would spend up to $50 million to develop non-alcoholic beverages containing THC and CBD.

In my opinion, taking money from the pot industry is a bad look for a non-profit organization that was founded to support the local beer industry.

This is a group that was so cautious of its image that its original rules prohibited sponsorship from tobacco companies. It has more recently struggled with the weighty issue of accepting membership fees from Big Beer (including ABI’s Goose Island brewpub in Fishtown).

And now it’s taking money from Big Weed?

The decision to accept the TerraVida’s sponsorship cash reportedly stems from Philly Loves Beer’s tight finances. Between 2015 and 2016, the non-profit’s annual revenues plummeted nearly 25 percent, according to its most recent IRS Form 990 filing. It has not fared any better in more recent years as Beer Week participation fees – its main source of revenue – have reportedly declined as bars and restaurants have dropped out of the organization.

Moreover, its Opening Tap festival – the kick-off to Beer Week, and previously one of its main sources of revenue – has been losing money, according to the tax filings. In 2016, the event – held at The Fillmore Philadelphia – brought in about $43,000. But due largely to a one-night rental fee of $28,800, the event ended up almost $3,000 in the hole.

While struggling to meet its financial obligations, Philly Loves Beer has cut expenses. It stopped publishing its annual guide of events, it pulled the plug on its popular smart phone app, and it dropped its public relations firm.

Additionally, this year it moved Opening Tap to the less prominent 2300 Arena, located in an old freight warehouse and former pro wrestling arena below an I-95 overpass in the Whitman section of South Philly.

Though the amount of TerraVida’s payment to Philly Loves Beer was not disclosed, it is almost certainly a drop in the bucket for the weed retailer. In a recent interview with Philly.com, the company’s owner bragged that the company is moving up to 40 pounds of marijuana a week, plus concentrates and other products.

At $300 an ounce, that’s at least $10 million in sales per year.

BEER RADAR

Saint Benjamin announced it would close its brewery in the heart of Kensington after a five-year run. The new owner of its property – a former 19th-century brewery stable house – no longer wants to operate it as a brewery, the company said. Presumably, the equipment will be sold… Rinn Duin Brewing is changing its name to Toms River Brewing. This is the third name for the small Jersey shore location, whose original name, Blackthorn, was dropped after a trademark spat with Blackthorn Cider…

Iron Hill locations are in the spirit of giving this Easter weekend, donating $1 from every kids’ meal to CureSearch for Children’s Cancer. It’s a nice gesture, and it’s nothing new for the brewpub chain, which is raised nearly $300,000 for childhood cancer research in the past 15 years… Brewer Lou Farrell says his Ür Brewery in Lansdale is making some progress. He has his state and federal beer licenses, plus a wine license to make Norman and Bretagne cider…

The beer garden at Conshohocken Brewing’s Bridgeport location opens today. Evil Genius beer garden in Fishtown and Morgan’s Pier, the fun outdoor bar along the Delaware in the shadow of the Ben Franklin Bridge, open this weekend, too… Yard House, the mega-tap craft beer chain, will open this winter at Willow Grove Mall…

If you’re into Game of Thrones, Collusion Tap Works in York, Pa., is the place to visit. Nearly every one of its two dozen taps (below) has a GoT reference, including Tri-Eyed Raven IPA and Betrayal Westeros Imperial Stout…

Stable 12 is into equines, but it loves your canine, too. The Phoenixville brewery offers your pup a special doggy menu, with ice cream, beef chunks and cow ears…

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Chester – yes, Chester – gets a brewery

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Matt Lindenmuth, who opened Saucony Creek Brewing 6 years ago, is turning his side project – The Larimer Beer Co. – into a real brewery. Founded two years ago as a gypsy brewery that made beer in Colorado, The Larimer will build an R&D brewery with taproom in Chester, next to Talen Energy Stadium, home of the Philadelphia Union.

