Philly Beer WEEKend
A Special Preview Of The Country’s Biggest Beer Celebration: Philly Beer Week(end) Will Take Place March 12, 13 and 14 In “America’s Best Beer-Drinking City”
Philadelphia, PA – This year, Philly Beer Week (PBW) is back in a big way – so big that it will host a special Philly Beer Week(end) from Friday, March 12 to Sunday, March 14. This weekend event, set to coincide with the anniversary of 2009’s successful Philly Beer Week, will serve as a lead-up to America’s most prominent and exciting – and best-attended – beer festival, PBW 2010, scheduled this year to take place from Friday, June 4 until Sunday, June 13.
Already-scheduled PBW(end) events are listed below, but for up-to-date information, please visit www.phillybeerweek.org.
“Many participants just couldn’t wait until June, so we’ve coordinated this special one-year anniversary event to commemorate all the fun we were having at this time last year and tide us over until this summer’s celebration,” says PBW founder and noted beer columnist and author Don “Joe Sixpack” Russell. “It’s our little tribute to PBW 2009 and a great excuse to enjoy some great beer here in America’s best beer-drinking city while we anxiously await the Opening Tap of PBW 2010.”
PBW(end) events will be anchored by two major happenings: The Sixth-Annual Brewers Plate, a festival that partners craft brewers with the region’s top chefs and offers guests an unparalleled food-and-beer-pairing experience with proceeds donated to charity; and The First-Annual Craft Beer Express, a chartered bus tour of eight top beer bars, each of which is hosting a special PBW(end) event, featuring transportation between each bar on private buses that will depart every half hour all day long.
Friday, March 12:
“City Tavern Celebrates the Ales of the Revolution!” City Tavern (138 South 2nd Street), available all day, beginning at 11:30 a.m., $45 – join chef/proprietor Walter Staib for a special menu honoring Yards Brewing Company’s ‘Ales of the Revolution’ beers
“IPAs Greatest Hits,” Sidecar Bar & Grille (2201 Christian Street), available all day, beginning at 3 p.m., “Pay as you go” – featuring special pricing on famed IPAs, ideal for side-by-side tasting comparisons
“Meet Latis Imports,” London Grill (2301 Fairmount Avenue), 6 p.m. – 12 midnight, “Pay as you go” – featuring special pricing on Belgian draught beers including the nation’s best seller and Kriek’s popular cherry lambic
“Ommegang and Duvel,” The Belgian Café (601 North 21st Street), 7 p.m., “Pay as you go” – featuring hard-to-find offerings from Ommegang and Duvel, including draughts, with Philadelphia market representative Megan Maguire available for Q&A
“Pour Your Own Guinness,” O’Neal’s (611 South 3rd Street), 9 p.m., “Pay as you go” – learn to pour Guinness like a pro and compete for the “Best Pour” prize
“Firkin Friday,” Good Dog Bar (224 South 15th Street), 7 p.m., “Pay as you go” – featuring a firkin from Yards Brewing Company
Saturday, March 13:
“The First-Annual Craft Beer Express,” various locations, 11 a.m. until 7 p.m., pick-ups every half-hour, $15 for non-stop on-off bus transportation, plus “Pay as you go” at each bar – an eight-bar “craft beer bus tour,” featuring ferry buses with on-board “beer ambassadors” between stops that include: Johnny Brenda’s (1201 Frankford Avenue) “Stout Brunch”; Standard Tap (901 North 2nd Street) “Big Wood Weekend”; The Institute (549 North 12th Street) “Beastly-Good Barleywines”; Brauhaus Schmitz (718 South Street) “Stoudt’s Debut of Karnival Kolsch”; Devil’s Den (1148 South 11th Street) “Cheese and Beer Pairing, featuring Duvel and Ommegang”; Jose Pistola’s (263 South 15th Street) “Ithaca Brewing Brunch”; Kite and Key (1836 Callowhill Street) “Around the Clock with Dogfish Head’s IPAs”; and Sidecar Bar & Grille (2201 Christian Street) “The Double IPA Event”.
