Philadelphia Trip

www.phillytapfinder.com

Cheers

 

Since you have a car make the trip out to either Capone's, Forest & Main or The Grey Lodge.

If you want all Local beer on tap check out Standard Tap.

Hit up either Philadelphia Brewing Co or Yards for a tour.

Check out Dock Street and Noddingheads.

You can probably hit up Troegs on your way to or from Philly.

 

Im from Pittsburgh went to philly two times just for beer. The Foodery in northern liberties, Pinocchio's beer garden, Iron Hill restaurant & pub, The Beer Store (10 miles outside Philly) are my likes. Oh and check into the Beer Yard. They sell by the case. Awesome guys run that place. Call and talk to them. They could set up a case of rares for you. Let them know you're willing to spend to entice them to take you seriously. Also mention youre from out of town. If you have some luck with that then i would just use the philly tap finder site so you can relax instead of hunting for bottles.

Personally Monk's cafe is a great BAR but its hyped up. Monk's Cafe is great to go to when they have an event. The same goes for Capone's. I was very disappointed by Capone's. It was a nice restaurant with a small bottle shop in the rear.

I've been to many world class rated places thru Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, P.a., Maryland, & D.C. so I've seen a lot. Philly is a great town for beer.

 

I know said it in your original post, but Tired Hands is a must stop. For as new as they are, they're already putting out really amazing beer.

Bottle-wise, if you're looking for anything specific, feel free to drop me a line and I can keep an eye out for you. The really great part about Philly is that there is a great beer culture and lots of good people meaning lots of stuff finds its way here pretty routinely. The bad part is that it goes really fast, so things don't sit on shelves here nearly as often as they do in some other areas.

 

If you find yourself near South Philly at all, I would recommend checking out Devil's Den for happy hour (5-7pm, M-F). All drafts are half-priced during that time.

http://phillytapfinder.com/bar/devils-den/

 

Can't recommend Monk's enough. It's the only place in town where you can *reliably* find Russian River on tap. Was there on Saturday and they had Pliny, Blind Pig, AND Damnation on tap. They probably won't have all 3 of these on tap in December, but they almost always have at least one. Also, you can get half-pours of anything, so you can order a half of, say, the 8 you really want, without blowing your entire budget.

Seriously, go to Monk's.

After that, as others have said, just check PhillyTapFinder for what specific bars are pouring those days. You will miss it when you go back to Chicago.

 

Memphis has the best food of the above three and arguably the best in the city among beer spots. They only have like 8 taps and are a bit north of most of the action, but also usually have some very good taps and better bottles plus they're close to Fish Town which has a handful of great places like Barcade, Frankford Hall, and Kraftwerk, which is supposed to have great food, but I cannot comment because I've only drank there. City Tavern always has a ton of taps and is a very cool spot.

We have beer menus here, too, but only a few places are up to date. Tap Finder does a much better job locally.

 

The Belgian Cafe in Fairmount. Nearly every dish is made with beer as some ingredient. And their beer list is obviously egregiously large.

 

Devil's Den is worth seeking out too. They have a great fireplace to warm up next to. One of the best happy hours in the city (1/2 price all drafts). And they almost always have some nice rares to choose from. My last time there (Tuesday) they had Tilquin Gueuze on tap, plus a bunch of rarely-seen european double/triple ipas.

Not a foodie bar though - never been impressed by their grub. You'd be better off walking a few blocks east to the Italian Market to try out some hoagies (Sarcones), pizza (Santuccis), or italian (Ralph's). All are easily walkable from Devil's Den.

 

If you're going to eat in the Italian Market I'd suggest going to Paesano's

 

If you are driving and room in the vehicle hit Bella Vista beer distributor (cases only) then go across the street to Hawthorne's for a sandwich and a bottle shop experience.

 

Teresa's Next Door. Not in the "City" but about 20 minutes outside of the city. About 3 feet from the Beeryard too.

Best combo of service, beer and food in the area IMO. My favorite place for sure.

Monks obviously. Like everyone else said use phillytapfinder to find what you want to drink. If its something really special or rare and its on phillytapfinder and its not updated that day make sure you call to see if they still have it on. We love beer in this city and the rares dont last long.

Look for anything Hill Farmstead when you are here. And of course Russian river and GO TO TIRED HANDS.

 

Sandwiches? Three words: John's Roast Pork

 

For food go to Standard Tap, no craft beer bar I've ever been too does it better with food.
In addition as stated above, you will be able to drink local beers on tap you've never had before.
Walk across the street afterwards and check out Foodery bottle shop.

John

 

I love Standard Tap, but think Memphis is a skosh better. Truth be told, I didn't check out Memphis until after I saw it on "Triple D" a few years ago. I believe the fried pickles were described as "off the hook!" The menu changes more at Standard based on what local ingredients are fresh. You really can't go wrong with either.

Can't speak for Paesano's but John's is probably better than them and def better than DiNics, which is still very good. Reading Terminal Market's worth stopping in whether or not you're eating there.

 

City Tavern definitely. You're a tourist right? Don't let the touristiness (is that a word?) put you off. Fun beers -Presidential series brewed by Yards- great food great service great atmosphere.