Beer Week Notes, Part 1

Beer week officially started Friday June 4th. As of writing this, it's been four full days of events.

I am less excited about Beer Week this year. Last year, it was a new experience for me and (I believe) the city of Philadelphia. It was a huge success, and this year many more restaurants and breweries wanted to get in on the action. Thus we have a less organized, lower aggregate quality, diluted Beer Week. But I digress, I've found a lot to enjoy. It's just like walking through a jewelry store looking for a gem (2009) versus walking through the swamp looking for one.

I had Bell's Hopslam for the first time. This is a hyped up beer, and I can't say I'm crazy about it. I was crazy about the Bell's event Monday night at the City Tap House. I was a part of a near 600 strong crowd that helped set a Guinness World Record - Most beers on tap by one brewery in one location. 31 in total. There were some great brews here, my favorite being the "Batch 6000." It was a great American strong ale complex enough to have several different tastes through the ten ounce pour.

Dan and I ventured down to Varga for a Terrapin event. I loved every drop of their wheat wine, Gamma Ray. Pick this up if you have a chance. In a short sighted move, Varga discontinued their speed lunch during beer week. I guess the idea was to create more space for the beer events. But when there is one table during occupied during your lunch rush, and (somehow) two bartenders, two servers, and a hostess can provide subpar service, the management needs to be called into question.

Sub par service continued at Triumph for the East Coast vs West Coast IPA event. I had tried a majority of the beer menu before visiting, but it was still a cool idea. By far, the best beer was from Allentown's Brew Works. This light, balanced IPA was my favorite drink of the day. I guessed the ABV to be between five and six and was floored when I learned it clocked in at 11.5. Great IPA from a generically named brewery that has been off my radar until now.

The most poorly managed event I attended was at Noddinghead. One of the advertised beers was never brewed, and two more were kicked less than halfway through the event. With beer, it's easy to have too little, and rarely a problem to have extra. The server was overworked and thus provided poor service. I did love that they had a pinata filled with homebrew supplies.

I loved that Memphis Taproom is right around the corner from my house. I like the idea of "No Repeat Beer Week" where they tap a brand new keg for ten days straight. I haven't had anything incredible yet, but I'll keep trying. There's definitely some great stuff in the queue.

The German Societies' festival was fun to briefly stop by at. Jonny and I had pork sandwiches with delicious German mustard. But a beer event that doesn't feature anything better than Spaten and Franziskaner needs some inspiration.

Jonny convinced me to visit Eulogy for a stout event while it was reaching 90 degrees outside. I'm glad he did though, because the Peche Mortel in an incredible drink, complex, flavorful and interesting. I highly recommend trying it if you have the chance.

I went to a Hitachino event at Kraftwork. I've never been a huge fan of this brewery; the beers are generally outrageously priced because they are shipped from Japan. After trying four new beers from Japan's foremost brewery, I have to stick to my guns. There are better beers available cheaper made closer to home. The witbeir is the most notable for me, and it's a great beer for the style, but I'm still not crazy about it.

I had Stoudt's Double IPA on firkin at the Oyster House. I don't love firkins, but it really mellowed out the hops in this beer, resulting in a drinkable double IPA. The beer prices here are terrible. To balance them out, visit from 5 to 7 and take advantage of buck a shuck: $1 for the oyster of the day.

Bottom Line: It may sound like I'm complaining, but I've tried some really exciting new beers and breweries that I've never heard of. This is the kind of stuff that I (and maybe you) need to develop a opinions and a palate to back them up. I look forward to the events I'll hit up the rest of the week. The service has been poor at several locations, but I understand that it can be hard to judge demand and attendance for events. It's easy to be a critic, but I shouldn't have to wait fifteen minutes for my first drink or another twenty for the check (twice in one day).