July 12th, 2008 Joe Sixpack
Spent an hour or so at the Khyber (2nd and Chestnut, Old City) Friday afternoon and it occured to me I could’ve spent all day there. Check out this taplist:
- O’Reilly Stout
- Sprecher Black Bavarian
- Weyerbacher Slam Dunkel
- Southern Tier IPA
- Cricket Hill Lager
- Troegs Sunshine Pils
- Ithaca Cascazilla
- Climax Cream Ale
- River Horse Hop Hazard
- Franziskaner Hefe
- Legacy Fat Boy
- PBC Walt Wit
 Wow. Honestly, if you went into a bar and found just ONE of these beers on tap, you’d be happy.
On the off-chance that a couple of these are kicked by the time you read this, the on-deck list includes Middles Ages Beast Bitter, Victory 10 Year Alt, Brooklyn Summer and Long Trail Double Bag.
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July 7th, 2008 Joe Sixpack
I finally had a chance to stop in last week at The Institute, the new beer joint at 12th and Green in the Brandywine section of the city (that’s just a block north from the Ridge & Spring Garden intersection). Owners Heather and Charlie have done a tremendous job fixing up the place - definitely worth the visit.
For some, the neighborhood is going to seem dicey on the first visit. Abandoned houses, vacant lots, broken glass - the whole drill. Strange, because five blocks east, west or south puts you into some seriously upscale real estate. Suburbanites, especially, see this and think crime. In fact, the neighborhood - and others like it - aren’t nearly as rough as they look. The people hanging out on the street? By and large, they’re decent, law-abiding people - just like you and me. They are not predators, they are neighbors.  Remember, fear is a product of ignorance.
My advice: Stop in and have a chat with Heather and Charlie, and ask them why they’re so confident in the future of their neighborhood.
The beer? The tap list on my visit was Yards Philly Pale, Sly Fox Weisse, Ommegang Hennepin, Founders Red’s Rye and Centennial IPA, Bear Republic Big Bear Imperial Stout, Philly Brewing Walt Wit and Kenzinger, along with Yuengling, PBR and Miller Lite.
The Walt Wit was a pleasant surprise for me. The first time I tasted it, Walt Wit (which probably has the coolest tap handle in town) seemed thin and kind of average. This time around, there seemed to be more body and a bit more of a spicy punch. On a hot day, it was a beautiful thirst-quencher. I’ll hit that one again soon.
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June 18th, 2008 Joe Sixpack
Phillies fans know Andy Musser’s greatest call came on Oct. 4, 1980, the day the Phils clinched the division on an 11th-inning home run by Mike Schmidt against Stan Bahnsen and the Montreal Expos. His second-greatest call?
It might come on July 1st when the former Phillies announcer, now Anchor Brewing’s rep in these parts, makes a guest appearance at Jose Pistola’s (263 S. 15th St., Center City). It’s part of a month-long celebration of American beer at the Center City tavern. Word is that Musser will be doing play-by-play of publicans Casey Parker & Joe Gunn behind the bar.
Casey’s at the tap… here’s the pour… deep into the pint glass… it’s foaming, it’s foaming, it’s foaming… it’s all over the bar! Casey strikes out.
Or something like that.
The rest of the month’s events:
- July 10 - Lobster bake with Allagash from Maine.
- July 16 - Blue Point oysters with Blue Point beer from Long Island.
- July 22 - All-Star game with dollar dogs and Ommegang from Cooperstown.
- Aug. 7 - All-you-can-eat crabs and Heavy Seas from Baltimore.
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June 16th, 2008 Joe Sixpack
One of my favorite bars in the world is getting a facelift this summer. Dawson Street Pub (Cresson and Dawson streets, Manayunk) will get a new bar, dining area and kitchen, and the patio is being converted into a beer garden.
Expect an enhanced menu and live music, but you can say goodbye to the pool table.
Renovations have already begun (new barstools!), and the place will be shut down for a week or two later this summer.
The beer? Owner Dave Wilby is hoping to add another three taps and he says not to worry, Dawson Street’s three handpumps will stay.
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May 21st, 2008 Joe Sixpack
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Here’s yet another bar opening in a fringe neighborhood. Look for The Institute to open at 12th and Green in the next two to three weeks.
Once known as “Brandywine,” this is a neighborhood - north of Spring Garden, east of Broad, south of Girard, west of 9th Street and the rail viaduct - with a seedy, occasionally dangerous rep. I covered at least a half-dozen murders there in the ’90s, most tied to its incredibly shabby PHA units. It’s home to the city’s biggest gun shop and its biggest intake center for the homeless.
