Friday The Firkinteenth

[Rich Pawlak]

Hands down the best annual beer event in Philadelphia happens when the calendar graces craft beer enthusiasts with a Friday the 13th. Some years there are actually more than one, and for that those same enthusiasts are doubly and triply grateful. But this year, we are blessed early in the Philly area, and Mike Scotese (Scoats), owner/publican of the Grey Lodge Public House (www.greylodge.com, but you know that) has outdone himself. For the first time, 14 firkins of real, gravity-poured brews will grace the Grey Lodge bar, served up in two sessions on this, the eleventh Friday The Firkinteenth:

Brewers Art Pepper Triple, Baltimore, MD

Dogfish Head Aprihop, Rehoboth, DE

Flying Fish Big Fish Barley Wine, Cherry Hill, NJ

General Lafayette Scotch Ale, Lafayette Hill, PA

Heavyweight TBA, Ocean Township, NJ

Iron Hill Old Ale, West Chester, PA/Newark, DE

Lancaster Four Grain, Lancaster, PA

Legacy Nor'easter, Reading, PA

Manayunk Buster Brown Ale, Phila, PA

Nodding Head Imperial IPA, Phila, PA

Sly Fox Scottish Ale, Phoenixville, PA

Troegs Nugget Nectar Ale, Harrisburg, PA

Victory TBA, Downingtown, PA

Yards George Jefferson, Phila, PA

Wow 14 fricking firkins!

According to Scoats, the first 7 will be tapped and ready to go at 6pm. The second 7 will be tapped at 9:00pm.

Much thought (and I'm sure much spirited debate) will go into having a good mix and balance on each tier. More info, as it becomes finalized, especially those TBA beers, will be on www.greylodge.com.

But it's the honest, unvarnished, casual nature of this mini-festival that endears it to beers geeks up and down the East Coast. An added kick is the opportunity to hang out with almost all of the brewers themselves, who've provided the beers for the night. An extraordinary celebration of beer, worth travelling for.

[Susan in FL]

I'll be thinking of you, as on all Friday the 13ths.

[john b]

Anyone wanna volunteer to be my designated driver?

I'll see you there, Rich.

[Rich Pawlak]

Well, just days before it will happen, Mike Scotese, owner /publican of the Grey Lodge Public House has tweaked the already incredible menu for Friday The Firkinteenth and increased it to 15 cask beers.

Here's what I found on the Grey Lodge website tonight:

"We will have an incredible 15 casks! We jumped straight from 11 to 15. And it will probably be 16 for the following Firkinteenth in August.

There is no way the bar will physically be able to handle 15 firkins at once, so we will have to serve them in two tiers. The first 8 will be tapped and ready to go at 6pm. The second 7 will be tapped at 9:00pm. So this year, come early or come late and we will have some absolutely amazing beer for you.

There is also no way most folks can drink all 14, so this should spread things (and hopefully people) out a bit. I tried to balance the two tiers out as much as possible.

6pm Tapping

Dogfish Head Aprihop

Flying Fish Big Fish Barley Wine

General Lafayette Scotch Ale

Heavyweight Perkuno's Hammer Baltic Porter

Iron Hill Old Ale

John Harvards Heather Ale

Manayunk Buster Brown Ale

Nodding Head Imperial IPA

9pm Tapping

Brewers Art Green Peppercorn Triple

Lancaster Amish Four Grain Ale

Legacy Duke of Ale IPA

Sly Fox Scottish Ale

Troegs Nugget Nectar Ale

Weyerbacher Scotch Ale

Yards George Jefferson

15 firkins is over 160 gallons of beer, so we will be filling growlers of the first 8 after 8:45pm, and after 11:45 for the last 7.

The forecast is for a clear day. Don't miss it! "

God help us. Beer Heaven on Earth.

[Rich Pawlak]

I'll be thinking of you, as on all Friday the 13ths.

You know, at some point you have to make one of these; the next one is in August, and surely you can think of reasons to NOT be in Florida in August!

[Okbrewer]

RP! I'm gonna shoot for attending the August Friday the Firkenteenth! Seriously! Don't be surprised when I show up at your door! (I'd rather drive with you than Lew!)

[Susan in FL]

RP!  I'm gonna shoot for attending the August Friday the Firkenteenth!  Seriously!  Don't be surprised when I show up at your door!  (I'd rather drive with you than Lew!) 

Ditto! I'm absolutely serious, too.

[Rich Pawlak]

Sweet Jesus, the day is here.

[cdh]

And what a day it was! Absolutely packed, and some of the good stuff went before I had a chance to give it a try, but even still... an excellent evening judging by what I did have a chance to try.

The Brewer's Art Green Peppercorn Triple was certainly the most unusual beer I've ever run across. Tastes almost just like what you'd expect... A rich, hoppy beligian triple style, with a big dose of pepper flavor, though no pepper bite. I was hoping for a bit of tartness, since most of my experiences with green peppercorns have had some tart twang to them, but there wasn't any. Just rich triple goodness that tastes like it ran into a pepper mill.

The Lancaster Winter Ale (a last minute sub in for the Four Grain) was a good dark malty heavy wintery brew. Not much more to say about that one.

The Duke of Ale was wonderful... Despite the fact that the knowledgeable swore to me that it was an IPA, its hopping was so smooth that it struck me as more of a rich ESB... which, I guess, was how IPAs got started. Whatever it was, stylistically, it was great.

The John Harvard's Heather Ale was quite interesting, and I liked it. A beer without hops is, of course, missing something that everybody associates with beer... but the heather used to replace it made for an interesting, almost metallic flavor, but not in an offensive way. Don't know that I'd drink it by the pint regularly, but when not in the mood for hops, it might be a nice change.

