April 29th, 2009 Joe Sixpack
Mark your calendars: Philly Beer Week is June 4-13, 2010.
Yes, we moved it from the first weekend of March. Believe me, this was an incredibly difficult decision, particularly because we had such great success in March over PBW’s first 2 years.
Why did we move it?
Conflicts with other dates, mainly. Many pub owners and distributors felt they were already busy on the weekends leading up to St. Patrick’s Day. Moving PBW would give them an added bang. There was some concern that responsible craft beer lovers are wrongly confused with the chug-and-puke crowd of the Erin Express. (Classic: I’m told that at the Good Dog, Erin Expressers - who were banned from the bar - referred to us as Beer Week Yuppies. Gotta love it.)
Additionally, the Zythos Festival in Belgium is the same weekend, which not only prevents Belgian brewers from visiting Philly (a/k/a Brussels on the Schuylkill), but also presents problems for Belgian importers and distributors. Further, the annual Flower Show - held the last week of February, first week of March - prevents PBW from ever expanding into the Convention Center.
And then there’s the weather. We were extremely lucky this year - the night of Opening Tap was one of the nicest days of the year. But in ‘08, we opened with a miserable storm. And it’s only a matter of time before the week is snowed-under or iced-over.
I opposed the move, mainly because I felt we’d already established ourselves in March. As one local bar owner, who also opposed the move, told me last night: “You don’t get off the winning horse in the middle of a race.”
Why June?
That was the other challenge - if not March, when?
- Moving it into February was deemed untenable because of the weather and the Flower Show.
- Late March, early April runs into the Easter holidays - a perfectly good excuse to drink, in my opinion, but a bad time for out-of-town travelers, who tend to stay at home with their familes. The NCAAs are also in full swing then, making it a busy time for bars.
- May is graduation time, an exceptionally difficult period to book hotels in the city. Toss in Mother’s Day and Memorial Day, and you’ve got even more scheduling problems.
That brought us to June, which is not without its conlicts: Father’s Day, the bike race and a huge outdoor festival in Manayunk. I think PBW can work off all of those, however. I mean, if a guy can’t get a pass to spend the day drinking beer on Father’s Day…
The big plus for June, however, is the weather. Now, we can do more of our beer drinking outdoors. Some of the week’s best events - bike rides, beer-runs, sumo wrestling - are a lot easier to promote in 80-degree sunshine than under 35-degree overcast skies.
So… that’s the thinking that went into moving the date. Agree? Disagree? Personally, I don’t think it’ll matter on June 4th, 2010.
Posted in Philly Beer Week | 6 Comments »
March 23rd, 2009 Joe Sixpack
We’re looking for feedback on the week’s events. If you remember anything, kindly visit this site to fill out a very quick survey.
Do it because:
- We’ll use it to organize next year’s event.
- Your name will be entered into a drawing for free tix to next year’s Opening Tap.
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March 15th, 2009 Joe Sixpack
Here’s a quick heads up for those who’ve made it to the final day of Philly Beer Week: A very limited number of general admission tickets will be made available this afternoon at the Zythos America Belgian beer fest at the Penn Museum.
Although the event sold out yesterday, some tickets have been set aside for last-minute beer drinkers (yes, that’s a redundancy).
The tickets are $55, an excellent deal for an event that includes food and samples of more than 80 different Belgian beers. These tix will go on sale at 3 p.m.
More details about the festival here.
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March 13th, 2009 Joe Sixpack
That’s Nate Gefvert, winner of last night’s raucous Philly Beer Geek contest at the Manayunk Brewery. Sponsored by the Spinnerstown Hotel, Nate is a walking beer encyclopedia. He aced his exam and correctly identified the names of all three beers he sampled during a blind tasting - very impressive.
As a member of the judging panel, I gotta say I was blown away by the beer knowledge of all 5 finalists. It’s kinda scary knowing that this town is crawling with so many beer geeks (no wonder I get all those emails correcting my mistakes).
While Gefvert took home the title (and about $1000 worth of beer schwag), the most impressive performance may have belonged to runner-up Steve “The Human Growler” Hawk of the Grey Lodge Pub, who somehow convinced his girlfriend to dress up like a beer bottle so that he could propose to her on bended knee.
