Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Hot Dogs & Beer becomes Bagels & Coffee?

The 2008 baseball season is here.

The bad part, it started at 6am EDT. Hence the temporary name change. It could be the first time I've ever sat down to watch a game with coffee, but thats ok.

The game of course is being playing at the Tokyo dome in Japan. As of this writing, the A's are winning 2-0 and Matzuzaka has no control of his breaking ball. But its early. The crowd at the Big Egg is actually somewhat subdued. I've been to a game there and the bleacher fans sing enough songs and make enough noise to make the whole place very loud. But who knows how MLB allocated tickets, I'm guessing its not to the average rowdy fan (American or Japanese).

I've rarely been so willing to wake up at 6am. And we get to do this again tomorrow (Why is Oakland the home team in both games??) before a few days off until the start for everyone else.

Only 354 days until Philly beer week 2009

(NOTE: I wrote this a week ago, but apparently forgot to post it, hence the number in the title)

Ok, I don't know for sure when Philly beer week will be in 2009, or even if its a certain event, but I'm already anxiously awaiting.

The past 10 days of Philly beer week were filled with many many events, most of which I could not attend (need that job to be able to afford beer).

Best new bar: This goes to Grace Tavern, a place I'd wanted to try for a while. Its the type of neighborhood bar with great beer, interesting people and a welcoming atmosphere. I didn't try the food, but it looked (and smelled) very good.

Best new beer: This is tough considering I easily tried 50 new beers (and many old favorites). I'm going to give a slight edge to the Harvistoun aged in 16yr scotch casks.

Best experience: I met a lot of interesting people, including some beer writers, but its not often you get a chance to meet the mayor and drink with him. Ok, I didn't actually drink with him, but I watched him tap a keg and did meet him while holding a dogfish head raison d'etre.

Best meal: I think this one is fairly easy, I loved the German food served at the Joe Sixpack event at Dawson's Pub. From the sausage to the sauerbraten to the pretzel and of course the black forest cake. Special honorary mention to the bananas foster at the kick-off event.

Biggest disappointment: There were so many events that some had to be missed, but I was disappointed by the Friday events I tried, being too crowded. I would recommend less non-ticketed events at times that bars are normally already packed from happy hour.

Overall it was a big success, especially considering this is the first time anything of this sort has ever been put together. There is room for improvement (e.g., better website updates), but the basic formula works. I can't wait to see what they come up with for next year.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Philly Beer Week, Part III: The return of the hops

So Wednesday was a much needed night at home. Did this stop me from enjoying a beer? Of course not. I had the Avery Fourteen, a beer brewed specifically for their 14th anniversary.

On Thursday, we headed to Old City. The first stop was Eulogy where their were having a Harviestoun night, featuring their beers aged in Highland Park scotch casks of 12, 16 and 30 years. The beers were pricy so I only had one, the 16. It was an incredibly rich beer with lots of flavors coming from the cask. The scotch flavor was not overpowering which made for a surprisingly easy drinking beer for something of its strength. The bartender informed me that the 30 year supposedly tastes more like scotch than beer, but alas at $22 for a 12oz bottle it was a bit out of my range. For dinner I had their mussels with bacon and potatos and a side of Belgian fries. I was not too impressed with their fries or dipping sauce (Monk's is definitely better). The main reason is that they were too thick. With my dinner I had a Swedish beer called Fiori (I wrote down the full name, but don't have it on me). It was light with a bit of spice, not overly impressive.

After Eulogy we made the long journey across the street to Triumph for their pilsner gala. Now in reality this was more lager gala as there were other lagers besides pilsner (e.g., bocks). Triumph was featuring about 5 of their own beers combined with about 10 from other, mostly local, breweries. This lead to some confusion with the bartenders who are used to serving only their own beers. I started with the Victory Biermeister pils, and I'm glad I did because they ran out soon after. Its a light beer in color, but with a pretty decent hop flavor. I have not had their Prima pils in a little while, but I think this may be a touch better. I guess I should have ordered both. For my second beer I went with the Sly Fox Rauchbier. If you've been following my beer week posts you'll know I'm crazy about this style. The Sly Fox version is on the low end of rauchbiers that I've had (could have been smokier) but that still makes it a good beer. I also had the opportunity to meet Lew Bryson, who was "hosting" the event and Stephen Beaumont, both were very friendly and shared stories with me. For example, I learned about the first double IPA, made by the current Russian River brewer solely because he did not trust some new equipment and decided to cover up the flaws with twice the hops. I also got some stories about Michael Jackson (the beer writer) from Lew, who used to edit a lot of Michael's writings, specifically for Malt Advocate. It was already late after Triumph so we called it a night.

Friday I once again ventured into center city and had plans for hitting several events. First stop was Nodding Head for a meet the brewers happy hour. There were several brewers I wanted to talk with, but the place was mobbed, couldn't even find a place to stand, so we left. Our next stop was Tria (on 12th), where they were having an Allagash night. Strike 2. They were so packed that we were actually rejected at the door for fire code reasons (bars enforce that???). Ok, on to Good Dog who was featuring Sly Fox and Southampton. And strike 3, again too packed to even stand. I attribute the problems to normal Friday happy hour crowds combined with beer week, but I wasn't happy. Those were the 3 places on my list and we failed at all of them. So on to an improvised agenda. Jose Pistolas for dinner, where we were able to find a table. I had the shrimp and chorizo tacos which were very tasty and soem tortillas and salsa as an appetizer. To drink I had the Bells Lager of the Lakes (kind of bland) and the Atwater Voodoo Vator (a decent doppelbock).

