Beer Week 2010 Super Blog, Pt. 4

Day Three


Call me crazy; I figured that with all the gluttony for the past several days, I better do some exercise. So I got up at 0530 and had my butt down to Kelly drive with my bicycle. Being the Bike Race day with the roads already closed, I rode most of the race course several times (Minus The Wall. Yeah, I’m a wimp) as I was calculating in my head how much each mile is worth in terms of beer calories.

Kraftwork

A relative newcomer in Fishtown, Kraftwork is a beautiful bar with big windows facing the street that allows lots of sunlight to come in to show off the intricate metal work details in the fixtures that give the bar such unique characteristics.

On this day of Beer Week, all hands were on the left with all the taps featuring beers from the Left Hand Brewery.


We started with the Sawtooth and the 400 lb Monkey with our late afternoon snack. The Sawtooth is a 5.0% ABV ESB that’s just nice and smooth coming out of the nitro tap. Tourist Tree loved her 6.7% IPA which is hoppy but not ridiculously bitter.

Chilled Beet Soup


It was like eating melted beets. The soup captured all the right flavors of a beet in an easy to eat medium viscosity. The light drizzle of oil on the soup was a nice elegant touch.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Grill Jersey Asparagus, Morel Mushroom, Fried Egg, Manchego Cheese, Truffle Oil


What can you not like about this dish? OK, the asparagus was having a shrinkage problem. They were a bit dry and shriveled up but this shortcoming was made up by the egg yoke running everywhere and the essence of truffle oil permeating in the air. I was as happy eating the food as I was happy drinking the Sawtooth which paired so well with the dish.

 
 
 

We love going to Beer Week events when we see old friends and talk to newly met people about beer, food, world peace, and whatever comes up in the conversation. Being in the late afternoon, Kraftworks was not overly crowded with plenty of space. As we were drinking the JuJu Ginger (4.0% ginger beer) as our after snack drink, we were really enjoying hanging out at in this relaxed atmosphere in a lazy Sunday afternoon before continuing our beer adventure for the day.

Johnny Brenda’s

When the Troeg brothers packed their special limited release beers and their employee bands onto a bus for Philly, we headed to Johnny Brenda’s.

With all the taps on Troegs, we concentrated on the Scratch Series limited release beers which are usually available only at the brewery and a few bars in the Harrisburg area. We started with the Cocoabunga as the first Troeg employee band was starting up. This oak aged chocolate stout is #27 in the series. It is dark, smooth, milky, and delicious with a chocolate flavor. Next, we had the Citra of Brotherly Love. This 7.4% IPA is the latest Scratch Series beer that was brewed in honor of the Philly Beer Week. The name is also a play on the use of the citra hops and the two Troeg brothers. It has hints of orange and grapefruit with the light sweetness that took the hoppy bitterness edge off. The beer is also aged in wine barrel for a week before being kegged.

Three Troeg employee bands showed up for the day. Each played very stylized music, all very good.



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

We had the Roggen as we took a break from the music and relaxed at the bar downstairs. The #28 beer at 6.1% was brewed after the German style Roggenbier. We liked its lightly sweet citrus character which is great for the summer. I, however, didn’t like my next beer as much. The Scratch Series #29 Belgium IPA was…an IPA, not my most favorite style of beer. On the other hand, Tourist Tree liked less the #30 Bock beer. This 7.00% Maibook / Hellerbock beer was smooth and easy drinking but much lower in IBU than the #29 that Hophead Tree liked.


We ended our gig at Johnny Brenda’s with a Flying Mouflan. John Troeg wouldn’t tell us how this 9.3% barleywine was named except it might have something to do with his college days.

Nifty hand stamp used at Johnny Brenda.

McGillin’s

When Lincoln was elected president in 1860, McGillin’s opened its door for business. 150 years later, it is still operating at its original location. What better way to celebrate this monumental occasion as the city’s oldest continuing operating tavern than a huge blow-out birthday bash!

As man and women of the people, Tourist Tree and Aiiyah stopped by the “Creative Black Tie” event with their “Creative Peasant” attire but co-owner Chris Mullin still welcomed us with open arms.

The Budweiser Clydesdales stopped in for a visit and attracted a large admiring crowd. They looked kind of out of place in the tiny side street standing next to an abundant boarded-up building.

Food was plenty. The hot wings were wonderful in calming down our stomachs after an afternoon of drinking. For the record, Tourist Tree and Aiiyah were drinking sodas.

 

This band has been playing there since 1860.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Creative black tie is individuality.
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Leslie, pretty girl, and David in high fashion, McGillin’s style.

 
 
 
 

The Houston Boys Choir gave an impromptu performance at the Rittenhouse Square Park as we were taking a walk after leaving McGillin’s. I felt so at home since I was wearing my University of Texas T-shirt.


 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 

Good Dog Bar

After a day of drinking and eating, we needed dinner. The Italian Wedding soup was a rustic rendition made in-house. We tried to pair that with the Iron Hill Kryptonite IPA from a firkin. Yuck! That didn’t work for Aiiyah. Tourist Tree liked the 7.2% high IBU IPA but it just didn’t work with the soup for me. I preferred the orange’ish, apricot’ish 5.5% Saison which went very well with my Good Dog Salad instead. The salad also cured my guilt from not having eaten any vegetables for the past several days. We also shared a plate of mussels made with Magic Hat #9. The mussels were quite plump and tender, and the sauce was just deliciously full with taste and complex flavor in depth.

Day Three Beer Tally:

Left Hand Sawtooth
LeftHhand 400Ib Monkey
Left Hand JuJu Ginger
Troegs Scratch #27 Cocoabunga
Troegs Scratch #31 Citra of Brothery Love
Troegs Scratch #28 Roggen
Troegs Scratch #29 Belgium
Troegs Scratch #30 Bock
Troegs Flying Mouflan
Iron Hill Kyptonite IPA
Iron Hill Saison