Beer Radar

Earth Bread + Brewery (7136 Germantown Ave., Mt. Airy - just up the street from McMenamin’s) is opening softly this week. I stopped in last night and plowed through brewer Tom Baker’s four house drafts.

As he promised earlier, the guy who made his name brewing monsters at New Jersey’s Heavyweight Brewing opened the gates at his new place with a low-alcohol (3.2% abv) mild, Love Your Mother.  It was, well, mild - very drinkable but not my cup. It was the next round, a farmhouse ale called Biere d’Earth (5.3% abv), that really had me smiling. It took me back to Heavyweight’s old Biere d’Art - beautiful malt, spicy goodness and just damn delicious. Sedgwick Pale Ale was made with local hops (from an area homebrewer), and it struck me at first as a grudging nod to hopheads - a gesture Tom rarely made at Heavyweight where even his Old Salty barleywine was first and foremost a malt bomb. Nonetheless, this ale sang with a fresh aroma and spicy finish.

Terra Fume is Tom’s smoked wheat ale (4% abv), and it just blew me away. Several folks at the bar reminded me that Heavyweight always had a good rep for smoked beer, though to be honest, the only one I could think of was Cinderbock, a smoked double bock. But where it was the malt that spoke to me in Cinderbock, it’s the smoke that’s doing the talking in Terra Fume. In this beer, wafts of smoke greet you firmly, but then settle in like a warm guest. It’s not overbearing, but the smoke is always there, tickling and amusing. Here is my highest praise for a smoked beer: You can drink more than one, you can drink more than two, you could drink Terra Fume all night.

EB+B pours another 8 taps, all crafts. The list right now: Philly Rowhouse Red, Victory Baltic thunder, Sly Fox O’Reilly’s Stout, Allagash White, Philly Wheat Wine, Victory Moonglow Weizenbock, One Guy Brewing Oktoberfest and High & Might St. Hubbins Abbey. There’s also a raft of bottles - not a single loser in the bunch.

The joint is beautiful. It’s the first time I’ve visited a bar on opening day where everything was finished; even the artwork on the walls (from the Northwest Artists Collective) was hanging straight.

The bar downstairs is from the old Collins Bar in New York, and it shines beautifully like an art deco masterpiece. There’s a second, quieter bar upstairs with a dining room that seats 85.

The main feature on the menu is bread, though I think the folks in Fishtown would call it pizza. It has that yummy brick-oven flavor with lots of politically correct toppings (don’t ask for pepperoni).

Like the Dock Street brewpub over in Cedar Park, EB+B’s out-of-the-way location (when the hell are they going to finish digging up G-town Ave.?) means that - unless your a lucky local - you’ll have to make the effort to visit. From Center City, head up Lincoln Drive, or save yourself the hassle and take the R7 to Allens Lane.

But the beer, the food and the atmosphere make it worth the trip.

One other thing: EB+B is holding the line on draft beer prices. A 13-ounce draft (just a half-sip less than those bogus “pints” they serve in many Center City bars) is just $3.75. A big, 20-ouncer is just $5.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 9:05 am and is filed under Brewpub. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.