Philly Beer Week is here – Opening Tap tonight at the Fillmore

After much anticipation, Philly Beer Week is back!

Opening Tap is tonight at the Fillmore, with the first keg being tapped at 7:20!   But until after the special VIP hour from 6 – 7!   Here’s what Philly Loves Beer (www.phillylovesbeer.org) is saying about the VIP Session:

Check out a sampling from our list of VIP Beers, available EXCLUSIVELY to OT VIP guests:
Southern Tier Sapsquatch
Troegs Scratch 284
Weyerbacher Finally Legal
Yards Brewbik’s Cube [a collaboration with the Philadelphia Science Festival]
Free Will Funky Hoppy People
Captain Lawrence American Funk
Heavy Seas PartnerShips [a collaboration with Union Craft Brewing]
Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS)
2SP, Forest & Main, Crime & Punishment, Second District Velcro Fweak
Coppertail Purple Drink
Ploughman Cider Pinot N’Arlet
Evolution Lot 215
Levante 3D Hippo
..and plenty more to put in your special glass..

Hope to see you there tonight, and round the city all week long!

Cheers!

The Brewholder

Copyright 2017 – all rights reserved

Philly Beer Week is coming – and a new Lager from Sly Fox

Philly Beer Week starts this Thursday night with opening tap!   And Sly Fox has just announced that it has created a new lager that will be released for the occasion- the press release is below.

Hope to see you out and about during Philly Beer Week!

SLY FOX TO DEBUT NORTHERN LIBERTIES STANDARD LAGER
The beer is a collaboration between Brewmaster Brian O’Reilly, Standard Tap’s William Reed and fourth-generation brewer Bill Moeller, who worked at Philly’s historic Ortlieb’s and Schmidt’s breweries and developed the original recipe for modern classic Brooklyn Lager

On Thursday, June 1 at approximately 5:27 p.m. beer lovers following the Philly Beer Week Hammer of Glory (HOG) Relay are in for an extra-special treat: when the official keg hammer reaches Standard Tap, it will be used for a ceremonial first tapping of Northern Liberties Standard Lager. Brewed collaboratively by Sly Fox Brewing Company, Standard Tap owner William Reed and 91-year-old Bill Moeller, this extraordinary lager puts Moeller’s encyclopedic knowledge of beer as a fourth-generation brewer and brewing consultant on historic display on what is sure to be an instant classic in Philadelphia’s thriving beer scene. Standard Tap (901 North 2nd Street) will also host a debut brunch for Northern Liberties Standard Lager on Sunday, June 4 starting at 11 a.m. with O’Reilly, Reed and Moeller leading a meet-and-greet at 12 noon.

“Researching and brewing this beer with Bill has been an amazing opportunity, reminding me how much I still have to learn,” says O’Reilly. “Bill was brewing for 28 years in iconic Philadelphia breweries such as Ortlieb’s and Schmidt’s, at a time before home brewing was even legal in the United States. It’s a real honor to debut this collaborative brew with a true living legend – a man who helped put the Northern Liberties neighborhood on the beer map – during the 10th anniversary of Philly Beer Week.”

The inspiration for Northern Liberties Standard Lager struck when O’Reilly, Reed and Moeller were scrolling through Bills’ father’s malting and brewing notebook and discovered a lager recipe, dated February 6, 1920. At 5.8% ABV, the beer is very drinkable and fresh, brewed with German Two-Row, Caramel and Munich malts, and hopped with Cascade and Hallertau hops. They also used kräusening, a process that Bill requested, wherein about 10% young, still-fermenting beer is added to the aging beer, creating a secondary fermentation that adds flavor and carbonates the beer naturally.

“The long lager-ing period of near freezing temperatures is essential, as it smooths out the beer and rids it of rough-tasting tannins,” says Moeller. “I believe that kräusening produces beautiful complexity in a lager beer, and I was thrilled that Brian and Will were up for it. This is a beer with hair on its chest!”

Per Bill’s orders, a real lager must adhere to a “low and slow” fermentation process and age for at least six weeks. The final product is medium-firm bodied, with deep copper color, complex malty nose and balanced, brassy malt-hop finish. Northern Liberties Standard Lager is the latest installment in an ongoing series of collaboration beers started in 2008 between Sly Fox and Standard Tap and will be available at Standard Tap, Johnny Brenda’s (also owned by Reed) and at Sly Fox locations in Pottstown, PA and Phoenixville, PA.

“Reading Bill’s father’s meticulous hand-written notes made the family’s lengthy brewing tradition really come alive, and it’s very exciting to be able to pour the fruits of so much effort and history,” says Reed. “Fittingly, Northern Liberties Standard Lager will debut just a half-block from where lager brewing began in America.”

