Every year, I look forward to spending a few days at  Philly Beer Week (PBW). For 2017,  PBW is June 2-11.I love PBW. When most people think of Philadelphia, they think of Ben Franklin, the Liberty Bell, Philly cheesesteaks,  and of course, Rocky Balboa and the Philadelphia Art Museum.  When I think of Philly, I think of Monk’s Cafe, the Tria Taproom,  Devil’s Alley and Brauhouse Smit (where I had my first gose). Some people call Philadelphia “the best beer-drinking city in America.” I have even heard that more Belgian beer is drunk in Philly than all of Belgium (an alternative fact).

So…It’s time to plan this year’s trip. We get together, have a few beers and work out the details. Just like last year, we are adjusting our schedule due to a wedding. It looks like we’ll take the train from BWI to Philly on Friday the 9th and return Monday. Now we need a head count before booking a place, probably through AirBnB, and reserve a beer dinner at Devil’s Alley. We send out a GroupMe for the headcount and have a few beers.

Here are the beer planning beers sampled:

• Florida Cracker White Ale by Cigar City — Orange peel & coriander wheat. A bit flat. Transported via airplane from FL to MD
• 3-2-1 Gose by Waredaca Brewing Company — Honey sweet with salty tartness
• Frankenstein Hefe by Black Bears Home Brewery –Wonderful banana nose. Pretty beer with nice white head. Great beer! plus a homebrew!
• Fireside Chat Ale – another homebrew. Caramel nose. Creamy mouthfeel. Nice head. Grassy, earthy finish
• Maduro Brown Ale by Cigar City Brewing — Amazing brown ale!
• Harpoon Vanilla Bean Porter by Harpoon Brewery – lots of vanilla

Cheers!

Warren