Thursday, March 06, 2008

The Path To Philly Beer Week 2008 - A Profile of Flying Fish Brewing Company





They can be forgiven for locating across the river on "the other side", but it doesn't mean that they are any less a part of the Philly Beer Scene than other places that I've given you the rundown on so far. In fact, in some ways they can be more so.

Around town, it's not all that difficult to spot the ESB, XPA, and Dubbel regularly on tap. And when you're extra lucky, you'll find the Grand Cru, Porter, and HopFish. Some of these will wind up cask conditioned on any given night or perhaps at a special event like Friday the Firkenteenth at Grey Lodge.

With these beers readily available on tap and by the bottle, and Casey ready at the bat to rip up the town, they're representing New Jersey practically by themselves....and doin' it well.

As you ready yourself for Philly Beer Week 2008, study up on some background notes on Flying Fish and consider yourself lucky to be part of such a vibrant and rich beer region that PBW 2008 will celebrate.



Name: Flying Fish Brewing Company
Location: 1940 Olney Avenue, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003
Phone: 856-489-0061

People
Gene Muller; Founder & Owner
Casey Hughes (Director of Brewing Operations & Head Brewer); John Fiorilli (assistant brewer)
Drew Perry (Brewer & Cellarman); Jim Brennan (Packaging Supervisor); Tobe Foxhill (Packaging Lead)


Major Brands
Belgian Abbey Dubbel; ESB; Extra Pale Ale; HopFish; Porter

Awards
Abbey Dubbel
Gold (Chicago Real Ale Festival) 1998

BlackFish
Gold (Chicago Real Ale Festival) 2000

Farmhouse Summer Ale
Best Of Show (Manayunk Brew Fest Extravaganza) 2007

Porter
Best of Philly (Philadelphia Magazine) 2001


Distribution
PA, NJ, DE, MD, D.C.

Production
Roughly 12,000 bbls/year

History & Tidbits
  • Opened the production facility in September 1996 as the first microbrewery in southern New Jersey
  • Has since tripled production and is now the largest microbrewery in the State
  • Michael Jackson visited in 1997 and Prince Albert drank the ESB in 1998
  • Brewed their millionth gallon in May 2002
  • In 2005, began serving their beer in Camden's Campbell Field (home of the Atlantic League's Riversharks baseball team)
  • Won Nodding Head's Royal Stumble in 2007 with their Farmhouse Summer Ale


  • Major Yearly Events
  • Open for free tours and tastings every Saturday at 1pm


  • Where to Find Flying Fish During Philly Beer Week
  • Joe Sixpack's Book Launch will include the Farmhouse Summer Ale
  • Will participate in The Brewer's Plate food pairing event at Independence Visitor Center on the 9th
  • With XPA (dry-hopped) in tow, on Friday the 7th Casey will be at Good Dog for a Meet & Greet, on the 10th at Standard Tap, and on the 11th at Tavern 17
  • GoodFish (HopFish dry-hopped with Simcoe) will be on tap at Good Dog Bar all week
  • Will attend the cask ale festival event at Triumph on the 16th and highlight their Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Porter



  • 1 comment:

    Scoats said...

    Great summary of the Fish!

    Casey, that Modern Day Bard of Beer, and Apple Jack Grand Cru will be at The Grey Lodge Pub for Beware the Ides of March on Saturday the 15th, at 9pm, which is after the Michael Jackson tasting.

    http://www.greylodge.com/events.html#080315