Drinking with the Forefathers in Philly

My good friend Ryan recently returned from a trip to Philadelphia. What follows is an account of his beer-y interesting travels.

On our most recent excursion, Kim and I visited the cradle city of our democracy: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We saw so much of this great and wonderful town, including Penn's Landing (where Philly was born in 1682), Independence Mall (a one square mile area containing national treasures, such as Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, historic residences and cemeteries, etc.), as well as side trips to other fun and historic areas in the state (Bethlehem, Lancaster county) and parts of New Jersey (Red Bank battlefield, Trenton and the Old Barracks, Washington's Crossing). There were so many fascinating features to these areas: covering social, religious, historical, cultural, topographic, architectural and gastronomic genres. Kim and I were fortunate enough to immerse ourselves in to many of these topics in just seven days, and came away with a greater appreciation for a place so different from our native state of Illinois. Being the beer lover and hunter that I am, this trip certainly didn't disappoint, either! Real beer is alive and well in the Keystone State, I'm happy to report.
Ryan at Bethlehem Brew Works. Note the cool looking tray.

The first encounter I had with the native beer shortly after arriving was the ubiquitous Yuengling Amber lager. This beer, I'm also happy to report, was found in nearly every pub we happen to pass in eastern PA. When I did finally have one, I very much enjoyed it. It is broadly in the Vienna style, with a nice malt/hop balance (the hops are mainly aromatic, and the beer finishes with a nice roasty malt sweetness). The body was ample, but not too heavy (appreciated too, as the weather was pretty warm during our trip). The sample I had was quite fresh, as well. The other Yuengling product that popped up frequently was the Black and Tan. Though I didn't try it on this trip, it must have a decent reputation, as it was featured among many taverns and restaurants.

One of my favorite beer moments of the trip was when I enjoyed a four-glass sampler at the City Tavern in Philly. First, a word about the tavern: this place was recreated to historical specifications to reenact the meeting place of many of the delegates to the Second Continental Congress in 1775-1778. During the time of the Revolution and after hours of intense daytime debating down at Independence Hall (then known as the State House) about how and when to declare independence from Britain and how to actually fight the redcoats once declared, the delegates would retire down to the Old City Tavern to further debate these topics and others while enjoying libations of ales, ciders, shrubs, Madeira, wine and whiskeys. Folks like Jefferson and Adams, Richard Lee and John Hancock would frequent this tavern.

My ale sampler included: The General Washington's Tavern Porter, Thomas Jefferson's Tavern Ale, Martha's Summer Ale and the Philadelphia Pale Ale. The PPA was an English session ale that had a slight sweetness to it, and a dry finish. The color was a bit too pale for me, but nonetheless it was a nice way to start the round. My next rung up was the MSA. This ale resembled a wit beer in style (with coriander and orange in the mix), but had a bit of a husky aftertaste that didn't appeal much to me. Overall, though, not too bad. The TJTA was an unfiltered, American pale ale of the first rank. It had a great hop nose and taste, but the malt wouldn't be dismissed, as there was a complex aftertaste with a sweet assertiveness. A very good ale, for sure! However, I think I'll give Mr. Washington his due on this sample. The porter, taken from a recipe on file in the rare Manuscript Room of the New York Public Library, was a rich brew loaded with molasses, anise (I detected), nutmeg and a nice mix of malted barley (some roasted, some chocolate). I nearly bought a six-pack of this beer, but as it would have been hard to transport home with us, and also was $15.99, I balked and instead chose to just savor the moment. Yep, the excursion to the City Tavern was worth it!

Sitting perched atop the Lehigh Valley is the small, historic town of Bethlehem, PA. This town was an important political town during the Revolutionary War as it was a convenient stopover town on the road between New York City and Philly. To that end, there is a great old Inn that still stands and provides wonderful tours. The Sun Inn, as it's known, dates to 1758, and nearly the whole "Who's Who" list of Revolutionary leaders stayed in this inn at one time or another. It was rumored that the Marquis de Lafayette, who was nursed here while he recovered from war wounds suffered at the battle of Brandywine Creek, started up an affair with a local Moravian girl (the Moravians were a hugely influential German religious group who basically ran the town in the mid-1700's). Although the inn, to my knowledge, doesn't provide alcohol to current visitors, it probably did, no doubt, to our thirsty forefathers who passed through town here. Fortunately for us on our visit, the Bethlehem Brew Works, right across the street from the Sun, is open for business!