It’s a bold move, given Chester’s rep. In 2018, the city had the second highest murder rate in the nation, behind only East St. Louis, Ill., and ahead of Camden, N.J. With a population of about 34,000, it is also one of the largest Pennsylvania towns without its own brewery. (See below.)

Lindenmuth – formerly a professional vert skater who competed in the X-Games – is optimistic about his brewery’s chances for success. For one thing, he noted that the feds and local government are plowing economic redevelopment money into the region.

“The stadium sells out every game, 19,000 people,” he said. “Plus, there are a lot of industrial jobs along the riverfront. We’ll see a lot of customers.

“Maybe this is what it takes,” he continued. “Somebody like us to show you can exist down here. I hope it helps open the gate.”

In fact, there is ample evidence that small breweries can improve neighborhoods, through boosting tourism, jobs and providing a source of civic pride. A recent study by researchers at the University of Toledo found that breweries can increase nearby residential property values. (One caveat: the positive effect is amplified by the presence of a cluster of breweries, which attract even more visitors.)

The brewery will be small – only a 3-barrel outfit. That gives Lindenmuth an opportunity to experiment more freely with unusual styles. When I spoke with him this week, he was the midst of a collaboration brut IPA brew at Dogfish Head, with Bryan Selders.

He’ll brew larger batches at the Mainstay Independent in the city, where the beer will be canned for wider distribution. Look for 99 Problems, a peach and ginger kettle sour and La Resistance, a pink Himalayan salt gose (both above), and Regulators IPA.

Construction has begun and the brewery has its federal permit. Lindenmuth hopes to be open by late May, in time for Philly Beer Week.

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Chester is the sixth-largest town in Pennsylvania without its own brewery. Here are the state’s top (bottom?) 5 most unfortunate towns: *

1. Upper Darby (pop. 82,795) – To those who’d blame this on the general lack of breweries in Delaware County, I have one word: Aston. The Delco town (pop. 16,706) has two breweries.

2. Scranton (pop. 77,118) – Closest brewery is in Moosic. Moosic?

3. Bensalem (pop. 61,500) – This grievous absence will come to an end when Broken Goblet moves into its new State Road facility later this year.

4. Levittown (pop. 52,407) – Is there even a craft beer bar in this town? And, no, I’m not counting Sparky’s.

5. Norristown (pop. 34,370) – Well, there’s a distillery. Otherwise, troop across the DeKalb Street Bridge to Conshohocken’s Bridgeport Brewpub.

*Haverford Township (pop. 49,000) also lacks a brewery, but it does have a full taproom from Conshohocken Brewing.

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Weyerbacher tightens its belt, seeks investor dollars

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Weyerbacher Brewing is going through a rough financial patch. The 24-year-old Easton, Pa., brewery laid off two longtime salespeople to trim costs as it seeks new investment.

“We’re in the process of reorganizing a little bit,” said Josh Lampe, the company’s COO. “We’re getting some funding from investors. As part of that, we had to get the company healthy before the investment came in.”

Lampe continued, “We haven’t been able to meet production. Sales volume wasn’t there. We had to redirect assets to cover that.”

Additionally, he said employees temporarily lost health care benefits as Weyerbacher fought with its insurance carrier over billing.

“We’re hoping to have that resolved soon,” he said.

Weyerbacher, which has about 30 employees, produced about 15,000 barrels of beer in 2018, down from a high of 18,000 barrels, according to Lampe.

Whatever financial challenges the company faces, they are not unique for a brewery that size.

Mid-size craft breweries don’t produce enough beer to benefit from either cheaper bulk purchases or the efficiencies of larger brewhouse capacity. Nor are they big enough to go toe-to-toe in the battle for shelf space with nationwide craft beer competitors, like Sierra Nevada, New Belgium and Bell’s.

Meanwhile, their overhead and debt are far greater than that of the many 1,000-barrel-a-year breweries that have cropped up in recent years. That means they must continue to grow in the face of even more competition just to keep up with costs.

