Last night I visited a long time acquaintance at his home for the first time to have dinner with him and his wife. they are "wine people" as opposed to "beer people" and I wanted to take along a bottle of brew to challenge my vision of their preconceived notions (he'd mentioned that he hasn't had a beer since 1980). To that end, I asked four of my compatriots in the beer-writing game to help me out, telling them the beer I had chosen and asking their reactions. Two of then, conveniently enough, not only agreed with my choice, they said it was one that came to mind as they were reading my email. The other two suggested it was all a waste of time, asked why I wanted to impress anyone and were generally misanthropic on the whole situation. Hey, where's the love, guys? My beer of choice was Heavyweight Brewing's marvelous Bier d'Art, chosen for several reasons. I wanted something local and I wanted a big bottle for us to share. I thought Bier d'Art's malty spiciness was more likely to appeal to a wine-trained palate than something with a hoppier profile (I briefly considered Dogfish Head 90-Minute IPA just to see what the reaction would be). I thought the wonderful label by artist Christine Haley would be a nice touch and enforce my approach that beer was at least the equal of wine on all levels, including cultural. I liked that I was able to tell them the beer was unique, since Tom Baker claims (so far) that he won't be brewing it again, and that it was not available in Pennsylvania. And, oh yeah, I happen to really enjoy Bier d'Art and this gave me an excuse to go and buy a case.
We drank the beer as an aperitif and both enjoyed it while listening politely, if not in absolute awe, as I rambled on about the Victory Brewpub, which is a mere three miles or so from their door, and other aspects of the local brewing scene and the way beers have matured and changed. In factg, the whole situation was more beer-friendly than I had thought. Turns out the female half of the pair is an occasional beer drinker already and inclined toward the better end of the spectrum. And hubby stood up midway through and left to come back with a bottle of Dogfish Head Chicory Stout from sixpack he'd purchased for her because of her fondness for stouts.
The Italian red wine with dinner was as excellent as the beer, as was the evening as a whole, aside from having to drive home through the monsoon of 2002.
BELL, YOU SAY? NOT EXACTLY THE BEST NAME TO CARRY INTO THE PHILADELPHIA BEER SCENE THESE DAYS. There was a gathering in the back bar at Monk's two nights earlier. Brewer Larry Bell of Michigan's Kalamazoo Brewing Company was in town to celebrate the release of several of his many beers into the Philadelphia market, accompanied by sales veep Fred Bueltmann. Tom and Fergie put together a small reception of local brewers--(Bill Covaleski (Victory), Brandon Greenwood (Nodding Head), Tom Kehoe (Yards), Tim Roberts (Independence), Brian O'Reilly (Sly Fox)--and high-profile beer journalists--Lew Bryson, Don "Joe Sixpack" Russell, George Hummel--to give them welcome. I tell you, I was honored just to be allowed to hang out with that stellar grouping.As was Kehoe's wife, the lovely Linda, the only woman in the room most of the evening. She seated herself at the bar, looked around, then smiled and proclaimed, "this is a great place to be since it's always filled with men." Hey, I'm more drawn by the Belgian taps, but whatever works, you know? Kehoe hisownself, having unfortunately spent the afternoon at a family funeral, was all snazzied up in sportscoat and clean trou and the like. After everyone had gotten over their nervousness that he was going to try and sell them life insurance, things went much more smoothly.
Bell's beers were on tap, of course, and I was particularly taken with Two Hearted Ale, their seasonal IPA, and Kalamazoo Stout, a roasty, full-bodied flagship brew which heads up the brewery's portfolio of stouts, all of which I intend to sample at first opportunity.
It was, not unexpectedly, Hummel, a man never lacking for biting wit, who pointed out to the bemused guest of honor that "Bell" is not exactly an honored name in local beer circles, given the fiasco that was Jim Bell's Red Bell Brewing. I'd recount for you the amusing comments he had to offer but that wouldn't be fair. Besides, I don't remember.
EXPANSION AT STANDARD TAP. I'm sure it's no secret any longer, but there's a lot going on at Standard Tap down in the heart of the Northern Liberties section of the city as a major expansion is underway into the adjoining building. I hitched a ride down to the Monk's even with O'Reilly, who was also on his Thursday beer delivery run, which included dropping off five kegs at the Tap. Co-owner William Reed gave us a tour what will be the new upstairs dining area and outside deck, the completion of which (along with a doubling or tripling the size of the kitchen) will turn what is already one of the city's best eating and drinking spots into a real gem. The final construction touches are on hold for the moment in one of those inevitable zoning glitches, but that's merely temporary for sure as the neighbors and anybody else who might pose a serious objection are already on board. Meanwhile, Reed and partner Paul Kimport have also purchased a small bar in the Fishtown section which they will transform with their magical touch once the sale is officially completed. More on that down the line.
RUDY'S KUNG-FU GRIP? SAY WHAT? Nothing would do post-Monk's, of course, but that we wander the few blocks to Nodding Head, where we were soon joined by co-owner Curt Decker (who was also at the Monk's thing but who did not fit anywhere into my neat listing of brewing and journalist luminaries and thus had to wait for his moment of glory way down here near the bottom of this report). He plied us, or at least me, with the new Rudy's Kung-Fu Grip, a weirdly named, 11% ABV Belgian style ale which was both delicious and frighteningly drinkable. From whence comes such an unusual name, you ask? Can it be that the ever cheerful and smiling Greenwood also has a playful side to his effusive personality? Well it seems so, not to mention a most forgiving one as well. This is the story as Decker told it to me. It may in fact not be word for word that way he told it, but I'm going to put it in quotes anyway so he can take all the blame.
