Day 139, May 19 / Pennsylvania Pale Ale

Day 139  /  May 19, 2011

Pennsylvania Pale Ale

Philadelphia Brewing Company / Philadelphia, PA

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I hope you’re happy now…

I made a day and a half trip this week up to Philadelphia to see one of the main contributors to the soundtrack of my life – Elvis Costello – recreate his 1986 Spinning Songbook tour.  Of course, he’s got a lot more songs to choose from now.  The show was excellent, even considering that he had postponed the previous nights’ show due to bronchitis.

On this quick trip to Philly, I wanted to make sure I stopped in at the Philadelphia Brewing Company.  I had read about the brewery online, but I hadn’t seen their beers down here in the DC area.  And there’s a reason for that.  Up until sometime in 2007 or 2008, Yards Brewing Company was located this building in the Kensington section of Philadelphia.  But apparently, the partners in the operation didn’t see eye-to-eye on quite a number of things, and decided to split ways.  In the divorce, Tom got the rights to the Yards name and recipes and Bill got the brewery and equipment, and started a new brewery at the same location – the Philadelphia Brewing Company.

Click the picture!

One of the things they apparently didn’t agree on was a distribution strategy.  So now, PBC beers are only distributed as far as PBC’s trucks are willing to go – they don’t use any 3^rd party distribution companies.  And there’s enough demand in the greater Philadelphia area to drink up all the beer they can make.  It’s also now available in Pittsburgh – because an employee recently moved there, so they ship him a trailer load, store it in a warehouse, and he makes the rounds to distribute it in his truck.

So if you want PBC beers, you need to find them in Pennsylvania.  We found some at the brewery.  Unfortunately, they only do tours and tastings on Saturdays, but you can buy a mix-your-own case at the brewery for $26, which is a pretty good deal.  Across the street, Atlantis, The Lost Bar, is supposedly the only bar in town in with all of PBC’s beers on tap all the time.  In fact, PBC beers are the ONLY beers on tap here.  So we ventured into Atlantis and got lost for a couple hours, trying out a few PBC beers.  And today starts a 6 day PBC Beer Run!

My first PBC beer was the Pennsylvania Pale Ale, recommended by the bartender Alex as his favorite.  This is a classic American Pale Ale, with a light amber color and a lacy head.  It had a great taste, very fresh from the tap, with a great combination of malt and hops.  Think Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, only a little better.

PBC beers on tap at Altantis, The Lost Bar