Weyerbacher has carved a unique presence in the Philadelphia market since its founding, emphasizing strong beers including an imperial pumpkin ale and the first Belgian-style quadruppel bottled by an American brewery. Unlike so many breweries that focus on a variety of India pale ales, Weyerbacher’s biggest brand is Merry Monks, widely regarded as one of the best Belgian-style tripels in the world.

The company was growing as recently as 2012, building a $1 million expansion that tripled its capacity to 30,000 barrels a year. In 2017, it announced it was expanding distribution as far away as Texas. Ironically that same year, the brewery earned considerable publicity by releasing Dallas Sucks pale ale.

Lampe said, “2018 was a difficult year, but things are looking bright for 2019 and we’re feeling positive about it.”

As for the two laid-off beer reps – Mike Lubieski and Ethan Sterner – both are popular and familiar faces in the local beer scene. Lampe said the layoffs were temporary and he hoped Weyerbacher could re-hire the two.

A new brewery in Lansdale will brew old-time Philadelphia beer

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One of Philly’s newest breweries is going to look – and taste – a lot like one of its oldest.

It will re-create long-lost beers that helped establish Philadelphia as the brewing capital of America in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Brands like Robert Smith’s India Pale Ale, Tiger Head Cream Ale and Robert Hare’s Colonial Porter will soon be brought back for the enjoyment of modern-day beer drinkers.

And the new brewery will feature open fermentation and krausening – traditional beer-making methods that – though they create a distinct, flavorful character – have been largely discarded in America.

Lou Farrell

Ür Brewery, slated to open in Lansdale (Montco) in May, is the brainchild of longtime brewer Lou Farrell and business partner, Chuck Schoeder.

“We’ve spent a lot of time researching these old styles,” said Farrell, who told me they’d already trademarked a dozen Philadelphia brands produced between 1790 and 1965. “We’re re-creating them with authentic equipment and formulas.”

In an era when so many breweries have launched with nouveau sours and ultra-hopped IPAs, this project is both unique and ambitious.

Old methods

For one thing, Ür (pronounced “your,” a Germanic term meaning “original”) will use only open fermentation. That’s a method, still practiced by traditional European lager brewers (and notably by San Francisco’s Anchor Brewing), in which fermentation vessels are uncovered.

These days, most American beer is fermented in closed vessels, for ease and prevention of contamination. Open fermentation, however, produces increased esters, yeast flavor and a unique aroma that enhances a beer’s character. (As an example, compare the superb character of an authentic Bavarian hefeweizen, fermented in an open vessel, with a typically less distinctive American wheat beer.)

Also, open fermentation – with its exposed, billowing foam top – just looks cool.

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SIDEBAR: Philly beers brought back from the dead

“We can talk all day about why open fermentation makes better beer,” Farrell said. “But bottom line, it makes better beer.”

Farrell said Ür Brewery will make heavy use of krausening, a German method in which the foam from fermenting wort (called krausen) is added to finished beer to promote carbonation.

“It’s a really great technique because it pushes down final gravity and brings in the character of young beer,” Farrell said. “You really can’t do cream ale without it.”

In another intriguing nod toward tradition, the brewery will also make a stock ale, a high-gravity brew that is aged for four months or more, then blended with young, mild beer. The method was quite common 200 years ago in Britain, where publicans often performed the blending. But outside of sour beer producers who sometimes age a stock ale for blending, I’m unaware of any American brewer who regularly uses the method for producing more common pale ales.

Beer-making cred

Chuck Schroeder

Farrell, one of the early brewers at Dock Street Brewery on Logan Square, more recently brewed at Tower Hill in Chalfont (Buxco). I last mentioned him in 2014, when he helped brew a re-creation of East Fall’s historic Hohenadel lager.

With his degrees in history and archaeology, the production of historic beers is right up Farrell’s alley. He said he’d consulted extensively with Rich Wagner, a Pennsylvania beer historian who has written extensively about Philadelphia’s old brands.

