Kensington Blues

Philly Beer Week really works for a select constituency, mainly the guys who are covering the local beer scene. The rest of us can partake in the bajillion events happening all over the place if we like, but if articles like this one are any indication, Philly Beer Week has more in common with the local music scene in October than anyone would like to admit. Guys, all these events do is just cannibalize each other! (Hat tip to Lew Bryson for sharing that link on Facebook. I would’ve totally missed that piece in all the hoopla.)

I noticed an insightful tidbit from Mithras, a great Philly blogger I’d not read in a little while. He wrote:

I understand that bars have to pay a fee to PBW to participate. One bar owner told me it was $500. With 1,000 venues, that’s a lot of revenue. Of course it’s in PBW’s interest to have more and more events – but it’s not in bar owners’ or in beer drinkers’ interests.

So there’s the follow the money angle, if PBW organizers have no skin in the game for week to be a successful one from a standpoint of curating a great citywide beer experience.

Of course, I’m with the folks who just think that having Philly Beer Week during the first week of June is just silly. I managed to get over to Memphis Taproom — which is literally around the corner from my house, as I’ve written repeatedly — exactly twice. Helen and I squeezed in a quick dinner and drinks before the Erykah Badu concert and I made it back over one evening for a hasty Happy Hour with Charlie in my lap. I probably drank three beers total at Memphis Taproom that week, which is actually fewer than most weeks.

Don’t get me wrong. I love the idea of making a fuss over Philly Beer Week. When I talk to beer-loving friends who live elsewhere they never forget to remind me just how lucky I am to be a Pennsylvanian, PLCB notwithstanding. We need to celebrate what makes this state so special to the microbrew culture that’s maturing into a sustainable business and not just luxury brews for beer snobs. But aren’t we celebrating that very thing nightly in this town? Do we really need bigger, better, faster, more? Philly Beer Week is verging on SXSW Music in terms of sheer scope and insanity.

Jack Curtin seems to feel the same way. Sure, March can be tricky, too, what with the whole St. Patrick’s Day thing, to say nothing of the impending 96 team field for March Madness, which may add an additional weekend to the proceedings. Factor in the lousy weather we had this winter and maybe Philly Beer Week dodged a bullet by moving to June. With any luck, the organizers will work some of the kinks out for next year and it’ll be the dream event everyone wants it to be.

(In case you’re wondering, I drank a delightful imperial stout from BrewDog called Tokyo. I thought it’d do me in. Need I mention what an amazing job Leigh, Brendan and the crew do over at Memphis Taproom during Philly Beer Week? No Repeat Beer Week for me is the epitome of what makes Philly such a great beer town. My neighborhood bar can create the entire experience in a microcosm! As they say where I grew up, ‘Nix besser!’)

As I watch the Phils wrap up a come from behind win against the hapless Astros, I can’t help but think about what I’ll be drinking this summer. It ain’t easy being a Pennsylvanian!

Summer beers I like include:

• Troegs Sunshine Pils
• Victory Prima Pils
• Philadelphia Brewing Co. Rowhouse Red (or Fleur de Lehigh)
• Sly Fox Pikeland Pils
• Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale

It’s nigh impossible to choose one as my favorite summer session ale. I know what you’re thinking: first world problems, dude. But it’s one of those things where you like to have a dependable go-to when you reach for a beer in your fridge or cooler, you know? I’ve been partial to Sly Fox, since I love the cans, but now Oskar Blues has Dale’s Pale in our market. I also love the refreshing taste of the Troegs and Victory selections. I must admit a waning appreciation for PBC beers; I just don’t think they live up to the quality of comparable craft beers. What’s your favorite? Feel free to sound off in the comments.

An aside: was the session beer movement just a figment of Lew’s imagination? Friends of mine who homebrew said they’d heard that everyone was going big — very big — just as the economy started tanking. Made sense to me, but as someone who’s trying to wean himself off of those humungo beers, I’d like to think some brewers haven’t abandoned it altogether.

Helen and I spent a quiet evening in our neighborhood. We ate a delicious dinner at Memphis Taproom — short ribs on a seafood grits bed — and I had a flight of Gift of the Magi, Port Santa’s Little Helper, and Nøgne Ø’s God Jul. The beer was amazing as well. Our second New Year’s Eve dinner was just as great as our first.

We can’t say enough how much we love that place and the people who work there. It’s like an extension of our living room and kitchen. It’s our Cheers. We get great service, great food, and great beer. It’s hard to believe it’s been open less than two years. It feels like it’s been there forever.

We spent the rest of the evening at home, watching movies, drinking beer, waiting for Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest to count down to the New Year. It’s a minor miracle that Helen and I were able to stay awake to see the ball drop. Charlie’s usually waking us by 4:30 in the morning!

The start of 2010 was much more comfortable than where we found ourselves on Y2K. As Helen and I sat on the couch, watching television, I couldn’t help but think how lost we were last year after we boarded the R5 in the wrong direction, jumped off at Wayne Junction, and found ourselves stranded there until Helen’s aunt and uncle picked us up. We didn’t even have cellphones back then!

To add insult to injury, we ended up there after going to see G. Love at the Electric Factory. No further comment necessary.

As we start 2010, we’re thankful for our friends and family who’ve been there for us all along. We feel very lucky in these trying times. Here’s to a great 2010 and the decade ahead!

Delirium Noël, originally uploaded by J T. Ramsay.

I drank my way to the perfect Christmas. No, I didn’t drink myself into a stupor, only to spend the holiday in a soporific haze. I think I actually drank the perfect amount of beer to enjoy myself and still be helpful with Charlie.

I shared a bomber of Delirium Noel Christmas night, but the real surprise was a sixer of Lagunitas Brown Shugga I picked up at Wegman’s. Delicious! If you see any at your local distributor, be sure to pick it up. It’s a perfect beer for the holidays, and it’s deceptively easy drinking, even at 9.8% ABV. Watch out!

I found myself just a tad disappointed in Bell’s Winter White Ale. I am all for a lighter beer around the holidays, but this felt more like a summer beer with a new label slapped on the bottle. I think it was a mistake on my part to expect a delicate winter warmer at 5.0% ABV.

If there’s one resolution I managed to keep this year, it was my effort to broaden my palate when it comes to craft beer. I think the days of me hoisting IPA after IPA are behind me. I’m trying subtler flavors (and lower ABVs.) I’d like to take a class next year to figure out the finer points of beer, rather than just pretend I know how to identify anything that isn’t a massive hops flavor. Can anyone recommend a good one in the Philly area?

Last, but not least, I’d like to thank the great Philly beer writers for introducing me to new and different brews throughout 2009. I don’t know where or what I’d be drinking were it not for Lew Bryson, Jack Curtin, Joe Sixpack, and Suzy Woods. Plenty of people say — rightfully so — that Philly’s a great beer city. They’re right, but they’d be mistaken if it weren’t made better by the people I’ve listed here.  If you live in Philly and like beer and you’re not reading their blogs, you’re probably missing out on some great stuff. They’re all invaluable to the Philly beer scene. If you see them out, be sure to buy them a pint!

Bøgedal 146, originally uploaded by J T. Ramsay.

My friend Tommy told me that Bøgedal and Mikkeller were the two must-have Danish beers. I managed to tuck a bottle of the former into my luggage on the trip home and I can assure you that this dark Christmas beer didn’t disappoint.

I need to find a way to get more of this stuff!