Beer Radar

Philly Beer Week t-shirts and hats

Here’s the logo we’ve created for this year. Look for shirts and caps at participating bars and at Opening Tap.

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Philly Beer Week Featured Event(s)

As the deadline for bars and breweries to sign up for Philly Beer Week approaches, I’ve been waking early to tackle the job of reviewing and posting events on the calendar. We’ll surpass 500 separate events sometime today, which is just incredible to me.

Here’s a few random, disjointed thoughts…

• I love the sense of humor of bar owners. The Irish Pol’s 40 taps had been the city’s largest list, but this week it was bested by the City Tap House’s 60 in West Philly. As part of beer week, the Pol is running a $4 special on every single beer it pours at “the home of the most taps east of the Schuylkill River.”
• At last count, there were something like 88 brewers attending events. There’s actually more, but we’re listing only one per brewery;  some - like Yards, Philly Brewing, Dogfish Head and Yuengling - are represented by more than one. Among the bigger names coming to town: Jim Koch, Adam Avery, Tomme Arthur, Rob Tod, Phil Leinart, Frank Boon, James Watt, Phin DeMink, Fred Matt, Kjetil Jikiun, Eric Wallace, Brendan Moylan, Jean Van Roy and Simon Poynton. And, yes, Sam Calagione will be here, too.
• If you missed out on getting tix to Belgium Comes to Cooperstown, it’s not too late. Ommegang, which has been a big supporter of Beer Week (thanks Larry and Megan). will be raffling off tickets at several events around town. Find all of their events on the “Breweries” page at PhillyBeerWeek.org.
• We created a new event category: Music. Don’t know why we didn’t think of this earlier, but beer-drinking and live music are a natural. Johnny Brenda’s will host Black Landlord on 6/5. There’s also music featured at events at Prohibition Taproom, the Irish Pol, Bridgid’s, Grace Tavern and Fergie’s.
• Best new beer name for the week: Fatty Boombalatty, from Furthermore. Cracked me up, and Jordan at Bella Vista says it’s dynamite.
• Memphis Taproom is throwing down the keg mallet again with its No Repeat Week, which is to say every keg they tap all week will be a different one. Last year they ran out 128 separate brands in 10 days.
• Looking for something different? Mango Moon (4161 Main Street, Manayunk), the wonderful Thai tapas restaurant, will be featuring some interesting Asian beers throughout the week.
• And, finally, say HELLO!  to the newest participant in Philly Beer Week: Delilah’s. 

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Philly Beer Week promo on 6-ABC

In preparation for Philly Beer Week, FYI did a really nice piece on three great Philly beer stops: The Yards Tasting Room, Atlantis: The Lost Bar & the Wishing Well. Take a look! (Give the video a chance to load.)

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Meanwhile in Lancaster County

I caught up with Christian Heim, the former brewer at Lancaster Brewing, in a phone conversation over the weekend for a column for Beer Advocate mag about one of his beers, and during our conversation he filled me in on his ouster from the brewery late last year. According to Heim, he and head sales guy John Franz, who both had skin in the brewery’s operation, had a falling out with the majority partners over the future growth of the brewery.

Heim said the crux of the dispute was a 100,000 square foot former Hanover Foods facility that he and Franz own. They wanted to move the brewery into the facility as part of a significant expansion; their partners - the Keares Restaurant Group - wanted to go in another direction, he said.

Heim said he and Franz are still pursuing plans to open a brewery in the building, which he described as ideal for a brewhouse. The story has a familiar (e.g. Yards/PBC) ring to it, so - like that split-up - maybe this will all work out for the best.

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Philly Beer Week Featured Event

I’m a big fan of offbeat events, and there’s nothing more offbeat than Grey Lodge owner Mike (Scoats) Scotese teaming up with beer writer Lew Bryson for a smackdown.

• Scoats and Lew’s Upstate PA Brewery Haul
• Grey Lodge Pub,6235 Frankford Ave., Mayfair
• June 6, 6:00 PM, PAYG

Features brews from Lew and Scoats’s  haul from a very long day trip through upstate PA, picking up interesting sixtels usually not found here in Philly.

