Philly Beer Week 2010.

So with my parents being in town last weekend we only did a little beer week action. We sampled some of my local hometown beer, Victory Brewing Co. at El Camino



We then stopped the beer garden at Standard Tap in search for Victory's new beer, Summer Love Ale. Lauren had seen this and was itching at the bit to try the newly crafted beer. Victory teamed up with, With Love Philadelphia XOXO to debut this ale at Philadelphia's beer week. Anyways we heard this was going to be one of the places it would debut and it would, but not quite yet. After having a beer or two and hanging out in the park we headed home.



Tuesday night we headed back to Standard Tap where Victory took over 20+ taps.



We tried a bunch of good beers and were able to drink the new Summer Love Ale. To say the least we were disappointed. I think we were all expecting something different than it was but the bland semi-hoppy beer was nothing worth trying again.



Luckily everything else we had on tap was delish.




We didn't do too much during the week since we both wake up 5-5:45 every morning. Since Lauren had a half Friday I left work a bit early and we got to work (as in drinking work). 1st stop was to a beer tasting of Sierra Nevada at the Foodery. We then stopped by Standard Tap because I thought there was a Dogfish Head event but the time posted online was incorrect so we strolled over to Cantina for their happy hour.

Next on the agenda was meeting the head brewer from Unibroue, Jerry Vietz at Belgium Cafe. We tasted some samples and listened to him explain the story behind some of the beers/names.

We then had a seat and samples some of their finest work, La Terrible, a dark, abbey-style Belgian ale. We ordered one each.



I was especially excited for this since I haven't had it in a bottle in a while, let alone on draft ever. It was quite the treat.



I then had the Unibroue Chambly Noire.



And Lauren had Petrus Oak-Aged Pale. Shes really into sour beers and this did not disappoint. Lots of oak, vanilla, citrus, and sourness to keep you occupied throughout.



At this point we had a few beer beers under our belt and weren't sure if we could make it until 8pm when Nogne 0's Kjetil Jikiun was making his way to the bar.



Luckily we did and they opened the taps to two Nogne 0 beers they had on tap.



We tried both the Nogne 0 #100 and the Sunturnbrew. We enjoyed both but the Sunturnbrew was amazing... an 11% smoked barleywine, yes please! One of my favorite beers I sampled over the weekend and will definitely pick up a bottle if I can find it again.



On Saturday Lauren went to the gym and instead of watching the US vs. England World Cup game by myself, (and since I don't have any friends) I walked over to the Abbaye for "The Belgium Bomb," as they were calling it. They invited the brewers from St Bernardus, Abbey Du Val Dieu & Abbey de Rocs and were pouring their best. I forgot the camera but was able to sample a few (aka four) of their finest on tap. My favorite was Brasserie Des Rocs, Triple Impériale by far. Another that made my top list of the weeks beers and will be bought again asap.

Overall beer week was an excellent time and I am really glad I emailed plenty of companies before to see which beers were actually vegan. Luckily all of the Belgium breweries I spoke to confirmed the use of only a few select ingredients (all not derived from animals). It might take a few days/weeks/months to recover from all this beer, but it was well well worth it. Until next year, cheers!