Flagship February daily feature - Manayunk Monk From The 'Yunk Belgian Tripel

Manayunk Brewing, sitting where the canal meets the Schuylkill River, has been brewing up a storm and weathered quite a few storms (i.e. floods) from Mother Nature herself going all the way back to 1996. That makes it one of Philly's earliest brewpubs. It's a remarkable bout of consistency on Main Street where things can come and go as times and tastes change. And, by the way, fun factoid if you didn't know that Schuylkill translates to "hidden river" and Manayunk means "place to drink".

But I'm not qualified to write about Manayunk; I haven't been there in nearly five years. Really lame on my part, eh? Consider this feature part of my atonement. The last time I was there was for a bit of al fresco dining. The deck dining at MBC in nice weather is worth the visit as much as (I'd imagine) are the brunch menu and sushi menu, the latter making it a unique brewpub visit for sure. Special events are frequent and lately, there seems to be something new always coming out of the brewhouse as they keep up with the times.

Had a chance to find a taste of the Crunch at a recent festival and it's a spot-on chocolate peanut butter porter. I really must make yet more amends for not having been to MBC in a ridiculous amount of time.

Now go click the picture below for a full feature on Manayunk's Monk From The 'Yunk.

If you're just jumping in during the middle of this and want to know what this is all about, link back here to see the Flagship February overview as well as an ongoing list of all beers I'm featuring during the month of February.

Disclosure: For this project, I solely created the list of 28 beers featured here on The Brew Lounge. I was in contact with each brewery and neither required nor requested complimentary samples. I purchased today's Manayunk beer at retail.

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© Bryan J. Kolesar and The Brew Lounge, 2019. All content is owned and uniquely created by Bryan J. Kolesar. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from Kolesar is strictly prohibited. Excerpts, images, and links may be used with advance permission granted and only provided that full and clear credit is given to Bryan J. Kolesar and The Brew Lounge with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Contact Kolesar at TheBrewLounge@gmail.com

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Couch Tomato Café and Bistro in Philadelphia, Pa.

When I first got started here at The Brew Lounge way back in the year 2005, I set out to write as many reviews (full reviews, not the Tweet types that seem to have gained popularity these days) of high quality beer joints around the country, focusing, of course, first on the Philadelphia region.

That was a tall order back then, but one that I didn't consider completely out of my reach. Of course, I knew I could never hit 'em all, but I enjoyed discovering and sharing as much as I could.

But times certainly have changed. A restaurant without at least a few decent beers in a bottle or on tap is leaving money on the sidewalk. Here in Philadelphia, the rich have only got richer.

So it turns out that the Couch Tomato Café has been around since 2003, says its website. I'd recalled hearing of it a few years back when either Philadelphia Magazine or a local beer writer mentioned it.

Trouble is, we don't get to Manayunk that much anymore. I'd lived there for approximately 16 months or so back in my early 20s. Even then, going out on Main Street was not always on the top of list.

So when Patty and I took the day off from work on Friday and drove in to the city, we pulled off at the Manayunk exit and began to make the long way in to the city figuring we'd have lunch at the first place that grabbed our attention. We didn't want to make it one of the "usuals".

Driving down Main Street is when it dawned on me that Couch Tomato might make sense. And, boy, did it make sense.

They've apparently continued to grow in popularity through the years, so much so that they've added the Couch Tomato Bistro on the second and third floors.

The solid beer list allowed us to have a couple of Allagash Whites and Heavy Seas Loose Cannon to go with our lunch. The draft beer was served up fresh-tasting and by a knowledgeable server.

The menu concept here is basically small sharing plates, salads, and pizzas.

After being greeted with a small sample of pumpkin bisque while we perused the menu, we opted for Crispy Artichokes, Pulled Pork Sliders, Crab Crepe, and Strozzapretti Pasta.

I'm thinking that this experience may kick start some establishment reviews here at The Brew Lounge with a focus on the highest quality ones also over at The Washington Times Communities column.