Bell's Beer special distribution this week

Here are a few late entries to The Brew Lounge's September calendar of events that many of you will find of interest.

I received a nice note from Josh at Bell's Brewery. Yes, that Bell's Brewery from Michigan. The one that did the massive tap takeover during Philly Beer Week and delivers so many beers that get the geeks foaming.

They're in town the next few days to show off their Quinannan Falls Special Lager Beer, a 6.5% ABV "dry-hopped, strong lager that is usually only available on draft in Kalamazoo, MI".

I probably won't be able to make it out to any of the special events in the next few days, but trust if any of you do, you'll report back.

Here are the details straight from the brewery:

Tuesday, Sept. 27
Meet Derek from the brewery as Bell’s will be taking over Capone’s in Norristown starting at 6 p.m. In addition to Q-Falls, Amber, Best Brown, Cherry Stout, Consecrator Doppelbock, Kalamazoo Stout, Octoberfest, Oracle Double IPA, Porter, Two Hearted Ale IPA, and Wedding Ale will also be available on draft.

Call 610-279-4748 or visit them online caponesdraftlist.blogspot.com for more information.

Wednesday, Sept. 28
Bell’s will take over Jeremy’s Khyber Pass Pub in Philadelphia with Two Hearted, Porter, Consecrator, Q-Falls, Amber Ale, Oarsman Ale, and Expedition Stout on draft starting at 8 p.m.

Call 215-238-5888 or go to www.khyberpasspub.com for more information.

Thursday, Sept. 29
This first look at Q-Falls will be held at Blue Dog Tavern in Chalfont alongside Two Hearted, Porter, Consecrator, Amber, Pale Ale, Oarsman Ale, and Expedition Stout.

Call 215-997-9988 or go online to www.bluedog.cc for more information.

About Quinannan Falls Special Lager Beer:
Born in a dream, Quinannan Falls Special Lager Beer refers to a mythical place in the boreal north. While the waterfall may exist solely in Larry Bell’s imagination, the beer he remembered drinking there is now quite real. Quinannan Falls possesses the crisp, dry bitterness you’d expect from a German pilsner, but the use of highly aromatic hops from the Pacific Northwest in both the kettle & dry-hop invokes the fragrant pine forests that inspired this beer.

Events of note this weekend.

Regrettably, I'll miss them all. However, you all should help pick up my slack.

Making beer is one thing. How it's distributed and presented to the market is another. The people, the places, as well as the beer all contribute greatly to the success of this industry. It's a primary reason I focus so much on events here at The Brew Lounge.

Check out a few of the best this weekend has to offer.

We've got a couple of festivals. Like at Manayunk Brewery, where I swear I'll eventually get to one of their annual festivals that I undertand are worth the trip. It's on Saturday, April 30 from 1pm-5pm and costs $45.

Also Saturday, at 6pm, Stoudt's is again hosting what has become a nice little festival of its own -- the Battle of the Brewery Bands. The event will have at least five bands playing and costs $30.

Then we have a couple of animal-related events. No, not the human-type of 'animals', the real thing. Like a fundraiser called Firkins for our Furry Friends for P.A.W.S. at Khyber Pass Pub on Saturday from 12pm-8pm, where $20 gets you unlimited fills of cask-conditioned beer.

And, by now, who doesn't know about the legendary gathering of thousands and a couple dozen goats in Phoenixville. It's the annual Bock Festival and Goat Races on the first Sunday of May, it's at Sly Fox, and it's Pay As You Go for a day full of bock beers, goat races, live German music, and loads of outdoor fun.

Then, lastly I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the special release of a beer that I'll be sorry to miss, the Saizanne. It was created by Chris LaPierre and his lovely lady (or maybe the other way around, Suzanne Woods, and her lance romance) and brewed at his Maple Shade location of Iron Hill. The gathering and tasting gets underway at 12pm on Saturday.

If I was not so responsible, I'd have sat at Khyber Pass all day

(Khyber Pass from the outside; same as it ever was)

(a 15% beer, Avery Mephistopheles, to celebrate a 15 mile run..but, of course?!)

