And So It Ends

Another PBW in the books. Hard to believe that 12 days of pure insanity is finally over and we can go back to the normal of only  5 or 6 beer events a week. And now lets take a look at the final days.

                                                             June 8--Heat 1 Dan 0

I knew sooner or later this was going to bite me in my fat ass and sure enough it did. Working outside and driving around in truck with no ac was putting a severe hurting on my drinking soul. I was hoping at least to get to Capone's for the Deschutes event, but since I was out there two years ago, I broke down and used 5% of my new found maturity and went home and sucked up some AC. It was a good choice.

                                                           June 9--Heat1/2 Dan 1/2

If it got any hotter out I wouldn't be typing this right now as I would be lying right next to the melted wicked witch on the corner of Oz and Munchkin street. So instead of going to Local 44 for some Laurelwood Brewing Company beers, ( another place I was at two years ago) I sucked up 2 plus hours of AC and a good 25 minute cold shower and made my way to TND for Sierra Nevada night featuring 13 beers. It ain't your daddy's craft beer  no more. First off Kellerweis was on tap in an extra rare appearance. And as soon as I walked in there, I let the reps and Mr. Grossman know my displeasure in that very fact. Look for it never to be on sale in the area again... I worked my around several very rare beers including the Double IPA (very grassy and quite tasty), Weizenbock, which is becoming somewhat of a favorite of mine and of course Exportation, which I hope all you fun kids get a chance to try out and I also hope that they save a barrel of this to see how it ages. Not to bretty, not to sweet or winy tasting, but a very nice job of blending two very different flavors together. And then we all took a moment and thanked the rain gods for putting an end to our extreme heat misery.

     June 10--Jose Pistolas, Resurrection Ale House, Sidecar Bar and Gooddog Bar

Less heat equals more drinking. More drinking equals more fun. More fun equals less money in your bank account. We started our day at Jose's having a small bite to eat (nachos and tacos) running into various beer celebs and a drinking a couple of tasty Jolly Pumpkin beers.  We then grabbed a cab and hightailed it over to RAH for a quick Pho Phoune, if there is such a thing. It was quite a different scene in there for a Friday afternoon than it was the last time we were there. It was jammed, but we stilled managed to secure several glasses of this wonderful brew. After finishing up, we took a stroll to what is fast becoming one my favorites places in the city of brotherly drinking, Sidecar Bar. Our lovely hostess recognized us right away and even then she didn't throw us out. Mr. Parker was sitting at the bar doing what he does best, drinking and twittering away. Nebraska was the name of the game that night and they had three high priced beers out of 8 taps that were hitting the magic $12 a glass mark. But no worries man, Sidecar also has a nice sampler of 4 for the same price, so I got to try 7 of the 8 beers. Dang nab it, those corn huskers make a mighty fine product! It was getting near vittles time, so Mr. Parker upped and left to meet his wonderful wife at The Four Seasons and we decided to partake of the great menu at Sidecar. Yes meat lovers, I had their veggie black bean burger and it was so damn good I'm am thinking about a way to have them send me one.

The Champ



The Chump



Linner was over, but not our sordid tale of drinking debauchery as we heading into the heart of all that is evil, the firkin off at Gooddog Bar, featuring Sly Fox Standard Pils vs Southampton Keller Pils. I tried to warn the boys from Long Island that this wasn't going to be much of a contest, but they gave it the old college try. It wasn't pretty as Sly Fox put such a whupping on them that the referee had to step in and stop it before any more liver and palate damage could be done. For me, my 8 plus hour shift was done and it was time to head back to Kepler Mountain.

                                                           June 11--A Big Nada

 Dreams of heading into the city for the Nodding Head event of the Phunks and a couple of other things got pushed back till another day. Instead it ended up in Mt. Penn with my lovely faux daughter and Ms. DeMiel at Alebrije for some nice Mexican food and a couple of Pacifico's in a frosted glass. Oh, how the mighty has fallen...


                                              June 12--Russian River Brunch @ TDR

The grand finale for me was quite laid back as about a dozen of TNSC met for brunch and for a couple of RR beers and a glass of Hop Stupid from a firkin. Ran into even more crazy folks who ending up going to TND afterwords for some Hatter madness. Me, I went home and said no mas. It was over, really over. Three plus days of sobriety would now come and visit me. They didn't stay long.....

PS After my computer bit the dust the other week, I have been thinking about what photo software to use. I do have a few pictures, but they need some work to say the least.





                                                         

                                                   

And So It Begins.....

