January 26th, 2010 Joe Sixpack
West Philly’s beer scene (or University City, at least) continues to grow. Word arrived that the City Tap House (3925 Walnut St.) expects to open in late February or early March. It’s from the same group that runs the Field House near Reading Terminal and Logan Square’s Public House and Mission Grill.
Andy Farrell, formerly of Bridgid’s, reports he’ll be overseeing the beer program, and he forwards this note from Gary Cardi, one of the owners:
 City Tap House will be providing 84 draft lines with 42 imported and domestic craft beers. Al Paris will be the Executive Chef and has put together a great looking menu with an rustic bistro style feel. We will have a large outside seating area with not only table service but fire pits for lounging and cocktails. We are looking to do acoustic music 4 or 5 days a week, and have a very laid back and rustic feel to it all.
 City Tap House is going to be located on Walnut between 39th and 40th on the second floor of the Radian building. This building is the show piece of University City and we are their premier feature. Gordon Dinerman, formerly of the Starr Group (Barclay Prime), will be leading the charge as our General Manager. We are looking to put together a great opening staff. I’m sure everyone knows somebody who would fit the bill and be an asset to the team, whether it be a server, busser, runner, bartender etc…Â
Please have any referrals drop off resumes at the Sterling Building- between 18th ad 19th on JFK, fourth floor, Suite 480.
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January 18th, 2010 Joe Sixpack
One of the city’s longtime craft beer supporters is finally putting himself behind a bar. Bruce Nichols, owner of Museum Catering, will be opening a new location, a beer bar in Society Hill in March.
It’ll be called The Headhouse (122 Lombard St., the former location of Zot).
He describes the style as “global comfort food” with an oyster bar and a focus on the great craft beers from Philly and beyond. It’ll have a event space for parties, plus more than twenty taps on two floors.
Though this will be Bruce’s first bar, it’s certainly not his first foray into great beer. Bruce is the guy who brought Michael Jackson to Philly for the annual tasting at the Penn Museum. (Michael fell in love with Philly and frequently declared it was his favorite beer-drinking destination.)
And, of course, Bruce was one of the founders of Philly Beer Week. He’s also my partner in Philly Beer Fests, which runs a bunch of local beer events.
Speaking of which, the legacy of that Michael Jackson tasting continues in March with one of America’s leading beer experts: Randy Mosher, author of the superb “Tasting Beer.” Here’s the details:
20th Anniversary Jackson Beer Tastings
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Penn Museum
Tutored seatings at 1:00, 3:30, and 6:00
Tickets: $50, $60 at the door if available
Theme: Beer As Art
Each of three one-hour tutored sessions will be followed by two hours of open tasting of more than 100 additional beers and beer-friendly edibles by Museum Catering Company.
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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.
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January 7th, 2010 Joe Sixpack
As first reported by Michael Klein, Philly’s original beer bar is for sale. Formerly known as the Khyber Pass, the Old City joint has been a beer mecca since the mid-1970s. There’s been a bar at the location since about 1870.
Oh yeah, and this guy once ran the place.
What’s to happen to this gem? Who knows. But someone should tell the buyer that the “very old oak bar” referred to in the sell sheet is a remnant from a cherished chapter in Philadelphia history. It originally stood in the Brewers Pavilion at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial.
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December 13th, 2009 Joe Sixpack
I am constantly amazed at the beer selection at Bridgewater’s Pub, the bar at 30th Street Station. Here’s what I found on Friday before heading over to the Penn Museum for XFEST:
Draft
- Franziskaner Dunkelweizen
- Cricket Hill Hopnotic
- Spaten Christmas Bock
- Corsendonk Christmas
- Anchor Our Special Ale
- Port Santa’s Little Helper
- Flying Dog Pale Ale
- Long Trail Imperial Porter
Bottles
- Maredsous 10
- Lancaster Winter Warmer
- Ayinger Weizenbock (and paper-wrapped bottles of Aventinus ‘03)
- Scaldis Noel
- St. Feuillien Cuvee de Noel
- Delirium Noel
- Samuel Smith’s Winter Warmer
- Gouden Carolus Noel
- Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
- Yards Philly Pale Ale
- Plus at least 3 varieties of Innstadt.
Bridgewater’s is not a neighborhood tavern. It’s a pass-through kind of place, a great stop on the way home on SEPTA regional rail, a perfect place to greet out-of-town visitors who arrive by rail. So while it may not be one of those hot local destinations, it’s absolutely a terrific asset in the Philly beer scene - totally worth your support.
Oh, and the menu is really good - no need to graze the station’s food court.
