Philly Beer Week is Coming!

‘OPENING TAP’ TO KICK OFF PHILLY BEER WEEK 2010 FOR AMERICA’S LARGEST BEER CELEBRATION

PHILADELPHIA, PA – The third-annual Philly Beer Week (PBW) 2010 will kickoff on Friday, June 4 at 7:30 p.m., in the spectacular Independence Visitors Center (6th and Market Streets) with the Opening Tap, a celebration honoring over 25 regional breweries whose beer helps make Philadelphia “the best beer-drinking city in America.” The Opening Tap will begin with Mayor Nutter and the ceremonial ‘first tap’ using the official Philly Beer Week keg mallet (affectionately known as the Hammer of Glory) followed by a strolling beer tasting on two levels. Opening Tap tickets cost $40 and can be purchased online at www.phillybeerweek.org, no tickets will be available for purchase at the door.

“The Opening Tap is a one-of-a-kind event featuring our local breweries and their beers, as well as the men and women who create them,” says Don Russell, Executive Director of PBW. "It's only fitting that we kick off a celebration of America's best beer-drinking city in the shadow of the birthplace of America."

Invited breweries for the Opening Tap include: Appalachian Brewing Company, The Brew Works of Allentown and Bethlehem, Dock Street Brewing Co., Dogfish Head, Earth Bread + Brewery, Erie Brewing Company, Flying Fish Brewing Company, General Lafayette Inn, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, Lancaster Brewing Company, The Lion Brewery, Manayunk Brewpub, McKenzie’s Brew House, Nodding Head, Philadelphia Brewing Company, River Horse Brewing Company, Rock Bottom, Roy Pitz Brewing Company, Sly Fox Brewery, Sam Adams, Stewart’s, Stoudt’s Brewing Company, Triumph, Troegs Brewing Co, Twin Lakes Brewing Company, Victory Brewing Company, Weyerbacher Brewing Company, Yards Brewing Company and Yuengling.

Beer friendly food will be available for purchase on site from Max & Me Catering and there will be live music by the Flathead Gang. Attendees must be at least 21 years of age, and no children will be admitted.

To purchase tickets for the Opening Tap or find general information including the ever-expanding schedule of events and list of participants, please visit http://www.phillybeerweek.org/.

Latest Flying Fish Beer

From the Garden State Craft Brewers Guild Email Newsletter for March 2010:

Flying Fish to Introduce Exit 16 Wild Rice Double IPA on March 15

Although usually identified with landfills and pipelines, the Hackensack Meadowlands is an amazingly diverse ecosystem providing vital animal and plant habitat. In a nod to a once common food plant here, Flying Fish has brewed this beer with wild rice. Flying Fish also added organic brown and white rice, as well as pils and pale malts.

Rice helps the beer ferment dry to better showcase the five different hops added. Lots and lots of them. Flying Fish then dry-hopped this Double IPA with even more--generous additions of Chinook and Citra hops to create a nose that hints at tangerine, mango, papaya and pine. This beer pairs extremely well with spicy foods and all kinds of seafood. And of course, it's quite enjoyable all by itself.

If you want to learn more about the restoration of the Meadowlands, visit
http://www.hackensackriverkeeper.org/

You are invited to "Exit 16 Release Party... Jersey Style". The event takes place on Monday, March 8 at 6:00pm. The event takes place at Coppermine Pub in North Arlington, NJ. More details are available on Facebook.