Musikfest, the 35-year-old, 10-day open-air music festival in Bethlehem that starts Friday (8/3) and runs through Aug. 12, is all about the sounds. But don’t miss out on the flavor of great beer.
Each year, the fest sells about 30,000 mugs that can be filled at local bars and beer stands.
[Here’s a look at the mug designs over the … Read the rest
Note: This column contains a clarification below.
The foam hit the fan on Facebook this weekend when a musician posted an item that his gigs at a central Jersey brewery had been canceled, because of a new policy edict from the N.J. Division of Alcohol and Beverage Control.
The item was wrong: Though change is coming, no new policy has … Read the rest
My report earlier this week about Phoenixville’s wealth of breweries in proximity to each other got me thinking about other local destinations where you can hit two or more breweries in one quick walk.
Here’s a few twofers (and three-ways) that come to mind:
Pitman, N.J. – This once-dry Methodist town is decidedly wet these days with two small breweries … Read the rest
Recent news reports naming Phoenixville’s Crowded Castle the third-fastest growing small and independent brewery in America in 2017 had me scratching my head.
How could a brewery that’s been open barely a year be among the fastest growing? Especially one that produces, perhaps, a mere 1,000 barrels a year, and sells it all in-house from 11 taps.
My money would’ve … Read the rest
The distance from 138 Bridge St. in Phoenixville to No. 368 is barely 2,000 feet. Maybe 800 steps, if you’re walking with purpose.
Which is what you would need to do if you were going to visit all the breweries along this short stretch of downtown Phoenixville main drag in one shot. From Iron Hill’s brewpub at one end of … Read the rest
Ten years ago this month, my first book, Joe Sixpack’s Philly Beer Guide, was published. It was a compilation of everything I knew about the city’s beer scene at the time, from its earliest breweries to its burgeoning craft beer scene.
It took years of work, and I was plenty proud to present the most complete look at the … Read the rest
Sean Arsenault is pouring a pint of Old Stoop Rye Ale. His wife, Erica, is making change at the counter. His twin brother, Andy, is sanitizing metal fittings from one of the fermenters. The tasting room is packed with couples draining pints and diving into plates from a food truck parked out front.
This is the weekend routine at Brewery … Read the rest
‘You know those urinal troughs on the floor at the base of bars in old-time taprooms?
Well, zip it up guys. Despite the common myth, the fact is those troughs are not, were not and never were intended to be used as urinals. In fact, the troughs are spittoons, a handy place to puh-tooey a wad of slobbery tobacco juice.… Read the rest
Beer me up, Scotty.
And not just any beer will do. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the landmark sci-fi TV adventure, Star Trek has its own series of brews produced by a small group of fans based in, of all places, Vulcan, Alberta.
In recent months, the group — which calls itself the Federation of Beer — … Read the rest
An Irishman and a Palestinian open a bar in Philadelphia…
No, this is not the start of a joke.
It’s the beginning of a beautiful friendship, one that grew over the next two decades and would come to define the spirit of one of the city’s most successful bars. Beyond the foamy pints and mixed drinks, the laughter and the … Read the rest