Friday the Firkinteenth and Yards "Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em"

Yesterday was Friday the Firkinteenth at the Grey Lodge: every Friday the 13th, the Lodge lines up dozens of beers and pours cask ale until the firkins are empty.  Yesterday's Firkinteenth was extra special since it fell during Beer Week, and starting at 9:00 am they had about 30 firkins on hand.  I had taken the day off and took the El up to the Lodge where I met Mal, Amanda, Julie and Lee.  Over the course of the morning, we sampled almost everything tapped thus far:

• Arcadia Sky High Rye (my 2nd favorite - I love rye beers)
  
• Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree IPA (at 12% the strongest I tried, but it was like drinking syrup)
  
• Iron Hill (West Chester) Irish Red
  
• Sierra Nevada Stout (my favorite of the day - smooth, creamy and slightly sweet)
  
• Sly Fox Standard Ale
  
• Dock Street Hop Garden (which had bits of hop in it)
  
• Voodoo Wynona's Big Brown Ale
  

The atmosphere was great - even though the place was packed, the wait for beers wasn't too long and everyone was in a good mood.  Every time someone would walk into the bar, the place would erupt in a cheer (and conversely, people would get a good-natured "boooo" when they left -- it is Philly, after all).

The glorious Beer Week Hammer of Glory was in the house, and making the rounds for photos (we sadly forgot our cameras, but Mal got a pic of this guy on his camera phone).  There were plenty of local beer mavens in attendance, including Lew Bryson, William Reed and Brian O'Reilly.

We rolled out around 1pm, aiming to hop the free shuttle to the Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em smoked beer and barbeque event at Yards Brewing.  After waiting a while for the shuttle, we decided to hop the 66 bus and the El over to Yards.  Like the Grey Lodge, Yards was crowded but not oppressively so.  The new brewery is very impressive - high ceilings, huge spotless kettles and fermenters and at the rear, a giant tasting bar where they were pouring 18 smoked beers from various breweries.  Around the perimeter of the tasting room, local restaurants had set up tables offering smoked meat in all its glorious forms: ribs, brisket, pulled pork and so on.

Hungry from standing around drinking all morning, we hit the tables with gusto.  Victory's pulled pork was excellent and Tommy Gunn's wasn't too bad either (and their corn salad was good).  Some of the other tables weren't as well marked so I can't give props to whomever made the awesome ribs.  On the beer side, I tried offerings from Oskar Blues ("Smoke on the Water"), Sierra Nevada (Smoked Imperial Porter) and Sly Fox.  Stuffed and sated, we wound down the day at Mal and Amanda's place watching the replay of the World Series.

It was a really fun day and I'm already looking forward to the next Firkinteenth in November.

Hush, puppies

We have some Beer Week backlog to get to -- namely, Memphis Taproom's Vintage Beer Brunch and the Shola Olunloyo dinner at Blackfish (which was not an official Beer Week event, but we made it unofficially so).  All in good time.

I stopped in Local 44 tonight for a late dinner, and to check out their "East Coast vs. West Coast" beer special.  Tonight it was Rogue's I2PA v. Brooklyn Brewery's Blast Ale -- both double IPAs.  I was tempted, but had to drive, and those 9% beers would have been trouble.  So I opted for a Duvel Green to start -- it was crisp and hoppy, quite different from Duvel's signature ale.  Very refreshing. 

For dinner, I ended up choosing the fish & chips, for one reason: hush puppies included.  I am a sucker for cornbread in all its forms, but deep-fried might be the best of all.  I've loved hush puppies ever since I was a kid, when our family would go on vacation down south.  You don't see them too often in these parts so I jumped at the chance.  Local 44 didn't disappoint, either -- the hush puppies were piping hot, springy and slightly sweet.  The fish and the chips were fine, but those fluffy spheres of cornbread made my night.  

With my meal, I drank a Laurelwood Workhorse IPA, which had been recommended by multiple people at the bar. Good choice.  For an IPA, it was surprisingly light-bodied and appropriately hoppy.  Austin enjoyed his Laurelwood in Portland back in January, and I can see why -- they make great beer.  I hear Local 44 is one of the only establishments in the area to serve their beer.  So get down there and get some, before it's all gone.  And have some hush puppies while you're there.

Deep Thought

Standard Ale is back!

Update 3/9/08:

And it's delicious. Stopped by Johnny Brenda's on Sunday en route to Mal's old apartment to help him move a few things. Nothing like a Standard Ale fresh from the cask before lifting heavy furniture.

Boyz II Men, ABC, BDG: Biere de Garde Week

In the months and weeks leading up to Beer Week (which starts tomorrow!), I watched as the number of events swelled from a few dozen to (as of today) 130,000. Ok, that's an exaggeration. But! There really are a ton of events to sort through. And a goodly number of those events come with a hefty price tag. So far I have reservations for only one fully-sanctioned, ticketed PBW event (the Vintage Beer Brunch at Memphis this Sunday!) and I am okay with that. One of the great things of having so many participating bars, restaurants and breweries is that I can stumble upon interesting events without much effort or the immense cost.

One place I plan to stumble to, upon and from is Caribou Cafe. For BW theyre highlighting Biere de Garde. Biere de Gardes are farmhouse style ales that are cellared for a period of time (the name means "kept beer"). They are generally malt forward and light brown or copper in color, typically darker than a saison.

All week Caribou will have a selection of different BDG's on tap; and their cooler will be stocked with bottles peculiar to the Pas de Calais region of France (the birthplace of BDG). They'll also have a tasting menu of three courses. Each paired with a different biere.

Take a look at Caribou's full schedule for Biere de Garde Week.

Beer Madness

The Washington Post unveiled their annual Beer Madness competition this week --  it's a tournament competition modeled on NCAA basketball's March Madness.  The lineup is usually a curious mix of craft & macro, regional & national brands, and this year's bracket runs the gamut from Bud Light Lime to Ommegang Hennepin.  Beers are initially paired according to style, and then the bracket proceeds to mix styles as it progresses.

The Pennsylvania beer scene is well represented, with Troegs HopBack Amber Ale, Stoudts Scarlet Lady Ale and Yuengling's Lord Chesterfield Ale.  In the first round, HopBack and Scarlet Lady advanced, while Lord Chesterfield fell to the unfortunately named Honker's Ale from Goose Island Beer Co. in Chicago.

Last year Troegs HopBack made it to the Final Four, and I'll be cheering them on along with Stoudts this year.

(Hat tip: JR)

Steak on a Snow Day

Today's second beer-free post.  Since HM is drinking flat whites and otherwise enjoying the 70° weather in New Zealand, and I spent a goodly portion of the day shoveling snow, I treated myself to a ribeye tonight.  

I seared the steak in a cast-iron pan and finished it in the oven to a nice medium-rare.  While the steak was in the oven, I added some butter, shallots, tarragon and red wine to the pan juices, and reduced them until the sauce coated the back of a spoon.  (One of my favorite Mark Bittman recipes.)

For the sauce, I used a 2006 Domaine Taluau St. Nicholas de Bourgueil "Cuvée l'Expression" Cabernet Franc, procured from Moore Brothers, my favorite wine merchant.  From the shop's description: This is real wine: all black fruit, bell peppers, violets, and minerals, with a long, moderately tannic finish and plenty of fresh acidity.  In the glass the wine was a fine accompaniment to the steak, along with sides of crispy potatoes and green beans with basil and shallots.  

I know, that plate is a mess.  Gotta work on the whole "presentation" thing. 

Snow!

Bryn Mawr, PA, 8:28 am.