The Brew Lounge: Saucony Creek Brewing

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Thankful for special beer releases this week: Philadelphia area

You say you like getting beer as fresh as it gets, sometimes standing in line for special bottle/can/crowler/draft releases? Well, then, this is for you.

I began noticing a flurry of special releases around the Philly area this week, so let's get to a simple summary of where you want to be, and when, to catch some hot releases as early as this afternoon. As you'll see, many breweries are double-dipping and releasing two special beers to further entice you to visit them.

Tue. Nov. 21
  ~ at 4 p.m., Saint Benjamin Brewing in Philadelphia is releasing Electric DIPA in cans.

Wed. Nov. 22
  ~ at 10 a.m., Victory Brewing in Downingtown is releasing Wisdom's Hour Barrel-aged American Sour and a "surprise" bottle during its annual Dark Wednesday event.

  ~ at 11 a.m., Saucony Creek in Kutztown is releasing (pre-sale only) its first crowler offering — Thorondor On A Stick NEIPA.

  ~ at 12 p.m., Weyerbacher in Easton is releasing its Quad.

  ~ at 12 p.m., Capone's in Norristown is featuring a lineup of Goose Island Bourbon County Brand vintages.

  ~ at 2 p.m., Evil Genius in Philadelphia is releasing both Trust The Process Oat IPA and Run By Fruiting IPA.

  ~ at 3 p.m., Locust Lane Brewing in Malvern is releasing their first canned offerings — Locust Lane Kolsch and Three Tun Citra IPA.

  ~ at 5 p.m., Bistro On Bridge in Phoenixville is hosting Hidden River and Levante breweries for a dinner where they'll feature their newly, and collaboratively, released Genetically Modified Visual Stimuli NEIPA.

Fri. Nov. 24
  ~ at 9 a.m., Exton Beverage in Exton will be selling bottles....; at 12 p.m., Alla Spina in Philly will have draft....; and at 11 a.m., Boathouse in Conshohocken will be selling bottles. The Boathouse, fyi, will have draft beginning at 11 a.m on Wednesday.....of.....2017 (and vintages in some cases, check individual event details for specifics, plus special raffles) Goose Island Bourbon County Brand beers.

  ~ at 12 p.m., Free Will Brewing in Perkasie and Lahaska (Peddler's Village) is releasing its big (both the beer, and the bottle) Ralphius Russian Imperial Stout and Ella.

  ~ at 12 p.m., 2SP Brewing in Aston is releasing Bourbon Barrel-aged Russian Imperial Stout and Best Wishes Imperial Saison.

  ~ at 12 p.m., Spellbound Brewing in Mt. Holly is releasing a canned version of its Porter aged in Palo Santo wood.

  ~ at 12 p.m., Forgotten Boardwalk Brewing in Cherry Hill is releasing Lifeguard Off Duty Saison and Sword Juggler Belgian Lambic-inspired.

  ~ at 4 p.m., La Cabra Brewing in Berwyn is releasing Hipster Catnip American IPA and Feelin Thankful Double IPA.

Is this enough to be thankful for? Any I've missed?

© 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

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Philly Beer Week 2014 is underway

(Looking like they just won the World Series, consumer and Dock Street fan, Daniel Neuner, catches overjoyed head brewer Justin Low after their winning names were announced.)
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.

(Brewers being introduced with Fegley's (Bethlehem) Brew Works' Josh Bushey on the mic.)

(Brett Kinzer from Stoudt's taking his turn during brewer introductions)

(Tom Peters of Monk's Café and ("free beer for") Sparks, technical mastermind behind PBW.)

(Tom Kehoe, the main man behind Yards, always good with getting a rise out of the crowd. Here, during brewer introductions.)

(Jim Kirk, PBW board member and co-owner of Kite & Key, kept a close auditor's eye on the raffle entries as Andy Farrell, managing partner of City Tap House, drew the winning ticket.)

(Tom Peters, with assistance from Sparks, reveals the grand prize winner.)

(Daniel Neuner, left, and Justin Low (Dock Street) react to their winning names being announced during the Philly Beer Week grand prize raffle at The Field House.)

(Justin Low of Dock Street and brewery fan Daniel Neuner recreate their winning moment.)

(Justin Low, left, of Dock Street, and Daniel Neuner are going to brew Philly Beer Week's 2014 beer in Belgium.)

(from left: Sasha Certo-Ware of Dock Street; Tom Peters of Monk's Café and PBW board member; Justin Low of Dock Street; Daniel Neuner, 2014 Philly Beer Week grand prize winner.)

(The third box prize raffle was won by Mrs. Brew Lounge and contained a generous bevy of beer goodies from Artisanal Imports, Bell's Brewery, Devil's Den, Dogfish Head, Nodding Head Brewery, Philadelphia Brewing Company, Philly Beer Week, Philly Beer Scene, Saucony Creek Brewing Company, Smuttynose, and Stoudt's Brewery.)