"Brandon and I were visiting this friend of ours who is a chemist and a homebrewer. He has this parrot named Rudy and Brandon puts out his finger for the bird to sit on it. While he's holding his hand up to his face to look more closely, the parrot reaches out with one of its claws and grabs on to his lower lip. The owner tells him to flick his hand, to throw the bird off his finger and it will let go. He starts to do that and the bird instead reaches over and grabs onto his eyebrow with the other claw. I'm now laughing so hard I'm almost falling off my chair. When we get the bird off him the first thing Brandon says is 'we have to make a beer named after that bird.' And so he did."
That's my story...Okay, it's their story--but I'm sticking to it. [posted Sunday, November 17, 2002 2:00 pm est] [end]
OF BAD INFLUENCES, GOOD BEER & TOURING GEEKS. I am entirely too old to need any further bad influences in my life, but try telling that to O'Reilly. Brian O'Reilly, that is, ace brewer at Sly Fox Brewhouse. I end up at the Fox most Friday nights for a brew or two before dinner, but on this Friday past I was going to see the Philadelphia 76ers play the Toronto Raptors at the First Union Center with son-in-law Tom and told O'Reilly early in the week that I'd have to forego that weekly pleasure. Yet there he was on the phone around 4 PM. "What time you leaving?" "Tom's picking me up at 6." "Great. Then you have time to pop over and try the Christmas Ale." I looked at the work still to do on my desk and demurred. He insisted. I pointed out it would be silly behavior on my part, especially since I was meeting some fellow beer geeks at the pub on Saturday and could sample the new brew then. He insisted. What can I tell you? I'm weak. And what did I think of the beer? Ah, that will have to wait a bit.
The Red Bell Brewery & Pub in the First Union Center was the centerpiece of Jim Bell's grandiose plans for his brewing empire back before he learned you have to actually brew and sell beer and not just make promises and presume a gaggle of investors are going to make you rich. I hadn't been there in a while and was looking forward to trying new brewer Chris Rafferty's beers. On the advice of Sly Fox bartender-to-the-stars Corey Reid, who'd been down to the FU Center Thursday night for a Flyers hockey game, I went for the Czechoslovakian Pilsner, which was nice enough to warrant an immediate second. Those came pre-game. At halftime, I opted for the Pale Ale, which was by no means bad, but lacked sufficient hop character to be a true pale ale. The pub has been carrying beers from Yards Brewing in recent weeks because it didn't have enough of its own and two of those guest brews were still on. I'm not sure whether this will be a permanent thing. Sixers won, by the way.
I spent most of Saturday writing (I know it's difficult to comprehend, but I actually do produce some things intended to earn me beer money and funds for things like rent, food and the upkeep of two lovable but demanding dogs), but arranged to catch up with a small western-suburbs beer tour when it ended up at Sly Fox late in the afternoon. Ringleader was Richard Ruch (he of pool table infamy at the Victory pub a few weeks back), who got together with pal Joe Meloney, former Manayunk Brewing head brewer Jim Brennan and Beer Advocate mega-reviewer Dave Rodriguez to sample the wares at Victory Brewing over lunch and then make their way to Sly Fox, stopping in at The Drafting Room - Exton along the way to avoid becoming overly parched.
When I arrived, the gang (soon to be joined by another Beer Advocatee and friend of Rodriquez whose name I didn't catch) was sipping away en masse at pints of the Christmas Ale. Their judgement? "The Best Beer of the Day." A couple of them were even debating taking growlers home with them. I had another pint or three myself to confirm my own positive impression, which I so cleverly avoided revealing way back there in paragraph one. This is an eminently drinkable, very nicely balanced spiced beer, exactly the sort of quaffable brew these holidays demand. It's going to be a smash hit--the astute Scoats grabbed a keg as soon as it became available on Friday for his Grey Lodge Pub and is asking for more--and it will make O'Reilly even harder to deal with. A small price to pay, says I.
QUICK POPS. I asked Rich Ruch to grab me a sixpack of Victory's just-released 2002 Old Horizontal Barleywine-style Ale (that's the official name; it's "Old Ho" among friends), to add to the stock of big beers I'm laying in anticipation of a cold, snowy winter. I couldn't resist opening a bottle late last night to sample, however, and I can report that the lads out in Downingtown haven't lost their touch. 11% ABV this year and I slept quite well, thank you....Joe Meloney gifted me with a bottle of 2000 Brother Adam's Bragget Ale Barley Wine from The Atlantic Brewing Company in Bar Harbor, Maine and I'll either be reporting on that a few weeks down the road or aging it another year or so. It promises 11.8& ABV and I must admit I'm intrigued to see how that big alcohol hit blends with the Maine honey used in the brew. thanks, Joe....You may recall that I had some reservations about the 2002 Celebration Ale upon opening my first bottle of the year. Since then I'd pretty much convinced myself I was off base but it turns out that both Ruch and Dave Rodriquez have similar feelings: it seems to lack the "bigness" and balance of the 2001 release. Maybe we're nuts. Opinions welcomed....Joe Sixpack devotes his whole column this week to Dogfish Head WorldWide Stout but I notice he didn't have the cajones to consume a bottle of the stuff while he wrote the story....Assuming an article about the famous Sunday brunch at Pottstown's Sunnybrook Ballroom is accurate, the brewpub on site is now officially called Ortlieb's Brewery & Grill. My spy guy, who asks to remain anonymous but we all know who he is, told me recently that Awesome Ale, Light Lager, Moore's Select and "a very good Blonde Bock" are among the beers on tap and that something very close to the near-legendary Dock Street Illuminator may be in the works. There's talk of a beer festival in the spring, but spring is a long time from now, innit? [posted Sunday, November 24, 2002 5:15 pm est] [end]
Malt does more than Milton can
To justify God's ways to man.
--A. E. Houseman
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