Jun
8
Written by:
xhost
6/8/2010 6:37 AM
A year goes by quickly (provided you have enough beer to weather its ups and downs), and once again we find ourselves back in the throes of the leviathan that is Philly Beer Week. What began a few years ago as a handful of events intended to pay proper respects and homage to Philadelphia’s proud brewing history and tradition has ballooned into over a thousand different ways to separate beer snobs from their money. As a beer snob, I take offence to this. But, as my good friend Stephen Colbert says, “the market has spoken.” If restaurants, bars, and distributors can put on well-attended events that take in $60 a head for a few samples and a plate of food, then what’s the problem?
The problem for me lies in my belief that beer week was created to show people that craft beer is immensely accessible, and that most craft brewers embody a set of principles that quite a few beer drinkers (especially in Philly) aim for, be it environmental responsibility, quality (and when possible, locally-sourced) ingredients, and a commitment to the personal connection of brewer and drinker. I’m quite pleased that the Beer Week website this year features categories such as Education, Meet the Brewers, and Competition (although I’ve heard that some of the competitions have little to do with beer), but sometimes it feels like the expensive and far-fetched events are more sizzle than steak.
With that being said, it would appear that quite a number of people, myself included, had a great time at Saturday’s International Great Beer Expo (the half-priced tickets didn’t hurt). I got to meet two new breweries, Prism Brewing Co. and Harlem Brewing Co., that are both run by (if you ever can be considered ex-)homebrewers that got the itch to move to something bigger. While HBC’s Sugar Hill Ale was a recreation of a traditional prohibition brew from Harlem, Prism’s Bitto Honey IPA and Tea Party Pale Ale were completely untraditional. The Tea Party was brewed with a black tea, and tastes quite astringent in its leafiness. It’s a great flavor… at first. I’m not sure how a full pint of this would go down, although if I see it on a bar menu around town, I’d have to find out. The Bitto Honey seemed to be an easier drinker, with a nice honey finish. I would get a six-pack of this in a heartbeat. It’s great to see people successfully making the move from 5 gallons to 500 gallons (and beyond), and even better to see homebrewers chasing that dream of having some appreciative beer drinker somewhere crack open their bottle, take a sip, and say, “Oh yeah—this is a great beer.”
The rest of the breweries there were, as always, pouring some of their best stuff. River Horse, BrewDog, Hometown, St. Somewhere, Eel River, Gritty McDuffs, Original Sin, Ballast Point, Coedo, and quite a few others all contributed their wares to the masses. It may be packed, but you’ll always run into friends—I could tell for a lot of people leaving Beer Fest, their night was just getting started. If your night ended around a bonfire, enjoying that last beer before finally dousing the fire and heading to sleep, then you already know—that Beer Expo might be cheap, it might be crowded, but damn it—it’s just plain old-fashioned, beer-drinking fun.