The only thing better would be if The Khyber was an outdoor beer drinking venue. But, then it wouldn't be the Khyber we know and love.

(A list to make the Tsars blush)

It was my first visit since the remodel. I'm glad to see that the bar — and especially the restaurant side — retained more of the "earthiness" than the pretty pictures had initially shown. i.e. It hasn't been too prettified.

Lots of good people and familiar faces on both sides of the bar. Good times, to be sure.

Oh, by the way....the very special keg I referred to last night? Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout. Solid list of Russian Imperial Stouts all around that would be sure to impress the Tsars.

(Fried Green Tomato BLT quite satisfying with an accompaniment of Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout)
They also featured, not with the R.I.S., of course, the very drinkable Mort Subite Blanche from Keersmaeker.

Today, Tonight, this Weekend: take your pick of City or 'Burbs

Two all day events today will give beer lovers a great variety of beers to choose from.

At the Khyber Pass Pub in Philly, some of the biggest, baddest Russian Imperial Stouts will be holding court for as long as they can during the Tsar Power event. Think World Wide Stout...Mephistopheles...Madrugada Obscura...Prince Myshkin...Sea Monster...and Cowbell.

Plus, I'm told that one very special keg is still en route. Oh, yeah, and cask-conditioned Storm King too.

If my morning long run goes well at the Art Museum, I very well may head over there to have my way with one or two of these beasts.

Out in Paoli — oh yes, how convenient that it's on my hometurf — at TJ's, they're putting up a whole bunch of beers from the Global Brewers Guild portfolio. Think 21st Amendment, Allagash, Great Divide, and Smuttynose.

These beers are mostly all on already at TJ's which means that you can already get a taste of some of these. Plus, there's always the chance that some will linger 'til Sunday.

And, if you're fortunate enough to have a Real Ale Festival ticket for Sunday at Yards, then you're truly in luck this weekend.

Spring is upon us. If you've been hibernating from beer events — oh wait, I forgot whom I was talking with! — this weekend would be a great time to get out there.

In preview of tomorrow's weekly Philly Beer Calendar

Right--I normally do these weekly calendar updates on Thursday morning. And, that's exactly what you'll see tomorrow morning. You're all good enough readers to pick up on what I'm about to point out.

Once again, the Philly area beer calendar is bursting at the seams and demonstrates how "in to" great beer the publicans are...the consumers are...the brewers are...the distributors are. We live Beer Week year-round 'round these parts.

Take for example Thursday February 17 and the 10 events that will be on my weekly calendar release tomorrow. Stand back and admire the tenacity of our beer region on an "average" Thursday night.

In the Lehigh Valley, Bethlehem Brew Works is doing a charity fundraiser with a special cask of beer to benefit the Muscular Dystropy Association.

In Philly, Jose Pistolas is throwing a party with Allagash's Rob Tod and in the suburbs, Capone's is throwing yet another Sierra 30th Anniversary Bash for one last taste of the special anniversary beers.

There'll be a cask of Yards Chocolate Love Stout at Khyber Pass Pub, a couple over at Kraftwork during its celebration of Victory's 15 years, and at least two at Fork & Barrel as they welcome BFM's Jerome Rebetez.

White Dog in University City is throwing a Happy Hour with Weyerbacher.

Devil's Den will be experimenting with beer and cheese in conjunction with DiBruno Bros., both always good moves.

Iron Hill has a sold-out five-course meal in Maple Shade with some pretty nice beers (call to check for cancellations).

And, finally, Sly Fox is continuing Boot Camp at its Royersford location as they march on toward St. Patrick's Day.

Happy Thursday. Not too shabby, eh? Get your rest.

