Philly Beer Week 2014 Thread (w/ area debuts, highlights, etc)

did CBS kick already at capones?

 

I just want to take the time to comment on how lucky we are to have Philly Beer Week. I've been to beer weeks in other cities and we put them to shame. Today I got to sit at a bar and order glasses of goose island backyard rye (poured from the bottle) and had a choice of bourbon county coffee in the bottle or on draft. I didn't stay long enough to sample the bourbon county stout, bourbon county barleywine, Matilda, Lolita, Madame rose, etc, but it was all available to me in one convenient setting. I'm a huge fan of tap takeovers and make sure to make myself available whenever a good one is occurring...but the level of beers we have access to during this week is just unheard of. I am so grateful for the ability to sit at one bar and have my choice of any of those beers that, 6 months ago, people across the country were driving hours away just for the option to buy one bottle of. Anyway, that's just my little rant. Enjoy this week...it'll be another year before you can sample bourbon county variants, KBS, cbs, 5 different versions of old Rasputin, etc all in the same day!!

 

I'll be heading to Nodding Head tomorrow. Wish me luck on my quest for DDG.

 

I was going to head over as well. How crazy do you think its gonna be?

 

I have no idea, I've never been. I was advised to get there early though. I'm planning on being there an hour early.

 

at 6pm? That was a 10am tapping, I'm gonna assume it was long gone by noon.

 

Is anyone online that's at TH? I'm on my way in a few minutes, how bad is the wait?

 

You must have been at Perch Pub like I was yesterday? Got to try the Backyard Rye which was great but got shut out of Coffee as they ran out (BOOOOO)...but I did enjoy BCBS on tap which (as always) was superb. Trying to pace myself over the coming week

 

Was Capone's just crowded yesterday or mosh-pit-crowded? Was it difficult to even get in the door?

 

Crowded, but not a madhouse. I'm actually here now for the Lost Abbey event, and no one is here.

 

It's not an official PBW participator and not even a proper beer bar per se but Society Hill Society (2nd and Pine, former Artful Dodger location) currently has Pilsner Urquell Nefiltrovany on tap: https://www.beeradvocate.com/ratebeer/?path=/beer/pilsner-urquell-nefiltrovany/44956/

If you've never had it, it's a delicious, crazy-fresh, and rare version of traditional Pilsner Urquell.

And they pour it from a real-deal Czech fount. They also have a 3-pours/3-bites event on Tuesday pairing the 3 types of Czech pours with regional-flavored bites. Pretty sure they'll be tapping the 2nd unfiltered Pilsner keg for that.

Flyer: https://twitter.com/SHSPhila/status/472084447001870336

 

Initial observation after a few events... events do not seem as crowded as they have in years passed. I do not know why (more concurrent events, me at the wrong events etc.), but I have heard a few comments from people that seem to allude that they are only in it for the "whales" anymore. I'll take all the very good beer that can drink that I would normally have to put a bit of effort forth to acquire.

 

A big tip of the cap to the crew at Nodding Head yesterday. To avoid the chaos of a huge crowd at the bar, they did what I wish every bar would do for these events, and sold tickets to buy the beer at a separate serving station. Everyone waited patiently, and everybody seemed to be getting 1 pour of everything in their trip through the line, so as far as I know, everyone who showed up and was in line by 2 got a pour of DDG, and the Framboise and Cuvee both lasted after the line cleared out, so I was able to get a second pour of the Framboise with my final ticket.

Equally as impressive, they only charged $5 a pour - granted the pours were 4 or 5 ounces, but I think we've all been to places that charge $8 or more for a 5 ounce pour of something rare. I thought it was a very fair price, considering the beers they had. DDG was outstanding, but the Framboise was other-worldly. 'Twas a great event.

 

Count me as the opposite, I avoid anything that is going to be a "rare" beer event, as these are the events that everyone on BA is going to flock to. I take beer week as an opportunity to try some new beers/breweries, things that I normally don't purchase the rest of the year.

 

go to the voodoo one tomorrow, k13, tenacious wee and GNVP on tap. just trying one of those let alone 3 is well worth it. just had the tenacious wee last week and its excellent.

 

$6.50 for 6.5oz pour of Darkenss at POPE. They only have a sixtel.

 

How much are the four-packs to go?

 

Spoke to a buddy over the weekend that was at the Tired Hands Half Acre event on Saturday and he was pretty disappointed with American Youth...he went back on Sunday for more beer at Tired Hands and had Twoer, he really liked that, and I had to make a choice about either American Youth or Twoer yesterday afternoon, I went with Twoer! Can't wait to get the growler tomorrow!

 

I expect to be there.