January 17th, 2010 Joe Sixpack
From a press release today, Ommegang announces it’ll be supplementing its regular lineup with a roll-out of specialty beers in 750s and draft. Some of these already exist, but they’ll be tweaked.
- Jan-Feb 2010: Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence Stout. Very slightly revised for the 2010 edition.
- Mar-Apr: Ommegang BPA (Belgian-style Pale Ale). 5.8% abv. 5 malts, 2 hops, and dry-hopped. Citrus & tropical fruit aromatics.
- May-Jun:Â Ommegang Tripel (name not yet confirmed). Around 9%, spiced, in test brew stages now.
- Jul-Aug: Ommegang Sour Ale. Around 6% ABV. Oud Bruin style beer made in collaboration with Liefmans of Belgium. Name TBD.
- Sep-Oct: Ommegang Scotch Ale. A new Belgo-Scotch mash up. ABV, name and recipe still to be confirmed.
- Nov-Dec: Ommegang Adoration. Still 10% ABV, still malty, still big and spicy. But may be tweaked a bit.
Additionally, Ommegang says it’ll be pouring beers from a pilot program, at its Cooperstown brewing plant only. The first is described as “a Belgian-ish porter” called Porter, Sorter. It’s warm-cellaring now and should be released before the end of January.
Finally, they’re doing some high-gravity aging in bourbon barrels.
Looks like a fun year from a great brewery.
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January 13th, 2010 Joe Sixpack
Whole Foods opened its new crunchy granola store at Plymouth Meeting Mall yesterday, complete with a takeout beer section . (For non-Pennsylvania readers, this is a big deal involving complex state regs that weirdly require grocery stores to operate an in-store restaurant in order to be licensed for liquor sales.)
Whole Foods exploits the loophole with its so-called Cold Point Pub, a generic seating area behind large windows with a view of the checkout aisles. If WF were smart, they’d create a new drinking game: Organic Bingo. Everyone chugs when a suburban mom loads her cart with rice milk, soy chips and fair-market bananas.
The pub’s drafts were all locals on my visit - Yuengling, Sly Fox, Yards, Victory, Troegs & Flying Fish. And well priced: just $1.99 for (14oz?) of Vitamin Y. That glass of St. Victorious above was $3.99, a real bargain for an 8.5 percenter.
Don’t expect bar service. In a completely awkward setup, you have to take your draft to a checkout register inside the pub and pay by the glass. (Note to WF: You oughta install another register just for drafts.) The menu card at my stool said tipping isn’t necessary, and I can see why.
They’re also filling growlers, but that’s another awkward setup involving too much foam; these folks really don’t know their way around a tap handle. Growler prices are excellent, however: just $7.99 for a half-gallon of Troegs Rugged Trail or $3.99 for a quart (with one of those Grolsch flip-tops). Glassware is extra (I forget the prices, but they’re not outrageous) or you can BYO.
Adjoining the pub (which, by the way, also serves wine and snacks) is a nice-sized takeout section that’s actually chilled to about 55 degrees, not unlike Moore Bros. in Camden. That’s a really nice touch because it means you can pop open a cold one on the way back down the Blue Route.
Beers were fairly well priced. Most local baseline sixers are priced between $7.99 and $8.49. Victory Storm King was $11.49, a four-pack of Guinness, $6.99; Brooklyn Local 1 (750ml) was $7.99; a 12-pack of Yuengling Lager cans was $8.99.
Selection is very good too - not as big as nearby Capone’s, but you’ll certainly find something you like. I mean, if you told me that one day I’d see Chimay, Westmalle and Orval in a grocery store…
The store was jammed yesterday, and I’d expect crowds awhile. But here’s a hint: park in the garage. Drive past the main parking area on the left and into the garage. There’s an escalator running directly into the store. The pub is at the front of the store.
As much as I appreciate the convenience and price of buying beer in a supermarket, that’s the ONLY thing WF has going for it. Ultimately, shopping for beer in a supermarket is a crappy, soulless experience. One of the pleasures of alcohol is enjoying it in an actual adult venue that respects booze. A bar, a distributor, even a deli - not some florescent-lit, industrial-sized box whose aisles are filled with snot-nosed kids and Cymbalta-addled moms, where beer is no more special than lemongrass-scented dish-washing soap.
Posted in Beer store, Beer etc. | 1 Comment »
January 11th, 2010 Joe Sixpack
Eulogy (2nd & Chestnut) is one of four national semifinalists for Beer Bar of the Year in Nightclub & Bar mag. That’s a nice tribute, and owner Michael Naessens is doing it one better by running a drawing to send a regular out to the awards ceremony in Las Vegas in March. Stop in at Eulogy for details.
The other three finalists:
•   Gritty McDuff’s, Portland, Maine
•   Tapwerks Ale House & Café, Oklahoma City
•   Willimantic Brewing Company, Willimantic, Conn.
Posted in Beer etc., Tavern | No Comments »
January 7th, 2010 Joe Sixpack
Johnny Brenda’s just posted a beer event at Philly Beer Week’s calendar for Saturday, Jan. 30th. The event features the following:
- Sly Fox Incubus
- Weyerbacher Merry Monks
- Stoudt’s Triple
- Manayunk Triple (Monk from the ‘Yunk)
- Iron Hill Triple
- Riverhorse Triple
- Flying Fish Exit 4
- Legacy Euphoria
- Victory Golden Monkey
- Dock Street Prisoner of Hell
The name of this event? The Trouble with Tripels.
