Over in Gobbler’s Knob, in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, Phil the Groundhog — a.k.a. Brewhog — raised up his head this morning and looked around, but could not see his shadow anywhere. You know what that means. It’s out with the winter beers and in with the spring beers early this year. Or something about an early spring, I can’t keep it straight. You can see a video of Punxsutawney Phil here. And there’s more information about Groundhog Day at the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.
Maybe I was on to something when yesterday I suggested that we’re entering the “Golden Age of Beer Films.” Michael Ryan Lawrence, founder of Philly Philms, let me know this morning that there’s at least one more beer film in production. His film, Beeradelphia, is done being filmed and he’s in the editing process. A new website should be up next Monday, and that will feature “clips from the film, production photos, a blog” and more. You can also sign up for a newsletter there where you can follow along as announcements are made.
Here’s how he describes the film:
Beeradelphia is not just about beer. It’s about the home breweries and the home brewers. The local breweries and local brew pubs. The bar owners and the bar patrons. The beer festivals and beer events and all those that make them possible. The beer authors and beer personalities that keep us in “the know.” And of course… A film about Philly and Beer would not be complete without all the madness that is Philly Beer Week.
Beeradelphia is expected to be released early next year.
I just heard a few minutes ago the sad news that Bruce Nichols passed away from leukemia. Bruce was one of the founders of Philly Beer Week and launched the annual The Book & The Cook event nearly two decades ago at the University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Archeology & Anthropology where Michael Jackson did an amazing beer dinner each year. I last saw Bruce earlier this year during Philly Beer Week in July but, sad to say, we only spoke briefly, each of us on our way to different events. I’d heard he’d been ill but did not know the extent of it. Philadelphia’s beer community lost one of its leading lights today, and I extend my sympathy to Bruce’s family and all my friends in Pennsylvania and beyond who knew Bruce. He will be missed. Join me in drinking a toast tonight to Bruce’s memory.
Bruce with Don Russell and Tom Peters at the opening of the first Philly Beer Week in 2008.
Tom Peters, owner of Monk’s Cafe, posted the following on his website today:
I lost a good friend today and so did the entire Philadelphia beer community. Bruce Nichols lost his battle with leukemia. Bruce was president of Museum Catering Company and co-founder of Philly Beer Week. Bruce was a voice of reason, always calm and had an innate ability to bring people together.
Bruce, myself and Don Russell organized the first Philly Beer Week with the help of many bars, restaurants, distributors, brewers, etc. Bruce was always a driving force behind the Philly beer movement. He was also adept at keeping us crazy beer people organized and on-point. Philly Beer Week would have never happen without his ideas and positive energy.
Bruce is the person that brought famed beer writer, Michael Jackson, to Philly, way back in 1991. Bruce Nichols hosted Michael at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology for a “The Book & The Cook” event. That single beer event drew more people than any 10 food events combined. Thus began the real emergence on the Philadelphia beer culture. Bruce & Michael combined for seventeen annual beer events, each more challenging than the previous. Bruce really helped push the boundaries of beer culture in Philadelphia. We are all thankful and grateful to all that Bruce has done for us.
Bruce will be missed by all who were close to him and the beer community has lost a good friend and champion.
I raise a glass to your life. Goodbye, my friend.
And thanks to Jack Curtin for letting me and everybody know.
I might have ignored this press release from Yuengling Brewery had it not been for one personal detail: my son is a porter. How could he not be “porter worthy,” whatever that means? Apparently it means “good deeds,” so that may leave my Porter out, after all. He’s just mostly good, like any 9-year old boy.
What Yuengling is doing is recognizing that “good deeds happen every day thanks to the selflessness of friends, family and, sometimes, perfect strangers. But most of those good deeds go unrecognized — until now.”
A new campaign from Yuengling seeks to shine a spotlight on the individuals who go above and beyond. The campaign, for Yuengling’s Porter beer (also its oldest beer), is called “Porter Worthy” and is inspired by the porters of 19th century England, who would toil day in and day out transporting travelers’ luggage through the cobblestone streets of London. Each month on Yuengling’s Porter Worthy blog, we’ll recognize a Porter Worthy Person of the Month, who will receive a prize signed by Dick Yuengling himself.
From the press release:
“Depth of character allows ordinary people to do extraordinary things on a daily basis. These are the achievements we call ‘Porter Worthy,’ and we want to give these achievements the recognition they deserve,” said Yuengling Marketing Manager Lou Romano. “That’s where Yuengling Porter comes in. It’s a reward that’s special, yet accessible.”
According to Romano, the Porter Worthy campaign was inspired by the beer’s namesake, the strong, hard-working porters who carried travelers’ heavy baggage through the cobblestone streets of 18th century London.