Afterward, we wandered around a bit, and then made it to Grace Tavern. It was our first time there and we loved the place. It was exactly the type of neighborhood bar that makes Philly great, good crowd, good beer, good bartenders, etc. I drank the Sierra Nevada Schwarzbier, which I did not even know that they made. It was quite tasty. We called it a night after Grace Tavern and headed home.

Saturday did not involve any beer week activities, although I did do some drinking in honor of st patrick's day, hitting Moriarity's (which was fun) and McGillin's (which was a little too crowded). We finished the night at Old Eagle where I tried some Sly fox Seamus Red and the Flying Fish Espresso Porter.

Sunday I had other commitments that prevented beer week activities, although I had a few while playing darts.

Overall, a lot of drinking in 10 days, but a lot of fun. Keep an eye out for my Philly beer week recap.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Philly Beer Week, Part II: The liver strikes back

I've learned a few things in the past couple of days attending beer week events. First, Philly has even more great beer culture than I realized. And second, I'm not as young as I once was. For that reason, tonight will be an off night.

On Monday we went to the Joe Sixpack doppelbock tasting at Dawson's Pub. The pub is no more than a 5 minute walk for us and is one of out favorites, this fabulous event solidified that. They served the following 9 doppelbocks:
Lancaster Doppelbock
Ayinger Celebrator - A classic.
Schneider Aventinus - Another classic.
Victory St. Victorious - A nice roasted flavor.
Stoudt's Smooth Hoperator - Very different style with a clear hop aroma and taste that was magnified by the abcense of hops in the other beers.
Moretti La Rossa - An Italian doppelbock?? Didn't match up with the others but still good.
Ramstein (I can't remember the name)
Troeg's Troegenator - Amazingly spot on with the traditional German style.
Weihenstephaner Korbinian

The bartender, Jake, was pouring very generous portions for each beer, its a good thing I didn't need to stumble too far to get home. Don Russell gave us a nice history of the style and the specific beers. The pub also provided lots of German food, wursts, weiner schnitzel, spaetzel, big and small pretzels, sauerbraten, and black forest cake. All very tasty, especially the sauerbraten. We also met the father of the owners who told us some fun stories of when Dawson's was a biker bar. I picked up a copy of Joe Sixpack's Philly beer book and am looking forward to reading through it later tonight.

Last night we decided to participate in some of the meet the brewer events, focusing on the art museum area. The night started at London Grill where I drank the Philadelphia Brewing Co Kenzinger, a nice German/Czech style lager with a bit of hoppiness to it. I met one of their brewers, Josh, who filled me in on some details of the new brewery. I also tried the Stoudt's Willie Sutton, an amber beer brewed specifically for London Grill and named for a former inmate of the Eastern State Pennitentiary. It was ok, but nothing too striking about it. For dinner I tried the spring rolls and the ducks wings. Both were very tasty, the wings came with some fries and a spicy mustard dipping sauce.

After London Grill we moved on to Bridgid's for Colorado beer night. First I spoke with the Boulder brewing company's brewer and tried their oak aged Never Summer. The beer was good, not overwhelming. The flavors from the bourbon oak barrels were subtle but noticeable. After that I had the Great Divide Hercules, a very hoppy IPA. I've had this beer in the past, but it had been a while. Its still great. I also spoke briefly with one of the Iron Hill (West chester) brewers (Chris?) who was not working any beer week events, just in the bar for a couple of beers.

Our last stop was the Bishop's Collar, a more laid back and slightly less beer focused bar. The Yards brewers were supposed to be there, but we were either too early or too late because I didn't see them. I did however drink their George Washington porter which is quite good. We did not spend much time here as it was a weeknight we were getting tired.

What fun and excitement await on Thursday and Friday?? Even I can't answer that question.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Philly Beer Week, Part I

So I know blogging has been slow lately, but have no fear, its almost baseball season. Plus, we are in the middle of Philly Beer Week and there is much to discuss.

On Friday we went to the Joe Sixpack beer event at the East Falls Market. This was being touted as the kickoff event and it did not disappoint. The number of people was ideal as I rarely had to wait for any beer. Mayor Nutter was on hand, albeit 45 minutes late, to proclaim the start of the beer week and to tap the ceremonial keg. He's a bit shorter than I expected him to be, although I'm not sure what I was basing my expectations on. We got a chance to meet him, even if it was brief. The food was also pretty good, both the catering and the samples that the market stands put out. And there was, of course, the beer. It was all local and very few brought their standard brews. The highlights included the Iron Hill Russian Imperial Stout, the Nodding Head George's Fault and Victory's St. Boisterous. But my favorite of the night was the Triumph Rauchbier, a style that I love but is hard to find. Unfortunately for me, the Philly location does not make it, only the New Hope location. Although I did all I could to convince the people from Triumph that they should brew it at every location and as often as possible.

Saturday we planned to go into center city and go to either Good Dog or the South Philly pub crawl. But the weather was terrible and we had no motivation to leave the house. So instead we went to eat at Hikaru on main st. I was unimpressed overall, the miso soup and ginger salad were ok. The ton katsu was very different than any version I've had before and it was kind of boring. But afterwards we ventured to Flat Rock where I enjoyed a Founder's Old Curmudgen (very good) and an old favorite, Young's Double Chocolate Stout.

Sunday was a busy day, but for non-beer reasons. Therefore the only beer aspects of the day was a dinner of garlic and curry mussels at Old Eagle along with the Summit Marzen and Speakeasy Untouchable Pale Ale. Dessert was the Flying Fish Espresso Porter.

More to follow as the week progresses.