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.
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:
*Disclosure: I write for Draft mag, but I didn’t have anything to do with this list.
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.
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:
If you want to win votes in Pennsylvania, you better show us you can drink. This month I’ve marveled while watching Barack Obama sip Yuengling and Hillary Clinton polishing off a whisky.
Marveled? Well, yeah, after 8 years of a turd who raises toasts with ice water.
Last week, the Brewers Association posted its annual list of the top 50 American craft brewers. You can see it here. It’s missing one very big name: Anheuser-Busch.Â
Yes, the multinational corporation whose sales account for 48.5 percent of domestic beer sales is actually one of America’s leading so-called craft brewers. At least, that’s the claim in the company’s annual report: “With significant investments in craft beer, including long-standing alliances with Widmer, Redhook and Kona and more recent agreements to distribute Goose Island, Old Dominion and Fordham, Anheuser-Busch is now the third-largest player in the craft beer segment and sucessfully added regional brands that provide scale in opportunity markets.”
“Scale in opportunity markets” is corporate speak for Here’s a way to make a buck while the rest of our brands tank.
‘Nuff said.
Figure on two weeks till the opening of the Memphis Taproom (2331 Cumberland St. at Memphis, Port Richmond). I stopped by this morning and caught a large crew hard at work, finishing tables, installing lights and - in the case of Leigh Maida at left - actually vacuuming the sidewalk.
Chef Jesse Kimball (right), formerly of Matyson and Lacroix, gave me a peek at the planned menu - it’s much more extensive than you’d expect from a neighborhood tavern. Look for artichokes marinated in IPA, tempura butternut squash, leek fondue, a ploughman’s lunch and lots of vegan dishes. And, in a nod to the neighborhood’s ethnic roots, the Port Richmond Platter features pierogies, potato pancakes and kielbasa from Czerw’s.
But you’re here for the beer, right? Here’s the tentative lineup for opening day (subject to last minute glitches): Philly Brewing Kenzinger, Monk’s Sour Flemish Ale, Yards Philly Pale Ale, Sprecher Black Lager, Victory Whirlwind Wit, O’Reilly’s Stout, Lagunitas IPA, Ace Perry, Poperings Hommel and Nodding Head 60 Shilling on cask.
And what about co-owner Brendan “Spanky” Hartranft (center)? Journalistic objectivity requires me to report that he didn’t actually pick up that broom until I pulled out my camera.
By the way, while Googling Leigh and Spanky, I turned up their very nice personal website. Check it out here.
I’ll be doing my first bookstore reading of “Joe Sixpack’s Philly Beer Guide” at 7 p.m., Saturday (4/12), at Barnes & Noble in Plymouth Meeting. We all know how thirsty you get when you talk about beer, so I’ll bringing some bottles along to sample. And, yeah, you can have a taste, too.
I have several more readings scheduled throughout the area, which I’ll post in coming days.
We should be seeing some new beer in Philly by early summer following the arrival of the new Roy Pitz brewery out in Chambersburg. Co-owner Ryan Richards says he and his partner, Jesse Rotz, are planning a June 7th grand opening and expect to be sending beer our way shortly thereafter.
Both Richards and Rotz, who went to school together at West Chester U., are Siebel-trained; Richards also studied brewing in Germany. They worked briefly at Victory Brewing, then Twin Lakes down in Delaware.
The brewery is in an old sewing machine factory that was built in the early 1900s. It’ll be keg-only at first, possibly adding bottles and - who knows? - a brewpub. “Right now, our focus is just selling fresh beer in the vicinity - Chambersburg, Shippensburg, Gettysburg, maybe Carlisle - plus West Chester and Philly,” Richards told me. (Stockertown Bev. is handling local distribution.)
The beer? They’ll start with two out of the gate: White Horse Hefeweizen and Lovitz Lager (described as a light lager flavored with locally grown watermelon). Later you can look for a rauchbier and an imperial IPA.
And what about that name - Roy Pitz? It’s from some cockamamie story about conjoined twins who lived in the area in the 1700s. I dunno whether I buy the tale, but to paraphrase Smuckers: With a name like Pitz, the beer better be good.Â
April 7th is the 75th anniversary of the return of beer in America. This week’s column looks back at how Prohibition moved toward Repeal with one of the great marketing schemes of all time - the introduction of Budweiser’s famous Clydesdales.
Chicago historian Bob Skilnik once again cautions that the end of prohibition didn’t come till Dec. 5th, 1933, when Utah became the 36th state to adopted the 21st Amendment. Tell that to the crowd below, which celebrated around the Clydesdales on April 7th in midtown NYC.
Meanwhile, Anheuser-Busch has posted the national radio address that August A. Busch Jr.’s presented at 12:01 a.m. on April 7th, 1933. Pretty cool.
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