The annual “Best” lists at RateBeer.com were released today and, with no concern for his valuable time or his mental health, Kindly Old Mr. Curtin scoured through them to find all (he hopes) Philadelphia regional results and then posted this invaluable information at the usual place.
Greater love hath no man than this: that he lay down his life for readers of meaningless minutia… Something like that.
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Anent yesterday’s story here about Sierra Nevada going to build its East Coast plant in Asheville, Lew Bryson has a good piece on his site about whether New Belgium might land in our neighborhood. As the story notes, the “short list” comment around which such speculation is built is not new but just a reiteration of what the same spokesperson told the press last year (I wrote about last November). Still, things have now changed and, as Lew writes, there are some who will conclude “that New Belgium will now look away, since Sierra Nevada’s in town. There’s not room for two big breweries in town.” (he goes on to explain why such a conclusion is questionable).
The post is well worth a read and the comments are interesting as well (the one from “Anonymous” is particularly thought-provoking). Unfortunately, as is the way it works these days, there’s another art of the discussion taking place on Facebook, which not all of you chosen to join so you can’t access it.Those who can, might want to.
For what it’s worth, I think it would be a great thing for this region should New Belgium build here and it might even inspire grumpy old sorts such as I to forgive them for having entered East Coast markets last year and not including Pennsylvania. I also believe that it would help, not harm, our established breweries.
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…for Sierra Nevada. Some interesting details (in bold) as well….
Henderson County could be on the verge of a major economic coup.
Officials with California craft-beer maker Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. are expected to announce this week they have chosen Western North Carolina for the company’s much-publicized East Coast expansion, sources with knowledge of the negotiations have told the Times-News…
Chico, Calif.-based Sierra Nevada — the nation’s second-largest craft-beer producer, which distributes to all 50 states — is expected to build its new facility at Ferncliff Industrial Park in Mills River.
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Company officials have said they want 50 acres to build the facility, which likely will include a restaurant, tasting room and music venue in addition to the brewing and bottling operations.
Now then, where will the New Belgium shoe drop?
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Assuming this is true, the beer community in Philadelphia, as well as the sports community, is a bit less bright and shiny tonight. Andy Musser was a great advocate for good beer and was Anchor Brewing’s man about town for years until the company was sold. He helped me out several times, both when I was writing about sports back in the day and more recently during this beer writing gig.
Update:
There is an excellent obit and feature story on Andy and his career(s) in today’s Philadelphia Daily News.
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Start with this:
Dock Street Brewing Co. and Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia are proud to unveil the first in their new “A Beer Four All Seasons” collaboration series.The Truffled Old Ale debuts on January 30th, 2012 and is the first of four seasonal beers to be jointly brewed. The beers will be produced in limited quantity and available exclusively in the Swann Lounge at Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia.
Then check out Craig LaBan in this morning’s Inquirer:
The mere mention of a truffled beer is enough to incite shudders and raised eyebrows. Even accomplished brewer Scott Morrison conceded that the “terrible” task of melding such a powerful savory flavor with beer brought trepidation: “How am I going to pull this off?” But with his recent return to Dock Street Brewing Co., he knew this first of several planned seasonal collaborations with the Four Seasons Hotel had to be ambitious. So Morrison didn’t hold back, crafting a sturdily malted English strong ale, then sending it off to the hotel to be aged in used chardonnay barrels, after which it was blended with a measured dose of truffle-steeped vodka. The result, once married, stunned most everyone who took a sip. The rich, moussey head did not smell like the garish cologne I expected. It tasted more like black coffee, dark chocolate, and figs on the first well-rounded sip. The barrel oak lent structure, and then the truffle appeared, subtly opening a trapdoor to a deep, dark earthiness that lingered, until we all took the next sip.
I write a lot about how brewpubs are often the linchpin which helps revitalize an old neighborhood or get a new one off the a running start, and the current day version of Dock Street surely fits that pattern to a T. But there is another side to that coin. The establishment of good, flavorful beer as a high-end product worthy of respect at fine dining venues is an aspect of brewing which helps grow the customer base which makes those old neighborhoods come alive again.
