This Week in Beer (TWIB) is a feature where I’ll highlight some craft beers I had during this past week mixed with some related (and unrelated) thoughts. Yes, it’s a play on the name of the show This Week in Baseball which I grew up on and loved.
It is wedding season. Still. I attended my second wedding in less than a month (Here’s a recap of the first wedding). This time I went north to Philadelphia. Traveling, especially out of state, gives you a chance to really branch out when it comes to beer choices.
I wandered the streets of Philly and ended up where?
What do I love most about weddings? People from all around gather to celebrate the love of a common family member or friend. Meaning that if you don’t know someone attending the wedding, you have a better chance of getting along with him or her than a random person. I met another bridemaid’s significant other and hit it off with him. We had the whole day to ourselves while our ladies were doing whatever bridemaids do the day of the wedding so we hit the streets of Philly in search of cheesesteaks and beer.
After a few wrong turns and a couple miles of walking in flip-flops (big mistake), we made it over to Yards Brewing Company. I’ve had a couple of their beers before and historically not enjoyed them that much. But I figured I would try some other ones and see what happens.
Revolutionary Ales Flight at Yards Brewing Company in Philadelphia, PA
I decided on the Revolutionary Ales flight, which included:
• General Washington’s Tavern Porter
• Thomas Jefferson’s Tavern Ale
• Poor Richard’s Tavern Spruce
The porter was smooth and malty. By far my favorite. The Thomas Jefferson’s Tavern Ale, a golden ale, went down smooth as well. Poor Richard’s Tavern Spruce was a bit confusing – it had a lot of flavor to it but not in a good way. Too much spiciness. What I found surprising was that I did not enjoy the Love Stout. It tasted somewhat like Butternuts Moo Thunder Stout but didn’t have the same smoothness or aftertaste.
Yards Saison
If you are a regular reader of this blog (and if you are not, you should be!) you might know that I am on a mini-quest to find a Saison that I like. It’s been a losing battle so far. Well that was until I tried Yards Saison. It was light, crisp and fruity. It did not have the tartness I’ve experienced with other saisons. I would definitely buy this in the store and hope that I can find many other saisons I like as much as this one.
The brewery itself was spacious and relatively busy for an early Friday afternoon. The staff was friendly and offered numerous suggestions and directions for places to grab a cheesesteak at.
Wedding Drinks
I admit it. I spent an entire night out not drinking beer. Let me turn in my beer blogger card now.
I spent the night of the wedding drinking Gin & Tonics and Whiskey Gingers. I’m not too into “the hard stuff” but wanted to branch out for a night and felt like an open bar was the place to do it.
This allows me to touch on another subject – what’s the best drink to have at a wedding?
I have a couple rules for wedding drinks. They must be lighter drinks in both mouthfeel and ABV. You must stick to one type (beer, wine or liquor) through the whole night. And you have to do it in moderation.
Union Craft Duckpin Ale at Woodberry Kitchen
I’ve been seeing the Union Craft Duckpin Ale pop up on my Twitter timeline the past few weeks and thought, “wow, I really hate that can and don’t want to ever drink that beer.” I still hate the can but now LOVE the beer.
On the way back from Philly we made a pitstop in Baltimore and ate dinner at Woodberry Kitchen. The beer was easy-going, smooth with a hoppy kick that didn’t overpower any of my delicious meal. I highly recommend and hope to find it on the shelves in Northern Virginia.
Last week’s question:
What beer book are you reading/have you read recently?
Ryan is reading Lew Bryson’s “Pennsylvania Breweries.” Oliver is writing his own beer-inspired stories.
This week’s question:
If you could produce a beer-related TV show, what would it’s title and premise be?
What about… a homebrewer competition and the winner gets to become a brewer at Stone called, “The Next Brewmaster.” A Master Cicerone travels the country’s bars and yells at owners for having dirty lines or not properly serving their beer? Can you come up with anything else?
Short On Beer 
I would love to see maybe a six episode mini-series, and each episode could highlight a specific continent’s beer. They could be around 2 hours each, and could start with history and then move on to the present. Would like to see no beer companies sponsor it, so it could be completely unbiased. Just my two cents!
I could really see that working. Sounds like a job for Mike Rowe. “Beer World?” “Global Beer?”
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