Win a Trip To Belgium at Philly Beer Week Event

PHILADELPHIA, PA — One regional brewer and one local beer drinker and will get a chance to win an all expenses paid trip to Belgium to help brew a Philly Beer Week (PBW) collaborative beer with world-renown brewer Dirk Naudts of De Proef Brouwerij.

The two lucky winners will be selected during a fun party on Wednesday, November 17 starting at 7 p.m. at McGillin’s Olde Ale House (1310 Drury St., 215-735-5562) in Center City.

Beers lovers can enter a raffle ($5 per ticket or 5 tickets for $20 to benefit PBW) to select the brewer that they would like to send to Belgium.  At 8:30 pm, one raffle ticket will be picked and the person who entered, along with the brewer named on their entry, will win the free trip.

A partial list of participating breweries will include:  Dock Street Brewing Co., Dogfish Head, Flying Fish Brewing Company, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, Lancaster Brewing Company, Manayunk Brewpub, Nodding Head, Sly Fox Brewery, Stoudt’s Brewing Company, Twin Lakes Brewing Company, Troegs Brewing Co, Victory Brewing Company, Weyerbacher Brewing Company and Yards Brewing Company, whose brewers will be on hand for the drawing.
“This is a project that perfectly embodies the spirit of America’s Best Beer-Drinking City,” said Don Russell, a.k.a. Joe Sixpack, the executive director of Philly Beer Week. “Thanks to so many Belgian-style bars and locally brewed Belgian-style beers, Philadelphia has a worldwide reputation as ‘Brussels on the Schuylkill.”

In February 2011, Naudts will work with the winning duo to produce a special porter that will be unveiled during the annual celebration to be held June 3 through 12, 2011.  The porter will be part of DeProef’s ongoing Brewmaster’s Collection series and will be poured alongside hundreds of other great craft beers, including another Philly Beer Week collaborative beer created by a group of the region’s brewers.

“Porter is a classic Philly style,” said Russell, who noted that, for Philly Beer Week ’10, area restaurateurs brewed the collaborative ExPorter with Sierra Nevada. “It has been brewed here since before the Revolution.  It’s an extremely flexible style that allows all kinds of interpretation by inventive brewers.”
Philly Beer Week, which will be held June 3 to 12, 2011, is a 10-day celebration of the Best Beer-Drinking City in America, highlighting the region’s diverse beer scene – its world-class breweries, neighborhood taverns, trend-setting restaurants and rich beer culture and history.  Established in 2008, it’s the largest beer celebration of its kind in the United States, featuring hundreds of festivals, dinners, tours, pub crawls, tastings and meet-the-brewer nights at area bars, restaurants and other locations throughout Greater Philadelphia. The event is organized and operated by Philly Beer Week Inc., a non-profit 501(c)(6) organization overseen by a board comprised of brewery owners, distributors, restaurant owners and others, to promote Philadelphia’s beer and hospitality industries.

Each year since 2007, brewmaster Dirk Naudts of De Proef Brouwerij in the village of Lochristi has collaborated with a highly regarded American brewer to create a series of one-of-a-kind ales. The beers, distributed nationally by SBS-Imports of Seattle, Washington, have met with critical acclaim and have been chosen as a monthly selection by the prestigious Michael Jackson Rare Beer Club.

“I am very excited to add Philly Beer Week to the outstanding list of partners in the De Proef Collaboration Series,” says Alan Shapiro of SBS-Imports. “PBW is the benchmark beer week throughout the U.S. and I have no doubt this beer will be highly sought after by specialty beer enthusiasts across the country.”

2007 – Signature Ale with Tomme Arthur of Port Brewing.
2008 – Les Deux Brasseurs with Jason Perkins of Allagash Brewing.
2009 – Van Twee with John Malle of Bell’s Brewing.
2010 – Monstre Rouge with Spike Bukowski of Terrapin Brewing.
2011 – Yet-to-be-named Philly Beer Week brew with yet-to-be-named brewer.