Beer Radar

A new brewpub for Philly?

Tom Kehoe at Yards Brewing tells me he’s going before a neighborhood board in Northern Liberties next week with plans to put a brewpub in his brewery at Poplar & Delaware. He’s thinking of something small with a limited menu.

To me, this is a no-brainer. The brewery is located in the midst of the Delaware Ave. nightclub scene. And, there’s yet another condo tower being built on the river, just across the street from the brewery. While Yards’ main enterprise is obviously a production brewery, failing to add a retail business at the location would be missing the boat. Plus, a brewpub would fit in perfectly in what is one of the best beer scenes in the city (Standard Tap, 700, N. 3rd, Abbaye, Ortlieb’s Jazz Haus, Foodery, Druid’s Keep…).

Meanwhile, there’s notable progress at the brewery. Many tanks are up, more are on the way. The bottling line has been assembled, grain silos are up and many plumbing lines are installed. It’s looking like the first test batches are a few weeks away.

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GABF circa 1876

More than 100 years before the Great American Beer Festival began judging brews out in Denver, Philadelphia hosted the Centennial Exposition, a six-month world’s fair on the grounds of Fairmount Park that attracted 10 million visitors. At Brewers Hall, scores of beer-makers brought in their brews for a summer of judging.

I wrote about the event two years ago, and mentioned some of the award winners, including Phillip Best (now Pabst; that’s how they got the name “Blue Ribbon”) and Philly’s Bergner & Engel.

What else won? Google finally got around to scanning the full report of the 1876 Exposition. I’ve copied down the beer awards and attached a .pdf below.

Unfortunately, brand names are not included - but check out the brewers who sent beer to Philly: Dreher, Pschorr, Blatz, Aass, Labatt, Anheuser, Ind Coope and more. You’ll find ale from Burton on Trent, Bohemian pilsner, even ale that was aged at least 5 years. It’s a quick, fun list to scan.

1876 centennial exposition awards for beer

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“He buried that beer…!”

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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Moonshine

There’s a full moon shining Wednesday night, and that means there’s another Full Mooner beer tasting. This one’s at J.L. Sullivan’s Speakeasy, the downstairs joint at the Bellevue (200 S. Broad St.) that’s the former home of Zanzibar Blue. The tasting features beer from Lancaster, River Horse, Dogfish Head and others. Suggested donation: $10. Beer pours: 7-10 p.m.

Trivia: June’s full moon is called a “Strawberry Moon,” apparently because it’s strawberry-picking time.

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New look at Dawson Street

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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This week’s column and more

It’s a Q&A with Pennsylvania’s newest brewer, Jim Koch of Boston Beer. Between his company’s new plant outside of Allentown and its contract brewing deal at the old Rolling Rock plant in Latrobe, I’ve gotta guess that by next year most Sam Adams beer will be brewed in Pennsylvania.

For maximum enjoyment of today’s column, pick up a dead tree copy, hop onto SEPTA and head up to the Grey Lodge for this year’s only Friday the Firkinteenth. At last count, Scoats had two dozen different casks lined up for the elbow-to-elbow tasting. The list and more details are here.

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Beertown USA?

While researching a story about retro beer for All About Beer mag, I came across a curious fact: The No. 1 market for Pabst Blue Ribbon in America is… Portland, Oregon.

Yes, Portland - the same city that boasts 32 microbreweries and says it has the highest percentage of local craft draft beer consumption in the country. Even with all that great beer, it’s the leading consumer of a piss-yellow lager made in some Miller factory. Weird.

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Jay Misson, R.I.P.

Bryson is reporting that Triumph Brewing’s Jay Misson passed away last night.  I’m told Jay was just 48 years old. No report on the cause, yet.

I’m speechless. We shared beers last Thursday night when he invited me over to tap the brewery’s first summertime keg of hefeweizen. Seems kind of eerie to think that death was right around the corner… Of course, isn’t that always the case?

I’ll raise a toast to Jay tonight and damn the gods for taking him from us so soon.Vous pouvez jouer