The brewery will include a 10-barrel brewhouse with enough fermentation and aging capacity to produce 4,000 barrels a year – an ambitious goal, compared to the 1,000 or so barrels most start-ups are aiming for.

“It’s lots of capacity,” Farrell acknowledged. “But that, to me, screams bock beer I can sit on for six months.”

Ür Brewery would be Lansdale’s third brewery, located at 320 Madison Street, just steps from Round Guys and Well Crafted Beer Co.

Too many for a small town? Nah, Farrell said.

“I don’t really see anyone in Lansdale as competition,” he said. “Everyone has their own lane. Our focus is going to be more traditional and food that goes with beer.”

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SIDEBAR: Philly beers brought back from the dead

The Best and Worst of the Best Beers of 2018

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It’s that time of the year, when beer critics put down their pints for a moment and try to remember: What the hell was I drinking this year?

That’s right: It’s time for the Beers of the Year.

Unfortunately with the demise of so many beer rags and blogs in recent years, we’re beginning to see wine writers fill the void – with predictable results.

It’s no surprise, then, that the top spot in Philly Beer World’s 2018 “best of” ratings went to writers with actual beer cred.

Without further ado, here’s Philly Beer World’s Best and Worst of the Best Beers of 2018.

1. Beer and Brewing

The magazine’s editors and writers published their own favorites (scattered below), then came up with an official list of their top 18. They get points for an eclectic variety (plenty of imports and non-IPAs), and they make a pretty good case for each. I disagree with the Weihenstephaner/Sierra Nevada collaboration, Braupakt, a very average hefeweizen that pales in comparison with the wheat beers that each brewery makes on its own.

But that’s a matter of taste, so ignore me.

2. Josh Weikert (B&B)

I’m a homer, so I’m always encouraged when I see Philly beers break into these yearly lists. Other than one curious selection from Vinepair (below), local beers would have been shut out from these lists – if not for Weikert. The longtime homebrewer, writer and, more recently, consultant on a planned brewery in Phoenixville, came to the defense of America’s best beer-drinking city in a big way. He not only named Philly his favorite place to have a beer, he included Forest & Main, Neshaminy Creek and Stoudt’s in his top five.

3. Em Sauter (B&B)

I have a soft spot for cartoonists (check out her Pints and Panels blog), and now I like her even more for including Sierra Nevada Summerfest on her list.

4. Stan Hieronymus (B&B)

A ballpark lager – Urban Chestnut Stammtisch – makes his top 5. A man after my own heart.

5. John Holl (B&B)

He implies that Nashville is his favorite beer city because his in-laws drive him to drink, so he gets points for honesty.

6. Beer Me BC

More than 1,200 readers of the British Columbia beer blog voted. I don’t know the first thing about B.C. beer, so I won’t comment – other than to note that four of the top 5 beers predictably are IPAs. Makes me want to seek out #2, a brown ale called Hoyne Dark Matter.

7. Jamie Bogner (B&B)

Nothing east of Missouri from this Colorado-based blogger, though for some reason he picks Richmond, Virginia, as his favorite beer city.

8. Jeff Alworth (B&B)

Nothing east of Idaho. Cripes, these guys don’t get out much, do they?

9. Zymurgy

This one from the Brewers Association – more of a popularity contest – comes out annually each summer as an opportunity to remind readers that San Miguel-backed Founders (named the No. 2 brewery in America) is not a Real Craft Brewery.

10. Wine Enthusiast

Using a Robert Parker-esque 100-point scale, it includes the likes of the godawful Anchor Pale Ale Nelson (#16). Not surprisingly, its No. 1 choice, Founders CBS, is also its most expensive. Stay in your own lane, grape boys.

