Manayunk Brewery and Restaurant (4120 Main St., Manayunk) is serving a free Thanksgiving dinner to singles and families in need on Thursday. Dinner is noon to 4 p.m., includes turkey and all the fixings, with live jazz by Orleans. It’s open to everyone - pass the word. Info: 215-482-8220.
The other night I went bar-hopping to a bunch of places I’d been meaning to visit.
First was Tavern 17 at the Radisson (220 S 17th St., Center City), which isn’t actually new. But it had been at least 6 months since I was there, and I was there to work out details for an upcoming book-signing appearance. Just a heads up for big beer fans: Victory Storm King imperial stout was pouring. By the way, the old coffee shop on the other side of the Radisson lobby is now an acual coffee bar, which is to say they serve booze with the joe.
Prohibition Taproom (501 N. 13th St.) opened a couple weeks ago just a block from the Daily News building. It’s run by the same couple who operate the nearby Cafe Lift, one of my favorite workplace lunch spots. Walking up 13th street on a foggy, damp night, the neon BAR sign looked straight out of a David Goodis novel. I had a plate of fresh, beer-battered green beans ($5) and my first pint of Sierra Nevada Celebration of the year. Also on tap:
The Tiedhouse (20th & Hamilton, Franklintown) is the new, quasi “tied house” from Gen. Lafayette Inn & Brewery. My visit here was quick (no food, just a pint of Novemberfest), but it looked like the taps poured pretty much everything Chris Leonard has brewed in the past year. Some nice non-Gen. beers, too - I’ll return soon for a closer look.
Pub & Kitchen (20th and Lombard, Graduate Hospital section). This is the former Chaucer’s, which was a very good neighborhood bar. P&K is going the gastropub route, with linen napkins and an imaginative menu from Philly mag chef of the year Jonathan McDonald. I enjoyed the sauteed chicken breast and homemade biscuits and gravy with a glass of Yards Brawler. Make your way to the neighborhood today (11/21), and you’ll be treated to the the restaurant’s first Firkin Friday - Yards ESA & George Washington Tavern Porter on cask. Pair them with an outstanding bar menu of duck liver toasts, white fish “Roll Mops,” boiled eggs with sea salt; calamari cocktail; Oyster Crackers and horseradish; malt vinegar potato crisp; pork cracklings; and marinated olives, just 2 bucks per plate.
Just got back from Teresa’s Next Door (126 N. Wayne Ave., Wayne) and I’ve gotta post the tap list before my scribbled notes become entirely indecipherable. (Note: It was a special Sly Fox night, with brewery Brian O’Reilly in the house.)
From Sly Fox:
My two favorites from SF were the Perle, a meaty, nicely hopped ale that rounded out nicely when served from via the hand pump, and the Abbey Extra, which I’d describe as a Belgian abbey blonde posing as a tripel - hugely flavored with a mellow body and low alcohol. Think Triple Karmeliet, only you can drink it all night.
The rest:
Hello? Try to figure how you’d work your way through this list and still make it out the door without resorting to your knees. Just outstanding. In a great moment, I walked to my car with Patrick Mullen from Sierra Nevada and glanced up and noticed that the Boathouse, the fine beer bar from Conshy and Malvern, has opened a third location just a few doors down from Teresa’s. I couldn’t even manage a look at its tap list. We’re talking suburban Wayne, here, folks.
Many of these beers will be gone by you stop by, but fear not. Friday night (11/21), Teresa’s will be hosting a New Holland tasting. And then on Monday (11/24) it kicks off Hoppin’ Frog Week, with big-time brews (including B.O.R.I.S. the Crusher) from the Akron brewery.
I’m lining up appearances (i.e. excuses to drink) in conjunction with the publication of my new book, “Christmas Beer.” Of course, each location will be serving plenty of great seasonal favorites.
Drop in, grab a beer, grab a book. Here’s the calendar so far:
(Note: If you’re a bar owner serving Christmas beers and winter warmers and would like organize a holiday event, drop me a line at joe@joesixpack.net)
By my count, Iron Hill has won 5 Great American Beer Festival medals for its distinctive lambic beers. Chances are, though, you’ve never had an opportunity to taste them because they’re rarely served at their brewpubs.
Word arrived today, however, that Iron Hill will release four of its lambic styles in bottles. In addition to its Kreik de Hill, you’ll be able to get your hands on 750ml bottles of their Framboise, Cassis and straight Lambic. They’re a bit steep at $24.50 (375ml @ $13), but I can tell you these are primo beers that hold their own against traditional Belgian lambics in the same price range.
The bottles will be available at just two of the Iron Hill locations following a pair of kickoff tastings, where you can sample the flavors and chat with the brewers.
Jeff Roberts, America’s leading curd nerd, is returning to Philly for a couple beer-and-cheese events next month.
The Allentown & Bethlehem Brew Works just announced the return of an old local favorite, Neuweiler Ale. The beer, once brewed in Allentown, was most recently made by Ortlieb’s in Philly before it shut down in the 1980s.
