Philly Beer Week: Monday

This past Friday marked the opening tap of Philly Beer Week. Bars all over the city take part in this 10 day event by supplying the masses with the best beers they can find. I plan to take part in this event every day. If you go to http://www.phillybeerweek.org/ you can get a pretty complete list of events going on around the city. You can even download an app for Droid or iPhone. Since I plan on going out every night, I must choose my events in a very financially sound manner. Firstly, on Monday (6/6), Cavanaugh's Rittenhouse will be hosting the Philly Brew & Chew event. 

As you can see from the flyer above, the featured breweries will be Victory and Troegs. I've been to one of these events a few months back and reviewed it in my last post. It only costs $20 and you can actually drink all that you'd like. It will run from 7-9pm and feature Victory Headwaters and Summer Love, as well as Toregs Flying Mouflan and Dreamweaver. 20 bone for a full 2 hours of drinking and eating is a damn good $20 spent. My goal is to keep each night's expenses to be around $30-$35. I don't really see that happening, but atleast I'm looking good for Monday. I suggest you get your broke ass out to Cav's Rittenhouse cuz I know you don't got money if you live in Philly. Tuesday's Post coming next.....

Brew & Chew: Weyerbacher Recap

This post is way post due by now, but its def worth writing about. So over a month ago they had a Philly Brew & Chew event at Cavanaugh's Rittenhouse. The featured brewery was Weyerbacher and a ticket only costed $20. Being that this was my first brew & chew, I was quick to question the validity of the "2 hour open bar" claim. They had a section closed off behind the downstairs bar for the event. As soon as we sat down they brought out the first beer of the night: Weyerbacher Verboten. The Verboten is a Belgian pale ale and it was dearly robust for a pale ale. They paired it with a Lemon Rock Shrimp Spaetzle. Although the portion was small, it was a tasty lil starter.

I was really excited for the Weyerbacher Double Simcoe feature because it is one of the best Double IPAs I've ever tasted. Weyerbacher dry hops this beer with Simcoe hops thus setting it apart from the other Double IPAs out there. I used this beer as my opportunity to test the limits of this "open bar" claim. Slugged the first jawn and asked for another before food came out. SHE ABIDED. While drinking on my second Simcoe (3rd beer total), they brought out some flatbread BULL. KATE DIDN'T LIKE IT! But I did. So I ate that and said where my dinna be at. By the finsih of the flatbread, good ol drunk Chris (Simcoes=9%ABV) had his fingaz on another Simcoe and was bloated as fug. 

Then they brought out some wheat beer or something. I don't fuck with wheat beers. 1 sip and back to the Simcoe he went. The Weyerbacher Blanche (the wheat beer) was paired with tuna and wasabi sliders. First off I don't even know what a "slider" is and secondly, tuna is foul. I was drunk and ate that shit anyway. I don't remember how it tasted, so it must of not been that good. 

For the cherry on top they brought out Weyerbacher Merry Monks with a chocolate banana bread pudding. Merry Monks has been one of my favorites for a long damn time and it pairs perfectly with dessert. The bread pudding was PHENOMENAL. The only complaint was that they didn't give us enough. I'm fat. I like sweets. The rounds of food were finished and we went out with a bang. We ordered more Merry Monks before the 2 hours was over and tried to clean up. It didn't happen. Kate's drunk ass broke a glass across the table somehow and I couldn't finish the last merry monks. We may have made out with 3 glasses (record), but I plead the fifth. 

All in all, the experience was quite enjoyable. I told the waitress we left a $10 tip to make up for the glass breakage and bounced. The food was good. The beer was even better. And absolutely worth the $20 ticket. They hold Philly Brew & Chew events every month, so check it out! 

CLICK HERE FOR BREW & CHEW SITE

Lagunitas Brewing Company Loves to Get High

Lagunitas Brewing Company has been one of my favorite breweries for quite some time now and I'm pretty open to all of their brews. Over time I started to notice stoner-esque themes weaved into their line of beers. First there was the release of Lagunitas Hairy Eyeball which is a strong ale donning a bloodshot eyeball on the label. I've tried it and was pretty impressed by the taste and very pleased with the high alcohol content. The second beer that got my attention was the release of Lagunitas "Censored" or "Kronik" red ale. The beer was originally named "Kronik", but later they were forced to change the name. I've never had it. I then recalled an article I read before about their brewery being shut down because suspicion of people selling weed out of the brewery. They maintained that they only smoked there (California) and refused the lure of sales by narcs. Anyway, their brewery was shut down for a bit and hence the release of Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shut-down ale. I've even had the pleasure of encountering some of their finest posters in The Craft Ale House near where my family resides:

Sexy Ladies, Beer, 420.

Sexy Lady, Car, 420 license plate

As you can see, they aren't ashamed of their habits. I had planned to post this piece on Lagunitas on 4/20 for all you fiends, but I kinda got sidetracked by something....Here is my first attempt at a little Lagunitas art (I don't remember taking this picture). 

PEEP THA PIG!

