Philly Beer Week June 1st-10th

If were just talking within the city limits (in the burbs Capone's will probably have the biggest crowd today followed by Teresa's and Pinocchio's), these are my guesses as to where the crowds are going to be today if you're looking for a festive atmosphere:

- Outside Tapestry (the big Saison block party, my guess for largest city turnout today not counting official festivals like the Int. Great Beer Expo)

The rest (not in any particular order):

- Memphis Taproom (Half Acre takeover)
- Varga Bar (I've heard that in the past couple years that their Pints & Pin-ups BBQ draws very well)
- Farmers Cabinet (Mikkeller big tap takeover)
- The Boilermaker (40 local tap takeover)
- Johnny Brenda's (Firkin fest)
- American Sardine Bar (Firestone Walker takeover, pretty much anywhere that brewery goes will draw well just based off the rep that they carry)
- maybe the Kite 'n Key (Gladiator event, more for the fun antics than the beer).

 

See if I go to the city then I don't have to drive so I can try more beers. I kind of want to go to Capone's though so we will see.

 

So how is everyone's Sunday going? I take it for many this is a "slow down" day as the Saturdays of PBW tend to be heavy. My fav. beer so far was probably the HA Galactic Double Daisy Cutter (thought it was gonna be a palate destroyer from what I heard but it turn out to be very smooth and Elder-esque). HA folks aren't going to be around long though, and I think this afternoon at Hulmeville is the only other spot that's gonna have it.

I imagine the major happenings for today would be 50/50 at Capone's, the 2nd day of the Tapestry Saison Block party, the E. Passyunk Ave. fest/bar crawl, and of course the Funky Buddha Berliner-Weiss blowout at Monk's.

 

Went to Monk's at 3pm and managed to get to the back bar and taste everything except for the peach berliner...it was absolutely crazy there so we left ASAP and headed over to Woody's where we had several Maple Bacon Coffee Porters, the piña colada from FB and the Cuban espresso from cigar city...wayyyy more laid back than Monk's but the word quickly spread about the Maple Bacon and the crowds arrived quickly and kicked the sixtel...the piña colada also kicked/was having problems pouring. Overall a good day though I wish the Monk's event had been better organized...not sure if pints was the best size to pour given the limited availability of the beer. I still think the Last Snow is the best FB beer I've had yet.

 

the last snow was the best [actual philly beer week beer] that i have had the past 3 days. if anyone has not had it yet, hit up prohibition on thursday and try it. the key lime berliner and passion fruit berliner were also the tits. as well as the hill farmstead / tired hands myth of saison. if anyone did not know, tired hands also opened officially on saturday and got to check it out. really digging that place. love that it's so close. check it out.

 

You drink them! The HF will be the best of Philly beer week if you want IPAs so go all out. Good lord I want some Ephraim and double Citra if that's really what is on tap. Abner is incredible.

 

Yea it was mobbed. I left my poor wife at the front bar and it took me over an hour to get a couple pints... she had eaten all the mussels and frites by that time. I think one of the major hold ups was the amount of foam they were getting so people were just sitting there waiting to get one of everything and the "line" barely moved. They were pouring into pitchers then to pint glasses, but it was still super foamy.

We did the DFH brunch earlier that day as well - some tasty food there. 75 min. cask, yum.

 

Well it's the start of the work week for most folks, but hey now, don't let that break your PBW streak! On what is traditionally a quieter day, we've still got some noisemakers for what could be big turnout spots. My guesses below -

- Monk's De Molen takeover (as expected, a beast list right there)
- Cigar City/Funky Buddha at Hulmeville Inn (likely the biggest burbs event tonight)
- Farmer's Cabinet Rare/Obscure/Legendary list
- City Tap House Goose Island mega-takeover (prob. the biggest list in Philly GI has had since they started sending stuff here. Imp. IPA out of retirement and Bourbon County Brand Stout too)
- Founders takeover at POPE (one of those breweries that draws big anywhere they put a strong taplist on)
- Hawthorne's 50/50 Night
- Maybe the Bear Republic event at Kite 'n key as it looks like their only PBW event this year.

Oh, and a last minute event - before Hulmeville tonight, the CC/FB folks will have some drafts on at Tapestry this afternoon (I think this just showed up yesterday or so on Tapestry's PBW calendar as I hadn't seen it anywhere else and that PBW calendar was only listing the Saison block party for a long time). List is Dos Costas Oeste (Lemonwood Aged), Habanero Mango Red Ale, Bone Valley Brown Ale, Cucumber Saison, Jai Alai, Passion Fruit Berliner Weisse, and Bonita Applebum.

 

As nuts as the FB event was at Monk's, those Berliners were awesome

That beer was super impressive...as was the barrel aged dripping saison.

 

Went to The Drafting Room yesterday for brunch with some friends. Got there right at 10am. Had a nice, relaxing (and fantastic) brunch with a bunch of the RR beers being poured (Supplication, Salvation, Damnation, Consecration, Redemption, and Blind Pig). Had a great time and it was not a madhouse. Oh and now they can serve booze before 11am on Sundays. Perfect.

 

Missing Hulmeville tonight but I'm not too bummed as I had the Piña Colada and Maple Bacon yesterday at Woody's. I still think the Last Snow is superior to the Maple Bacon, but it was a close contest especially as the Maple Bacon went up in temp. When it was below room temp the coffee was a little too forward...room temp+ and it balanced out more as the maple/smoky flavors came through. Definitely let it sit for awhile and enjoy it slowly for those of you having it tonight! I'm resting my liver until about 5pm tomorrow at the Prohibition Taproom...gotta get me some more Last Snow while I have the chance!

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqTWP1d8p1ahdDViNG5HeExwUGpnSElPUThKRUUybUE#gid=0

 

I'll be there as well, looking forward to trying last snow on draft as opposed to their hand bottle.

Also, anyone here going to the Tria Lost Abbey class with Tomme tonight?

 

No, but if you are, ask him why his beers are undercarbonated and infected?

 

Went to POPE tonight and boy was it mobbed. Definitely very packed, but was able to get a glass of CBS (which is drinking really well right now). Went to Hawthorne's for FiftyFifty, which was very empty for an event. Not that I'm complaining. They had Rittenhouse Rye and one they called just Eclipse, which I thought was weird. I was going to order it, thinking it might be Buffalo Trace, but had the Red is the New Black, which was pretty tasty too.

 

Later at Monk's was quite nice... low key. De Molen's Rook & Leer is a gem.

 

Farmer's Cabinet was extremely unpacked today for their rare draft thingie today. Pricey, but got some good beers - and a nice big pour of '08 LP Kriek. Then went to Boilermaker and had a couple other goodies. I'm starting to get worn down, though. ha.

 

Went to the Hulmeville inn. It sucked. I showed up at 6:30 and Maple Bacon and Bonita were already gone. I know I'm bitter and was 30 minutes late but I drove an hour after work and got shut out of the 2 I wanted to try. I doubt everyone that was there on time even got a taste.

They could of cut down on the pour size a little to stretch it some. The place was packed. I forgot what it was like to be in a bar where they allow smoking. Its awful.

 

Kite N' Key was steady, not super-packed, but steady, less so after 8ish. A taplist hadn't come out beforehand, but for those wondering, the "uncommons" Bear Republic brought were Altered Beast, Tartare, Heritage (awesome beer for maltheads), and Pete's Brown Tribute Ale.

 

welcome to life.