Philly Beer Week 2013 (May 31st - June 9th)

I had the day off and didn't have any other events planned. I wanted a specific bar seat and a specific set of beers. Unnecessary to you, maybe. Fun for me though The bar did fill up very slowly though...I am guessing a lot of people were stuck at work. If this had been a weekend it would have been twice as insane. I'll be interested to hear how the barrel house event goes tonight.

 

DUIs for intoxicated horse and buggy drivers are not a rare occurence in Lancaster County. Not sure what the Philly laws are, but it's possible there's an old law on the books.

 

Are not rare.

Drunk Amish/ Mennonite!!

 

No, they wont be on tap on Friday, Especially Bois and Sans Paige

 

Seems like my last dozen or so escapades to victory had been more fruitful than a higher than average Phila Beer Week event.

I'm not going to hate on the(you) players(haha) I'm going to hate the game. Shit is messed up.

 

How was funky buddah at bainbridge?

 

Really low key until right after 9. Decided to go at 8:30 and got bar seats. Service was excellent. It seems like a lot of people have been complaining about the sweetness of FB beers so not as many people are attending the events this year. The only beer that I found to be too sweet was the rice Krispies ale but it was still worth trying.

 

I arrived with daughter #1 at 8:55 and met up with daughter #2 and her friend who got there 10 minutes earlier and grabbed us a table. We placed our order at 9:05 and began to wait. Polite apologies every 15 minutes as our waiter dashed by. By 9:30 most everbody in the bar seemed to have their Buddha with some folks getting a 2nd round and folks walking in off the street getting pours within 5 minutes. We finally got some brews on our table by 9:45 but they forgot a Last Snow and a Raspberry Berliner plus we got a Nib Smuggler instead of a Bonita. By then the Raspberry and Bonita had kicked with our hoped for substitute Passionfruit also gone. We did manage to get a Last Snow but in a smaller, half filled snifter. They did offer to re-fill our empty water glasses.

I never quite figured out what the problem was. I was most bummed for daughter #2 and her friend as they both were freshly 21 and this their first Funky Buddha which i had of course praised to the sky. It was hard for me to be too upset sipping on the extraordinary Last Snow but after waiting 40 minutes the service had reached a surreal level of incompetency. I guess someone always has to be the last served but folks walking in at 9:30 and others getting seconds!?

Oh well, it's Philly Beer Week so all is good.

 

Their table service during events seems pretty slow for whatever reason unlike bar service. I'm not sure why. Sometimes when I'm waiting at the bar watching tons of glasses go to tables, I don't feel like that's a bad thing though.

 

I have come to the conclusion that for the vast majority of beer related establishments that good beer and good service or common business sense are often mutually exclusive. I am exhausted by the common expression that you see all too often for limited releases that _______ brewer never thought the release was going to be so popular and so well attended. Really? Now for events like this, you read about way too many instances of poor service, setup, etc. It is unacceptable and until people simply vote with their pocketbook, things probably won't change.

Maybe it is just because I have spent 30 years working with Fortune 50 companies and the fact that I am generally cantankerous by nature, but the one thing that top enterprises have in common is some level of vision and business modeling or forecasting. The shit storms that you read about here routinely would NEVER be accepted and NEVER take place at these businesses. I have come to the conclusion and am over generalizing but the people who run the places that we talk about non-stop here are simply not the sharpest bulbs in the garden. I really wonder how much planning and thought goes into limited beer releases, events that are going to be heavily attended, etc. The sorry thing about these types of results is that they are SO EASILY avoided with minimal thought and planning beforehand. For events like this, ensure you have it adequately staffed. If you can't staff it properly, don't do places like Funky Buddha a dis-service. Something that is pretty evident with certain events is that the capacity for fire code purposes is routinely ignored. This also translates into way too many people in the places to be served adequately. I come to only one conclusion, packing people in and kicking high demand kegs means that people will simply buy something else which rings the registers as long as you can keep those people in there. So, some places don't staff for the crowds for special events, put some patrons technically at risk by exceeding fire code, and then simply divert people to the "usual" taps after the likes of FB have been kicked with many complaining at the outcome of the event. All of these are not great results. Simply don't patronize these places.

Here is another one that always amazes me. I frequent a lunch place around my work frequently. I have asked on numerous times for a simple chicken cheese steak. Each time they have been "sold out" because it "is our most popular item." There is probably a very simple solution here that is pretty obvious if you think about it for like a second or two.

 

Going to do a BBQ on Saturday. Would love to have you by. Have plenty of "light" stuff for you. I swear. Most of the big, bad, dark shit's outta the way. Most. lol Tons of saisons and though.

 

I think the event went great. We arrived 30min before it started and there were several seats available(none at the bar) We got a side table that was right by the bar and did not have a server(as it was stated on a blue card on the table). We ordered a round from the bartender and asked if we could put a preorder in for 1 of each of the FB's(we were sharing 1 of each with 3 people), he laughed as he knew we were joking. But when they started serving things went smooth, he served a few other people and then got us 1 of each of the FB. He was unable to get one the beers and said he'd get it in a bit. 30 min later he saw me and handed me the beer he owed us. But for those 30+ mins he was running crazy, everyone is trying to get their beers before they kick. I'm sure these events suck for anyone that works them, but I thought the staff behind the bar at Bainbridge was top notch and did the best they could with the situation. This was one of my favorite events so far during PBW!

Oh and the beers were amazing too, Last Snow & No Crust were outstanding but the Passionfruit was my favorite!

 

Any suggestions for Saturday?
So far I'm eyeing up Bell's at Strangelove's, Maine at Brue, Founders at Good Dog, and FW at Nodding Head (anyone clear on if they're actually pouring FW beer there or just hanging out with David Walker?).

 

Can't make it Hayden, will be in the wilds of NJ. thanks though.

 

Does anyone know if there are any other Funky Buddha events going on this week?

 

Good question, now I really wanna try one of their beers!

 

I am pretty sure that last night was their last event for the week. I don't think they could do too many events this year because they have been super busy with the opening of their new brewery...which hopefully means we will see more stuff next year!

 

They should be, especially since they were pouring LA/Port beers during the Sour Happy Hour on Sunday. If you're craving FW though, City Tap House is having probably the biggest list of the week at 5pm on Saturday: http://phillytapfinder.com/event/firestone-walker-2/

 

Funky Booty was on at The Churchville Inn last night. Everything probably has kicked but can't hurt to call since I don't believe anyone has mentioned the event at Churchville on here yet.