This new version was developed by the Brew Works’ Beau Baden, in conjunction with Joe Ortlieb. Together, according to the press release, they went through “a recipe development process to capture the historic qualities of the hometown favorite with slight updates for modern brewing equipment. ”
I have vague memories of Neuweiler’s as one of those value brands that wasn’t particularly full-flavored but was at least different from the usual dreck. I think the most common variety was a cream ale, which James D. Robinson’s “Connoisseur’s Guide to Beer” (1982) described as having “a sweet vegeta-metallic aroma, sweet malt taste with undertones of decayed vegetable material.” Hmmm…
According to the press release, Neuweiler’s Sons was the first brewery in America to introduce a special process of dry hopping, providing extra aroma and bouquet. The new beer is described as an American-style amber ale, dry-hopped with Cascades hops, with a copper color, a toasted malt flavor followed by a crisp pleasant bitterness and piney hop aroma. “It is similar to beers like the iconic New Belgium’s Fat Tire or Pyramid’s Copper Peak. ”
Look for it to be released officially on Wednesday (11/19) at a press conference at the Brew Works’ Allentown location (free samples!). Bottles should be on local shelves soon.
Dock Street Brewery (50th & Baltimore, West Philly) offers a nod toward the city’s oldest-standing tavern with its freshly tapped Man Full of Trouble Porter. The beer’s description notes: “This brown porter was brewed with ‘old-world’ style in mind. Black and chocolate malts create its deep mahogany appearance and creamy nutty flavor. A blend of American Centennial and English Fuggles hops lends a delicate hop presence.”
Now, if we could only get the University of Pennsylvania to do something with this old tavern. The mammothly endowed school was bequeathed the colonial-era Man Full of Trouble building at 2nd & Spruce 14 years ago and, other than a few necessary improvements to keep it from falling apart, has done squat with the treasure. Little or nothing has changed since I wrote this two-and-a-half years ago.
Over recent months, I’ve heard from at least two parties who are interested in working out some kind of deal with the school - either a purchase or lease - that would re-open the building to the public. No word on their progress, but I’m not holding my breath.
Personally, I’d like to see it used in connection with a program to celebrate the city’s taverns’ role in the founding of our country. But anything has got to be better than Penn’s misuse of public trust in its stewardship of this property. Letting it sit vacant for so many years is irresponsible and a missed opportunity.
If Amy Gutmann’s listening: YO! Wake up and do something with the Man Full of Trouble. We can talk about it over a porter at Dock Street.
Imitation is the sincerest form of plagiarism flattery, and so comes word of yet another beer week. This one is in Baltimore, which is, in truth, a damn, good beer town that mostly flies under the radar. I even like the slogan, which recalls Baltimore’s heritage, e.g. Natty Bo.
“Baltimore Beer Week - Celebrating craft beer in the Land of Pleasant Living”
More details here. And here. And here. And I’ll update things, too, because a week of beer in nearby Baltimore sounds like a great road trip. Mark your calendar: Oct. 9-17, 2009.
If you’ve lost count, the success of Philly Beer Week also inspired:
And, because they did it first (on a considerably smaller scale): Charlotte Beer Week
Merchant du Vin’s monthly newsletter contains some obvious but often-forgotten thoughts about bottled beer. Yes, the advice is self-serving because much of MdV’s beer (notably Samuel Smith) is available in bottles only. But it’s worth sharing:
Remember to ask for the bottled beer list next time you are out at a pub or restaurant.
Draft beer is great: some beers are only available in kegs, the packaging is reusable, and look at the money that breweries spend on tap handles: the wacky shapes, the lights, the full-figural full-color artwork, the motion features, the extreme materials . . . they want to catch your eye!
We just want to point out that every beer account should also have a selection of bottles, for several good reasons.
Variety: It’s quite easy to add a bottled beer to a bar’s offerings - the management doesn’t need to bump off a beer, as they must when adding a draft beer.
Opportunity: Customers benefit from the chance to try something different - maybe something very special that might not sell enough volume for a draft line. And the bar has the opportunity to sell something that not only makes the customer happier but yields a “vertical selling opportunity” - a higher selling price. A benefit to the consumer and to the bar owner? That’s a win-win.
Style: Sometimes a draft beer is just different from the bottled variety. It may be the conditioning (carbonation level) or it may actually be a different beer in composition. Plus, the carbonation level in a keg is affected by the draft system’s dispense pressure, especially as the level in the keg drops. Some styles - especially those with very high or very low carbonation - are more reliable in a bottle.
Drama & presentation: Many bottles of beer have labels that are information-packed, or that have really great art on them. Other bottles may be fine custom glass; they may be cork-finished; they may have a foil capsule; they might have a fun or quirky crown cap. In the case of a bottle, the customer has a personal interaction with the brewery’s effort, hard work and magic: by holding the bottle in their hand, they hold a little piece of the brewery.
Bottle-conditioning: A tapped cask-conditioned keg has quite a short shelf life, maybe only a day or two at peak. Bottle-conditioned beers - consumed at one sitting - have a very long shelf life. Some bottle-conditioned beers improve with age.
Portion control: Sold and counted in units, bottles are easier to control at the rare pub that has “inventory shrinkage” issues . . .
Offer the benchmarks: When customers want to compare a new beer to a classic, why not make it easy for them? We think every bar in America should probably have Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale, Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock, and Lindemans Framboise Lambic . . . but we may be biased. If you operate a pub or restaurant that doesn’t offer these beers, we have the solution for you: simply order in a case of each and make sure your server and bartenders know they are available. Then your customers will let you know what they think of these beers, via their big tips and big smiles.
I like that idea of the benchmarks. What else would you add to that list? Here’s a few imported standards that I think excel in bottles:
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