Posted in Beer etc., Events | 1 Comment »
January 5th, 2010 Joe Sixpack
 
For a second I thought/hoped this was a legit invention, circa 1934. “Your favorite beverage on tap all the time. Invaluable in traffic jams or on Sundays.”
Not sure where it was originally published, but it did get me thinking that, in this age of mad mothers, point oh eight and interlocks, no one even makes jokes about drinking and driving.
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January 4th, 2010 Joe Sixpack
Here’s a great time-waster: The Vintage Ad Browser. Among its 100,000+ ads are about 2,000 beer oldies. This one is from Budweiser’s 1930s campaign that urged drinkers to try Bud for 5 days. “On the sixth day, try to drink a sweet beer. You will want the Budweiser flavor thereafter.” (The largest of the medals in the ad is from the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial.)
Posted in History, Beer etc. | No Comments »
December 27th, 2009 Joe Sixpack
The Eagles game on the tube is a fine distraction to the necessary chore of cleaning out the in box. For what it’s worth, here’s what I found:
- Wrap Shack Kitchen & Bar (120 S. 18th St., Rittenhouse Sq.) proprietor Scott Hockfield has “mastered the art of the boilermaker,” according to the press release. It’s 7 bucks for a shot in Yuengling or Coors Light, 8 if you care to obliterate DFH 60 Min. IPA or Sam Adams Winter Lager.
- Yards has revived its classic Old Bart barleywine (10.3% abv). Look for its debut during starting New Year’s Eve:
- Dec. 31 - Dawson St. Pub (Manayunk)
- Jan. 1 -Devil’s Den (South Philly)
- Jan. 2 - Varga (WashWest)
- Jan. 3 - Swift Half (Northern Liberties)
- Jan. 4 - Local 44 (West Philly)
- Jan. 5 - Hulmeville Inn (Buxco)
- Jan. 6 - Standard Tap (Northern Liberties)
- Jan. 7 - Kite and Key (Franklintown)
- Jan. 8 - Pub & Kitchen (Graduate Hospital)
- Jan. 8 - London Grill (Fairmount)
- Jan. 9 - Pub on Passyunk East (South Philly)
- Tsingtao Brewery has signed a multi-year agreement with the Cleveland Cavaliers to become the exclusive Chinese beer of Quicken Loans Arena, the Cavaliers home court.
- Latest one-off from Weyerbacher: Hotel, an imperial porter (8.2% abv).
- Philly brewers get down.
- Headed to Clearwater for spring training this year? Philly expatriate Jim Keaveney is opening a Belgian-style gastropub in Sarasota, Fla.Â
- For reasons I have no clear handle on, good beer is in short supply at most gay bars. But here’s one with a decent lineup: the Westbury (261 S. 13th, Center City). Currently on tap:
- Victory Golden Monkey
- Harpoon Winter Warmer
- Rogue Double Dead Guy Ale
- Stoudt’s Scarlet Lady
- Long Trail Imperial Porter
- Philadelphia Brewing Newbold IPA
- Hoegaarden
- Philadelphia Brewing Walt Wit
- Harpoon IPA
- Troegs Mad Elf
(Good bottles, too.)
- Memphis Taproom (Port Richmond) has added a vintage bottle list to its menu. Among the highlights: 10-year-old Rochefort, ‘05 Orval and ‘04 Hanssens Gueuze.
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December 24th, 2009 Joe Sixpack
Tria Cafe (11th & Spruce, WashWest & 18th & Sansom, Rittenhouse Square) has an incredible deal for holiday shoppers, if you can make your way over there today by 4 p.m.: Buy a $100 gift certificate for a pal and get a $25 gift card for yourself. Or keep the $100 card and give the other one to a drinking buddy - he won’t know the difference.
Here are a few other ideas I mentioned in a column a couple weeks ago:
- Look for “Beer Lovers Britain” by Jeff Evans of InsideBeer.com ($9.98) or Bob Skilnik’s “Does My Butt Look Big in This Beer” ($7) at DrinkHealthyDrinkSmart.com.
- For a great laugh, download the audio version of “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell” by Tucker Max at Audible.com.
- Make sure you never forget a gift again: Sign your pal up for a membership in a beer-of-the-month club. I can recommend BeerOnTheWall.com and RareBeerClub.BeverageBistro.com, both of which ship into Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.*
*Obligatory warning: state law (72 Pa. C. S. Section 9011) continues to prohibit the receipt or possession of beer that has not been properly taxed, thus banning home delivery of beer by mail. It’s the experience of both Joe Sixpack and many Pennsylvania beer drinkers, however, that the regulation is not strictly enforced against individuals. Proceed with caution.
Posted in Beer etc. | No Comments »
December 22nd, 2009 Joe Sixpack
Tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon, Resurrection Ale House (2425 Grays Ferry Ave., Grays Ferry) will be tapping a cask of Munich Dark from Harpoon. This is one of my favorite styles (though I prefer it in warm months), and Harpoon’s is absolutely one of the best.
The local connection? This firkin was dry-hopped with hops grown in the Port Richmond backyard of Harpoon’s local beer rep, Sean Hamel. He picked them himself and sent them up to the brewery in Boston, which gave this German-style lager better known for its malt an English-style hops treatment.
Tapping is expected about 3 p.m. - sounds like a good stop after work or a break in holiday shopping.
Posted in Beer etc. | 1 Comment »
