Beer drinkers, notorious for waiting till last call to do their holiday shopping, undoubtedly are searching for last-minute gifts for fellow brew aficionados.
Joe Sixpack’s gotta run out for a couple items himself – (anybody know where I can find one of them new Foamby dolls?) – but here’s a quick last-minute shopping guide for the suds slosher on your list:
Easy
Put together a case of 24 specialty beers from 12 Philadelphia-area craft breweries. That way you can get a taste of the fun, too.
Confused about the local selection? Here’s a cheat sheet of some of Joe Sixpack’s favorites available now:
- Flying Fish Belgian Style Dubbel (Cherry Hill, N.J.)
- Yards ESA (Manayunk)
- Victory HopDevil IPA (Downingtown)
- Red Bell Ahopalypse Now (Brewerytown)
- Dogfish Head Immort Ale (Lewes, Del.)
- Stoudt’s Abbey Triple (Adamstown, Pa.)
- Poor Henry’s Original Philadelphia Lager (Northern Liberties)
- Independence Ale (Northeast Philadelphia)
- Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot (Easton)
- Valley Forge Imperial Stout (Valley Forge)
- Lancaster Malt Brewing Milk Stout (Lancaster)
- Dock Street Illuminator (Northern Liberties).
All of these brews are available by the case at better beer distributors.
If, for some odd reason, the prospect of purchasing 288 beers just to create one case doesn’t appeal to you, you can pick up each label by the bottle at a number of area delicatessens. Check out: the Foodery (10th and Pine streets, Center City), Terry’s Delicatessen (2016 Darby Road, Havertown), The Beverage Store (318 E. Lancaster Ave., Wayne) and Ashton Food Market (121 Springton Road, Upper Darby).
Easier
Find a case of something you just can’t buy in Pennsylvania or New Jersey. Something like Bert Grant’s Winter Ale or Three Floyds Alpha King Pale Ale or Alaska Smoked Porter.
These are excellent labels that you may just stumble across if you happen to be making a trip this weekend to New York, Delaware or Washington.
Bring them back for a friend who appreciates the effort.
Easiest
Buy a case of Bud. Give it to some chump. Save the good beer for yourself.
Beer Radar
Reading’s defunct Pretzel City brewery sold off its kettles to a Wilkes-Barre businessman named Thom Greco. Greco hasn’t revealed any plans for the equipment, but he hinted he might open a brewery in Reading, Wilkes-Barre or Atlantic City . . . George Hummel, co- owner of Home Sweet Homebrew (2008 Sansom St., Center City), is hobbling around with a broken heel, the result of a freak bike crash. Homebrewers should send your sympathies to partner Nancy Rigberg, and stop by for a whiff of the shop’s newly available Amarillo hops from Pacific Northwest. The buds are perfect for your brown ale recipe.
Either they’re damn thirsty in West Chester or the new Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant underestimated the drinking ability of the local university’s student population. The brewpub at the former Woolworth’s at High and Gay streets announced this week that it is expanding capacity by two-thirds . . . Breweriana collectors can pick up hard-to-find trinkets at the hot new on-line auction site, www.ebay.com. The other day, Joe Sixpack found a buncha stuff from the Philly archives, including an old Schmidt’s song sheet ($9) and a Gretz beer tray.
Joe Sixpack (written this week with a bottle of Scaldis Noel) appears every other Friday.
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