Saturday, March 14, 2009

PBW 2009: Day 8 Wrap-Up and Day 9 Preview

Link to Day 8 Pictures

What I did:

Okay, so the word that I got is that two stellar beers, Da Phunk (Nodding Head) and Jay's Way (Triumph) are gone. Da Phunk will be seen again, but only by a select lucky few. Jay's Way is due to return in about 6 months. Stay tuned...

@Yards, Smoke 'Em ---> The Yards brewery was a perfect venue for hosting a meat 'n' greet. A whole lot of meats prepared different ways from around 15 entrants in the BBQ contest. Around 20 beers from the U.S. and Germany to round out this smokin' event.

By 1:30pm, all 288 specially-designed glasses that had been ordered for the event were gone. Estimates were placed close to 500 over the course of the afternoon for this well-conceived event. By 5pm, only a couple of guests beers remained, people were still coming through the door (some presumably returning from The Grey Lodge), and Yards was pulling out some their brands.

The beer was good, the food was better, but to me the winner factor in the day at Yards was the people and camaraderie on a beautifully brisk Friday afternoon in the city. Guys milling around outside puffing a stogie, people mingling through the brewhouse checking out Yards relatively new brewing operation, music pumping through the tasting room area (home to a future restaurant operation?), and people just generally relaxing and enjoying good food and drink is what made this one of the week's best events.

Here's hoping that Tom Kehoe also got his share of carbs, and not just protein, on Friday in preparation his big wrestling match on Saturday at Kite & Key.

@Standard Tap, Victory ---> Standard Tap is barely a 10 minute walk under I-95 from Yards. So, getting back from the waterfront to wherever I was going next seemed to make sense by way of Standard. Happy to oblige common sense since this would make my second trip of the week to one of Philly's classic corner bars.

Victory was due to be flowing from 4pm-6pm (believe the calendar may even still reflect this, ggrrr.) And, it actually was. I wasn't sure anyone would be there representing the brewery, but not matter. I ran into the cycling beer lover, Jeff Appletans, and shared a WildDevil with him.

Later come to find out that Tracy and Bill were en route, but my time was up and I was moving on. They were there from 6pm-8pm and with a full chalkboard of great Victory beers, plus a couple on handpump, I'm sure it was a great night.

@13 at Marriott, Sam Adams ---> I posted the press release for this event at this new bar in the Downtown Marriott. I had a nice sample of Blackberry Wit, which was being released in Pennsylvania early, in conjunction with PBW. I couldn't see making the Wit a permanent fixture in my lineup, but it certainly had a nice identifiable fruit flavor, though just a tad heavy on my palate, that I could imagine enjoying once in a while and one that I know others would enjoy even more.

@Irish Pol, Weyerbacher ---> The Irish Pol is the former Jaegers, right? Never been there either. The Irish Pol seems like a great drinking bar and is just down the street from Benneluxx and across from National Mechanic's. The scene was a bit chaotic. Chris Lampe was standing in for Weyerbacher and AroundMainLine.com's Sarah Lockard (who'd recently done a nice profile of the brewery) was there to help promote as well.

So, it was just a quick Double Simcoe (is there such a thing?) and I was off. I was crashing quick. Between my morning run and walking the city, I was exhausted. Patty and I arranged to meet TJs for that oh-so-special T.U.D....this time a Renard D'Or from Sly Fox. Nice....then a pizza pickup and home to go horizontal.

By the way, it was my first day's experience with the SEPTA $9 pass. What a steal. I believe my estimation was that I got over on SEPTA by around 10 bucks. Don't tell them, or we may not get the same deal next year.

What I might do tomorrow:

Methinks Saturday will be a light day storing up my energy for an 18 mile run on Sunday, to be followed by a crazy last day of PBW 2009. If my morning was freer (that's a word, right?), I'd stop by to hears Tales from Jack at Standard Tap, but it won't be in the cards.

2pm; @Belgian Cafe, Chouffe ---> I missed Chouffe at Eulogy on Friday, so a stop in for a glass or two at Monk's sister establishment in Fairmount should be a no-brainer.

2:30pm; @Kite & Key, Smackdown ---> Chouffe is a no-brainer, because it's just a few blocks from Kite & Key, and my must event for Saturday. Many of you have heard me say that I enjoy spectacles...not just the eyepieces, but events that a bit unusual, interesting. Well, this is certainly one of them. Tom Kehoe, Jim Kirk, wrestling. Should be a blast.

Then, it's back to TJs for some leftover Weed. Cuz, I haven't had weed in a while ;-) Weed is a brewery out of Northern California. You thought Californians were different? Northern, way northern, California is out there. Weed came to PA recently, and TJs is promoting them on Saturday. I'm sure I'll miss whoever's repping them, but we'll stop in for a big pasta/carb dinner and grab whatever's left of the weed...I mean, Weed.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Bryan,
Great to meet you at The Pol, what a great place in Old City and I was so digging Weyerbacher's Echo!

Stay in touch!!

Sarah Lockard
AroundMainLine.com
slockard@aroundmainline.com