This pub, dating to the mid-1990's, is a wonderful example of a brewpub designed to embrace the area in which it operates. The 'other' historical aspect of this town is industry. Specifically, Bethlehem Steel. The Steel Works, which sits across the Lehigh River on the other side of town, used to be one of the largest steel manufacturers in the country until it went belly-up several decades ago. This plant provided work for so much of Bethlehem's residents, and it obviously had a huge impact on the local employment scene when it closed its doors for good. Bethlehem Brew Works embraces this aspect of the town's history, rather than shunning the fact in disgrace, and the ambiance and decor of this outstanding brewpub attests to it: Rivets, gears and steel mesh line the booths, floors and ceilings. While at the same time, there are great frescoes and other local artists' works adorning the walls of this fairly large establishment. Kim and I enjoyed a nice lunch here (excellent food), and I tried a 5-beer sampler, as well.

The sampler consisted of their three flagship brews (Valley Golden Ale, Fegley's ESB and Steelworker's Oatmeal Stout), as well as their seasonal Blueberry Belch Ale and the Hop Explosion IPA. The VGA was my least favorite, as it was a simple, unassuming and slightly fizzy pale (really pale) ale. The BBA was an interesting, if a bit understated, fruit beer. I kinda liked this ale, as it wasn't very syrupy sweet--just an honest ale infused with a hint of blueberries. The SOS was a tried-and-true oatmeal stout, but it was just a bit thin in the finish for me to consider it outstanding. Still, it had a pretty complex malt/oatmeal component, and was quite enjoyable. My two favs, by far, were the HEIPA and the FESB. The HEIPA was an English-style IPA, using Cascade, Golding and Cluster hops in the mix, and combined with complex malts, this beer really hit home. It wasn't a 'pucker-the-lips-in-a-West Coast-way' IPA, rather it delivered in sort of a subtle, gentler fashion. That said, you know you were drinking something well-crafted and very tasty. The FESB, I think, might have been my favorite. This ESB, with its deep-red color and toffiesh finish, was a beautifully crafted brew. It had enough hops to please me (mainly in the nose), but the full-bodiedness of this ale was what really got me. To me, this was the pub's equivalent of a Fuller's ESB. Simply wonderful.

For our final two nights in Philadephia, Kim and I stayed at the historic General Lafayette Inn and Brewery. This place, ripe with lore and period memoriablia, dates from 1732. It is one of the oldest operating inns in the United States. Located in historic Lafeyette Hill (just up the Schuylkill River in northwest, suburban Philadelphia), this is the kind of place that I would frequent if I lived in the area. Why? Well, as a historic pub, this is top notch. Even if they didn't brew their own beers here, I would visit. There's something fascinating about a place that oozes history and legend, with portraits of Native American war heroes and portraits of our beloved Marquis about the place, with heavy oak paneling all around, while at the same time has The Smiths tastefully pumping out of the jukebox--simply put, this place is wonderful. Oh, did I mention the beer? Well, they do in fact brew and serve their own beer here and I had the good fortune to try two of them on our stay. I was quite pleased with both.

The Pacific Pale Ale (okay, kind of an odd name, I suppose, considering the location) was a wonderfully hopped ale in the vein of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. It was a good clone, but had a little something extra that signified East Coast: a more complex malt character; especially in the finish. The other beer I tried, even more impressive, was a cask-conditioned, Imperial pint of the Sunset Red Ale. This outstanding, English-style bitter, was just what the weary traveler needed! Loads of perfectly roasted sweet malts, combined with just enough hops, in a lower-alcohol brew, served at the appropriate cellar temperature, made this pint perhaps my favorite beer of the whole trip. The barkeep brought me a generous pour of the 20 oz. nectar that lived up its namesake. It indeed looked a like an autumnal sunset. It went down as brilliant as one, too, with just the right amount of carbonation and served at the right temperature (about 55F.) A moderately hoppy nose, a moderately hoppy foretaste and a roasty yet sweet finish made the low-alcohol Sunset Red Ale quite the quaffable brew. Tres bon, moi General! The pub had other brews, but as time was of the essence for us, I didn't have the time to try them all. Other brews they featured included a mead, an Oktoberfest, a Kolsch and they were getting ready to tap (in a few weeks) a Scotch ale (doh!)

The trip to America's foundation certainly enriched us in so many ways. We were constantly aware of the history of our surroundings by all the brick and stone buildings, from the urban row houses to the grist mills in the hinterlands. We can't wait to return some day.

Ryan Morrison

September 14, 2004

Send comments and suggestions to: marc@marcobrau.com