A variety of brews news, much of which was picked up in just the last few days. The first one, though, might be a bit dated for a few of you. Grab a beer and enjoy. Cheers!
~ If you ever wondered what happened to Patrick Jones, former brewer at Triumph in Philadelphia's Old City neighborhood. [link to Northwest Indiana Times]
~ Just got this e-mail yesterday. I really like the sound of it and will need to look further into it. [link to Artisanal Imports]
~ Philly Beer Scene Awards for 2017 are now open for voting. [link to Philly Beer Scene]
~ Tony Forder from Ale Street News weighs in with astute observations from the annual Craft Brewers Conference. [link to Ale Street News]
~ I can only speak about half of these. I've got some more work to do! [link to Visit Cumberland Valley]
~ Very cool article about Wegmans, Sly Fox, and friend Ned Foley's Two Particular Acres. [link to Wegmans]
~ Something new and shiny in West Philly. [link to Dock Street Brewing Company]
~ Taking in the super-sized NFL Draft spectacle on the Ben Franklin Parkway? Here are some drinking options. [link to Philly.com]
~ Insights to the state of the industry from longtime analyst Peter Cherpack. [link to The Full Pint]
~ And before all this CBC went down in DC, Jim Koch from Boston Beer let this out into the wild for our consideration. [link to New York Times]
~ If I was going to Pittsburgh's Craft Beer Week, I'd definitely be studying up on this from Bob Batz. [link to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
© Bryan J. Kolesar and The Brew Lounge, 2017. 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
Showing posts with label Philly Beer Scene. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philly Beer Scene. Show all posts
Friday, April 21, 2017
Tuesday, March 04, 2014
Band of Brewers played on at World Café Live: March 2, 2014
This event has the makings of becoming a permanent fixture on the annual Philly Beer Events calendar. I was not able to attend the inaugural version in 2013, but watched YouTube from afar (like... 3,000 miles afar) and was envious of all who got to see talented brewery staff take the stage to rock out and show another creative side of themselves.
Philly Beer Scene's Mat Falco again organized the raucous afternoon at the accommodating World Café Live where many beer events have been held over the years.
A few hundred came out to see seven breweries took to the stage (Victory, Sly Fox, Weyerbacher, Neshaminy Creek, Tröegs, Yards, and Philadelphia Brewing) and no one disappointed. Beers from each of the breweries were available as was a limited food menu from the kitchen.
The judging panel consisted of local beer luminaries Suzanne Woods (Allagash), Casey Parker (Jose/Sancho Pistola's), and Dennis Hewlett (the "POPE") along with JUMP magazine founder, George Miller.
They awarded third place to Neshaminy Creek, second place to Yards, and first place to Philadelphia Brewing Company. Check out videos from each of the brewery performers below.
Philly Beer Scene's Mat Falco again organized the raucous afternoon at the accommodating World Café Live where many beer events have been held over the years.
A few hundred came out to see seven breweries took to the stage (Victory, Sly Fox, Weyerbacher, Neshaminy Creek, Tröegs, Yards, and Philadelphia Brewing) and no one disappointed. Beers from each of the breweries were available as was a limited food menu from the kitchen.
The judging panel consisted of local beer luminaries Suzanne Woods (Allagash), Casey Parker (Jose/Sancho Pistola's), and Dennis Hewlett (the "POPE") along with JUMP magazine founder, George Miller.
They awarded third place to Neshaminy Creek, second place to Yards, and first place to Philadelphia Brewing Company. Check out videos from each of the brewery performers below.
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Philly Beer Week 2014 is underway
Not to suggest that Philly Beer Week is not a year-round endeavor for many around the Philadelphia region, but if there was any question of when it begins, it was surely answered yesterday at The Field House.
For the fourth consecutive year, Philly Beer Week has raised awareness and money for itself by conducting a raffle whereby one winning individual gets an all-expense paid trip to Belgium to brew a "Philly Beer Week beer". As part of the prize, he or she gets to take along their favorite local brewer.
Past brewers that have benefited from their fan bases include Brian O'Reilly (Sly Fox) with Belgian brewery DeProef, Chris LaPierre (Iron Hill) and Brasserie Dupont, and Chris Wilson (Weyerbacher) who brewed with the highly-regarded Brasserie de la Senne in Brussels.
