Beer Appreciation Archive

Looking for World Class Beers? No Need to Leave the Tri State Area….

I had the pleasure of attending two great beer events last week – both of which featured locally brewed beers. It caused me to remark on how lucky we are in the Delaware Valley to have so many really world class brews available to us – fresh and accessible through local breweries and brew pubs within an hour of us in any direction.

The legacy and historic culture of Pennsylvania brewing has been well chronicled by Lew Bryson in his fine book “Pennsylvania Breweries”. As German immigrants settled in Pennsylvania, they brought with them their brewing culture – though unfortunately most of these small local breweries were brought to an unceremonious end by prohibition in the 1920’s. Stoudt’s in Adamstown is an example of a newer brewery with these historic roots (and really great beer).

On July 12th at Monks Café in Philadelphia, Tom Peters hosted a dinner featuring local beers and local foods. I had the pleasure of sampling beer from exceptional regional breweries like Stoudts, Heavyweight, Victory, Dogfish Head, Weyerbacher and Yards. All of these breweries offer their beers in bottles outside of this area and are recognized by real beer fans everywhere as offering superior brews. Tom also selected offerings from fine local brew pubs like Iron Hill, Sly Fox and his own Nodding Head.

July 13th’s Gullifty’s Beer Gaarten Fest offered the interested beer appreciator an opportunity to sample local beers along with classic imports and internationally recognized brands. Legacy of Reading along with Sly Fox of Phoenixville and Victory of Downingtown all were matched favorably with internationally recognized brands like Smithwicks, Sam Adams and Fullers.

Come to Gullifty’s and take in some “local color” (from the crisp light straw color of Stoudt’s Pils to the rich roasty dark brown of Victory Storm King Stout) and appreciate the fact that you are fortunate enough to be in the heart of great beer country! (Check out “Best of the ‘Burbs on BeerAppreciation.com for some locations of great local brewpubs and breweries.)

Beer is for Appreciating!