11. Alex Kidd (B&B)

Please, someone takes this guy’s keyboard before he hurts himself:

“This gin barrel–aged saison,” he writes, describing Sante Adairius Rustic Ales Recency Effect, “takes all of the masterful herbaceous underpinnings that the Pacific Northwest has been employing and elevates them to the absolute pinnacle of floral refreshment. It maintains the poise of the underlying farmhouse character with a fantastic eucalyptus and lemon meringue swirled together right out of the Brett b. soft-serve machine. The result is a wood and tangelo mélange that is creamy and dry concurrently with a long effusive Vick’s Vapor Rub swallow. It is crushingly enjoyable to the last sip.”

So, drinkable fruit-flavored chest ointment? Got it.

12. The Daily Meal

Most of its picks have been around awhile (Orval, Weihenstephan, Dark Lord), giving this list the feel of a lifetime achievements awards show. There’s no real criteria and I get the feeling the writer(s) haven’t actually tasted most of them and instead just copy and pasted names from RateBeer. (Evidence: It fails to include a single pilsner.)

13. Vinepair

This New York-based wine website specializes in clickbait posing as insightful criticism. [e.g. HOP TAKE: SPARKLING CANNED COCKTAILS ARE BUZZING (SORRY, BEER) ], so it’s hard to take seriously. Nonetheless, its Best Of list has spread across social media like an STD. It’s impossible to name just one reason it’s so odious. So, here’s The Top 10 Reasons Vinepair’s Top 50 List Blows.

10. Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing – an ordinary unfiltered IPA, when compared to the 100s of others that are out there – is its top beer of 2018.

9. Though it claims to focus on “accessible” packaged beers, several (I’m looking at you, #25 Hudson Valley Amulet) can be had only if you hire someone to stand in line at the brewery on the day they’re released or you stumble across a rare keg on tap near your office in Manhattan .

8. It describes one selection, a blonde ale, as a “craft Miller High Life,” like that’s a good thing.

7. Though it notes that “pilsners flooded the marketplace in 2018,” the list includes exactly one – a 62-year-old brand from Germany. (And, no, that dopey “black” pilsner does not count.)

6. What the hell are “juice wolves?” Stop it.

5. Nine of the top 50 – almost 20 percent – are from New York state, and 7 of those are from New York City.

4. Only 3 picks are brewed somewhere other than America.

3. Thirty-two of its choices are either IPAs or sours.

2. After including Stoudt’s as its only Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Delaware brew in its 2017 list, Vinepair did it again in 2018, making #45 Stoudt’s Gearshifter its only choice from the region. Look, I like Stoudt’s. Quite a bit. But there must be 200 breweries between your Upper East Side condo and Lancaster County. Try stopping at one of them next time you go antique shopping in Adamstown.

1. Bite me, New York.

7. Joe Sixpack

Lazy guy. Instead of making his own list, he made fun of everyone else. Maybe he and Macnow will put down their pints long enough to put together a list on What’s Brewing.

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About those dumbass New Jersey brewery regs

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By now, you’ve heard New Jersey’s Bureau of Alcohol Beverage Control has spiked those dumbass, new brewery tasting room rules. Y’know, the ones that – among many other things – prohibit breweries from displaying menus from the local pizza shop and require a permit to turn the Eagles game on TV.

The agency will go back to the drawing board and try to come up with something a little less insane.

Here’s the problem in a nutshell, as noted on the very first page of ABC director David Rible’s order <PDF>:

The legislature, he correctly says, “intended to promote the craft beer industry and create a demand for these products by the consuming public. The expectation was that the increased demand for craft beers would generate greater retail sales of these products at licensed consumption and distribution premises.” [My emphasis.]

Through this statement, Rible either ignores or is unwilling to address the obvious fact that the craft beer industry has changed since the original rules were written in 2012.

Five thousand new breweries have opened nationwide since then, and most of them have little interest in selling beer at other retail locations. There’s too much competition for tap handles and shelf space. And, besides, at their scale, selling beer through a middleman is a money-loser. Small breweries enjoy far greater profit margins by selling directly from their tasting rooms.