I’ve had some great beers in train stations in other parts of the world - notably Munich, Salzburg and (surprisingly) Blois, France. Union Station in D.C. has a pretty decent bar (and it’s next door to Capitol City Brewing). But I can’t think of any station bar with an equal to Bridgewater’s beer selection.
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September 16th, 2009 Joe Sixpack
FooBooz polled local writers, drinkers, bloggers for their favorite bars and came up with this fine list. Every one of them belongs in the top 50 - I can’t say there’s a loser in the bunch.
A few observations:
#1 Standard Tap - Remarkable: the No. 1 bar isn’t in Center City.
#2 The Pub on Passyunk East - This is the hipster vote talking. Great place, and lately they’ve been hosting lots of interesting beer events. It’s high ranking is an indication of what I’d recently told a friend: South Philly’s beer scene can now match Northern Liberties’. In addition to POPE, check out SPTR (#7), Sidecar (#8), Royal (#10), Cantina Los Caballitos (#33), For Pete’s Sake (#49), and even Ray’s Happy Birthday (#18), which makes the list for its decidedly retro appeal.
#14 The Grey Lodge - There are an estimated 450,000 people living in Northeast Philadelphia, and this is the only decent bar north of Allegheny Avenue? Cripes, even South Jersey can do better than that. OK, Three Monkeys in Torresdale is pretty decent, but after that the Greater Northeast is w-a-a-a-y behind the curve.
#29 The Khyber - The city’s oldest beer bar seems off the radar these days. Johnny Brenda’s (#13) has supplanted it as the music/beer venue of choice, it seems. Still, I love the Khyber and its el-cheapo lunchtime menu.
#32 Teresa’s Next Door - the highest-ranked suburban bar, and an indication that FooBooz most certainly focused on city types. Nothing wrong with that. The fact is, there are still far more decent beer places in the city than in the ‘burbs. But for those who haven’t ventured beyond City Avenue lately, grab the R5 to Paoli and make a day out of Teresa’s, plus Flying Pig (#45) and TJ’s (#47).
MIA: If you’re tuned into the beer geek channel, the two biggest no-shows here is Capone’s and Eulogy.
The former is way out in the ‘burbs (Norristown), and - despite its ranking by RateBeer.com at one point as the No. 1 bar in the world - is not really a great bar. Its takeout beer selection is phenomenal and Matt Capone runs all kinds of outstanding draft specials. But regardless, it’s is still a suburban family restaurant at its heart.
What about Eulogy? That’s hard to judge. In beer geekdom, there’s been a Monks vs. Eulogy battle going on for years. But I don’t think that’s the case here because other than a handful of beer writers, the poll’s respondents aren’t tuned into that scene.
Others missing: Fergie’s, Triumph Brewery, Abbaye, Devil’s Den, the Institute, Belgian Cafe, Kite & Key, O’Neal’s, Sugar Mom’s, Union Jack’s (whose bottle selection in Manayunk is superb), Earth Bread + Brewery, Flanigan’s Boathouse (Conshy), both Drafting Rooms (Springhouse & Exton), Brownie’s, McGillin’s, The Dive, Old Eagle and Race Street Cafe.
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September 4th, 2009 Joe Sixpack
Monk’s Cafe (16th & Spruce) re-opens tonight. While the Belgian bar’s back room will remain closed, pending further structural repairs to the building, the front bar and dining room are good to go.
The bar shut down for 5 days after a man died and a woman was critically injured when they fell four stories from a fire escape above the restaurant. While the accident was unrelated to Monk’s, the bar was forced to close as the building’s owner repaired a number of licensing violations.
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July 25th, 2009 Joe Sixpack
In a pleasant development, McGillin’s Old Ale House - prepping for its 150th anniversary - has added a new tower with 7 taps behind its downstairs bar.
Actually, it’s only 6 (1 is devoted to root beer), but the 6 they were pouring last night really amped up what was already a decent selection: Flying Fish Exit 11, Magic Hat Lucky Cat, Brooklyn Cuvee de Cardoz, Appalachian Abbey Road, Ommegang Rare Vos and Sixpoint Righteous Rye.
Add those to a local lineup that includes at least one style from practically every brewery in the Philadelphia area.
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July 23rd, 2009 Joe Sixpack
I’ve been working on a book project while planning for Philly Beer Week ‘10 PLUS Philly Oktoberfest ‘09, so Beer Radar has been lagging a bit lately. But that’s not the only reason I’m turning over today’s dispatch to a reg’lar Joe Sixpack reader.
Gettysburg beer fan Mark Purdy had emailed me for some advice on a local pub crawl. I gave him a few ideas and he did the rest. Here’s his (slightly edited) report. If you’re headed for Philly sometime soon, bookmark this entry!