“City Tavern Celebrates the Ales of the Revolution!” City Tavern (138 South 2nd Street), available all day, beginning at 11:30 a.m., $45 – join chef/proprietor Walter Staib for a special menu honoring Yards Brewing Company’s ‘Ales of the Revolution’ beers
“Russian River Keg Tap,” Tria (123 South 18th Street; 1137 Spruce Street), 12 noon, “Pay as you go” – featuring two kegs of rare Russian River beers: Pliny the Younger (Wash West location) and Supplication (Rittenhouse location)
“Philly Beer Crawl Day,” McGillin’s Olde Ale House (1310 Drury Street), 12 noon, “Pay as you go” – featuring green beer and “green cheer” at Philadelphia’s oldest continuously operating tavern
“Scandinavian Ski Saturday Draft,” The Belgian Café (601 North 21st Street), 4 p.m., “Pay as you go” – featuring Scandinavian draughts from Nogne-O Brewery in Norway, Mikkeler in Denmark and Sinebrychoff in Finland
“Kick the Keg Night,” London Grill (2301 Fairmount Avenue), 6 p.m. – 12 midnight, “Pay as you go” – featuring Stoudt’s Willie Sutton Lager and special incentive pricing to “kick the kegs” and make way for spring beers
“Iron Hill Beer Dinner,” Swift Half Pub (1001 North 2nd Street), 7 p.m., $55 – featuring a four-course menu of Chef Jessica O’Donnell’s innovative pub fare paired with beers from Iron Hill Lancaster’s Paul Rutherford
“A Fermentable Love Fest,” The Belgian Café (601 North 21st Street), 7 p.m., “Pay as you go” – featuring flights of Duvel and Ommegang beers paired with various cheeses, as well as sampling and giveaways
“Feats of Strength & Weakness,” The Grey Lodge Pub (6235 Frankford Avenue), 8 p.m., “Pay as you go” – featuring brewery reps competing in feats of physical and mental strength while their lowest-octane beers compete in a feat of weakness to determine best session beer
Sunday, March 14:
“IPAs Greatest Hits,” Sidecar Bar & Grille (2201 Christian Street), available all day, beginning at 10:30 a.m., “Pay as you go” – featuring special pricing on famed IPAs, ideal for side-by-side tasting comparisons “Big Wood Weekend,” Standard Tap (901 North 2nd Street), 11 a.m., “Pay as you go” – featuring special pricing and availability of wood-smoked and wood barrel-aged beers
“St. Patty’s Parade Beerfest,” O’Neal’s (611 South 3rd Street), 11 a.m., “Pay as you go” – featuring local and microbrews on draught and in bottles, as well as Irish favorites
“3rd-Annual Stone Brunch,” Teresa’s Café & Next Door (124-6 North Wayne Avenue, Wayne, PA), 11 a.m., “Pay as you go” – featuring Stone Brewing Company’s beers and brunch foods
“City Tavern Celebrates the Ales of the Revolution!” City Tavern (138 South 2nd Street), available all day, beginning at 11:30 a.m., $45 – join chef/proprietor Walter Staib for a special menu honoring Yards Brewing Company’s ‘Ales of the Revolution’ beers
“St Patty’s Day Parade Warm-Up,” McGillin’s Olde Ale House (1310 Drury Street), 12 noon, “Pay as you go” – featuring green beer and “green cheer” at Philadelphia’s oldest continuously operating tavern
“Sixth-Annual Brewers Plate,” Penn Museum (3260 South Street), 4 p.m., $55 – a beer-lovers’ favorite that pairs dozens of locally brewed ales and lagers with dishes created by the region’s top restaurants. Proceeds benefit the Fair Food Farmstand in Reading Terminal Market, a year-round venue for local, humane producers, growers, farmers and fishers to sell their wares. For more information, please visit www.thebrewersplate.org.
PBW 2009 included five major festivals, all of which sold out in advance and brought out an estimated number of 8,000 beer lovers. The other 670-plus events, spread among the 156 participating breweries, restaurants, bars and distributors, drew standing-room-only crowds into venues as diverse as local pubs, breweries, restaurants and event spaces. Special collaborations between area hotels and public transportation drew out-of-town guests to the region; SEPTA reported selling 1,500 all day, citywide passes for public transit over the course of the 2009 celebration.
Following PBW(end), the entire Philly Beer Week Web site will re-launch with complete details on PBW 2010, including event listings as they are added. In the meantime, for more information about PBW(end), a list of events, or more on getting involved in PBW 2010, please visit www.phillybeerweek.org.
