Posts Tagged ‘beer’
Thursday, June 24th, 2010
Mass Market Beers
Philadelphia can make someone a beer snob very easily. Beyond the 20 tap systems in beer bars, craft beers from across the nation, and the endless lists of Belgians, any given dive bar is guaranteed to have at least a few local beers with Yards and PBC making themselves widely available.  Golly, even our local cheap beers Yuengling and Lions Head are better that most of the generic mass produced beers we constantly see advertised at all sporting events and every third commercial in prime-time. Or are they? I have to admit, for the most part I managed to skip the whole cheap commercial beer phase that most people go through. Being from PDX my folks tried hard to raise me not to be a cheap date, drink-wise, and when I hit legal age to drink outside of my home, I never even bothered tasting what I had always been told was drivel.
So I had a terrible idea the other day to sample the generic beers widely available, to test to see if what I had always heard about them was true, that they were flavorless, low alcohol and not worth the time. PBR I was already well acquainted with, being a patron of Mom’s establishments, and on very hot summer nights when I am exceptionally poor of pocket, I’ve been known to drink Miller High Life. I’m unable to tell if these are good beers or not – I solely associate them with certain drinking environments. But perhaps there is a best among the worst, perhaps the masses know something that in my snobbery¬† I’ve missed. And so the Art in Bars contributors gathered at a household to sample some mass market beers. Here are our findings. (more…)
Tags: Art in Bars, bad, beer, budweiser, Coors, generic, High Life, Jenn, miller, Milwaukee's Best, sample, Sequoia, tasting, Tshombe
Posted in Drinking, Review | Comments Off
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010
In this friendly, freedom-loving land of ours - Beer belongs . . . enjoy it!
By Jenn Sharon
You can’t throw a bottle in this city without hitting a bar that boasts the best selection of beers these days. Bars that have beer from every freakin’ country on this planet! Bars have turned into gastropubs and gastropubs into craft beer hubs. Now, I’ve had a lot of these beers and most of them are fantastic. My concern and question is– Is this a good thing for Philadelphia? Philadelphia is a union clad, working class town, and after all of the citiy’s hipsters move to New York or get business or construction jobs where will all of the craft beers go? Will the people who are 19 and 20 today carry on this mircobrew revolution as they become the old heads of this town? (more…)
Tags: 2010, babbling, beer, Jenn, June, opinion
Posted in Drinking | Comments Off
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
This census thing is really eating up my life since I got promoted. But, as a memo reminded me last week, I’m not allowed to blog, tweet, or post facebook updates about anything that might violate title 13 or reveal pii, like what I’ve been doing. So, I’ve just not. Been blogging, or tweeting, or facebooking. In the midst of all of that, I’m also still artist assisting at least once a week, and yesterday I installed a show at the gallery, where I believe I am officially “advising” at rather than “associate director”ing at now. In addition to THAT Art in Bars is attempting to assemble a show, which I will be installing tomorrow. So the posting, it is slow. Still sitting on all those back posts, and clearly am missing things. Like, BEER WEEK which kicks off tomorrow.¬† I’m attempting to have current listings up-to-date by tomorrow as well. Holla at me (admin@artinbars.com) if you want to get listed.
Meanwhile, Why the fuck don’t you know about . . .
Tags: 2010, babbling, beer, beer week, June, Updates
Posted in Blog | Comments Off
Thursday, May 13th, 2010
Stoudts
Hey there lovelies. I’m feeling queer these days. As in, Victorian definition of the word, not the contemporary parlance. It’s been a weird past couple of weeks for me professionally, personally, and can we talk about this weather? So I’m always on the lookout for cheap / free art and bar things, and lo and behold one pops up on the book of faces. It’s an opportunity to try some beer and take home a pint glass, at a location that loves beer and serves art. Ah, but not in NoLibs as per usual. Get thee out of the center city! Philly’s big and it’ll be a lovely night. Head up to Mt. Airy. You’ve got to love it when a brewery loves beer so much they let another brewery hock their wares. Earth Bread + Brewery is hosting a Stoudt’s Brewing Promo tonight, Thursday, May 13th, with a sweet, sweet take home pint glass. You can also check out works by the Mt. Airy artist collective members Todd Matte and Mark Mattson. Because, you know, art in bars.
I have a soft spot in my heart for Stoudt’s beers, mostly because when the partner and I did the brewery tour it was lead by Mr. Stoudt himself, and he told us that he drinks five pints of beer a day for his health, and we should too. I try Mr. Stoudt, I try.
Earth Bread + Brewery 7136 Germantown Ave.
Tags: beer, brewery, Earth Bread and Brewery, Mark Mattson, Stoudts, Todd Matte, u keep the glass
Posted in Something To Do | 1 Comment »
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
It’s hard to believe but the Memphis Taproom is only in it’s second year. They came onto the scene strong, in an emerging neighborhood, with lots of fun events, and steady offering of tasty food and beers. They even showed art on the walls for a while (I heard a rumor that the arrival of an infant is what put a kibosh on that momentum. Babies. It’s what they do.) Anyway, they’ll be celebrating turning two tonight Thursday, April 22nd starting at 5 P.M. with complimentary treats, some special drafts including rare beers from Lost Abbey, De Dolle, Kasteel, Stone, Sierra Nevada, Allagash, Dogfish Head and more. How sweet! Free nosh with the beers to celebrate your patronage. FYI the kitchen and dining room will NOT be open for regular dining, so if you’re just there for the passed treats and beer, that’s a-ok.