Back on my Blog Grind

So its been a minute since the last time I blogged and I feel kinda guilty. I'm not sure why. Thou art blessed by my words. Honestly, I came on here to make my first post in over a month now, but I am having trouble committing to it because of the Bulls/Heat game. The NBA playoffs has been the biggest reason I haven't been on my blog tip. A Lakers games every other night meant me consuming a commendable amount of beer while stuck to the TV. The Lakers lost and the depression is kicking in, so I need the grind to keep me busy. I have come up with a lot of fresh new content for my blog and a ton of new beer reviews. Coming shortly will be brewery tours, Philly Beer Week, a look into my beer sources, and possibly a beer giveaway. Can you legally give away beer via contest online? Hmm...anyway...Check back in tomorrow for that new

Philly Brew & Chew: Weyerbacher

I didn't realize how long its been since my last post until just now. I really don't know what I've been doing to be truthful. Regardless, yesterday was nice as shit so I went to Devil's Den with a couple of friends. They had half off drafts from 5-7 for happy hour. I had a bunch of beers and spent less than $15 including tip. Why am I telling you this? I'm telling you because yesterday was the first 80 degree day and it kicked me into spring mode. There is a positive correlation between the quality of weather and amount of time spent out drinking.

Tomorrow I will be partaking in yet another beer drinking experience. What a surprise. The key to doing this frequently is to choose your events wisely based on cost/quantity trade off. That does not mean you should  sacrifice quality though. Cavanaugh's Rittenhouse will be holding a Brew & Chew tomorrow night from 8-10pm for $20. During those two hours you will indulge in a two hour open bar of all Weyerbacher beers and food pairings. Confirmed beers by Weyerbacher: Double Simcoe IPA, Merry Monks, Verboten, and Blanche. The Double Simcoe IPA and Merry Monks are two of my favorite beers. Weyerbacher makes some really tasty beers and a 2 hour session with their finest is a beer lover's dream. Who cares if the weather is still a bit shitty, you might as well drink until it gets better..

Devil's Den's 3rd Birthday Celebration Recap

Yesterday I went to the 3rd birthday celebration of Devil's Den. This event wasn't widely advertised, but luckily I came across it on Drinkphilly.com. For the celebration, Devil's Den was to have a complimentary buffet as well as $1 off some pretty rare drafts. I love the food at Devil's Den so how could I resist a free buffet. The event was from 2pm-5pm. I got there around 3 and the place was pretty packed. We were greeted by an angel of a hostess who made me very happy. I'm told that on our way out from a previous visit to Devil's Den I notified the hostess of her beauty. I guess I'm quite the Marlon Brando when I'm drunk. There were no seats so we grabbed a drink while waiting to be seated. For my first drink I had the Avery Maharaja Imperial IPA. 

This Avery IPA is an A- rated beer on beeradvocate. It was a solid double IPA. I noticed people carrying plates full of sausage, peppaz, and meatballs. What more could you ask for on a hungover Saturday afternoon? More of the finest beers around and sausages w/peppaz?  We took a seat and I had realized that I forgot they had Pliny the Elder on tap. I ordered it to accompany my first trip to the buffet(fat).  

Pliny the Elder by Russian River is second highest rated imperial IPA on beeradvocate. The highest rated being Pliny the Younger. With the $1 off, drafts of this beast were only $4. I got my plate full with everything they had to offer. They also had tortellini in a cream sauce that was damn good.  They even had salad with raspberry vinaigrette and rolls w/butter. For my next beer I had the Ballast Point Sea Monster imperial stout. It had an ABV of 10% and I've been developing a taste for stouts lately. Another A- rated beer that comes highly recommended.  

With the Rolex on I guzzle yet another finely crafted beer. The alcohol was hidden flawlessly behind a nice roasted taste. I started to notice a trend at that point and realized that Amazing beer + Amazing food = the best Saturday afternoon. I got the itch and kept ordering more beers. I had a Yards Trubbel de Yards which is a very rare beer that was only brewed once her in Philly and of course it carries an A rating. Another beer and another satisfied drinker. You couldn't even order a bad beer if you tried. I think I had another Pliny and called it a day. The bill for 8 beers was only like $37. DONE. That's a deal for sure. Trust me, I've been to plenty of bars and never seen a bill that low. The last time I was there they had drafts of Lagunitas Hairy Eyeball for $3.50. 

This bar has quickly become my favorite bar. They always have the top quality drafts and bottles in any style you could imagine. The bottled beer list is more like a book and the drafts are priced very reasonably. All of this goes without the mention of their food. Get your ass out to souf filly and if you are man enough to stay til the bar closes, you better get that ass a cheesesteak from Pat's or Geno's to cap the night.

FREE STUFF IS GOOD!

A few weeks ago I was contacted by a rep for CSN Stores. They offer a ton of stuff for sale on their site and they let me try one of their products for free as long as I reviewed it. This made me feel pretty good because who doesn't like free shit? Honestly, my friend refused to leave the Sixers game last Wednesday until he got a free shirt. Not to mention the fact he was there compliments of my free tickets and my free alcohol... "I get a free shirt every time I go, Chris!" ...Well, he didn't get a shirt, and let that be a lesson to all that America is a disappointment (he's from London). 

In a perfect world I would have liked to review beer for free. With that said, I ended up picking out a Lakers freezer mug. What better way could you drink your favorite beverage than in a freezer mug bearing the best team in the NBA? It was bigger than I thought it would be (thats what she said) and it held well over your standard 12 ounces. I did the Lakers correct and picked up sixers (irony) of Victory Storm King and Victory Hopdevil. After leaving the mug in the freezer for a few hours, I mixed up these two beauties in the frostiest of mugs and indulged. The mug kept my beer cold through two rounds and then I was off to the bar. I can only imagine how handy this will be in the summer time. Best of all, it went thru the dishwasher with no problem despite the warnings on the bottom.