The blog and Facebook page will feature Porter Worthy persons identified by the Yuengling team but also will recognize a “Porter Worthy Person of the Month” based on reader nominations. Monthly honorees will receive, among other prizes, a personalized award signed by brewery President Dick Yuengling.
Yuengling Dark Brewed Porter is available in 13 states and Washington D.C. The Porter Worthy campaign is scheduled to run indefinitely with Porter Worthy nominations open to people around the world.
As beer promotions go, it’s hard to fault one that tries to find and honor people for doing good in the world, no matter how small the deed. Yuengling describes being “porter worthy,” as “a special tribute for those who have carried a heavy load, picked up extra work or gone out of their way to help.” They continue:
That could be you, or someone you know. Each month, we’ll select a different “Porter Worthy Person of the Month” based on the nominations you send us. Those selected will have their story told here on PorterWorthy.com and will win a limited edition Yuengling Porter hand-signed by Dick Yuengling.
So nominate a friend, family member, co-worker or even yourself. Remember, a Porter Worthy action isn’t necessarily monumental. It could be a small gesture. But large or small, doing something Porter Worthy means making a difference when it matters most.
With the announcement that Yuengling Brewery is buying their fourth brewery to continue to expand their market, the Wall Street Journal today has a nice overview of the company’s plans for the future. Check out After 181 Years, Local Beer Stops Playing Hard to Get.
Dick Yuengling (Photo by Scott Lewis)
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Yuengling Brewery of Pottsville, Pennsylvania is close to finalizing a deal to purchase the brewery in Memphis, Tennessee formerly owned by Coors. Yuengling has signed a letter of intent to buy the brewery for an undisclosed amount and the deal is expected to close in a few weeks. This will be Yuengling’s fourth brewery, as they currently own and operate three breweries, two in Pennsylvania and one in Florida.
The brewery was originally built by Schlitz in 1971 and then Stroh’s operated it for a time before selling it to Coors, where they brewed their Blue Moon line of stealth micros, along with Zima and Keystone. MillerCoors shut it down in 2006 and I seem to recall there were some labor disputes there, too. Then later that same year it was sold for $9 million and it became the Hardy Bottling Co..
Friday’s ad is a turn of the century ad for a Pennsylvania brewery, New Lebanon Brewing. The brewery was first founded in 1874 and went through a variety of name changes. It was Lebanon Brewing from 1884 to 1893 and Lebanon Valley Brewing from 1934 until it closed in 1959. But it was New Lebanon Brewing from 1893 to 1920, so this ad has to have been from those years.
NBC News Philadelphia is reporting that a SEPTA bus and police car slammed into Monk’s Belgian Cafe. They’re saying “the bus came through the front door of the popular Monk’s Cafe right before last call. Remarkably, no one was hurt.” (Thanks to Todd Alstrom for the story tip.)
Monk’s co-owner Tom Peters is on video telling part of the story.
The last event I attended during Philly Beer Week was the Older Bud No Wiser panel discussion at the World Cafe Live. Here’s how the event was promoted:
1996 was an historic year for Craft Brewing. It was in this year that Sam Calagione from Dogfish Head, Bill Covaleski from Victory, Mark Edelson of Iron Hill, Tom Kehoe of Yards, and Gene Muller of Flying Fish all took that epic leap of faith and started their own take on a craft brewery. Fourteen years later they’re all still in business and doing better then ever. Can you imagine what it would be like if they hadn’t? What a world it would be . . .
Host Greg Koch of Stone [which was also founded in 1996] will be your master of ceremonies as we turn back the clock to see what these monsters of craft brewing were doing and where their lives would have ended up, if not for hops.
Victory’s Blog also has a write-up on the event and you can watch the trailer below to see what was planned for the event.
Below is a video trailer for Older Bud No Weiser.
And it was also promoted with this hilarious fake class of ’96 yearbook, showing all of the brewery founders’ high school photos.
I arrived from the Kite and Key event, where we met the rest of the brewers assembled there. We got beers at the back of the theater as people streamed in and founds seats.
Toasting the Class of ’96: Greg Koch, Mark Edelson, Bill Covaleski, Tom Kehoe, Gene Muller & Sam Calagione.
Once the theater filled up and everyone was in their seat, the first beer was served and the five brewer/brewery founders took to the stage.
Greg Koch served as emcee for the evening (although I took over for a short time twice throughout the long night) and after a short introduction about what a bad year 1996 was for the craft brewing industry, he introduced each of the five and they told their own story about starting their individual breweries that same year.
