Hope everyone enjoyed their beer soaked first weekend of #PBW, I know I did. With so many events going on, it actually became a little overwhelming. Still, I was able to attend quite a few events and take some photos as well. Let's begin with day #1, shall we?
Barcade, 12pm. Considering most people were still at work at this point, Barcade was pretty empty. This gave me a chance to really look over the taplist and play some awesome arcade games without any wait whatsoever. The taplist was pretty crazy and had some brews that I hadn't even heard of before.
I went with the Central Waters Peruvian Morning (since I didn't have my morning coffee yet), then onto Round Guys Saison du Pomme. The Central Waters was a dark brown color, smelled like coffee, raisins, chocolate, and bourbon. It tasted fantastic, creamy chocolate, earthy coffee, a touch of sweetness, and had a really nice, long finish. The Round Guys didn't quite do it for me - it lacked depth and I was expecting to taste a lot of apple, when it fell a bit flat. Not a bad brew, just not what I had expected. We played some arcade games, including Tapper, in which the object of the game was to keep the patrons filled with beer.
We also ran into Inspector Bob (seen above), who is always at any event that I go to. What a cool guy!
Next, off to Kite & Key to see the HOG and to catch the Troegs guys in action with a tap takeover. I had the Nugget Nectar, then the Perpetual, which is one of my favorite IPA's. Troegs is now producing this IPA year-round, which is music to my ears.
The HOG arrived, and it was time for Jim and the guys to get their togas on. They then unveiled the "Death Mobile" to carry the HOG onto its next bar. It was really fun to watch and it looked pretty badass. I also got a chance to carry the HOG, it was magnificent!
Next stop, Nodding Head. We met up again with the guys from Troegs and Mat Falco from Philly Beer Scene. Joe Gunn and Casey (owners of Jose Pistolas) were also there, it was great to chat with everyone about the exciting events during PBW.
The Nodding Head mascot even came out for a bit, he was a lot of fun!
We then stopped off at Hawthorne's for a quick bite and beer, always love that place for a relaxing atomsphere and a few pints. We had a charcuterie board and I went with Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald - my go to beer from Great Lakes.
Next stop, the highly anticipated event at Devil's Den - Bella Vista takeover. This place was PACKED. We got there early, around 5:30, and got a table with our friends Matt and Andy. Not gonna lie, I didn't take many pictures at this event, mainly because you couldn't see any taps or anything because of how crowded the place was. I started with the Tired Hands/Hill Farmstead colab, Myth of Saison, and also got my hands on the Funky Buddah raspberry berliner before they both kicked. Both were incredibly delicious, my fav being the Funky Buddah. Very tart and tangy, sour nose, long finish, and vibrant color.
You can see all the people behind us - I felt bad for the servers, they couldn't get through! It actually became quite ridiculous on the wait time for beers, so we decided to settle up and make our way home. Day #1 was so much fun, but it was a lot of work drinking for over 8 hours straight! One of my favorite parts of Philly Beer Week is getting to see everyone from the Twitterverse and even meeting some of those people for the first time. For more pictures from day 1, you can check out Steve Lyford's coverage here.
Stay tuned for my coverage of day #2 a bit later. Until then, PBW lovers, drink plenty of water along with your beers, cause it's gonna be a long 7 days!
Cheers,
Megan
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