Moreover, tasting rooms are the single, best way for a new brewery to build its brand. (And, as the ABC finally learned when 25,000 people spoke up, many beer drinkers actually prefer brewery tap rooms to bars.)

Sure, this conflicts with the holy three-tier concept of beer distribution. But so what? What is the public interest in an outdated regulatory system that protects only those who can afford costly liquor licenses while impeding economic growth?

If the aim is to promote the craft beer industry, Rible – and more importantly the legislature – will have to rethink the “expectation” that retailers will see greater sales. It ain’t gonna happen until these startups grow large enough to benefit from wholesale sales outside of their taprooms.

And they won’t grow if these small breweries can’t do simple things to attract business. Y’know, like music, yoga classes and, for crissakes, food.

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Who was King Gambrinus?

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Though he’s often called the “patron saint” of brewing, King Gambrinus is neither a saint. Nor a king. Nor an actual person.

Historians believe he is a conflation of other historic figures, who as far back as the 16^th century was credited with the invention of beer. By the 1800s, his name and visage were adopted by Belgian, Dutch, Czech and other European brewers as a symbol for their craft.

German brewers who emigrated to America brought along Gambrinus, and several – notably Pabst – erected statues. There was a giant Gambrinus statue on display over the entrance of the Brewers Hall at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. And he made an appearance on the label of Stoeckle Beer from Delaware’s Diamond State Brewery

According to Delaware brewery historian John Medkeff, at least two companies specialized in manufacturing Gambrinus statues for American breweries. The one that stood above Wilmington’s Diamond State brewery, he said, was crafted by J.W. Fiske & Co. of New York.

Only 5 remain intact, he said, including one at Boston Beer’s plant outside of Allentown.

A rebirth of brewing in Wilmington?

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Old King Gambrinus, the once-legendary symbol of Delaware’s greatest brewery, is in sad shape these days. He’s strewn across the floor in about 60 pieces, barely salvaged from the junk heap by a passionate beer historian in Wilmington, Del.

“This is the most iconic image of brewing in Delaware,” said John Medkeff Jr., who has been writing about Delaware beer history for more than 20 years.

Gambrinus once stood atop the Diamond State Brewery in Wilmington — a glorious 11-foot-tall, one-ton robed king made of molded zinc, one hand resting on a barrel, the other majestically raising a frothing goblet of suds. His reign ended when the 100-year-old brewery was demolished to make way for I-95 construction. Gambrinus was salvaged, then exiled to the parking lot in front of a local restaurant, then somehow broken during transport. Ultimately, Medkeff discovered the pieces among the estate of a deceased museum curator.

SIDEBAR: WHO WAS KING GAMBRINUS? Read it here.

Medkeff

Now he’s on a mission to raise $100,000 to restore the king.

And he couldn’t have picked a better time, for Wilmington’s beer scene itself is seeing signs of restoration, with the arrival of two new area breweries in recent months.

The brewing industry in Delaware – never particularly big – was generally overshadowed by the much larger breweries in Philadelphia and Baltimore. Diamond State, its largest, topped out around 130,000 barrels a year – less than one-tenth the size of Schmidt’s of Philadelphia.

Prohibition and the growth of regional brands in the 1950s eventually drove Diamond State into bankruptcy, and Delaware would be without a brewery of its own for the next 40 years.

Starting in the 1990s, the state’s craft beer growth has been slow and spotty. Some beer makers, including Rockford, Brandywine and Downtown, came and went. Others – notably Dogfish Head and Iron Hill – are now nationally recognized as craft brewing leaders. Other smaller breweries, especially at the Delaware shore, have cropped up in recent years.

Today, Delaware has just 21 breweries statewide (fewer than Montgomery County in the Philadelphia suburbs, by comparison). It nonetheless ranks No. 20 nationwide in breweries per capita (just behind Pennsylvania and well ahead of New Jersey) due to its small population, according to the Brewers Association.