The Panel: Tom Kehoe, Gene Muller, Mark Edelson, Bill Covaleski & Sam Covaleski
The evening went by quickly with all participants taking questions from the crowd, as the beer flowed freely. For each question asked, each brewer brought along several bottles of their own beer to give to participants who asked question, which — not surprisingly — led to even more questions. Bill at Victory tells me that they filmed the entire show and that they’re editing it down to a more manageable size. It should be an interesting record. One hilarious part of the evening that deserves a wide audience is the video below, which is a spoof of what might have become of the five brewery founders if they had not been successful with their respective brewers entitled “Craft Beer Class of ’96: Where are they now?”
Below is a slideshow of the World Cafe Live event. This Flickr gallery is best viewed in full screen. To view it that way, after clicking on the arrow in the center to start the slideshow, click on the button on the bottom right with the four arrows pointing outward on it, to see the photos in glorious full screen. Once in full screen slideshow mode, click on “Show Info” to identify each photo.
As ever playing catch-up, here is my wrap-up from the two additional days I spent in Philadelphia for Philly Beer Week. Monday I covered with Hammer Time, and after a quiet Tuesday attended the Lambic Beer Dinner at Monk’s Cafe. Wednesday morning I let my art freak flag fly and took the train to the suburbs for a quick visit to the Barnes Foundation, which I wanted to visit before it’s moved to its new location against the wishes (and the will) of Albert Barnes. When I got back, I headed straight to Standard Tap, in the hopes of getting my own Bear Ninja Cowboy t-shirt — success! — more tater tots and a shopping excursion to the Foodery across the street where I happily ran into two folks from Founders Brewing, Michael Bell and Dave Engbers, doing a tasting there.
Outside Standard Tap.
Then it was off to Nodding Head, where owner Curt Decker had invited me to his Sam, Tomme & Old Beer event, which featured some amazing nibbles (the Keen’s Farmhouse Cheddar was sooo good and so was the pork tenderloin with fig reduction) and ten rare beer from Dogfish Head, Lost Abbey and, of course, Nodding Head.
Curt Decker, with Sam Calagione and Tomme Arthur at the Nodding Head bar.
I wasn’t able to stay for the entire event, because I had a 7:00 event I’d committed to, but it was very tempting to stay longer. Some of the beers served which I was lucky enough to try included Dogfish Head’s Immort Ale 2006 and Black & Blue 2008. Then there was Lost Abbey’s Red Barn 2009, Dogfish Head Olde School Barleywine 2006 and Lost Abbey Judgment Day 2007. And I finished off the event with a Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA from 2008.
Jack Curtin, Sam Calagione, Ed Friedland and Curt’s assistant brewer, Gordon Grubb.
After that, I headed out for my next event, but had to make a quick detour at Fergie’s Pub to say hello to Carol Stoudt from Stoudts Brewing.
Carol and me at Fergie’s Pub.
Then I grabbed a cab to the University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Archeology & Anthropology for the main event of my evening: The Great Lambic Summit.
The Great Lambic Summit featuring Armand Debelder (3 Fonteinen) Frank Boon (Brouwerij Boon), and Jean Van Roy (Brasserie Cantillon), along with Dan Shelton (Shelton Brothers).
After that, I cabbed back to the after party at Monk’s Cafe, where many out-of-town brewers had congregated.
Brendan Moylan wandered up while a group of us were talking outside Monk’s.
Before turning in for the night, I stopped by McGilllin’s Olde Ale House, where a pub crawl between local brewers was supposed to end. Unfortunately, I got there a little to late so I had a quick nightcap and stumbled back to my hotel.
Late night outside McGilllin’s Olde Ale House, Philadelphia’s oldest bar.
The next day I slept in, then went for a walk to do some sightseeing and pick up gifts for the kids, ending up, as planned, at a cheesesteak place on Market Street — Sonny’s — for my fourth cheesesteak in four days. (You just can’t get a decent authentic one in San Francisco so I tend to go overboard when I’m back East.)
Eventually I ended up at the Kite and Key for the debut of a collaboration beer between Dogfish Head, Stone and Victory; Saison de BUFF. The BUFF part is an acronym for “Brewers United for Freedom of Flavor.” It’s a great saison, spicier than most, but still quite refreshing. It’s made with — try not to break into song — parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme.
Kite and Key co-owner Jim Kirk and me with Sam Calagione, Bill Covaleski and Greg Koch.
After that, I caught a ride with the three brewers to the World Cafe Live, but I’ll finish that story in another post.
Below is a slideshow of my last two days at Philly Beer Week. This Flickr gallery is best viewed in full screen. To view it that way, after clicking on the arrow in the center to start the slideshow, click on the button on the bottom right with the four arrows pointing outward on it, to see the photos in glorious full screen. Once in full screen slideshow mode, click on “Show Info” to identify each photo.