In the big picture, you gotta work the penthouses as well as the row houses. And I continue to be very impressed by what’s happening on S. 50th St. in West Philly.
Plus also, you know, The Dude, forgotten but not gone.
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Since I burdened you all with my weekend schedule/plans, it seems only fair to provide a follow-up. It was pretty much a 50/50 split.
That short story writing thing did not happen. I’d like to blame it all on the inevitable Carl P and his recalcitrant iPad which has issues I’ve been trying to help him solve all weekend so that he can read and offer comments here and at Mermaids (sort of like sleeping with the enemy, now that I think about it), but that would be (mostly) unfair. In truth, the subject paragraph they sent and asked to be the foundation of an 850-word story did not intrigue me at all, so I bagged it almost from the start.
The Beer Drinker of the Year resumes, on the other hand, have been, as were last year’s fascinating. I think I’ve got it down to four or five entrants from who I will select my top three (then comes the really had part, putting them in one-two-three order), but I will likely go through all ten one more once bright and early tomorrow just to be sure.
The copious amount of beer part I nailed.
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I took Liquid Diet out of the NetworkedBlogs syndication service for a bit to work on some site maintenance and now I find I have to prove I own it all over again. All I need is a few of you to click on “Follow This Blog” over there to the right (even if you have done this before when I first moved to syndication). Help a brother out, will ya?
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Iron Hill Chestnut Hill is larger than I expected and just as good as I expected. Paul Rutherford’s Germantown Brown Ale should be put on tap at all IH locations or, at the very least, at Phoenixville and West Chester (the two closest to me).
The trip took a little less than an hour from here. I took Rt. 113 from Collegeville, then Skippack Pike, Blue Bell Pike and a couple of short stints on other roads and came out right by the train station, two blocks from the pub. Plenty of parking available on the street but I found out later that there’s a free lot behind the pub as well. I came back via Germantown Pike because I wanted to stop at Capone’s (of course) and Talutto’s Takeout store (fresh Marinara sauce). There was a detour at one point and those two stops and yet it took just a tad over an hour, so that might be an even faster route. All depending on traffic, of course.
This addition to that part of the city makes for a nice three-pack (Iron Hill, McMenamin’s Tavern, Earth Bread + Brewery) which is eminently walkable (probably a mile or less, but that’s a guess) and almost centered between the Chestnut Hill East and Chestnut Hill West SEPTA rail stations. And then we can all go over to my old college roommate Gerry’s house and sleep on the couch…oh wait, that’s just me.
The weekend now officially is underway: beer geek resume evaluation, short story writing and, if I have the time and energy, beginning the physical task of revamped and refreshing the living quarters and getting rid of things I’ve had too long for no real purpose other than I have them.
Plus beer. Copious amounts of beer, I do believe.
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I’m off to Chestnut Hill in a hour or so, to meet an old college roommate for lunch at the new Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant on Germantown Ave. Both my GPS system and Google Maps tell me I can make that trip in under an hour, 45 minutes in one estimate, and the most direct and fastest involves all sorts of back roads rather than 422 and the Expressway. We shall see. I’ll try to get a photo or two for your brewing pleasure.
I have a slew of things I want to start some conversations about around here but whether or not I can do much about that this weekend is up in the air. Not only did I sign up for one of those 24-Hour Short Story competitions I mention now and then (1pm Saturday to 1pm Sunday, topic paragraph and # of words to arrive via email at the Saturday starting time), but old pal Marty Jones asked me to be a judge in the semi-finalist round of the annual Beer Drinker of the Year judging again this year and I have ten resumes sitting here awaiting my attention. I have to get my top three back to him by 10AM Tuesday and I can tell you from last year’s experience that’s gonna involve several hours of work. These resumes are generally great reading and the different strengths or arguments proffered make for some tough decisions. Two of my three choices in 2011 ended up in the Final Three and the eventual winner was my fourth option, so I feel obliged to match that or better. Maybe I can write a short story about beer geeks and do the proverbial one stone, two birds thing. Probably not.
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I Have Heard the Mermaids Singing
