The weekend before last, I presented my “Beer Is Divine” tasting class at the Tria Fermentation School in Philadelphia. It was loads of fun. You can read a blog post review from one of the class participants here and you’ll be able to read my review of Tria in the next issue of Mid-Atlantic Brewing News.
(Caption: This is the friendly bartender at Nodding Head, whose name was written on a napkin that somehow disappeared by the end of the night, so I’ll just call him the fifth bobblehead.)
After the class I headed around the corner to meet Don Russell, a.k.a. Joe Six Pack, at Nodding Head Brewery and Restaurant where we tasted their Chocolate Stout; Saison; Sorachi Ace Double IPA, a beer brewed exclusively with Sorachi Ace hops that were developed by Sapporo and grown in Oregon; and a beer they named Grog but was English Brown rather than a rum drink as the name would have implied.
The pub has a bobblehead collection in a glass case that covers an entire wall. I liked the one of George Bush with his little bobblehead popped off. There was also an evil looking baby bobblehead right underneath him looking like his guardian devil, flanked by Mr. Bill and Colonel Sanders (see picture).
Don then accompanied me over to the Tria restaurant and cafe (a separate space from the Fermentation School) where we worked our way through a very impressive draft beer list.
Don writes the Joe Six Pack beer column in the Philadelphia Daily News and is a heck of a nice guy to talk with about beer. He tells me he’s writing a book about Christmas beers – a great idea that I wish I had had first!
I actually grew up in Pennsylvania but haven’t been to the Philly area since I was a wee lad. On this trip I saw just enough of downtown Philly to realize I need to get back there soon to explore the incredible beer scene there.
Wait – Philadelphia is in Pennsylvania?
It is a cool town, though. And I didn’t realize it had such a great beer scene. The last time I was there, visiting some cousins who live over by Penn, we went to a fantastic Ethiopian restaurant. But alas, they were out of Tejj that night.
Likewise, I just ate at the Ethiopian restaurant up the street from our place in Silver Spring and they were also out of tedj. The good news is that I’m starting to keep bees this year. So I’ll be brewing up my own tedj soon enough.