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6 great beers this week

1. Weyerbacher Double Simcoe  @  Brady’s (Trevose, Buxco) Crowne Plaza Beer Fest, tonight.
2. UFO Raspberry Hefeweizen @ Civera’s Deli (Drexel Hill, Delco) Harpoon tasting, today, 5 p.m.
3. Lancaster Spring Bock @ Johnny Brenda’s (Fishtown) Don’t Block the Bocks, Saturday (5/8), all day.
4. Troegs Dreamweaver @ French Quarter Bistro (Royersford, Chesco) Brewhaha Fest, Saturday (5/8), all day.
5. Expedition Stout @ Tria Fermentation School (Center City) Bell Brewery & Cheese class, Wednesday (5/12), 6:30 p.m.
6. Holy Moses White Ale @ Fingers Wings & Other Things (Conshy, Montco) Great Lakes tasting, Wednesday (5/12), 7:30 p.m.

About these beers… this is just my way of plugging upcoming events and the outstanding beers being served throughout the region. You can buy all the beer you like and guzzle at home, but there’s no better place to drink beer than at a bar. Get off your butt… visit a favorite, discover a new joint. If you’re just a beer drinker like me, sign up for my weekly newsletter by visiting JoeSixpack.net.  I share this and other great info every Friday!

If you’re a tavern owner in Philly, drop me an email about your events and the beer you’re serving. It’s joe (at) joesixpack.net.

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Kraftwork opens Friday

I got a sneak peak at Kraftwork,  Sidecar owner Adam Ritter’s new joint in Fishtown (541 East Girard Ave., at Montgomery) yesterday, which is to say I barged into the place with a few friends and demanded beer. This place is really sharp, featuring a very industrial, heavy metal look - very appropriate for the neighborhood.

That’s a giant handsaw hanging over the U-shaped bar. I forgot to ask who crafted it, but it’s a thing of beauty, decorated with cut-outs of hop buds. At the front end of the bar, looking out on Girard Avenue, you can see a portion of the tap handles. There are 25, including a hand pump. (I got only a quick look at the lunch and dinner menu, but it appears ambitious.)

Adam told me he’s been holding onto kegs for several months, including what I imagine is one of the few remaining local barrels of HopSlam, which I imagine will kick the night the place opens officially.  I also spied a tap handle for Hitachino Nest, which Adam hopes to pour regularly.

For those who are unfamiliar with the neighborhood. Kraftwork is a very walkable seven mostly short blocks from Johnny Brenda’s, along Girard. Yes, the turf may look a bit grimy, but it’s relatively safe for peds. The bar is a few doors down from the local police district.

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Philly Beer Week update

It’s just 30 days till Philly Beer Week, and traffic at PhillyBeerWeek.org is beginning to pick up. We just signed up our 100th official participant (welcome Resurrection Ale House!) and logged the 200th event.

With two weeks till the deadline for registration by participating venues, those numbers will swell big time. And we’re just a few days from announcing a couple cool, new features at the web site.

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Philly Beer Week Featured Event(s)

Historic Kennett Square, home of one of the area’s most popular annual beer festivals, has jumped into Philly Beer Week with a new event:

• Beers on Broad Street
• Saturday, June 5
• 1-5 p.m., Tix $50

Each brewery will provide 3-4 different beers from their portfolio and will feature at least one “Connoisseur” quality beer that you have come to expect from the Kennett Brewfest.  Here’s the ticket link with more info.

And you can get a head start on the festivities on Friday night (6/4) when Shaun Hill of Hill Farmstead Brewery stops by The Kennett Flash (102 Sycamore Alley) for a fun night of food, beer and music.

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Philly Beer Week Featured Event(s)

This one cracks me up: Lord Chesterfield himself will be visiting town during Philly Beer Week. I have no idea what they have up their sleeve, but you can catch the namesake of Yuengling’s famous Lord Chesterfield Ale (and great beer specials) at several locations throughout the week, including:

•  6/9 - Elephant & Castle (Center City) - 5 p.m.
• 6/11 - Draught Horse (Temple U.) - 5 p.m.

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