This year, beer enthusiast Daniel Neuner won the raffle and chose Justin Low from Dock Street for the brewing excursion that will result in a beer collaboratively brewed at Brouwerij Dilewyns with head brewer Anne Catherine Dilewyns. I think this has worked out extremely well as Dock Street continues today to carry on its twenty-five year tradition (albeit with a short "break" in the late 90s) of representing the Philadelphia brewing scene.
The beer will make its debut at the annual kickoff to Philly Beer Week, "Opening Tap", and be available at events all around town during Philly Beer Week 2014 scheduled to run from May 30 to June 8.
The Field House served as a spacious venue to host the attending brewers from 25 local and regional breweries and the fans that came out hoping to win the grand prize. The drawing went off without a hitch for both Neuner and Low yesterday compared to November 2010 when the 2011 PBW collaboration trip was raffled off at McGillin's and neither the brewer nor the winning consumer was in attendance.
Gift box prizes were also raffled off, one of which was awarded to Mrs. Brew Lounge herself. See below for a picture of all the "swag", including some of the liquid kind from the relatively new Saucony Creek in Kutztown, Pa., that came with the prize box.
So there you have it. We now know who will be brewing what with whom over in Belgium. The dates have been locked in and Philly Beer Week 2014 will be here and gone before we know what happened to the next six months.
Monday, July 15, 2013
The Brew Lounge has been as busy as ever as the Spring turned to Summer
The last two months or so have been more busy than usual around these Brew Lounge parts. Someone remarked to me the other day that I've really "been on a roll lately". Or something to that effect. And others that have commented that I should do more to toot my own horn.
While I don't typically feel comfortable doing such a thing, I will present to you here a quick rundown of some of the more noteworthy things happening all up in this Brew Lounge.
~ I began writing for Origlio's Draught Lines magazine, found all around the greater Philadelphia region at many of their retail accounts. My first article submission was on the topic of taking a "beer-cation" and can be found on pages 9-10 through this magical little web link. The next issue is due out shortly. It's a quality magazine of beer information and suggest you keep your eyes open for it next time you're out buying beer.
~ Around the same time, I was nominated (for the fourth year, but who's counting?) for a Philly Beer Scene award for Beer Writer of the Year. Actually, I take the nomination even more seriously than winning (or not) since the process of getting nominated is through an anonymous polling of industry folk not in your category (i.e. writers can't nominate writers, brewers can't nominate brewers, etc.) Ultimately, through public voting, Suzanne Woods won, but as the old saying goes, I'm honored to be nominated and amongst such good company. Here's a link to Philly Beer Scene where the all the winners were announced.
~ Also just around the same time, I was asked to join the Philadelphia Inquirer's annual Brew-vitational judging of beers from around the region. In the spirit of full disclosure, I should mention that I was the second choice when Jack Curtin could not make himself available for the arduous task of working our way through 49 submitted beers in two categories, one very specific (Pilsners) and one much more broad ("new" beers). I was rather pleased that I had ranked both the Tröegs Sunshine Pils and Weyerbacher Riserva in the first place on my ballot in their respective categories and they both went home with the top honors. A full rundown, plus links to insightful videos about the esteemed judges can be found via this link.
~ Then there was Philly Beer Week. While it was the first PBW where I did not undertake my own event (the annual running event with Dock Street, that didn't stop me from partaking as much as my schedule would allow this year. As with every other year, I kept a running tally of everything I saw and heard and wrapped it up over where you'd expect it.
~ The Brew Lounge went a bit of course with a Simi Winery dinner in Valley Forge at Viviano in the VF Casino Resort. But knowing that quite a few of you like the grape-y stuff too, I took the winery and casino up on their offer to come out for the dinner. Now, if you know me as well as you should by now, you know that this in no way guarantees a favorable review of the evening. Since I don't have time to dabble in the negative, I simply would not write about a dinner that didn't have enough positives to mention. But, this one had plenty from the wines, to the cooking of Tony Clark, to the pairings. Here's a link to the dinner review and a link to some recipes and pairings that the winery sent along as well.
~ On the heels of the Craft Brewers Conference in Washington, DC back in March that I attended, I took in the National Homebrewers Conference (NHC) in Philly (of course, why would I not?) in late June. The month of June was quite busy for Philly what with Philly Beer Week in the early June and the NHC capping off June at the end. While I didn't do a full-blown write-up on either, it reminds me that you should really be following The Brew Lounge on both Facebook and Twitter where occasionally coverage of events (and accompanying pictures) may be limited solely to these social media behemoths. With that suggestion, here's a link to my Facebook page and a link to my Twitter feed.
