April the Firkinteenth

Here it comes, the second Firkinteenth of the year.  We had spent Easter in NH, but I was able to take the kids down to NJ so that I could partake in the event.  And with my folks watching the kids, I made it over to the Grey Lodge Pub for the 25^th Edition of the event.  I was flying solo, but I still made it there in time for the initial cask tapping.

The beer selection was excellent (as always), with a great number of regular drafts to complement the cask selection.  I had decided only to try new casks, and the luck of the draw meant that there were 5 casks to sample.  The beers were all from local breweries, so that made the travel worthwhile.  The first was the Sixpoint Brownstone Ale, an American Brown Ale that had a 5.7% ABV.  The rest were all natives of PA, including the Prism White Lightning (located in North Wales) White ale, Philly’s own Manayunk Quaker City Oatmeal Stout and Yards Brawler Old Ale, and Hershey’s Troegs Hopback Amber.  Great beers to go with my Lodge Steak (a Philly Cheesesteak with Genoa salami), it is always fun to see old friends from previous parties.

I had some time so I decided to seek out the Devil’s Den (http://www.devilsdenphilly.com/), highly recommended by Beer Advocate and located in a part of Philly that I don’t typically visit.  The place is gorgeous inside, with a large tap and bottle list and a high end menu (I’m going to try the mussels over pasta next time).  I stayed with the spirit of the day and went with the Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA on cask, a much hoppier selection than anything else I had tried today. 

It was a good day.  I made it home early (I do not like rush hour traffic) and got in quite a few video games with the kids.  It’s tough a job, but someone has to do it. – 6008/12262

“It takes beer to make thirst worthwhile.” – German Saying