The Yards George Jefferson was another dark, hoppy malty beer about which I just don't have much more to say. Was good... but that is about it. A beer for movin'on up, to a deelux apartment in the sky -y -y, I guess.

Was good seeing Rich and Lew Bryson and other notables in the exciting Philly beer scene there last night. Scoats the publican was ever the gentleman, making trips out into the cold to thank those stuck waiting in line for having the patience they did.

An excellent event, and I can't wait for the next Friday the 13th!

[Susan in FL]

Thanks, Chris! I "tuned in" to this topic hoping to see the first posts about last night come in...

[Rich Pawlak]

This year's FTF was a crush of people like never before, and the first time I can recall that lines formed at the door, at one point halfway down the block outside of the Grey Lodge. The crowd was full of local beer celebs, the brewers, and, of course, beer writers, God help us.

The beer of the night for me was Nodding Head's Imperial IPA, a big, ballsy wicked hop monster of a beer, with stunning fruitiness and rapier sharp bite, a brillaint beer, and the first firking to empty during the first round of beers. Also sampled Flying Fish's one year-old Big Fish, its 10% barleywine, a beautiful round sweetheart full of caramel and vanilla , with a lovely silky mouthfeel.

But onto the pictures:

The beer-loving crowds of Friday The Firkinteenth, the heaviest in history, yet surprisingly pleasant and congenial

Co-owner Curt Decker (l.) and brewer Brandon Greenwood (c.) of Nodding Head brewpub in Philadelphia

Brian O'Reilly, brewer at Sly Fox Brewing Co., Phoenixville, PA (l.) and beer writer Lew Bryson.

Legendary brewer Bill Moore and beer fan Gary Bredbenner

Co-owner of The Standard Tap and Johnny Brenda's William Reed

Lew Bryson and fan

Nancy and Bill Barton, co-owners of Yards Brewing Co., Philadelphia

beer lovers Mike Gates(l.) and his nephew Dave (c.)

[Lew_Bryson]

What a night... I've finally recovered enough to get online. Two big shots of whiskey at midnight turned out to NOT have been a good idea...

But the beer, oh my. Perkuno's Hammer was a big pillow of solid malt, the Nodding Head IIPA was in beautiful condition and packed with a great blend of hops flavor and esters, and the General Lafayette Scotch Ale was deliciously sweet and tongue-tingling. Second round faves were the Brewers Art green peppercorn triple (good description, cdh: pepper flavor without the heat), Legacy Duke of Ale's sly hoppiness and good condition, and the surprising Weyerbacher Scotch Ale -- never one of my favorites of the brewery's line, but damn was it good last night. I only realized this morning that I completely missed the Troegs Nugget Nectar! I am kicking myself over that.

Good to see so many people out--out the door! God, over thirty people standing on the sidewalk in freezing breezing temps for half an hour TO GET INTO A CROWDED BAR AND DRINK REAL ALE! There was no entertainment, no great cuisine, no celebrities in there, and certainly no "beautiful people," believe me. It was all about the beer, and that is fantastic.

I was working for the first hour, doing interviews for a piece on Chef Jim Coleman's nationally-syndicated "A Chef's Table" radio program. We HOPE it works, but there was a LOT of "ambient sound!" I'll let you know if it makes the schedule.

Oh, and Rich: the last picture, of Gates and his nephew? The guy on the right is the notorious wandering beerophile, Randall "Woody" Chandler. He's written for Ale Street News as "The Beer Pest."

[Andrew Fenton]

But onto the pictures:

Gee Rich, how come so many of those pictures are tilted like that? Must've been a good evening...

[gbredben]

Just wanted to say thanks to Rich, Lew, Scoats, and all the wonderful beer geeks like me for making last night a such a blast. What a night! What a crowd! Out the door and halfway around the block. Glad I made there around 7:00pm when there were only 15 people in line waiting to get in.

I would have liked to have said that the Nodding Head Imperial Stout was the number one choice for me. Unfortunately it kicked before I could enjoy it. Fortunately the Flying Fish Big Fish Barley Wine didn't get kicked so early and was the standout of the bunch for me. Now, I'll have to keep an eye out for the Imperial when it's served over at Nodding Head for a liquid lunch. The Legacy Duke of Ale was excellent as always. Also had the the Lancaster Amish Four Grain Ale (didn't know the Amish made or drank ale, but it would explain my some of my inherent tendencies). While I didn't try the Brewers Art Green Peppercorn Triple, the most interesting beer for me was the Yards George Jefferson. Very complex taste, but a lot of fun. I was also sad that the Troegs Nugget Nectar Ale kicked before I could have a sample. (You snooze, you lose!)

I slept till noon today and got a big grease burger to ward off the effects of last night. Time for a Stegmaier.

[Rich Pawlak]

And another thing that was fun about this chapter of FTF: that Bryson guy bursting into song without warning, usually to sing "What A Friend We Have in Jesus". Pretty damn near cleared out the place in the later hours. Maybe next time around we start him singing earlier--more beer for us!

[malarkey]

that Bryson guy bursting into song without warning, usually to sing "What A Friend We Have in Jesus".

dang... I think I might have paid to see that.

[Susan in FL]

Any news of what's to come August 13th?

[Rich Pawlak]

I doubt very much that Grey Lodge owner Scoats has the exact lineup just yet, but I'd keep checking the Grey Lodge website, www.greylodge.com.

He also checks in here from time to time, so he may just tell us!