~ Lastly, with that note about the NHC in Philly, there's a ton of developing content over at Basic Brewing (both radio and video) of the tour that I put together for James, Steve, and Andy who came up from their Arkansas headquarters to cover the NHC as they do every year. On the day prior to the conference, I escorted them around the region on a 130-mile, 12-hour tour of some of the best of the non-City based breweries. We hit up Iron Hill-Maple Shade, Victory, Forest & Main, Earth Bread + Brewery (ok, that's a city one), and Tired Hands. So far, Basic Brewing Radio has the interview with Chris LaPierre (Iron Hill-Maple Shade) up on its website and over the coming weeks more audio and video content will be forthcoming.
Was there more that happened over the past couple of months? Sure, probably, of course. These are the main highlights and as always, I appreciate and respect your support and reading through these voluminous pages of The Brew Lounge.
While I don't typically feel comfortable doing such a thing, I will present to you here a quick rundown of some of the more noteworthy things happening all up in this Brew Lounge.
~ I began writing for Origlio's Draught Lines magazine, found all around the greater Philadelphia region at many of their retail accounts. My first article submission was on the topic of taking a "beer-cation" and can be found on pages 9-10 through this magical little web link. The next issue is due out shortly. It's a quality magazine of beer information and suggest you keep your eyes open for it next time you're out buying beer.
~ Around the same time, I was nominated (for the fourth year, but who's counting?) for a Philly Beer Scene award for Beer Writer of the Year. Actually, I take the nomination even more seriously than winning (or not) since the process of getting nominated is through an anonymous polling of industry folk not in your category (i.e. writers can't nominate writers, brewers can't nominate brewers, etc.) Ultimately, through public voting, Suzanne Woods won, but as the old saying goes, I'm honored to be nominated and amongst such good company. Here's a link to Philly Beer Scene where the all the winners were announced.
~ Also just around the same time, I was asked to join the Philadelphia Inquirer's annual Brew-vitational judging of beers from around the region. In the spirit of full disclosure, I should mention that I was the second choice when Jack Curtin could not make himself available for the arduous task of working our way through 49 submitted beers in two categories, one very specific (Pilsners) and one much more broad ("new" beers). I was rather pleased that I had ranked both the Tröegs Sunshine Pils and Weyerbacher Riserva in the first place on my ballot in their respective categories and they both went home with the top honors. A full rundown, plus links to insightful videos about the esteemed judges can be found via this link.
~ Then there was Philly Beer Week. While it was the first PBW where I did not undertake my own event (the annual running event with Dock Street, that didn't stop me from partaking as much as my schedule would allow this year. As with every other year, I kept a running tally of everything I saw and heard and wrapped it up over where you'd expect it.
~ The Brew Lounge went a bit of course with a Simi Winery dinner in Valley Forge at Viviano in the VF Casino Resort. But knowing that quite a few of you like the grape-y stuff too, I took the winery and casino up on their offer to come out for the dinner. Now, if you know me as well as you should by now, you know that this in no way guarantees a favorable review of the evening. Since I don't have time to dabble in the negative, I simply would not write about a dinner that didn't have enough positives to mention. But, this one had plenty from the wines, to the cooking of Tony Clark, to the pairings. Here's a link to the dinner review and a link to some recipes and pairings that the winery sent along as well.
~ On the heels of the Craft Brewers Conference in Washington, DC back in March that I attended, I took in the National Homebrewers Conference (NHC) in Philly (of course, why would I not?) in late June. The month of June was quite busy for Philly what with Philly Beer Week in the early June and the NHC capping off June at the end. While I didn't do a full-blown write-up on either, it reminds me that you should really be following The Brew Lounge on both Facebook and Twitter where occasionally coverage of events (and accompanying pictures) may be limited solely to these social media behemoths. With that suggestion, here's a link to my Facebook page and a link to my Twitter feed.
