Philly Beer Week: 8 Days down… 2 to go!

It’s been eight days since Philly Beer Week officially kicked off at the Independence Visitor Center and the grand finale has yet to come. What better week to extend by a few days?!?! I’ve never made an effort to fully experience the sights, sounds, and suds of the city wide celebration until this year. Armed with the official PBW 2012 iPhone app, I carefully mapped out the events I wanted to attend. You really need a well thought plan with literally hundreds of events ranging from tap takeovers, opportunities to meet the brewers from around the world, food/beer pairing dinners, classes and a slew of other beer-centric shindigs. Here’s where my adventures have taken me:

Friday – Opening Tap – Independence Visitor Center
After the Mayor tapped the third annual firkin of Brotherly Suds on a gloomy evening, we shuffled into the Visitors Center to sample the best local breweries had to offer. Many brewers were there pouring some limited releases. The crowds were manageable but there were too many new beers to recall all the standouts. I do remember enjoying new offerings from Yards and Boxcar, Manayunk Brewery’s Grand Cru, Dogfish’s 75 Minute IPA and a sour quad aged 17 months by Stoudts. Good to see a big Barley Legal crew out to support Vince and Lappy receive kudos for Belge.

Saturday – Appel Arts and Music Festival
Okay not exactly a Philly Beer Week event, but a great time nonetheless. Beautiful venue and perfect weather! Flying Fish was the beer vendor so we stayed hydrated. Tedeschi Trucks Band headlined and played a great twilight set to close the fest. Brother Joscephus and the Love Revival Revolution Orchestra were pretty good too. More to come later about this one.

Sunday – Rest
REALLY wish I went out on this day. That is all…

Monday – Belge Release Party – Iron Hill
Iron Hill in Maple Shade hosted their Belge release party with two of the collaborators behind the brew: Chris LaPierre and Vince Masciandaro. Their trip to Belgium is well documented on other sites if you want to read more. Along with the peat smoked blonde, the Hill offered a flight of beers from both Iron Hill and Brasserie Dupont. Dupont Belœil and Iron Hill’s Saison were my favorite. As an added bonus the “Three Stooges” brewed and homebrew clone to compare to the Belge. I found it more malty with less up front smoke, but equally as enjoyable as the real deal.

Tuesday – Celebration of Sours! – Eulogy
This was more of a pilgrimage then a night out. Eulogy is known for it’s wonderful collection of Belgian beers, but this was an achievement even for them. Phenomenal sours and two I’d consider the best I’ve ever had: Hanssens Gueuze from a firkin and Cantillon St Lamvinus on draft. Truly incredible blends and beers I’ll remember long after Beer Week.

Wednesday – Dunkel Dare – Frankford Hall
Marc Summers. Physical Challenges. Slime. Authentic German beer and food. What better way to spend a beautiful Wednesday with friends? The place was packed as Marc Summers hosted a round of “Dunkel” Dare the same way I remember it from the early 90’s. Great Lakes beat Vicorty and I hear they went on to win it all. Victory did, however, have the better selection on draft, including Summer Love and Prima Pils. The night was complete after a Franziskaner and some green slime.

Thursday – Farmers Cabinet/Boilermaker
Both bars had some really unique events this night so I went bar hopping. The first stop at the Cabinet featured three brewers offering eight variations of the same low alcohol base beer. Surprise, they were pretty much all sour! Stillwater had saisons spiced with different teas (vanilla chai was my favorite), Evil Twin made eight “Bikini” beers of various IBU’s, but the standout was Cabinet’s golden ales. Each variation was aged on different wood. The cherry wood and hard maple versions were both great with subtle differences. The Sour Bikini collaboration by Jeppe and Terry was awesome as well.

Boilermaker featured two breweries I’ve been especially excited to try: Tired Hands and McKenzie. The tap list was great with a lot of each breweries beers, but they’d have to wait. I was here for the blends. There one light and one dark featured beer. The dark variation, a blend of Tired Hands’ Guillemot and Mckenzie’s Dark and Stormy was a wild ale with so many complex flavors. Definitely a favorite of the week.

Friday – Rest

Thats it for now. Enjoy the last bit of PBW. I’m off to brunch.

AHA Big Brew – May 5th

The first Saturday of May is commonly known as the date of the Kentucky Derby. While thousands flock to Churchill Downs to enjoy the race, Mint Julep in hand, homebrewing enthusiasts around the world will raise a glass of another libation: Homebrew. The celebration is to commemorate National Homebrew Day and the comradery this hobby brings. Across the globe homebrewers of all levels will gather to compare techniques, share a pint and most importantly, brew beer.

As you can probably tell from the flyer above, Barley Legal will be celebrating at the same location they have for the past few years. If you’re looking for something fun to do on Cinco De Mayo, I strongly urge you to make an appearance at Iron Hill. You don’t need to homebrew to enjoy the day! There will be enough Barley Legal homebrews to go around. A facebook page for the event can be found HERE.

According to the AHA there was an estimated 6,700 homebrew enthusiasts gathered at 308 registered sites in 2011. Based on reports from these locations, a grand total of 14,800 gallons of beer was brewed. These numbers alone demonstrate how widespread this hobby has grown. I think it would be great to collect as many stories, pictures and accounts from Big Brew Day as possible. If you’re a beer blogger and plan to post about the Big Brew Day in your area, please drop me a line with a link. I’ll be sure to post a rundown of everything I receive.

For more information regarding locations, recipes and how you should celebrate National Homebrew Day, please visit the American Homebrewers Association’s page.