Pub Crawlin

Ah lads and lassies, those Irish eyes were a smiling down upon a thirsty throng of people on Saturday the 14th, as the first ever Phoenixville Pub Crawl took place. The weather was purrfect for a nice stroll thru the old town. As always things started at the Sly Fox, where for the first time ever, all three hand pumps were a flowing strong. And just for good measure, a firkin of the latest in the hop project was right up there on the bar too. I started with my fav-o-rite beer, the Standard Ale. Is it just me or does this beer taste a little cleaner, brighter than before? I have told those guys at the brewery not to filter the beer so much, you're cutting out all the good stuff. After a small Placebo, we climbed into the Pookie-mobile and made our way down to the Epicurean.


It is kind of hard to believe how long this place has been around in one form or another. It started across the street where the Sly Fox sits now, as a gourmet shop. It was also one of the first places you could get a bagel out here in the burbs, now that should tell you something. It slowly grew to serve lunches, brunches and even some dinners. When they moved into their present location as a gourmet shop and a separate restaurant, I was lucky enough to be there on day one for every body's best meal deal, a free lunch. The licence to sell alcohol showed up a little later and then they opened up a bottle shop next to the restaurant. Why even Mr. Craft Ale himself worked there for awhile. Yards and Dogfish were on tap that day and I had the Thomas Jefferson Ale and a small bite to eat before we made our next trek into the big city of Iron, Phoenixville.


We ended up taking a side street into town as the main drag was clogged up with cars and people. The decision making process was pretty easy, we parked behind the Pickering Creek Inn, might as well go in and check on our boys Ryan and Spencer. That was ground zero for this fest as the Iron Hill gang was there, most of the brewers from the pub crawl were there and even Bruce Nichols was there for a quick one or two. The kegs were a kicking and everybody was in a festive mood despite the crowds. After some crazy chit-chat and a Southampton Biere De Mars we made the long stroll across the street to Iron Hill for some grub before the Saturday night crowd and revelers started showing up in mass. Well, the masses were already there, but I managed to get a table reservation and a beer. By the time our table was ready, the after party was just getting started out in the bar area headed up by Mr. Iron Hill himself, Mark Edelson. Our dinner was good as always, and the beers were great as always. I felt pretty decent enough to trudge on to Union Jacks for one more, but I had no takers on this evening. Oh well, one out of three ain't bad I reckon.

So my dream of a right smart beer week were now done. The call never came for the Zthos fest. (though I hear it should have) Mr. Money and some bad timing on some illing and not chilling did me in. Oh well, there is always next year and for your entertainment purposes only, here is a couple of pictures to keep close to your heart.