Friday The Firkinteenth...

[tjones_jr]

anyone going to the Gravity Poured Firkin event at the Grey Lodge in Philadelphia? (has anyone been there before?)


also, I'm looking for more beer/food bars in center city...
I regularly go to:

The Standard Tap
Monks
Nodding Head
(I tried Eulogy, but I didn't like the fancy atmosphere)

any other suggestions?

[Theakston]

We often travel to Phillie (my wife grew up in the phille burbs - and her family still live there). Won't be there for the Firkinteenth (we'll be in Tortola instead :cool: )


Downtown pubs you already mentioned The Standard Tap, Monks, Nodding Head and Eulogy
- close to there is "Fergies" a decent Irish pub with the usual taps plus a few English beers such as Youngs SLA,(it's run by the same people as run Monks and Nodding Head).

Also nearby, for German food and beer there is Ludwigs - 1315 sansom.

Another Belgian woth a try is "Abbaye" @ 653 n 3rd at fairmount

We also often go to the Dark Horse Pub - 421 South Second St. Philadelphia, Pa 19147, for the English soccer on TV.

Here are some other recc's:

Old City/Society Hill-
The Khyber(live alt.rock music joint with great beer)

South Street area-
Pete's Sake Pub(great belgian draft line-up)
O'neal's(Irish pub with great bottle selection)
Beau Monde(french creperie with great belgian draft/bottles)
The Latest Dish(great restaurant with good bottle selection and decent draft)

Northern Liberties-
Ministry of Information(good bottle selection and alt. crowd)
The Druid's Keep(good bottle selection, only five taps but good
choices)

Manneyuk/Chestnut Hill
PJ McMenamins(great drafts)
Flat Rock(great bottle selection)
Dawson Street Pub(Great british pub)

[sallad]

i was just reading about this today.. i'm pretty certain that i'll be there. now i'm just hoping i can convince someone else to drive me!!

[sallad]

...not in the selection of beer, but in over crowded bar.

the thing i've come to like most about many good beer bars in philly is that they are generally very relaxed - you can find a table on a saturday night, and you can have a conversation without yelling over the radio.

well, all the beer lovers in philly were at the Grey Lodge on friday night. i got there a little before 7pm, and there was already a line out the door. we (myself and 2 others) waited about 15 min to get in, and it took close to another 30 min for us to fight to the back of the bar to get a beer. damn good beer, mind you, but just not a comfortable scene.

we each got something different.. i had flying fish's big fish barleywine, my girl had DFH's aprihop, and my other friend had heavyweight's baltic porter. all three were very good, and each us liked our choice the best.

but after the wait to get in, the wait to get a beer, almost having my pint knocked out of my hands a few times, we decided to move on to the standard tap for some cask beer without the hassle.

[tjones_jr]

i've been to this bar during the week and it doesn't get very crowded. It's great for me to try some of the newest beers from the local brewers.

Unfortunately I was sick on Friday and didn't attend the event. By the time I started feeling better it was after 8:00 and I expected what you just described, so I decided to just skip it and hit the next one in August. I'm glad I did too, because I wouldn't have enjoyed myself with the bar being that crowded. (A reason I regularly enjoy the standard tap)

thanks for the update...I'll be sure to get there early enough for a bar seat the next time they have it.

[sallad]

I'll be sure to get there early enough for a bar seat the next time they have it.

be sure to take a half day from work!! the guy they had working the door said the place was filling up by 4:30.

if it was just me, i might have stuck around. but the ones i was with aren't beer fanatics quite like i am. i could tell they weren't into it, so we split. we also stopped at the 700 for a quick hand-pumped pint as well before hitting the standard tap.

[tjones_jr]

Originally posted by sallad

if it was just me, i might have stuck around. but the ones i was with aren't beer fanatics quite like i am. i could tell they weren't into it, so we split. we also stopped at the 700 for a quick hand-pumped pint as well before hitting the standard tap.

sounds like you must have the same friends I do...they like beer enough to drink it and humor me by tagging along on my excursions for better beer, but they just don't get the idea of gravity poured firkin's nor do they care if it's "Hop Wallop" "Hop Hazard" or "Hop Head" because they probably aren't drinking anything with all that hop flavor anyway. (I told a buddy this past weekend that he's not worthy of the "Arrogance" and he got all sorts of bitter and pissed)

I didn't know the 700 club had a beer engine. It's been a while since i've been there. How is the rest of their selection? Do they serve food?

[sallad]

sounds like you must have the same friends I do..

oh, they appreciate good beer.. certainly worthy of the "arrogance", but we all agreed that why should we fight for cask ale when we could get it elsewhere without the hassle.

didn't know the 700 club had a beer engine.

they've got 2 of 'em! i've only stopped in at the 700 about 3 times, the first time was last summer. looks to me like they always have yards esa on the handpump, and a rotating one. i had stoudt's apa over the summer (absolutely fantastic!!) and friday i had flying fish abbey dubbel. their other taps are pretty good (don't particularly remember what they were - i was more interested in the casks!), no miller lite or anything. i'm not sure if they serve food or not. there are only about 3 little tables in the back, a couple hightops along the wall by the bar and then the bar itself, so its a pretty small place.

[Insidious Rex]

Philadelphians: Does Grey Lodge get pretty filled on a typical Friday night? I understand there is a restaurant on the top floor and the bar is on the lower floor. So would it be reasonable to bring the whole fam (kids and all) and eat there? They are having Pliny the Both day on the 25th and Ill be in town...

[HarkJohnny]

that's a firkin great name! i love it...

almost as much as I love Harktoberfest :D

if any of you are in my neck of the woods Sept 30, drop by!

[jaysus]

Originally posted by Insidious Rex
Philadelphians: Does Grey Lodge get pretty filled on a typical Friday night? I understand there is a restaurant on the top floor and the bar is on the lower floor. So would it be reasonable to bring the whole fam (kids and all) and eat there? They are having Pliny the Both day on the 25th and Ill be in town...

Looks like ai am a little late, but upstairs at the Lodege is family friendly (non-smoking and all)... Friday nights included.

[jaysus]

October 13th just so happens to be a Friday... you know what that means!

http://greylodge.com/fri13th.htm

[Insidious Rex]

Originally posted by jaysus
Looks like ai am a little late, but upstairs at the Lodege is family friendly (non-smoking and all)... Friday nights included.

Yes we had a great time. :D

Although we were the only "family" up there...

[abeck1969]

We are trying to post an hourly update for the first part of the event on our site.

http://www.brewlounge.com

I think Bryan said there were a total of 18 casks. None have kicked as of 3:00 or so. 8 casks are being poured right now.

-Adam

[MeridianFC]

Now that's the type of play by play I'm talkin' about.

No cask kicked yet? Put your backs....er....elbows into it.

[threecb]

Man, I wish I called in sick today. I was very tempted...damn my sense of responsibility!

[abeck1969]

only three casks left untapped :-)

[abeck1969]

Here are some pictures from that night.

http://www.brewlounge.com/2006/10/beer-event-grey-lodges-friday.html

-Adam