I love good beer, the way other women might covet designer shoes.  I am obsessed with finding all of the microbreweries in the tri-state area and tasting the best Belgium wheat the world has to offer.

   If your obsession with beer is anything like mine, I recommend that you check out Philadelphia's second annual Beer Week.
    Philadelphia Beer Week runs March 6 through the 15.   It will be featuring over 652 events hosted by dozens of venues throughout the city and surrounding suburbs, including beer breakfasts, lunches and dinners, a chance to meet the brewers, special tasting sessions, educational efforts and four different beer festivals. It even has one for the girls; a Ladies Beer Tea!

   Participating brewers are flying in from around the world. Some of the featured breweries are Dock Street, Dogfish Head, General Lafayette, Flying Fish, Sly Fox, Victory and Yuengling. 

    The following is a list of what to expect over the course of the nine-day event:

Monday, March 9
3 p.m.  – 5K/Fairmount Park run with Dogfish Head (Sam Calagione), Sly Fox (Brian O’Reilly), and Avery (Adam Avery) brewers.

7 p.m. – Extreme Homebrewing II is happening at Jose Pistola’s, a head-to-head challenge that pits do-it-yourself-brewers against professionals.

7 p.m. – The Belgian Café hosts Troegs and their “Dirty Little Firkin.”
 

Tuesday, March 10
9 p.m. – Beer Balderdash (an amazing beer-story-telling contest) will be hosted at Standard Tap.

 
Wednesday, March 11
5 p.m. – Head to St. Stephen’s Green to help support PAWS animal shelters.

6 p.m. –Tavern 17 will be serving Victory's Hop Wallop, HopDevil, and Storm King!

6 p.m. – Center City Brewers Beer Crawl. Eight stops along the way!

9:30 p.m. – Craft Beer Kareoke at Cavanaugh’s Rittenhouse.
 
11:30 p.m. – Sly Fox Spelling Bee at Fergie’s.

Thursday, March 12
5 p.m. – Meet legendary Allagash brewer Rob Tod and try his exotic barrel-aged, sour, and Belgian-style beers at Tria.

7 p.m. – Philly Beer Geek Finals at the Manayunk Brewery.

 

Friday, March 13
9 a.m. – Friday the Firkinteenth at Grey Lodge Pub.

11 a.m. – Yards Brewery hosts a Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em party that combines smoked beers (Stoudt’s, Sierra Nevada, Yards, Triumph, Sly Fox, Iron Hill) with smoked food and music.

5 p.m. – Yo/Oy He’Brew Beer and Shabbas Dinner at Sidecar – think Biblical beers paired with Matzoh Ball Soup, Sweet ‘n Sour meatballs, and all kinds of traditional Jewish goodness.

7 p.m. – Meet LaChouffe’s master brewer at Eulogy Belgian Tavern.


Saturday, March 14
Noon – Gravity-poured, long-cellared barrels of JW Lees Harvest ale will be served at Monk's.

2 p.m. – Learn to cook with beer at Foster’s, with this free class hosted by Triumph Brewery’s chef Molly Hayes.

5 p.m. – Try Flying Dog’s Big Beer/Small Bottles at Sidecar with flights of Horn Dog Barleywine, Double Dog Double Pale, Kerberos Tripel, and Gonzo Imperial Porter.

9 p.m. – Abita hosts an After the Mardi Gras party at Doobies where their Amber, Jockamo IPA, Purple Haze, Restoration and Turbo Dog will be available.

 

Sunday, March 15
1 p.m. – Philadelphia Real Ale Invitational.

3 p.m. – Beneluxx invites expert Stu Stuart to teach a class on the ins and outs of Belgian Beer.

    This is guaranteed to be an amazing week. For more information on Philadelphia Beer Week, tickets, festivals and all other events, please visit phillybeerweek.org.