Yo Joe, awhile back you were kind enough to help me out with a planned walking tour, starting at 12th and Spruce. Well, we completed the trek this past Saturday and while we didn’t get to every one of your suggestions, we did pretty well…
As you pointed out, Tria was right across from our hotel. We were tempted to start there but I was afraid we’d never leave. So I elected to save it for last. Instead, after a nutritious breakfast at the Reading Terminal Market’s Down Home Diner, we walked over to the Old City area where we were among the first customers of the day at Eulogy. The beer was great (had a Leffe, which the knowledgeable bartender very diplomatically explained was an In-Bev product) and the atmosphere was cool, starting with the Drink Good Beer sandwich board out on the sidewalk. Truly a classy place. Great bar discussion on Marvin Gaye and why vinyl still sounds better than digital. Honest.
Then, it was on to Brownie’s, where we enjoyed a Walt Wit (great summertime choice, in my humble view) and very friendly conversation with the female bartender. Great place.
From there, it was back a bit to Sugar Mom’s after a look at Christ Church. I was happy to find O’Reilly’s Stout on tap, one that’s long been on my to-try list. It did not disappoint. I’ve drunk Guinness in Ireland, and I think O’Reilly’s is better. Need to visit that Sly Fox Brewery someday. Aside from my sister in law (who “doesn’t like basements”), we loved Sugar Mom’s. One of our party got a Walt Wit which was kind of flat and a little sour (and I never send food back - ever) and he told the bartender, who replaced it without any question. (Learned that from your book.)
We were then on to McGillin’s Old Ale House, where I can’t remember what I had. Pretty sure it was another Sly Fox product, Pikeland Pils perhaps? We liked McGillin’s, where we struck up an immediate conversation with a few patrons and really enjoyed that. Saw your book on display in the case by the stairs.
As we made our way back, I was most curious about our next stop - Dirty Frank’s. You had described it as “incomparable.” We could think of nothing so eloquent. What a place. Total, uncontrived cool. We played the juke and dived into multiple Kenzingers. When it was time to go and the bartender scribbled up the tab on the back of a scrap of paper (badly underestimating our tab, we thought) we left him a 90 per cent tip and swore we’d be back. I have no doubt of that. A classic.
Then, back to Tria. While some members of our party headed for an all-you-can-eat steakhouse, I was delighted to end the day with a few appetizers, a great sandwich and a fabulous Victory Schwartz. My wife, two daughters, and a few others loved it as well.
The next day, it was out to the ballpark for my big day. Long story - but won first-ball honors at Fan Appreciation Day last September. We have Sunday season tickets. (I only needed one $6.75 Flying Fish Pale Ale to calm my nerves before the pitch.) A great weekend, Joe. I thank you for your guidance. Still need to get to Monk’s, Johnny Brenda’s, Caribou Cafe, Plough and Stars…
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July 14th, 2009 Joe Sixpack
I stopped in last night at Megan’s Good Grub & Pub, Atlantic City’s first so-called “American gastropub.” It’s on the Boardwalk next to the huge empty lot where the Sands stood (and where the $1 billion Pinnacle casino was to be built till the economy took a dive).
The good news is the food is excellent. I had a plate of shrimp and grits ($13) that was outstanding. It reminded me of a dish of savory polenta, only nuttier. I’m going to ask Mrs. Sixpack to try her hand at it.
The place bills itself as a pub, but it has less warmth and character than a TGIFriday’s. It’s decorated with the kind of wacky decor that seeks to be ironic but comes off looking like the owner gave the company credit card to his girlfriend and sent her to the Rt. 70 Flea Market.
And the beer? It’s all crap on tap, which means they’ve likely cut themselves a nice deal on kegs. As for bottles: lots of Bud stuff, plus Magic Hat #9 and Sam Adams Boston Lager - nothing unusual there. Also, no Jersey microbrews, which means the distributor has his head up his ass.
But then it takes a weird turn: I actually had to ask the bartender what that bottle was behind the bar, next to the SNPA.
“Um, you mean the barleywine?”
“You’ve got Bigfoot Ale in bottles? Who the hell drinks barleywine on the beach?”
A closer look at the bottle lineup also revealed S.A. Imperial Stout and Ommegang Three Philosophers. That’s three bottles in the range of 10 percent alcohol.
When they’re still sitting there, untouched, 3 months from now, the owner’s going to say, “See, nobody drinks good beer at the shore.”
I finished up and headed down the Boardwalk to Firewaters (inside the Tropicana on the lower level near Hooters), where they’re serving no fewer than 4 German hefes on tap. Now, that’s beach beer.
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