Firkin Fantastic!

It’s back! Lock up your black cats and put away your ladders. Friday the 13th is back and that means it was back to the Grey Lodge Pub for a celebration of cask beer. Jacob and I had plans on Thursday night (gotta love Lego robots) so I got on the road early Friday morning and made it to my buddy Chris’ house to go back to Fred’s for breakfast so that we could be fortified for the event (and no, they don’t have vegetarian scrapple). Then we were off to Philly, arriving ~10AM and getting the last two seats at the bar.

Chris and I made friends with our neighbors, and saw some folks that had been at the party in March. We tried a few before they started tapping the casks, just enough to wet our whistles. I had the Philadelphia Joe Porter, a local coffee porter that seemed appropriate for the morning, and Chris had the Dock Street Great Pumpkin, in honor of our first trip to the Grey Lodge the year before. And we made sure we had water, plenty of ice water, to “cleanse our palate” in between the high octane, high hop beers. We got to help with tapping the beers this year (it’s all about location, location, location), and sampled the first seven casks that were going up for the day. Our favorite was the Dock Street Rye PA, a wonderfully hoppy rye beer. My least favorite was surprisingly the Nodding Head Anomaly, a dark ale that tasted a lot like burnt tires. My neighbor thought it was an acquired taste, while I thought it was named appropriately.

We went upstairs for lunch, and I again enjoyed the Grey Lodge Pub steak sandwich. Seating was limited, so I ate while Chris stood and then vice versa. I wrapped up with the Flying Fish Bayshore Oyster Stout, a stout made with oyster shells. I don’t know why they do that, but the beer was rich, thick, and delicious. This was part of a series that Flying Fish was doing and called the beer Exit 1. If you are from Jersey, you typically describe where you live by the turnpike or parkway exit. I’ll be looking for other beers in the collection.

Liz picked up Chris and I returned my parents car to them in Woodstown. We then headed home, and made it there by 8PM. 15 hours on the road, with good food, great beer, and even better fellowship. Who says the number 13 is unlucky. – 5271

"The easiest way to spot a wanker in a pub is to look around and find who’s drinking a Corona with a slice of lemon in the neck." – Warwick Franks