~ Lastly, with that note about the NHC in Philly, there's a ton of developing content over at Basic Brewing (both radio and video) of the tour that I put together for James, Steve, and Andy who came up from their Arkansas headquarters to cover the NHC as they do every year. On the day prior to the conference, I escorted them around the region on a 130-mile, 12-hour tour of some of the best of the non-City based breweries. We hit up Iron Hill-Maple Shade, Victory, Forest & Main, Earth Bread + Brewery (ok, that's a city one), and Tired Hands. So far, Basic Brewing Radio has the interview with Chris LaPierre (Iron Hill-Maple Shade) up on its website and over the coming weeks more audio and video content will be forthcoming.
Was there more that happened over the past couple of months? Sure, probably, of course. These are the main highlights and as always, I appreciate and respect your support and reading through these voluminous pages of The Brew Lounge.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Philly Beer Scene awards
The 2012 Philly Beer Scene awards took place while was on the big Belgian trip.
Lew Bryson was there and covered it with his perspectives.
Jack Curtin posted the full list of winners.
And, Philly Beer Photo Guy about town, Steve Lyford, documented it in a pile of pictures that you can find via this link.
Also sticking with theme of posting all the pictures you take (sorry, guys, it's too easy to jab at), Philly Beer Scene posted pictures at its Facebook account.
As I mentioned in the comments at Curtin's site, in brief: "...look at the winners and give them the credit they deserve, almost all of which are difficult to argue. And, celebrate all of the nominees (whom, if I’m not mistaken, are chosen by their peers, not the public) that go a long way in making up our rich fabric..."
Just in time for Philly Beer Week to begin.
Lew Bryson was there and covered it with his perspectives.
Jack Curtin posted the full list of winners.
And, Philly Beer Photo Guy about town, Steve Lyford, documented it in a pile of pictures that you can find via this link.
Also sticking with theme of posting all the pictures you take (sorry, guys, it's too easy to jab at), Philly Beer Scene posted pictures at its Facebook account.
As I mentioned in the comments at Curtin's site, in brief: "...look at the winners and give them the credit they deserve, almost all of which are difficult to argue. And, celebrate all of the nominees (whom, if I’m not mistaken, are chosen by their peers, not the public) that go a long way in making up our rich fabric..."
Just in time for Philly Beer Week to begin.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Weekly Brew Bits Update: 2/27/12
February may only have 29 days, but even for the dead of winter, there was no shortage of beer news to share. Here's a bit more from the last week of the month.
PHILADELPHIA
~ Lew Bryson, Senator McIlhenny, and a roomful of beer lovers discussed evolving legislation at Yards on 2/9. Philly Beer Scene's Mat Falco was there and shared audio from the event.
~ While we're on the topic of Yards, BeerNews.org has an interview with Yards' Tom Kehoe and the recently-dismissed operations manager, Steve Mashington. They discussed the phenomenal growth and plans at the brewery over the past few years.
~ Chris LaPierre, Philly Beer Week 2012's collaborative brewer from Iron Hill, has blogged some words and pictures from the big brew day over at Brasserie Dupont in Belgium.
~ About Philly Beer Week, wish I'd written this, but then again I wasn't there. Great piece by this beer guy Craig LaBan ;-)
EASTERN PA, NJ, DE, AND OTHER NEARBY PARTS OF MID-ATLANTIC
~ "The end result is an elegant and succinct brewery/cafe space, with floor drains in every room, that can comfortably house one hundred and eleven people enjoying a glass of Saison." That's a quote in a recent blog post from Jean Broillet, owner of the soon-to-be Tired Hands Brewing Company in Ardmore, Pa., a place that from that quote makes me very anxious to be paying customer there.
~ Evil Eye PA. They're calling it a sessionable IPA and, at 6%, it'll be pushing that boundary a bit for some. None the less, these new suburban Philadelphian brewers, Luke Bowen, Trevor Hayward, and Mark Braunwarth, at Evil Genius are contracting their beers out of Four Horseman in South Bend, Indiana and if you've seen any of their beer around the area, share with the group please.
~ I've still got a few more spoonfuls of chili to work off from yesterday's Chili Challenge at Victory. They've got all sorts of fun planned to coincide this year with the brewery's 16th anniversary. A new one I learned of was the new Chocolate Lager, brewed in collaboration with nearby Eclat Chocolate in West Chester, Pa. This beer won't last long, so get yourself to the pub soon and try this delicious beer.
~ How about one more bit from Victory? Matt Krueger is still raising money to fight the good fight against cancer. Here's a way that your contributions can benefit you. Do the right thing.