       Yes sirree boys and girls and guys and dolls. June has opened up the flood gates of beer evilness, otherwise known as Philly Beer Week. There are three or so things you can pretty much count on during this so called week of madness.
 1--Weight Gain
 2--Insomnia
 3-- Divorce proceedings
 3A-- Near bankruptcy
Where in the hell do I sign up at? Well folks, let's take a quick look see at a few of the TLBL fun times so far.

                                           June 1 Night Of the Bastards @ Craft Ale House
No pun intended or was there? Yes, most of the TNSC crew made it out for some liquid bastards on Wednesday night, though I am quite sure that some patrons on most Fridays might have said the same thing about us. After a lovely Keller Pils to loosen up the taste buds, a sampler of the hoppy and oaked Stones gently washed down over my sun drenched lips. But it was the supper evil Backwoods Bastard that grabbed my tongue and wrestled it to side of my mouth, so I could let the whiskey soaked beer slide ever so slowly down my gullet. Good googly goo.

                                                    June 2 De Halve Mann @ TND

The Beer Yard and The Brewer

This was a must do for one simple reason. It was the first time that the Dubbel and the Unfiltered Zot has been poured in the USA. And after having those beers over there 3 years ago, I could only hope that it would be as good as I remembered. Mission accomplished! It also was a must visit for the 35 people going to Belgium with us next May as De Halve Mann will be our local brewpub. I can hardly wait to see these two great beers on tap later on this year around town. And I can hardly wait to get back to Brugge.

               June 3 Birthday party @ Becca's restaurant in Phoenixville
Nah, this had nothing to do with beer week, although some Kellerweiss and some Big Eye and 21st Amendment Brew Free or Die from Mr. Rubeo sure didn't suck. But it was my first time there at Becca's and I was quite impressed with the food and service. It is a BYOB though kiddies, as if that would stop you.

                                                     June 4 Ballast Point @ Capones
Too damn much stuff to do around the house made getting to this a lot later that I wanted, but that's the way it goes. Paul "The Hitman" Havelin from Bella Vista had just left, which meant we probably grabbed his seat at the bar. This event was not for the tame of heart as some big muthas were being poured including the star of the show, Bourbon Victory At Sea. Oh be still my quaking liver. Also, there was some nice leftovers from the good folks at Hill Farmstead, who have never ever made a bad beer yet.
We then stopped at ABC for a quick bite and a couple of Hoppy Trails on the hand pump which was quite tasty. But not as tasty as Mr. Sculpin.

                         June 5 Saison Sunday @ Khyber Pass Pub and Lost Abbey @ Monks
Holy guacamole Batman! The day started off with a nice lunch at the Khyber consisting of salad (Shocking) and some very smart Mac and Cheese which filled my belly so full I could barely get off the bar stool. But the beer I had to go with it was the excellent  De Proef/Sly Fox saison. Run don't walk to try it. Common sense would of told me to walk off that lunch, but my liver was all a tingle, so I hopped a cab and went straight to Monks, where the phone twittering man about town, Brian Parker had did his home work and saved me a seat at the front bar. To say the back was full is like saying there was line for lifeboats on the Titanic. But they kept a coming. Some were deterred, others braved the mighty BO in the back. When it looked liked our lovely bartender was not going to be able to secure our beers from the back there, the mighty Brian stepped up and fought his way tooth and nail to bring back a Duck Duck geuze and a Cuvee De Tommy. Cuvee was the clear winner in this battle and to celebrate I bought a bottle of the Monks Gueze which is as good as it gets.

                                                  June 6 Cigar City @ Capones
The "Hitman" was right on time with the Cigar City boys and you could tell that beer week was starting to put a hurting on those youngsters.But for myself, how could you not start with a glass of Humidor IPA from the firkin? After that cedar treat,  I then launched myself into a sampler of mostly C.C. house beers including a 4% table saison which was de lish! Much more evilness ensued as a few bottles magically got opened and passed around. I started to see darkness on the horizon and left the fine folks at Capones to their own devices. 

                                                               June 7
                                            On the seventh day I rested.

Session Summer Of Love Part 2?

    It's awful hard to believe that on this very date, 4 long years ago, I, along with the world famous Mr. Lew Bryson, took part in sheer beer insanity, by having not one, not two, but a three day festival celebrating session beers. I remember it like it was, uh, 4 years ago. The sun was shining, the air was crisp and clear. (For some strange reason, all my beer events ended up with great weather) And the session beer was flowing into our mouths like a thirsty camel in the dessert. I also do recall some bad ideas of mine during that time. Like trying to pour 30 plus beers on Saturday instead of 10 or 12 and having a session beer dinner on Thursday night that only 12 or so people showed up.  Ahh, hindsight, ain't it grand?

