It's coming! Philly Beer Week, June 3 - 12

Last year, we totally missed the memo on Philly Beer Week and didn't get out to partake in the festivities until the final weekend. Glad we did because we had the chance to meet a real live viking Norwegian brewer, next to whom my very average 5'5" build was completely dwarfed. His brewery was called Nogne, but don't ask me how to pronounce that. According to its website, Nogne is Norway's leading and largest supplier of bottle conditioned ale and the first and only producer of unfiltered sake in Europe. Sweet.

Philly Beer Week is a massive affair, drawing thousands of people and brewers from all over the world. They don't have 2010 stats up yet, but in 2009, Philly Beer Week included 700 different events spread over 10 days, making it the largest festival of its kind in the world. Approximate total attendance was 35,000 people!

Best conversation we had during our single Beer Week night out was with a guy from the Breckenridge Brewery in Colorado where we had stopped on vacation a few summers ago. Love their Agave Wheat. I believe their Avalanche Ale is pretty popular as well.

Turns out he was a South Jersey native who dropped everything on a whim and moved to Colorado to help a friend "get started." Some 20 years later, he's still there. Gotta love the randomness and of course the Jersey connection.


(P.S. If you need a good summer vacation idea, go to Colorado. Denver, Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park, horseback riding, coal mine tours, Coors Brewery, Frontier Days in Cheyenne, WY, white water rafting... all amazing. It was our favorite trip to date and highly recommended.)


Looking forward to this year's Beer Week - any 22nd&Philly fans want to plan a Beer Week outing? Can you say, guest post??

Here's the full schedule so you can start planning now: http://www.phillybeerweek.org/.