Wilmington itself has the seeds of a solid beer-making scene, with the likes of Iron Hill/Wilmington on the riverfront; Bellefonte, Dew Point, Twin Lakes and Frozen Toes on the outskirts; and the two newcomers:

Stitch House Brewing, a brewpub with a former brewer at Philadelphia’s Yards Brewing as brew master, opened in March amid downtown redevelopment efforts.
Wilmington Brew Works, operating out of a beautifully restored former electroplating facility, opened last weekend.

Rutherford

“The downtown especially seems on the cusp of a resurgence,” said Drew Rutherford, head brewer at Stitch House. A former brewer at Yards of Philadelphia, Rutherford said the new downtown brewpub is already attracting young professionals who’ve begun moving into the area. “Lunch is really busy, with all of the office workers, and we get a good theater crowd,” he said. “But now we’re seeing a younger crowd at night as well.”

Stitch House isn’t just for the locals, either. It’s worth the drive down I-95, – or a quick SEPTA train from Philly – to check out Rutherford’s excellent brews. He’s a rare brewpub brewer who’s not afraid to mix in full-bodied, malt-forward lagers with the usual hop monsters. I enjoyed a sweet but crisp-finishing Mai Bock and a deeply complex Vienna Lager on my visit. I’d tell you about his Helles, only it was tapped out – a sad state of affairs that Wilmington Brew Works head brewer Craig Wensell told me he was personally responsible for.

Speaking of which, Wilmington Brew Works – which just opened last weekend – shows immense promise, with some unique sours and pale ales. I’m looking forward to seeing their cans in beer stores in months to come.

There’s considerable hope that the new breweries in Wilmington are sign that the city itself is on the rebound. Medkeff is optimistic about the growth, and is hopeful it will spark renewed interest in Delaware’s brewing history.

“Really,” Medkeff told me over beers at WBW’s opening last weekend, “the king embodies the state’s long-lost brewing history. And now it can become the symbol of the restoration of Delaware brewing.”

Gambrinus in pieces

But it’s going to take time and money to rebuild King Gambrinus. Some of the statue’s pieces are missing, and reassembly will be painstaking. Medkeff wants to scan an existing, intact statue to properly re-create the piece.

So far, he’s started a non-profit and raised about $15,000.

Ultimately, it will be displayed at the Delaware Historical Society in downtown Wilmington.

Meanwhile, you can raise a glass in the spirit of Gambrinus – and support his restoration – at this Saturday’s Downtown Brewfest in Wilmington. The event features local beer, live music, food trucks, a homebrew competition and more. A portion of ticket sales will go toward the Gambrinus statue restoration.

Tix $40.

Want to read more about Delaware brewery history? Medkeff authored an excellent guide, with lots of photos. Buy it from his website. He’s donating all the proceeds to the Friends of Historic Riverview Cemetery and the Delaware Historical Society,

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New Brewery Alert in Lansdale, Montco

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Well Crafted Beer Co.

Where: 310 Madison St, Lansdale (Montco). The 100-year-old former Masonic temple was most recently used as an arts center.

What: Joining Round Guys as Lansdale’s second brewery, the space features a 7-barrel brewhouse, 20-tap tasting room and open-air seating within steps of Lansdale’s newly renovated SEPTA train station.

Who: A group of alumni from Rochester Institute of Technology, including head brewer Rick Solomon (former Barren Hill apprentice) and marketing director Nica Bellenger. “Our friendships flourished around craft beer,” Bellenger said of the group. “Sharing and talking about bee, traveling to breweries. That’s what inspired us to pursue opening our own brewery.”

When: Open Thursday-Sunday.

Etc.: The name comes from the brewers’ use of well water for their homebrewing batches. Though they’ll use municipal water here, they’ll treat it as necessary to duplicate the original content.

Well Crafted website

Well Crafted on Facebook

Philly Beer World listing.