Philly Beer Week(end)

Yesterday my wife and I came home from a long weekend in Philadelphia. The city is currently running its annual beer week. From June 3 to June 12 there are literally hundreds of beer related events taking place throughout the city. A quick look at the overwhelming list of events reveals that attempting to attend every one would be impossible without a time machine and a titanium liver.

I targeted a few events and then supplemented the agenda with mandatory stops at Monk's Cafe and Eulogy Belgian Tavern for mussels and hard to find sour beers.

Tilquin Gueuze USA Release @Monk's Cafe

Immediately after arriving in Philly and checking in our hotel, we rushed straight over to Monk's Cafe for the USA debut of Tilquin Gueuze, a blend of Boon, Cantillon, Lindeman's, and Giardin lambics. Its a good thing we hurried because the first bottle was popped at 12:01 and by 12:35 a large and excited audience had drank all of the fantastic transatlantic sour nectar that was there. Gueuzerie Tilquin is the first new lambic blendery in Belgium in nearly 15 years. Chuck Cook has a nice write up about Tilquin on is blog Belgian Beer and Travel.

Mikkeller 25 Draft Party @The Farmers Cabinet

25 taps worth of Mikkeller one offs, collaborations, and year 'rounds were showcased at The Farmer's Cabinet. Being in a sour beer mindset for the weekend, the highlight for me was the Mikkeller Brettanomyces, a 100% brett fermented beer that flaunted all of the funk and sour I was needing, right over a little bit of toasty malt.

(Mikkeller tap listing at Farmer's Cabinet)

While at the Farmer's Cabinet ordering another Mikkeller I looked over my shoulder and spotted a lone Brian Strumke, gypsy brewmaster and creator of Stillwater Ales. I introduced myself and told him how much I enjoyed his Stillwater/Mikkeller collaboration beer that was being poured. He told me I should come to a Stillwater beer cocktail event on Monday, but alas I was leaving on Sunday. What a fanboy...

(outside seating at Farmer's Cabinet complete with malt and popcorn munchies)

A Firkin Riot @Johnny Brenda's
Johnny Brenda's is the type of bar I'd love to frequent if I lived in Philly. A laid back joint in an old semi-restored building where a dj spins classic punk on vinyl beside a row of various local and US craft taps.

On Saturday they had over 20 firkins of cask ale in stock and were rotating them through a custom made overhead rack (pictured below). Sadly, for me, during the time I was there, this event fell short of its potential. We tried three of the cask beers currently being offered and two of the three had serious off flavors that made them practically undrinkable. It is notable that one of the bad beers was from a major US craft brewery. The exception was the Flying Fish Wild Rice IIPA which boasted a big American hop bouquet and flavor over the soft creamy malt profile you'd expect from a cask ale.

For me this event was a bit of a disappointment. When done right cask beer can be a wonderful thing. Johnny Brenda's is definitely somewhere I would go again, but the beers served during the portion of the cask event I was able to attend were less than stellar.

Aside from those publicized events we enjoyed a lot of top notch US craft beer in dark quiet corners of good beer pubs with most excellent beer menus. I rarely get my hands on sour beers from Russian River, Jolly Pumpkin, and Lost Abbey so we spent some quality time consuming them along with some mussels. Hell, sours aside, we even had a Bacon Chocolate Stout with chocolate coated bacon one morning with brunch. I also finally got around to visiting Nodding Head to sample their popular Ich Bin Ein Berliner Weisse, a crisp and light beer with a doughy maltiness and just a small touch of tartness.


We capped off the weekend with a good friend and Philly resident whom we see far too little of. He and his girlfriend opened up a bottle of limited release Barrel Aged North Coast Old Rasputin Imperial Stout to share. We enjoyed a little time on the porch sipping the fantastic brew and conversating before heading back to Virginia. Sharing the good beer with a couple friends was as good as any of the exclusive beer events of the previous two days.