Friday the 13th often gets a bad reputation as being full of bad luck, but it has become one of my favorite days of the year thanks to a great bar in Philadelphia, the Grey Lodge Pub (http://www.greylodge.com/). The Grey Lodge has a festival featuring cask ales every Friday the 13th, and since this is the only one this year I certainly expected it to get crowded. I went last year and had a blast, and so when Jenn asked me what I wanted for Father’s Day, I replied, “Get out of town and go to Philly.” So that’s what we did.
I had the honor of being the first customer of the day (I arrived at 10AM), so I found my bar stool and started people watching (and sipping a Philadelphia Walt Wit. They were tapping 19 casks this day, bringing up seven randomly, and then replacing them as each one kicked. I don’t like waiting in line and I don’t like mob scenes, so I go early. The regulars tell me that the best time to be there is about 4PM, since that is when the casks start to kick and the new casks come up to replace them. But that is also when the Grey Lodge is the most crowded. The beers are 6 oz beers, which allows you to sample more during the day.
I was excited with the variety of the casks, but the first seven were mostly IPAs. Stoudt’s Black Eye PA (from Adamstown PA) was probably my favorite, but the Flying Fish Hopfish IPA (from Camden NJ) was a close second. The only cask that wasn’t local was the Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA, and it was the first time I got to try one of Flying Dog’s beers on cask. I sampled them all, and then gave up my bar stool for a late lunch. The Grey Lodge serves a great cheesesteak, where they add in pepperoni into the mix. It’s called the Lodge Steak, and it was excellent. I got back to the farm and swim with the kids in the pool before 3.
It was a great day, and a great Father’s Day present. The next Friday the 13th is next February, and I’ll have to see if I can put in an advanced order for my Valentine’s Day present. - 4652
"Filled with mingled cream and amber, such hilarious visions clamber, through the chambers of my brain, quaintest thoughts, queerest fancies come to life and fade away; What care I how time advances; I’m drinking ale today." – Edgar Allen Poe
I had the honor of being the first customer of the day (I arrived at 10AM), so I found my bar stool and started people watching (and sipping a Philadelphia Walt Wit. They were tapping 19 casks this day, bringing up seven randomly, and then replacing them as each one kicked. I don’t like waiting in line and I don’t like mob scenes, so I go early. The regulars tell me that the best time to be there is about 4PM, since that is when the casks start to kick and the new casks come up to replace them. But that is also when the Grey Lodge is the most crowded. The beers are 6 oz beers, which allows you to sample more during the day.I was excited with the variety of the casks, but the first seven were mostly IPAs. Stoudt’s Black Eye PA (from Adamstown PA) was probably my favorite, but the Flying Fish Hopfish IPA (from Camden NJ) was a close second. The only cask that wasn’t local was the Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA, and it was the first time I got to try one of Flying Dog’s beers on cask. I sampled them all, and then gave up my bar stool for a late lunch. The Grey Lodge serves a great cheesesteak, where they add in pepperoni into the mix. It’s called the Lodge Steak, and it was excellent. I got back to the farm and swim with the kids in the pool before 3.
It was a great day, and a great Father’s Day present. The next Friday the 13th is next February, and I’ll have to see if I can put in an advanced order for my Valentine’s Day present. - 4652
"Filled with mingled cream and amber, such hilarious visions clamber, through the chambers of my brain, quaintest thoughts, queerest fancies come to life and fade away; What care I how time advances; I’m drinking ale today." – Edgar Allen Poe
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