But if you’ve driven up 13th Street lately, you know the section is changing. Those old housing units were bulldozed long ago and replaced with tidy public housing. The expansion of Chinatown has brought a bunch of suppliers to the vicinity. The continuing development along N. Broad Street has spurred a bunch of loft rehabs (so many, in fact, that Realtors are calling it the Loft District).
I think we’ve got a trend here. Like Fishtown and that Newbold section of South Philly (scene of earlier urban frontier taverns), the neighborhood’s housing is relatively inexpensive, it’s close to Center City and near public trans. Is The Institute on the cutting edge of the city’s next hot, new neighborhood? Hell if I know - I write about beer.
Speaking of which, here’s The Institute’s initial rundown: Twelve taps, including Founders Centenial IPA, O’Reilly’s Stout, PBC Walt Wit and Kenzinger, Flying Fish Farmhouse Summer Ale, Sam Adams Cherry Wheat, Troegs Hopback or Sunshine Pils, plus a handful of macros. No kitchen initially, but maybe something by the end of summer.
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May 2nd, 2008 Joe Sixpack
This week’s column looks at how beer (and, in this case, Johnny Brenda’s Tavern) helps build a neighborhood. Of course, my loving, loyal readers in Fishtown are already griping because I didn’t mention their favorite holes. Â
Meanwhile, my local rag - the Roxborough Review - continues publishing a series of pieces from, of all places, Burkina Faso, by a former staffer who’s posted there with the Peace Corps. Never mind why a paper whose distribution doesn’t reach beyond Northwestern Avenue would devote so much space to an impoverished African nation - the reports are absolutely fascinating. This week’s, linked here, mainly focuses on brewing dolo in the village of Zogore. It’s made with sorghum in big, plastic trash barrels.
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April 29th, 2008 Joe Sixpack
This one avoided my radar till just now… Nima of Shangy’s tells me that South Philadelphia Taproom (15th & Mifflin) is hosting a Bell’s beer blowout on tap starting at 8 p.m. on Thursday. Ten different drafts from the Michigan brewery will be pouring, including Oberon, Two Hearted, Double Cream, Expedition, Pale Ale, Amber Ale, Sparkling Ale, Lager of the Lakes, Porter and Cherry Stout.
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April 29th, 2008 Joe Sixpack
PHL is the best beer-drinking aiport in America, according to the May/June issue of Draft magazine.* The piece mentions Jet Rock’s 48 taps in Terminals B,C,D & F, but according to the Brew Lounge at least one of those was turned into a Chickie’s & Pete’s last year. Anybody know the current status?
No matter, locals know the best beer at the airport is at the Independence Brewpub in the B-C connector. It’s not really a brewpub but it features many local drafts. Uh, never mind - Bryan Kolesar of the Brew Lounge reports that closed, too, and may now be a (gasp) wine bar.
The rest of Draft’s list:
- Mineapolis-St. Paul
- JFK
- Boston Logan
- Seattle-Tacoma
- LAX
- Salt Lake City (!)
- Dulles
- Denver
- Portland
- Cincinnati
- St. Louis
- Cleveland
- AtlantaÂ
*Disclosure: I write for Draft mag, but I didn’t have anything to do with this list.
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April 28th, 2008 Joe Sixpack
Reader Dave Dougherty sent along some snapshots from the primary campaign. On election eve, President Clinton dropped in at Chickie’s & Pete’s in South Philly. That was the night the Flyers dropped Game 6 to the Caps, which may explain the expression on the young lady in the middle.
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April 15th, 2008 Joe Sixpack
While heading down Pattison Avenue toward the ballpark for Jackie Robinson night at the Phillies, I found myself behind some guy in a green t-shirt advertising Casper’s Place on Cottman Avenue.
The cartoon ghost on the shirt is shown saying, “No spooks allowed.”
Please don’t tell me it’s an innocent joke; I’m not stupid. Only a dipshit wears a shirt like that. It’s easy to chalk it up to just one of those things, but I still wonder: How, in the 21st century, does anyone who conducts business with the public even think of printing a t-shirt like that? Honestly, the city Human Relations Commission nearly shut down Geno’s Steaks for less.
Until I hear otherwise, I’ll just assume the answer is, “Because I’m a racist asshole.”Â
So, I’ll ask two other not-so-rhetorical questions:
- Why would anyone do business with a bar that publicly expresses such vile sentiments. I’m not talking about just the customers here, either. One would presume that Anheuser-Busch, Coors and Miller would have some concern about their products being associated with that kind of message.
- How does this bar still have a liquor license - a license that is presumably issued in the “public interest”? The Pennsylvania LCB, which I know reads this blog, should take a closer look at Casper’s Place.
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