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Booze
Attention Philadelphia: this weekend (much like every other weekend) is a great weekend for beer. Dust off your favorite drinking hats because there is a long list of brew-related events to check out in the city.
Broke? Stuck on hard times? Strapped for cash? Just plain cheap? Luckily for all who can relate, East Passyunk’s Birra (1700 E. Passyunk Ave.) has a new summertime happy hour special chock-full of special deals for you. Every weekday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. customers will be treated to an array of cocktails, crafts and cans on sale for $3. Or you can keep it simple and grab a cheese pizza and a 16 oz. Lionshead pounder for just $5. Pizza, beer, and loads of outdoor seating? Sign us up.
Next Friday, June 1 is not only kick-off day for Philly Beer Week — it also marks the re-release of Brewer's Art Resurrection Ale in Philadelphia. Despite the efforts of Brendan Hartranft and Leigh Maida, the Baltimore-brewed beer has not been legally available in the Commonwealth for five years. But the 7 percent ABV Abbey-style ale is back, this time in 12-ounce cans. It's only right that the official re-debut take place at Hartranft and Maida's Resurrection Ale House (2424 Grays Ferry Ave.). Volker Stewart, co-founder of The Brewer's Art in Charm City, is coming to town to celebrate the occasion at RAH, which kicks off at 6 p.m. And yes, the cans will continue to be sold in Philly after Beer Week ends.
Photo: Brewer's Art via baltimoresun.com
Beer Cakes, which we mentioned two weeks ago, is in the development stages, but it turns out we don't have to wait to try some of Lexi Malmros' literally intoxicating cupcakes. Melissa Torre of Cookie Confidential (517 S. Fifth St.) has forged a partnership with Malmros; the two creative bakers now share a kitchen and storefront. Beer Cakes will make its formal at the shop on June 7 and 8 — the tail end of Philly Beer Week, fittingly. From 4 to 10 p.m. that Friday and Saturday, swing by to taste a cupcake and sample the beers Malmros uses to scratch-bake the sweet treats. Eventually, Malmros hopes she and Torre can push back the closing time of Cookie Confidential to midnight or even 2 a.m. to catch folks leaving the bars with a hankering for dessert.
Malmros hasn't released the flavors of the cakes she'll be serving yet — keep eyes on her Twitter feed and her website for forthcoming details — but you can expect to pay about $4 for a standard-sized cupcake, $1.50 for a mini and $15 for a sampler of 12 minis. Torre will still have her full Cookie Confidential inventory available for your sweet teeth.
Gotta love any email that contains the phrases "old-school Chinese," "housemade ginger beer" and "tiki menu." Those and more were in a message bartender-about-town Katie Loeb shout out in regards to her plans for the new University City outpost of Han Dynasty (3711 Market St.).
The former Chick's, Oyster House and Tapestry gin whisperer is drawing inspiration from the classic Chinese-restaurant cocktail Rolodex: Suffering Bastards, Flaming Volcanoes and other retro Sino-American elixirs that always seem like a good idea at 3 a.m. in Chinatown. Just don't expect cloying fruit punches; Loeb is updating the recipes with from-scratch syrups (passion fruit, orgeat), sodas, cordials and house-infused spirits. Lemongrass, for example, is currently imparting its exotic floral flavor to vodka, the base of a Chengdu Mule capped off with the aforementioned ginger beer. We also like the sounds of the Sino-Rita, a reposado margarita infused with tangerine peel and rimmed with a mix of raw sugar, salt and the Handynasty favorite, numbing Szechuan peppercorn. Look for the new cocktail list to be live in a few weeks.
Tonight, Bartram's Garden (54th and Lindbergh) is hosting a fundraising soiree that'll appeal to lushy history buffs — bartenders Theo Webb (Fish), Christopher Walls (Dettera) and drink-lady-about-town Phoebe Esmon will be mixing cocktails using a bitters recipe originating with the family of lauded botanist John Bartram.