Yet another great, fun event during Philly Beer Week. More details here.
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March 10th, 2009 Joe Sixpack
Tom Peters of Monks Cafe & I hog much of the ink during Philly Beer Week, but there’s a third guy behind the organization of the event: Bruce Nichols of Museum Catering. He’s the one who brought Philly the Michael Jackson tutored tasting for so many years, he was the key player who developed PBW’s relationship with SEPTA, and it was his bright idea to hold Opening Tap at the Comcast Center.
This morning, we finally dragged Bruce onto TV. Catch his rundown of new beers released just for beer week. (Sauerkraut?). Link here.
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March 9th, 2009 Joe Sixpack
I’m leading an R5 Beer Tour on Wednesday to some of the Main Line’s best beer bars. Wanna join me? Grab your SEPTA Beer Week pass and meet us along the way.
Here’s the schedule:
- 3:00 p.m. Meet at Bridgewater’s, 30th St. Station.
- 3:19 p.m. Depart 30th St.
- 4:04 p.m. Arrive Malvern (Flying Pig)
- 4:57 p.m. Depart Malvern
- 5:01 p.m. Arrive Paoli (TJ’s Everyday)
- 6:00 p.m. Depart Paoli
- 6:11 p.m. Arrive Wayne (Teresa’s Everyday)
- 6:44 p.m. Depart Wayne
- 6:52 p.m. Arrive Rosemont (Gullifty’s)
This is an informal tour - come and go as you like. But if you think you’d like to join, shoot me an email: don@joesixpack.net
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March 7th, 2009 Joe Sixpack
People always ask me: How did you come up with the idea for a beer column? From now on, I’m going to show them this photo, from last night’s Opening Tap. (I’d like to say they’re all watching me on the stage, but I’m guessing this was just about the time Mayor Nutter was bashing Yards brewer Tom Kehoe’s thumb with the Hammer of Glory.)
Every journalist in America wants to cover the beer beat.
Photo by George Widman
Posted in Philly Beer Week | 3 Comments »
March 6th, 2009 Joe Sixpack
Word is the H.O.G. has arrived at the Grey Lodge Pub to begin its formal relay to tonight’s Opening Tap. Here’s the schedule:
- 03:00pm Grey Lodge - bike. Rider is Pete LaVerghetta
- 03:45pm Philly Brewing Co - Fishtown Beer Runners!
- 04:15pm Johnny Brendas - Big Wheel Brigade
- 04:45pm Yards - Philly RollerGirls
- 05.00pm Standard Tap - Trophy Bike to provide transport to next stop
- 05:30pm Institute - Carried by wheel barrel
- 06:15pm Jose Pistolas - Baby Joe Gunn will be carrying the torch to Nodding Head
- 06:30pm Nodding Head - Tandem bicycle, navigated by Nodding Head assistant brewer Mike Fava and the Greatest Beer Drinker in the Entire History of Philadelphia, Ben Franklin.
- 07:00pm Comcast
 You can follow its precise progress here.
Of course, when you’ve got a tool this big, you need to deliver it with a certain panache. Here’s the hand-off toast:
Noble carrier, we entrust you with The Hammer of Glory, the all mighty symbol of our beloved Philadelphia Beer Week. May your journey be safe. Work ye up a thirst, for there shall be a beer waiting for you at your destination. Godspeed!
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March 6th, 2009 Joe Sixpack
The brewer at Gen. Lafayette made an appearance on Good Day Philadelphia this morning, and he brought along the fabled Hammer of Glory. Here’s the link.
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March 5th, 2009 Joe Sixpack
6-ABC did a nice report on Philly Beer Week this morning. You can watch it here. Make sure read news anchor Matt O’Donnell’s Top 10 List, too. Not too shabby:
- Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
- Rogue Shakespeare Stout
- Victory Golden Monkey
- Unibroue La Terrible
- Pilsner Urquell
- Chimay Red
- Tongerlo Double Blonde (!)
- Guinness Draft/Harp Lager half-and-half
- Duvel
- Yuengling LagerÂ
I wouldn’t kick any of ‘em out of my fridge.
And, while I’m thinking of it, here’s another nice interview, conducted by KYW’s Paul Kurtz (a certified beer geek) with Tom Peters of Monk’s Cafe.
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