December 29th, 2007 Joe Sixpack
Bridgewater’s Pub at 30th Street Station. Name another Amtrak station in America that can match this stupendous draft selection:
- Flying Fish Hopfish
- Corsendonk Christmas
- Spaten Holiday Bock
- Fullers ESB
- Hofbrau Lager
- Franziskaner Dunkel-Weisse
- Lancaster Lager
- Bell’s Amber Ale
Can’t find something you like? Check out these bottles:
- Anchor Xmas
- Baltika 3
- Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA
- Samson Dark
- Longtrail Hibernator
- Okocim Pale
- Sierra Nevada Celebration
- Abita Restoration
- Delirium Noel
- Rochefort 6 & 8
- Young’s Double Chocolate Stout (can)
Also, you don’t have to wander out into the food concourse to find something worthwhile to munch. The pub’s menu is quite good and fast. I’ve been in and out of train stations all through the east, and nothing - not even Washington’s Union Station - matches this selection.
Note to travelers: The clock is set 7 minutes fast, so you don’t miss your train.
Posted in Beer etc., Tavern | No Comments »
December 7th, 2007 Joe Sixpack
I promised you Christmas beers - in the spirit of today’s column, here’s a blast from the past. A 1995 sixpack of something called Anheuser-Busch Special Christmas Brew. Nice looking bottles (bought ‘em off Ebay), but I tasted one and after 12 years, it’s shot.
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December 7th, 2007 Joe Sixpack
This week’s column takes a look at Santa in beer ads. It’s not beer, but one of my favorites is this Time mag ad for White Rock Ginger Ale in the 1930s, with St. Nick happily sucking down a bottle of whiskey while reading the kiddies’ letters.
Posted in Weekly column | 1 Comment »
December 6th, 2007 Joe Sixpack
Jack Curtin is reporting that the operators of Heavyweight Brewing, the South Jersey brewery that closed last year, are planning to open a brewpub on Germantown Avenue in Mount Airy, not far from McMenamin’s.
They’re planning a late-March opening (maybe we can speed ‘em up so they’re pouring by Philly Beer Week).
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December 6th, 2007 Joe Sixpack
Just a quick note - it looks like there are four seats left for my talk tonight at Tria Fermentation School. Here’s the lineup (all GABF award winners):
- Stoudt’s Weizen
- Sly Fox Pikeland Pils
- McKenzie Vautour
- Iron Hill Lambic
- Dogfish Head Midas Touch
- Nodding Head Grog
- Victory Festbier
- Troeg’s Troegenator Double Bock
- McKenzie Wee Heavy
Not too shabby, huh?
Posted in Beer etc., Events | 1 Comment »
December 5th, 2007 Joe Sixpack
Bob Skilnik, the Chicago beer historian, would like you to know that today - not April 7 - is the appropriate day to celebrate the end of Prohibition. So get out there and lift a pint: Happy Beer Day!
Meanwhile, here’s why we should be worried about them taking our beer away from us again.
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December 5th, 2007 Joe Sixpack
Remember a few weeks ago when I wrote about how all those beer freaks got up early on Sunday morning just for a taste of Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout on tap? Well, Capone’s (224 W Germantown Pike, Norristown) just tapped a keg of its step-brother, Founders Breakfast Stout (the non-barrel-aged version of KBS). It’s part of a day’s worth of specials that also includes:
- Great Divide Hercules Double IPA, Fresh Hop, Oak Age Yetti and Old Ruffian Barrel-Aged Barleywine
- Rogue Charlie J.L.S. 1981
- North Coast Old Rasputin (nitro)
- Sprague Farms Lighting Rod
- Breckenridge Vanilla Porter
Posted in Beer etc., Events | 1 Comment »
December 4th, 2007 Joe Sixpack
Here’s a new holiday treat: Samichlaus Helles. I just got word from Karl Stohr, whose family runs Castle Eggenberg brewery in Austria, that this “lighter” version of the classic Santa Claus beer was made especially for the American market. “I don’t want to cannibalize Samichlaus in other countries,” Stohr writes. “America is the best market for Samichlaus.”
I’ve read elsewhere that this is he first time this version has been made in 20 years - I honestly don’t remember that one. The Helles pours much paler than the original Samichlaus. And by original, I mean the 10-year-old bottle from Hürlimann (its original Swiss brewer) that I compared it with over the weekend. It’s still quite strong at 14 percent alcohol, but the body is just a bit lighter; it’s a sipper but dangerously drinkable.
Here are the German technicals from brewer Thomas Lugmayr:
- MALT: Variation aus Pilsner-, Münchner- und Karamelmalzen
- HOPS: Gehopft mit Hallertauer – (Magnum, Perle), Mühlviertler- (Malling) und Tettnanger Hopfen (Tettnanger)
I didn’t dig up my notes from my visit to Eggenberg last year to see how that varies from the dark Samichlaus.
By the way, Thursday is St. Nicholas Day, which is the one day of the year when they brew Samichlaus. Here’s my report from last year.Â
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December 2nd, 2007 Joe Sixpack
I haven’t had a chance to get out to Pa. Dutch country lately, but I thought I’d pass along the news that Iron Hill’s 7th location opened this week. It’s at 781 Harrisburg Pike in Lancaster across from Franklin and Marshall College campus. Head brewer is Paul Rutherford who you might remember was Larry Horwitz’s assistant up at Iron Hill’s North Wales location.
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December 2nd, 2007 Joe Sixpack
Trying to keep up with winter beers can be a bit of a task. At left is Shipyard’s Winter Ale, which had been brewed since 2000. This year the Portland, Maine, brewery discontinued the beer (an ESB), and relabeled its excellent Prelude Ale (middle and right) as its official winter beer.
I think.
Shipyard’s website says it’s also still brewing Longfellow Winter Ale, a porter which I’ve never seen down here in Philly. I’m guessing they need two different winter beers just to make it to spring up there in Maine.
In any case, I’m a huge fan of Prelude, a nutty, warming English-style winter warmer. Prelude takes its name, by the way, from an annual Christmas celebration in Kennebunkport, Maine.
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