Beer Week 2009 Super Blog Pt 4

Day Five

Local 44

As soon as I walked in, I was told that I have to have this beer since it was virtually impossible to have in Pennsylvania. The Lauralwood Workhorse from Portland, OR, was a hoppy IPA with a floral nose.

When the Tourist Tree joined up with me later, we ordered the Obamagang. Ommegang put out this special beer in January for the new president until ATF slapped on a “No Way!” since it was prohibited to use anybody’s name or likeliness without permission. The name was formally changed to Inauguration Ale 2009 but nobody called this very limited beer by the formal name. The beer was somewhat in-between of a porter and a stout with a nice taste of chocolate. When that beer was put in front of us, two girls who were of Obama’s persuasion around the corner of the bar bellowed out aloud, “They over did it on the color!” Everybody couldn’t help but laugh out aloud while I enjoyed this 7.7% ABV concoction.

Frito Pie and Oyster Po’ boy

Chili (cubed meat, yes!) over Frito chips in a mug, topped with cheese and a single Frito chip. It sounds strange but it was absolutely delicious. I particularly liked the play of the spicy chili and the crunchy salty Frito chips. The oysters were first deep fried then placed in the roll with a nice creamy sauce for this po’boy. The bread soaked up the oyster juice as you bit into the sandwich and squeezed that juice into the slightly toasted bun. Yum! I washed down my dinner with a nice Duval Green which made it’s US debate on draft at the Beer Week

Our friend Leigh who co-owns the bar was so happy to show me her hidden bottle of Miller Hi-Life which she was planning to drink after work. Local 44 only carries craft beers on draft, plus a single Orval beer in bottle!

I was told that drinking a cold beer in a hot shower is one of the greater pleasures in life. I must admit that I have tried different things in showers, a-hum, but have never done anything with a cold beer yet.

What is wrong with this picture?

Angelica and Annie, new friends we made that night. Angelica went to school in Africa. Annie was a peace crop volunteer. That’s pretty cool!

Day Five beer tally: Lauralwood Workhouse IPA, Ommegang Obamagang, Duvel Green.

Day Six

With the Doctor Professor Tourist Tree busy saving the world, Aiiyah soldiered on the adventure of the Beer Week.

Bishop’s Collar

Wrap Your PAWS Around a Doggone Good Beer is one of the two events to raise awareness for PAWS which promotes animal welfare in Philly. http://www.phillypaws.org/. Two of the area bars featured dog-related beers and encouraged people to come out with their pets. There was even a silent auction of “doggie bags” to raise money for the organization.

All the taps were pouring dog themed beers at the Bishop’s Collar. I just loved some of the names for these beers: Laughing Dog Brewing’s Alpha Dog and Crotch Sniffing Bastard; Flying Dog’s In-Heat; Smutty Nose’s Old Brown Dog. I had the Avery Ellie’s Brown Ale which was a nice choice to start off the evening. The ale was named after the owner’s late dog, Ellie.

Animals big and small come out for this event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

L: Aiiyah’s new friend for the night.

 

R: Victim of an over friendly dog.

 

 

Good Dog

In keeping with the theme of the moment, Aiiyah went to Good Dog which was featuring Flying Dog beers.

The Gonzo Imperial Porter was a very easy drinking beer with a sweet, chocolate taste and a little hint of hops. Although it was very easy drinking, it did pack a 7.8% ABV! The hops in the Double Dog IPA completely shocked my system. For a person who is not much into hoppy beer, it was like drinking a shot of hop juice. With the ABV at 11.5%, it might as well be a shot. The Wild Dog Schwarzbier was a one-off limited number beer that came in a 750ml champagne style bottle. It was a smoked double lager that had a slight sweet BBQ taste. This should be great with the BBQ at Sweet Lucy’s. It was a nice treat that I got to try this pretty hard to find one-off beer.

Good Dog was giving away food again: Pulled pork with an orange zest on top and also some bruschetta.

 

R: Meet up with old friend Margie.

L: Jessica makes a surprise appearance.

R: Never know who you will run into during Beer Week.

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
L: Margie showing Jessica the finer points of Facebook.
 

R: We started talking to these girls then realized that one of them had been to our Radnor Hunt party.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

L: Never turn down an offer from the “Big Dog” himself, Jim Caruso, from Flying Dog to buy us beer. I mean, after all, he came all the way from Colorado just to buy us beers. We couldn’t be rude and turn him down, right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

R: There are times when the less you know, the better it is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day Six beer tally: Avery Ellie’s Brown Ale; Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter, Double Dog IPA, and Wild Dog Schwarzbier – and multiples of those Dogs.