May have a long day in the Philly area in a week or so give me five spots to stop at, brewpub, craft bar etc. Out area is fine as well I will be coming from the West so stopping in the burbs is cool too. also any RR sours on the shelfs int he area? cheers...
yes - you can get russian river sours at pretty much any decent bottle shop: Pinocchio's in Media, Capones in Norristown, Foodery in Northern Liberties (forget the cross streets) or the Gayborhood (10th & Pine), etc etc. You might be able to get them cheaper at Whole Foods in Devon or Plymouth Meeting, if they just happen to be in stock then. Seen Temptation, Supplication and Consecration there in the past for $12.99/bottle. Everywhere else you'll probably be paying $15+ Monks (Philly) - 16th & Spruce - for your cantiloon and rare beer fix. Standard Tap (Philly) - 2nd & Poplar - for your local beer fix TJ's (Paoli) - for your awesome beer and food fix Station Taproom (Downingtown) - for your brunch and beer fix. Pinocchio's (Media) - great bottle shop and bar (in the beer garden side. there's a restaurant side and beer garden --- go in the back) Yard's Brewery (Philly) - nothing amazing, but you get free beer on their tour Philly Tap House (Philly) - 39th & Walnut - just a cool place overall, and 40 beers on tap. food is good, too.
also, keep your eyes peeled for pliny the younger tappings. it's happening soon. don't ask me where, though. you know as much as i do. but you're probably going to have your best bet March 3 during the Philly Beer Bus pub crawl thing, ie Sidecar or Devil's Den.
some more: khyber pass - 2nd and chestnut devils den - 11th and ellsworth pope - passyunk and dickinson nodding head brew pub - sansom between 15th and 16th
Kind of depends on what kind of food you want to eat. For pub grub, my favorites are Local 44, Resurrection Ale House, Kraftwork Belgian fare: Monk's. Go on a weekday night or weekend afternoon because it's a small bar and often packed. Tons of great stuff especially in bottles. You're likely to walk into some Hopslam, Pliny, Sculpin, or other super fresh IPA's and the bottle list includes about a page of Cantillon. I like the food at Eulogy better, but the beer at Monk's is far superior Farmer's Cabinent for slightly higher-end, farm-to-table, high concept bar. I guarantee you haven't tried half the taps and 75% of the bottles there. Lots of obscure European and specifically Scandinavian beers