Moeller is a fourth-generation brewmaster and World War II veteran who has spent 67 years in the beer industry, tracing his brewing roots back to his paternal great grandfather, an accomplished brewer in his native Germany. Moeller started his own brewing career at Drewry’s in South Bend, Indiana and estimated that his family alone – his paternal great grandfather, grandfather, father, two uncles and Bill himself – have collectively produced about 110 million barrels of beer in America, including Bill himself concocting the original recipe for Brooklyn Lager, the same award-winning beer made today by Brooklyn Brewery. His beers have won critical acclaim both internationally and in the United States, including awards at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) and at the International Institute for Quality in Belgium.

“When I approached my father about getting into the family business, he told me, ‘You are going to do it the right way, the traditional German way – or you are not going to do it,’” says Moeller, who also formulated the original recipe for Dock Street’s Bohemian Pilsner. “Lagers and pilsners are difficult beers to make because it is very hard to cover up any mistakes.”

Cheers!

The Brewholder

Copyright 2017 – all rights reserved

Philly Beer Week 2016 is here!!

Once again the City of Brotherly Love is showing its love for brew to the World!  On Friday, June 3, 2016, the official opening of Philly Beer Week 2016 began at the Fillmore in Fishtown, with a beer festival / celebration of all things beer – The Opening Tap!

Anxiously awaiting the arrival of the HOG to open to first keg of PBW!

Anxiously awaiting the arrival of the HOG to open to first keg of PBW!

For those holding VIP tickets, the doors opened at 6pm – all the breweries on the main floor were giving out their samples, while some newcomers – Brewery ARS, Hidden River, Highway Manor, and Death of the Fox – delighted with their tasty brews upstairs.

VIP session with Highway Manor's excellent strawberry and blueberry sours.

VIP session with Highway Manor’s excellent strawberry and blueberry sours.

As it neared 7:00pm, anticipation began to rise for the arrival of the Hammer of Glory (The HOG), the sledgehammer used to crack open the first keg of Philly Beer Week – that had begun its Olympic-torch like journey from bar to bar since 8am.  Once it arrived, Joe Ortlieb, 91 years young, used the HOG to get the Brotherly Suds 7 flowing – “Ryebock Lager,” a  collaboration beer between “The Big 7” Philly brewers – Sly Fox, Yards, Victory, Iron Hill, Flying Fish, Stoudts and Troegs.

The view from the mezzanine of the beautiful Fillmore.

The view from the mezzanine of the beautiful Fillmore.

Casey Parker and Will Reed welcome the HOG to the stage

Casey Parker and Will Reed welcome the HOG to the stage!

Check out my Facebook page and Instagram for videos of the tapping of the keg and Joe Ortlieb’s toast!

Once the beer was flowing, the beer festival began – and so did Philly Beer Week!

Here’s a few more photos as the celebration continued! As Joe said in his toast – “Good beer, good friends, GOOD TIMES!” – that’s what Philly Beer Week is all about!  Hope to see you out there!

On this night you can call me The Hogholder.

On this night you can call me The Hogholder.

Will Reed of The Standard Tap brings the HOG to the stage!

Will Reed of The Standard Tap brings the HOG to the stage!

A Victory Yakima Glory at Johnny Brenda's was a perfect end to the first night of Philly Beer Week!

A Victory Yakima Glory at Johnny Brenda’s was a perfect end to the first night of Philly Beer Week!

 

Whole Foods Market Devon Holds “Beer Dinner” to Celebrate Philly Beer Week

The Mile Post Pub hosted its first "Beer Dinner" during Philly Beer Week 2015.

The Mile Post Pub hosted its first “Beer Dinner” during Philly Beer Week 2015.

This past Monday I was invited to Whole Foods Market Devon to attend its first “Beer Dinner” in the Mile Post Pub.  Read all about my dining (and drinking) experience on Ticket To Entertainment here!

And here’s some additional photos:

Oysters and "Oude Geuze" were an excellent pairing!

Oysters and “Oude Geuze” were an excellent pairing!

Joe Breslin, "Beer Buyer" for the Mile Post Pub, introduces the arugula salad paired with Firestone Walker's "Easy Jack."

Joe Breslin, “Beer Buyer” for the Mile Post Pub, introduces the arugula salad paired with Firestone Walker’s “Easy Jack.”

"Meet Joe" at the Mile Post Pub, located within the Whole Foods Market Devon.

“Meet Joe” Breslin at the Mile Post Pub, located within the Whole Foods Market Devon.

Beer and donuts!  The Bruery's "Or Xata" made for   a perfect complimentary pairing for the donuts crafted by the Whole Foods Market's Prepared Foods chefs.

Beer and donuts! The Bruery’s “Or Xata” made for a perfect complimentary pairing for the donuts crafted by the Whole Foods Market’s Prepared Foods chefs.

The Mile Post Pub has a large selection of bottled beers and draft selections for growler fills.

The Mile Post Pub has a large selection of bottled beers and draft selections for growler fills.

Only a few steps from the main entrance, The Mile Post Pub makes this Whole Foods a true "super" market!

Only a few steps from the main entrance, The Mile Post Pub makes this Whole Foods a true “super” market!

Cheers!

The Brewholder

Copyright 2015 – all rights reserved