06 March 2008

Quick Updates

1) I expect today and tomorrow to be THE big demolition days at the former DeGroen's--the streets adjacent to the buildings have been declared "no parking" zones for both dates, according to signs I saw last night. (By the way, I talked to one brewery owner who told me "We looked into buying some of the remaining kegs, but the keg handles were made from that black rubber that covered them, and those handles had a tendency to break....")
2) The Philadelphia Inquirer today has a massive section on beer--basically their entire food section is devoted to beer in honor of Philadelphia Beer Week. If you can't grab an actual newspaper, see it online here . I might also peruse the Philly Daily News online as well (home of Don Russell or "Joe Sixpack"), since they don't ship that paper down here:
3) What, you didn't hear about Philly Beer Week? Well, now you have.
4) The Philadelphia City Paper had a cover story last week addressing the hypothetical question "Is Philly America's greatest beer city?
Guess what. They didn't even consider DC or Baltimore. The serious competition was Portland and San Francisco.
And if you read the story for yourself, you just might find yourself agreeing:
Go Here for more related articles.
The basic argument: Philly has and is surrounded by a host of good brewpubs and microbreweries. On top of that, it's hard to walk into any bar in Philly and NOT find a micro tap--Victory, Flying Fish, Yards, etc. I sure can't say the same for Baltimore. Philly also has FOUR Belgian-styled/pouring bars/restaurants; DC can match that if you include the far-off suburbs of Olney, Occoquan, and Baltimore.
5) So why don't we have a Baltimore Beer Week? Stay tuned................. We actually may be working on that. Does anyone have suggestions for the best week-or-more in which to hold it?

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