Curators at the national historic landmark uncovered the recipe in their research and asked Robert Cassell of Philadelphia Distilling Co. (Penn 1681 Vodka, Bluecoat Gin, Vieux Carre Absinthe, XXX Shine) to recreate it. "To a general point of geekiness, we tried to stay very true to the recipe — this is how he would've done it," says Cassell. Though the recipe vaguely calls for a "neutral proof spirit" to go along with the botanicals, the distiller decided to use a cane-based raw product as his base for the Bartram bitters, as rum was the most popular alcohol in America during that era. In lieu of running the product through a modern still — another luxury not available to the OG bittercrafters — Cassell simply let the Caribbean-derived cane lie, along with additives like cherry wood provided by Fair Food, gentian root from Penn Herb and prickly ash bark taken right from the Bartram grounds. He also refrained from using modern milling equipment to grind these ingredients to a consistent size, meaning each 20-gallon batch he produces tastes a little different than the last.
"I hate to use the term 'bitter' to describe bitters, but it's definitely that — there's a firmness to it," says Cassell, contrasting Bartram's recipe to modern bitter brands like Angostura. If you can't make it to tonight's event — tix, which range from $50 to $125, also include food from Power Catering with support from Supper — Cassell tells us the product will soon be made available via the PLCB's online store.
Image: bartramsgarden.org
This Wednesday starting at 6 p.m., a.kitchen (135 S. 18th St) will be doing its part to celebrate American Craft Beer Week. Chef Bryan Sikora has created a menu that features a variety of options to pair with drink from Maine's Allagash Brewing Company. Unlike most beer dinners, a.kitchen's lineup can be ordered a la carte, or guests can put together their own four-course meal for $65.
Last summer, Philly native Lexi Malmros started dreaming about the marriage of beer and cupcakes. This January, things started cooking, literally, as the culinary-school grad began to experiment with recipes. Out of her trial-and-error and Twitter brainstorming came the "King's Cup," a cupcake with Heath Bar cake and coffee buttercream icing, both made with Victory Brewing Co.'s Storm King Stout. So began Malmros' Beer Cakes project. She's sure to stress that her cupcakes are not just inspired by local brews: "I make cakes that taste like beer!" she proclaims. Her latest recipe sounds good, too: strawberry banana cake with strawberry banana buttercream icing, both made with Lancaster Brewing's Strawberry Wheat.
Beer Cakes are not yet available commercially, but that's the goal: Malmros has a Kickstarter set up, aiming to raise enough to pursue a local storefront with beer for drinking while folks wait for their cupcakes to be baked to order. Malmros' big-picture aspirations also include a food truck and locations in other cities that will focus on cupcakes made with beer from area craft breweries.
West Philly's Dock Street (701 S. 50th St.) is going big this Sunday, May 6. From noon to 4, their very limited-edition 750ml bottles will be on sale on a first-come, first-served basis. Belgian Black IPA, Super Saison, Dude de Garde and the funky fourth-anniversary Flemish Red Sour Ale will all be available for purchase, plus a dynamic series of abbey-style ales, single to quad (on tap, too, while supplies last). Jam to live music, scarf a slice of pizza and pick up a few bottles for the cellar. Meal Ticket's eternal gratitude for anyone who scoops a 750 of the sour for us.
Photo: Courtesy of Dock Street
When Brauhaus Schmitz (718 South St.) chef Jeremy Nolen visited Germany last year, he cooked alongside Josef Nagler, chef of the Schneider Brauhaus in Munich. Some of those recipes (latkes with sauerkraut cream soup, paprika-spiced farmers' cheese) are on the menu tonight at Brauhaus Schmitz to celebrate a visit from Schneider brewmaster Hans Peter Drexler. Schneider Original Weisse, Edelweisse, Hopfen-Weisse, Aventinus, Eisbock and a rare wooden barrel of Nelson Sauvin Weizenbock are all being tapped as we speak. Cancel whatever plans you’ve got, get there tonight. Check out a sampling of Nolen’s special menu items after the jump.
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