Brunch in Philadelphia

We are finally ready for the family vacation that we’ve been planning for 6 months. Our frequent flyer miles aren’t good out of Albany, so we chose out of Philly instead. When mom and dad offered to watch the kids, Jenn and I decided to go celebrate with my cousin and his wife in the city. We had a ball at their wedding last summer, and since they had moved into their new place they have also become expecting parents. And after a tour of their lovely home, we went to the Standard Tap (http://www.standardtap.com/) for brunch.

I had stopped by the Standard Tap last October with my friends from church, and saw that they had a unique brunch menu. When we go there, the place was packed, and their seating policy is “first come, first served,” which made it kind of uncomfortable as we staked out a table. Jenn tried the turkey pot pie, while I had the bologna scramble. And they certainly didn’t disappoint when it comes to beer. Since we were having brunch, I started with a Flying Fish Imperial Espresso Porter. Putting coffee in the beer is reviving an old trend from the 90’s, and this version was really well done. For dessert, I had the Dock Street Triple Hop, and the bitterness from the hops didn’t disappoint.

Brunch was fun since I got to introduce someone to a new beer place, but I was certainly surprised with the beer store that we found after we were finished. Jenn spotted a store called the Foodery (http://www.fooderybeer.com/beers.html) that was right across the street, and they had a great beer selection. I found some 20 beers that I had never had, but I limited myself to a 6 pack (it was a good decision since the beers ended up being pretty expensive). Some of the beers that I got were Stoudt’s Old Abominable, a really nice barley wine that was a tribute to the old Rudolph Christmas special (wouldn’t be able to sell it in New York since the label catered to kids, like me), and Mkikeller’s Jackie Brown. Jenn reminded me that her window shopping skills do come in handy, and I had to agree.

We wrapped the day at a Chocolate shop up at the University of Penn where Dick worked. I got the spicy cocoa and it made my ears sweat. It was a great day and lots of fun to spend some time together as adults before we had to go on vacation as parents. - 5013

"Beer will always have a definite role in the diet of an individual and can be considered a cog in the wheel of nutritional foods." – Bruce Carlton