Whither The Khyber (Pass Pub)

Ah, The Khyber. Just earlier this year I was finally teaching myself to fluently say, without stuttering or hesitation, The Khyber. Now, they've pulled a quickie on me and have reverted back, inserting Pass back on to their marquee again. For years, The Khyber Pass is how they were known and, for many, how they were continued to be called even after they later dropped Pass from their official name. In between all of this, ownership was preparing this summer to drop the live music venue and go 180° into a Japanese izakaya concept. Now comes The Khyber Pass Pub. Must admit, though, that this feels a lot more "right" than the izakaya idea. As an early Old City adopter of craft/micro beer and some of the city's more recognizable names passing behind the bar (see City Paper story for reference), it seems to make sense to see the return of what they are calling "first, finest and longest running beer bar...reasserting its claim to the throne of Philadelphia’s Best Beer Bar". 'Finest', 'throne', and 'best' are all their words and we shall see in the coming weeks and months. But, the early signs are good. They're talking about 20 rotating draft lines, a large selection of bottles, and two cask engines for beers available in glassware from a half pint to a pitcher. From the kitchen, the opening night menu will have some standard pub fare dotted with more interesting items like Cornmeal Crusted Gulf Oysters, Fried Green Tomatoes, Po-boys, and Memphis-style Fried Chicken. I was due to attend a preview party tonight as an invitee of the pub to discover the spruced up joint. However, unforeseen circumstances got in the way, so here I am at home sharing with you instead electronically without any first-hand evidence to offer. Unfortunately, unless they've squirreled away another more current website, it looks as if they haven't focused on this part of their marketing as of yet. Look for the doors to open for the public tomorrow night (Tuesday 11/9) and a grand opening celebration on Thursday, 11/18.

The Khyber, then and now and to be...

A little bit of post-PBW housecleaning around here turns up an article from the City Paper in Philly. They rounded up a handful of bartenders involved with The Khyber over the years and sat down to talk about its history and cast of characters. Longer than most standard beer articles, but an engaging one none the less....plus, its sweltering outside this weekend....what else should you do than catch up with some reading about beer...while enjoying a beer, of course? You'll get a whole bunch of interesting stories, as well as learning a love story called: "how Brendan and Leigh met". After you finish with all of that, you can read up on a much shorter, more recent, article about the anticipated and debated future of The Khyber.

Walkin' and Drinkin' in a Firkin Wonderland

Weather outside frightful? No way. I had just finished describing to someone how much I enjoy the changing of our distinctively different seasons here in the northeast part of the country when I decided that I would meet up with Patty in the city (Philly, that is...if you're not keeping track) and head over to The Khyber for their fund-raising firkin event. Well, this was after checking both Amtrak's and SEPTA's morning "performance" to see how delayed service was running into the city. Oh, and that in fact came after hearing, or shall I say seeing, online from The Khyber's Jeremy Thomson that the event would go on. This was, after all, a state of emergency as he put it. One that would raise needed funds for the animals. Actually, what I found in the city was that much continued to go on. That's part of the beauty of urban living, not being so dependent upon cars to get through daily life. In the city, there are trains, buses, subways, trolleys, and cabs to get from point A to point B. Plus, there's good ol' fashioned pedi-power. We combined a few of these to find our way into Old City and a bar seat at The Khyber. We were there for the first couple hours of the event when things were still a bit slow. But, I can recall how things went for us when we used to live in the city and predict how the remainder of the day went. After slumbering through a wintry morning, grabbing coffee and breakfast/brunch, urbanites in search of good beer for a good cause were lumbering in the direction of The Khyber to put back from Sly Fox Chester County Bitter, Yards George Washington Porter, Philadelphia Brewing's Shackamaximum Stout, and Stoudt's Fat Dog Stout on cask. There were unlimited refills of these four beauts included in the $20 donation to Philly PAWS; but even at one glass of each of them you were right around breakeven. Note to brewers and bar owners/managers: These cask events don't pop up nearly often enough around these parts. We here in the Philadelphia region were one of the early adopters of a strong cask culture. Still...While most bars of above average repute have around one beer engine, I think I speak for many of us who would like to see more cask offerings and more at one given time at events such as this. Brewers--Bar Managers....Possible? Readers....what say you?