Sunday, October 18, 2009

The Brew Lounge now resumes its regularly scheduled programming

Hey there fellow Loungers; I'm back! If we're friends over at Facebook, you may have noticed that I've been gone (i.e. Off the East Coast) for over two weeks. If the trip was primarily beer-related, I'd have shared it with you here. But, this was a week's worth of work on Oahu. Patty joined me and we were able to add an extra week of vacation time on Maui. Oh, in case it wasn't clear, this was the State of Hawaii and a severe case of Aloha! I had plenty of material waiting to fill in some of this two week gap so that I wouldn't need to continue writing while away and that you would continue to get all the freshly brewed content. Well, those best-laid plans only sort of worked out with just a few postings during the last 17 days. Fortunately, I never hold myself to any sort of posting quotas, so I wasn't too concerned. But, the big wheels of Philly Craft Brewing kept on rolling during these last couple of weeks and there's lots to catch up on. I was, still, able to keep up with all the happenings back home in Philly Town and beyond. For the sake of catching us all up around here and in the spirit of brevity, here's a bit of what's been happening in the craft beer world during the first half of October 2009 that's come to my attention that seems worth sharing: --Greg Noonan, craft brewing visionary in Vermont, passed away suddenly. Stan Hieronymous has a well-written tribute to a man that I wished I could have met while we were at his Pub less than two months ago. --Sierra Nevada regional sales rep, Patrick Mullin, dropped a note to remind me of a Beer Lunch that he's hosting at Jose Pistolas on this coming Friday, October 23rd from 12pm-3pm with Best of Philly winner, Casey Parker --Joe Sixpack positioned real nicely the direct and indirect benefits of the numerous regional Beer Weeks that are popping up all across the country, thanks to the overwhelming success of the Original Philly Beer Week --I apparently just missed Lew Bryson at SFO. He's been covering WhiskeyFest and thus could go a long way in explaining why the Anchor pub was closed by 8:30pm when we passed through on the way home from Hawaii --The next of the Exit Series, Exit 1, is ready for release from Flying Fish and parties are being readied in Philly on Wednesday, October 28th from Standard Tap to the recently reopened Oyster House (makes s --Speaking of Flying Fish, Iron Hill's newest location in Maple Shade is throwing them a Welcome to the State Party. All sorts of special beer will be available and promises to be a great reason to stop by the Garden State's newest brewpub in over a decade. Expect beers the likes of: Heywood Tripel; a Cask of Barleywine 2004; and a Cask of Totally Inappropriate from Iron Hill and Exit 4; Belgian Imperial Mild; and Grand Cru from Flying Fish (and a sneak peak of Exit 1???) --Jack Curtin reports on what sounds like another successful Kennett Square Brewfest, as well as a trip down memory lane for him. Sounds like the liver-starving VIP session may have gone off well enough afterall. Jack also reports that Pennichuck is closing. I haven't searched around for more information on this one yet, but this seems like a head-scratcher...that large format bottle that I have will now perhaps have a bit more significance when I decide to crack it open. --A couple of hot events are planned at The Drafting Room in Exton, PA. First one up is this coming Friday with a bunch of great beer from Lost Abbey and Port Brewing (including more than a few thimblefuls of Angel's Share). Some Blind Pig and Nugget Nectar are also on deck for this event. They've also got a Highland Park Scotch Dinner planned for the 29th, as well, if that's your sort of malted thing. And, finally, I'll have more soon on the upcoming Sierra Nevada Beer Dinner (November 11th). --Memphis Taproom (rotating specials at all 3 of their locations) and Jose Pistolas (Sly Fox and Ithaca specials) are just two of the city's better beer bars that are getting in on the Phillies postseason run, with big screens and big specials --I kicked off the Official Press Release of Artisan Homebrew's Grand Opening. Now it's time for me to plan out my next recipe and stop in to see Mike. --Suzanne Woods, the Original Beer Lass, reminded me of her upcoming "SlyDogGang" event that she's putting together with Wendy Domurat of Dogfish Head and Megan Maguire from Duvel Morgaat USA. Stay tuned here and there for more details as they worked out. What we do know as of now is that there should be plenty of all three breweries beers, including firkins, food pairings, and decorations/costumes---it is Mischief Night afterall, right? --And, can someone please explain to me what the heck is going on with the lawsuit against Rock Art? I got all sorts of emails, RSS feeds, and other screaming headlines that I haven't even begun to look into yet. I can only imagine... --Other than trying to keep up on everything back home, while still trying to relax on vacation, I was able to finally get through about a 10-inch high stack of reading material that dates back to as far back as the early part of this year when I brought reading material home from San Francisco Beer Week. Those long plane rides and beachside loungings are great for that sort of thing. What a great and relieved feeling to have got through such a backlog of reading. Now, whether I'm any wiser for any of it only the future will tell. Over the coming days, you can expect to see me sharing some of my beer run-ins while in the great State of Hawaii. Warning, there are some, but not many.

No comments: