Jack Curtin’s LIQUID DIET

I haven’t, perhaps wisely, done one of these local beer awards lists for several years now, but I can’t fight the urge any longer.

BREWERY RECORDING GREATEST SALES GROWTH IN 2008 : It has to be ONE GUY in Berwick. I dunno Guy Hagner’s sales figures for 2008 but, if I’m not misremembering, he sold only a single keg in 2007 so the upside percentage must be astronomical for last year.

AGRICULTURAL PROJECT OF THE YEAR : THE WEYERBACHER HOPS FARM in East Bejeezus or wherever it is that Dan and Suzanne live and have managed to convince the neighbors that having Dan in the neighborhood is okay. Yeah, I know others are growing their own hops these days as well, but the Weirbacks get extra points for the annual Human Foosball Invitational Tournament.

IN YOUR FACE AWARD : IRON HILL, without question. GABF judges had the audacity to award the chain but a single medal in 2007, so the boys came roaring back to win six, count ‘em six medals last year. To rub it in, six different brewers were responsible for the haul. Don’t mess with the Hill or they might just send Bob Barrar around to give you a talkin’ to.

AFTER ALL THESE YEARS AWARD : A GABF MEDAL FOR FLYING FISH. And here everybody thought Casey Hughes was nothing more than another pretty face.

GRAND BEER ADVENTURE OF THE YEAR : A group of six intrepid beer fanciers rode their bikes on a  SIX DAY, 300-PLUS MILE TRIP FROM PHILLY TO NEW YORK and the Belgium Comes to Cooperstown beer festival in July. Now that’s what I call working up a thirst.

GRAND ADVENTURE OF THE YEAR (PERSONAL) : APPENDICITIS. Don’t try this at home.

DUMBEST THING I WROTE IN 2008 : No sooner had I RAVED ABOUT MAIA, the fancy new place in Villanova, both here and in the pages of Mid-Atlantic Brewing News than the sommelier/beer director who had inspired that rave left. Now one of the chefs is gone and Craig LaBan just expressed serious concern about the place’s future in Sunday’s Philadelphia Inquirer. This isn’t quite up there with my classic “smoked hops” reference which appeared in print way back in the last century, one which will haunt me forever if Bill Covaleski has anything to say about it. That got by my editor at the time as well, for what it’s worth.

BREWER OF THE YEAR : LARRY HORWITZ. Yeah, a lot of guys and gals made some great brews this year, but Larry found somebody who would marry him. That, my friends, is an achievement of no small note.

BEER PROGRAM OF THE YEAR : THE TROEGS SCRATCH BEER SERIES really caught my fancy. Great concept, well run and quite different from anything other breweries are doing. As always note whenever I get the chance, I remember the Bros. back in the day when they fiercely maintained they wanted to just stick to the Harrisburg market and do four or five basic beers and the suggestion that they enter the Philadelphia market actually made them blanch. John Trogner now says they were having me on and always had a master plan to conquer the world, but I say that’s just revisionist history.

BEER OF THE YEAR  (Limited Release) :  STANDARD ALE, the cask-conditioned one-off created by William Reed of the Standard Tap and Brian O’Reilly of Sly Fox for Philly Beer Week was extraordinarily good and will be back for PBW 2009. But it should be back year-round, so I urge you all to join with me in badgering those guys (and by “those guys” I mean O’Reilly because William is already on board) to at least do a couple of joint brews a year. Hell, with a joint if that’ll help.

BEER OF THE YEAR (Year Round) : YARDS BRAWLER. I love this late entry into the competition and maybe it’s just temporary infatuation with the newest beauty on the block, but what can I say?

BEER EVENT OF THE YEAR :  PHILLY BEER WEEK. What, you thought it was gonna be something else?

BEER WRITER OF THE YEAR : DON “JOE SIXPACK” RUSSELL. This was the toughest category of all, and not just because it involves colleagues who do what I do (and do it better, dammit). Lew Bryson had a helluva year, with a new book out (even if it’s about New Jersey) and a GABF Writers Medal, but Don edged him out with Christmas Beer,  a great concept book which received national attention and seems destined to have national shelf life. We all wish we wrote one like that.

STORY OF THE YEAR : PHILLY BEER WEEK clearly topped all the beer news locally (the A-B/INBEV MERGER was obviously  the international story) and set off a national discussion about good beer cities and several best-form-of-flattery imitators.

BREWERY OF THE YEAR : Ah, for this one, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait for the next issue of Mid-Atlantic Brewing News, where my choice will top off my “Eastern Pennsylvania” column. It’s probably a dirty trick to build up to this and then prematurely withdraw, but nobody ever said I wasn’t capable of that. On the other hand, if you’ve studied all the categories so far and noted the absence of one very prominent local name, you can probably figure it out. And you could surely count that as a victory of sorts.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYBODY!

Tags: Breweries, Brewers, Brewpubs, Cafes, Restaurants, Taverns, Commentary, Opinion, Personal, Philly Beer Week //