Friday's night cask event went pretty well, hell, it even made the NYT. Still get a chuckle out of that. Saturday's event went alright for a first time event. There was up to 70 people total during the day and a record crowd that showed up Sunday, abliet after the fest. And I still believe in all my tattered and torn heart that it would have become one of those fine drinking institutions that everybody makes plans for every year.
But that's just living in the past. It is time to move forward or figure out which is my best foot and put it forward. So, I put it out to you, the drinking public, and the brewers, would anybody be in for:

The Session Summer Of Love Part 2, How Low Can You Go?

A battle of the brewers making the best styles of low abv  beer

A limbo contest
 
And a little BBQ
 
Maybe some time in August after BCTC, when everybody will need a palate refresher.
Or not....

FYI

More beer, get your more beer here! Yes kids, more places are opening up that serve great beer. Some say you would need a scorecard to keep track, I thinks there isn't one big enough any more.

First up is the Mile Post Pub inside the Whole Foods in Devon. Look for their soft opening by Monday the 23. This has taken awhile since they took over the old Heavenly Ham place the other year. As small as Whole Foods place was, I knew they were trying to get a license when nothing happened in that space for almost a year. Great organic food and beer together. Twist my ever sore arm.

Meanwhile in one of my former old stomping grounds of Exeter, the Liberty Taproom is getting ready to open at the old Nick's Chat A While at the corner of Prospect Street and Butter Lane. I could and did walk there way back in the day. If a place like that would have been there then, who knows how my beer history could have changed? Look for their soft opening by the beginning of June.

ABC opened last week in the old New Road spot. To say it looked a hell of a lot better would be a small understatement. TNSC went to investigate last Saturday and found things to be running quite smoothly. The beer was good, but nothing yet to sing about. My own two cents are to change whatever yeast they are using. They are all nice clean beers, but they just have no zip. You beer folk know what I mean. Everyone liked their food and I broke down and had the:
 WARNING CARNIVORES! THE FOLLOWING MAY UPSET YOU!

The Tree Hugger

(Not-A-Burger Burger)
A delightful blend of black beans, quinoa, yellow onion,
tomato, garlic, and cumin mixed together and grilled.
Served on a kaiser roll and topped with an avocado sauce (and I added some pepper jack cheese.)

It was very, very right smart and I wasn't the only one to say so. Now before everyone starts screaming, I once was the king of burgers. I had a burger in just about every place that had a half decent beer. The last real great one I had was at The Farmhouse in Emmaus about two years me thinks. And I will probably have another some day. Just not right now.

So kids, do your homework and then come out to the playground. Looks like we got some new equipment coming.

The Unroyal Wedding

   On Friday the 13th, when some people were walking under ladders and others were drinking some adult beverages from firkin's at the most wonderful Grey Lodge, two giant forces of evil merged once again to wreck havoc on mankind and of course, their own livers. Who could I be talking about? Yes folks, all the mothers hid their children, because the Monday Night Tasting Crew from Sly Fox teamed up with The Thursday Night Social Club for one of the seasons most anticipated events when Sarah and David finally got hitched in a very moving and touching ceremony by the lakes of Gitche Gumee..

Ok. maybe not that lake, but the Lake House Inn outside of Perkasie was one of hell a place to have this shindig. The always astute Mr. Evans ran a great show, with a very smart lineup of beers and food choices to keep us all quite happy. I know that a large segment of our local bar business lost a few bucks that night.



The look from the patio





The Inn itself with some fine folks




Most good beer bars would kill for this lineup









The bride and the brewer

Conducting the ceremony was none other than Tom Steigelmann from Union Jack's on the mighty Manatawny. Which seems only fitting since they live there part time. To say it was a very laid back affair would certainly be a understatement. 15 minutes after the I Do's, we were all back upstairs snacking on some fine cheeses, drinking some brews (Our bottle selection included Sam Adams Noble Pils, Yards Brawler, Bells Oberon, Racer 5 among others)

The caterers done a fine job of bringing us all kinds of lovely apps, which meant all we had to do was go and grab a beer.
Then we were off to the main reception where the evil home brewers brought out some mighty, mighty fine stuff. Thank god it wasn't all big beers or this post would never been written at all. Instead it was some of the best session stuff and mid range beer choices and of course Deep Pond's after dessert beer. The weather folks helped out also as we spent a goodly portion of the night out on the patio enjoying the festivales.
For the bride and groom, well, they are on their way to New Zealand as we speak, with a much needed layover at San Fran. I am quite sure drinking is involved. I should know, that was our wedding gift.