~ Female fans of great beer continue to band together in appreciation and support of their favorite beverage. The West Chester Beer Ladies group continues to grow and now they'll be brewing a beer at the West Chester location of Iron Hill. On Wednesday, in two days, they'll be gathering at Iron Hill to toss back a few beers, announce the collaboration brew, and hear from guest brewer, Whitney Thompson, of Victory Brewing.
THE REST OF PLANET EARTH
~ One last blurb from SF Beer Week comes in the form of a 15 minute long video wrap up of Celebrator Magazine's anniversary party, which every year is a Bay Area Beer Highlight. (Philly Beer Week shout-out at 10:40)
~ And in other northern California news, for those of you that love the behind-the-scenes type of stuff and Pliny the Younger too, you'll probably like this video shot during the initial brewpub release of PtY.
~ Must not be much of a man, if twisting a cap makes him feel like one. Loser. Keep drinking the swill and puffing the chest.
~ And, while you're at it Einstein, keep rubbing your nose grease and boogers and sticking it in your beer to kill the head. Thanks, Mr. Sixpack for an informative article. Or you could treat your beer and pour it properly to begin with.
PHILADELPHIA
~ Lew Bryson, Senator McIlhenny, and a roomful of beer lovers discussed evolving legislation at Yards on 2/9. Philly Beer Scene's Mat Falco was there and shared audio from the event.
~ While we're on the topic of Yards, BeerNews.org has an interview with Yards' Tom Kehoe and the recently-dismissed operations manager, Steve Mashington. They discussed the phenomenal growth and plans at the brewery over the past few years.
~ Chris LaPierre, Philly Beer Week 2012's collaborative brewer from Iron Hill, has blogged some words and pictures from the big brew day over at Brasserie Dupont in Belgium.
~ About Philly Beer Week, wish I'd written this, but then again I wasn't there. Great piece by this beer guy Craig LaBan ;-)
EASTERN PA, NJ, DE, AND OTHER NEARBY PARTS OF MID-ATLANTIC
~ "The end result is an elegant and succinct brewery/cafe space, with floor drains in every room, that can comfortably house one hundred and eleven people enjoying a glass of Saison." That's a quote in a recent blog post from Jean Broillet, owner of the soon-to-be Tired Hands Brewing Company in Ardmore, Pa., a place that from that quote makes me very anxious to be paying customer there.
~ Evil Eye PA. They're calling it a sessionable IPA and, at 6%, it'll be pushing that boundary a bit for some. None the less, these new suburban Philadelphian brewers, Luke Bowen, Trevor Hayward, and Mark Braunwarth, at Evil Genius are contracting their beers out of Four Horseman in South Bend, Indiana and if you've seen any of their beer around the area, share with the group please.
~ I've still got a few more spoonfuls of chili to work off from yesterday's Chili Challenge at Victory. They've got all sorts of fun planned to coincide this year with the brewery's 16th anniversary. A new one I learned of was the new Chocolate Lager, brewed in collaboration with nearby Eclat Chocolate in West Chester, Pa. This beer won't last long, so get yourself to the pub soon and try this delicious beer.
~ How about one more bit from Victory? Matt Krueger is still raising money to fight the good fight against cancer. Here's a way that your contributions can benefit you. Do the right thing.
~ Female fans of great beer continue to band together in appreciation and support of their favorite beverage. The West Chester Beer Ladies group continues to grow and now they'll be brewing a beer at the West Chester location of Iron Hill. On Wednesday, in two days, they'll be gathering at Iron Hill to toss back a few beers, announce the collaboration brew, and hear from guest brewer, Whitney Thompson, of Victory Brewing.
THE REST OF PLANET EARTH
~ One last blurb from SF Beer Week comes in the form of a 15 minute long video wrap up of Celebrator Magazine's anniversary party, which every year is a Bay Area Beer Highlight. (Philly Beer Week shout-out at 10:40)
~ And in other northern California news, for those of you that love the behind-the-scenes type of stuff and Pliny the Younger too, you'll probably like this video shot during the initial brewpub release of PtY.
~ Must not be much of a man, if twisting a cap makes him feel like one. Loser. Keep drinking the swill and puffing the chest.
~ And, while you're at it Einstein, keep rubbing your nose grease and boogers and sticking it in your beer to kill the head. Thanks, Mr. Sixpack for an informative article. Or you could treat your beer and pour it properly to begin with.
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