At the opening party for the tasting room at Yards Brewing, artist Jen Roder was showing off some very cool jewelry made from recycled bottle caps. Featuring the logos of many brands, her earrings were a fine example of beer as a work of art.
You can check out her work at rotorcaps.com.
How many of brands can you identify?
Yards Brewing is close to taking a giant step across the Delaware, with a new brewpub in the Camden County borough of Merchantville, N.J.
The brewery, Philly’s largest, is in talks with the borough to open the pub in the old PNC Bank building (below) at 9 S. Centre St. The borough purchased the 80-year-old building earlier this year through a $1.2 million bond issue, and holds a liquor license for the property.
“We felt that we’ve got a nice, older building with a lot of character,” Merchantville Mayor Frank North told me this morning. “A brewpub would be the right thing for that building, and the right thing for the town… We have a lot of young families and a lot of young professionals coming to Merchantville. This would be a place for them to have dinner and relax and help vitalize the downtown.”
For Yards, the brewpub would be an effective means of spreading its brand to New Jersey - a big priority as it expands production. The Northern Liberties brewery is currently working to open a pub in its production facility on Delaware Avenue.
No word on how long this project will take to come together. Talks over financing and lease negotiations are underway. The big plus is that the borough holds the necessary liquor license, which is always a huge impediment for would-be restaurant and tavern developers.
For Jersey beer lovers, the development would be one more step in the region’s slow but positive evolution as a decent beer destination. Merchantville is just 10 minutes down the road from the soon-to-open Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant in Maple Shade. And the borough itself is already home to the Blue Monkey (2 S. Centre St.), which pours 24 taps (including Founders, Stoudt’s, Sixpoint, Weihenstephan, Maudite, Flying Fish, Chimay, Corsendonk…)
My pal Tony Donato will be playing Sunday with his band, The Flathead Gang, at Earth Bread + Brewery in Mt. Airy. No cover & lots of beer - sounds like a plan.
Here’s a fun night of collaboration: On Thursday night, Earth Bread + Brewery (7136 Germantown Ave. , W. Mt. Airy) is turning over its taps to Philly Brewing. This is basically the equivalent of, say, Geno’s selling cheesesteaks from Pat’s.
But beer is friendlier than meat, and so for one night starting at 6:00, Philly Brewing’s best will pour from EB+B’s taps. The spigots include PhilaBuster, Phillyz Navidad and Joe Porter.
PBC’s Chris (The Enabler) Morris and co-founder Nancy Barton will be your guest bartenders.
Just a quick note for anyone who tried to get in the door at Bethlehem Brew Works this week: the joint will re-open this afternoon. The kitchen was hit by a small fire forcing the brewpub to shut down for 5 days during the busy holiday season.
Doors open today (12/12) afternoon at 4 p.m.
Manayunk Brewery and Restaurant (4120 Main St., Manayunk) is serving a free Thanksgiving dinner to singles and families in need on Thursday. Dinner is noon to 4 p.m., includes turkey and all the fixings, with live jazz by Orleans. It’s open to everyone - pass the word. Info:Â 215-482-8220.
By my count, Iron Hill has won 5 Great American Beer Festival medals for its distinctive lambic beers. Chances are, though, you’ve never had an opportunity to taste them because they’re rarely served at their brewpubs.
Word arrived today, however, that Iron Hill will release four of its lambic styles in bottles. In addition to its Kreik de Hill, you’ll be able to get your hands on 750ml bottles of their Framboise, Cassis and straight Lambic. They’re a bit steep at $24.50 (375ml @ $13), but I can tell you these are primo beers that hold their own against traditional Belgian lambics in the same price range.
The bottles will be available at just two of the Iron Hill locations following a pair of kickoff tastings, where you can sample the flavors and chat with the brewers.
Dock Street Brewery (50th & Baltimore, West Philly) offers a nod toward the city’s oldest-standing tavern with its freshly tapped Man Full of Trouble Porter. The beer’s description notes: “This brown porter was brewed with ‘old-world’ style in mind. Black and chocolate malts create its deep mahogany appearance and creamy nutty flavor. A blend of American Centennial and English Fuggles hops lends a delicate hop presence.”
Now, if we could only get the University of Pennsylvania to do something with this old tavern. The mammothly endowed school was bequeathed the colonial-era Man Full of Trouble building at 2nd & Spruce 14 years ago and, other than a few necessary improvements to keep it from falling apart, has done squat with the treasure. Little or nothing has changed since I wrote this two-and-a-half years ago.
Over recent months, I’ve heard from at least two parties who are interested in working out some kind of deal with the school - either a purchase or lease - that would re-open the building to the public. No word on their progress, but I’m not holding my breath.
Personally, I’d like to see it used in connection with a program to celebrate the city’s taverns’ role in the founding of our country. But anything has got to be better than Penn’s misuse of public trust in its stewardship of this property. Letting it sit vacant for so many years is irresponsible and a missed opportunity.
If Amy Gutmann’s listening: YO! Wake up and do something with the Man Full of Trouble. We can talk about it over a porter at Dock Street.
For reasons that are too boring to explain, I’m a member of the British Guild of Beer Writers (America doesn’t have one), and as a result I get all kinds of great newsletters and info from England. Something called “The Intelligent Choice: The definitive guide to the cask ale market” just arrived. It’s a fairly in-depth brochure with lots of ideas on promoting the sale of real ale.
I like this one, from Nigel Barker, who runs a place called The Wellington in Birmingham, where cask ale accounts for 75 percent of all sales (including spirits and food). The place moves so much beer, the blackboard beer list over the bar had to be constantly updated; it looked a mess. So, Barker reports, “I got a mate who works in IT to create this system for me. We’ve got a 42-inch plasma screen now that’s linked to our stock-taker and constantly updates the selection. It’s also linked to our website. There are people who have it as their screensaver, and when they see an ale they want to try, they’re straight in here at lunch time.”
I know at least a half-dozen local beer freaks (myself included) who’ve tried to organize updated tap lists at local bars - and all of them ultimately gave up because bar owners don’t want to deal with the hassle. I understand that, but if a bar is going to go to the trouble of updating its list on a chalkboard, why not take a minute to input the info online?
And imagine the database that Philly would have if, say, 50 different bars agreed to update and share their tap lists.
Meanwhile, take another look the ABVs on that Wellington beer list. Not one over 6 percent.
Hard to believe while we’re knee-deep into Halloween and the World Series, but Christmas is right around the corner. In a matter of days, you’re going to start seeing the likes of Anchor Christmas, Troegs Mad Elf and Sierra Nevada Celebration on the shelf.
You can get into the spirit early with a special Mt. Airy Learning Tree class on Christmas Beers & Winter Warmers that I’ll be conducting on Nov. 12th at Earth Bread + Brewery, the new brewpub on Germantown Avenue. I’ll be talking about the incredibly long and curious history behind the most special ales and lagers of the season, made as a gift to beer drinkers around the world. With plenty of flavorful examples of the style, the course examines the history, culture and techniques behind these exotic beers. We’ll discuss everything, from whether Santa Claus belongs on a beer bottle to the unusual, secret flavors in your glass.
There are still a few seats left, but you have to reserve them now. Just click here.
By the way, I stopped by Earth Bread + Brewery last night for a few drafts and caught up with brewer Tom Baker, who was busily making pizzas the entire time I was at the bar. He tells me his inaugural Biere d’ Earth is about to kick, which means he’ll be moving an abbey dubbel into the rotation. Also headed to the taps: an alt.
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