Memphis Taproom 2331 E. Cumberland St.
Tags: Allagash, beer, De Dolle, Dogfish Head, free, Kasteel, Kensington, Lost Abbey, Memphis Taproom, party, Sierra Nevada, snacks, Stone
Posted in Something To Do | 1 Comment »
Monday, April 5th, 2010
Baseball season is here!
Today is the home opening day for the Philadelphia Phillies! Game starts at 1:05 PM and is airing on MyPhl 17. I’m rather blase about sports in general, but I adore baseball. The nobility of the sport, the importance of teamwork, the pace and minutia, and of course, how the game’s not over until the very last pitch. Growing up in a city without a major league team, we still rooted for our aaa hometeam, the Beavers, and summer to me is never complete without several trips to the ball park. So I’m jazzed to now live in the city of the WFC Phillies, and the glamour of a real stadium not infested with cats. But, I digress. The point of the story is that tonight Bridget Foy’s is offering specials in celebration of opening day. (more…)
Tags: 2010, April, baseball, beer, Bridget Foy's, hot dog, Phillies, South Street, spring
Posted in Something To Do | Comments Off
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010
Mmm. Malt Liquor.
Yes, that’s right, a malt liquor beer tasting. Since we enjoy gathering together to participate in thematic beer tastings, and our target audience of drinkers and artists are, shall we say, lower on the socioeconomic scale, it just made sense. This article shall forever prove that the contributors of Art in Bars are not classy in any way. We actually performed this tasting last fall, but, er, lost the notes on it shortly thereafter, and really didn’t feel like repeating the experience. The Autumn afternoon started off with a quick trip to a Kensington corner store, where we purchased a classic lineup of the standards in the cheap beer / malt liquor department: Olde English, Colt 45, Steel Reserve, Silver Thunder and Axe Head. Fast facts: While beer is typically made with water, hops and barley; malt liquor is made with those plus less expensive ingredients like corn or rice, and a higher concentration of alcohol. We noticed that some cheap beer being sold as malt liquor was actually just high abv beer. (Also, I later bought a Spaten Optimator, a dopplebock, which called itself a malt liquor on the label.) We tasted each contender and attempted to rate them by categories such as smoothness, sweetness (a negative attribute), color, booze-ability (high alcohol taste), aftertaste, and overall flavor. (more…)
Tags: Axe Head, beer, Colt 45, contributor, Jenn, malt liquor, Olde English, Sequoia, Silver Thunder, Steel Reserve, tasting, Tshombe
Posted in Drinking | 1 Comment »
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
People. My life right now. You don’t even want to know, because you don’t even care. You just come here for the beer and the babbling, which I’ve been slacking on. I missed a U Keep The Glass Night last night, which I foolishly thought I’d have some time to post during the day. But I’m not going to let you down tonight, oh no. Tonight, March 25th Sly Fox is doing a promo night at For Pete’s Sake, one of the least annoying sports bars in the city with great airflow and outside seating in the spring/summer. Good food too. Hosted by the Beer Lass herself, Suzanne Woods, ladies from the In Pursuit of Ale women’s beer club will also be on hand from 6-10 P.M. chatting you up and telling you why the beer’s the bestest.¬† Sly Fox will be pimping their Belgian style beers, such as their Abbey Dubbel and Abbey Extra. Go out and give them a shot.
For Pete’s Sake
900 S. Front St.
Tags: beer, Beer Lass, belgian, For Petes Sake, In Pursuit of Ale, ipa, March, promo, Queen Village, Sly Fox, Suzanne Woods
Posted in Something To Do | Comments Off
Thursday, March 18th, 2010
It’s no secret that ¬†I can’t even begin to pay the bills by working at a gallery. And as this is not a monetized blog, I do childcare to make ends meet. This means I work a lot of hours, and often consecutively at multiple jobs. Meaning, I might sit in the morning, work the gallery till the evening, then go to another family while the parents go out at night. One such Thursday evening I came home at around 10:30 (early night) feeling murderous. My partner wisely thought we should go out rather than cook in, and given my love of Mexican food and the lateness of the hour, we opted for Xochitl. (more…)
Tags: beer, Drinking, Philadelphia, South Street, Xochitl
Posted in Drinking | Comments Off
Friday, March 12th, 2010
image stolen from foobooz
It’s not Beer Week ya’ll. Didn’t you get the press release? They moved that to June when the weather’s better. Yes, I know I put on my dirndl for the third year in a row to skip around the Naval Yard at the Craft Beer Festival last weekend, but trust, it’s not the kickoff to beer week. [Ed Note: I actually went dirndlless this year and very much noticed how many breweries were not at that fest. They'd better be bringing it this weekend. I'm looking at you, local breweries.]¬† Meanwhile, everyone seemed to be celebrating what is being dubbed beer weekend. Seriously, check out the March listings over on The Brew Lounge. Saint Brigid be praised there’s a lot going on.¬†For a more curated look, Foobooz has their picks. (more…)
Tags: 2010, Barclay Prime, beer, beer weekend, brew lounge, Brooklyn Brewery, foobooz, Garrett Oliver, Hawthorne's Cafe, Iron Hill, March, Paul Rutherford, Swift Half Pub
Posted in Drinking | Comments Off