On the Side: Beer Week, a toast to a late guru of suds
Somewhere, surely, Michael Jackson must be smiling. Not that Michael Jackson. No, the British beer bard who, upon surfacing in Philadelphia, was known to demand a particularly lively local brew - keg-conditioned Extra Special Ale from Yards.
Somewhere, surely, Michael Jackson must be smiling.
Not that Michael Jackson. No, the British beer bard who, upon surfacing in Philadelphia, was known to demand a particularly lively local brew - keg-conditioned Extra Special Ale from Yards.
He was a regular, too, at Monk's Cafe, Tom Peters' 16th Street shrine to heady Belgian imports. And a fixture at those 1,000-person specialty beer tastings at the University Museum at Penn each spring in conjunction with the Book and the Cook culinary event.
He died in August at age 65, his irrepressible (and on occasion, mildly intoxicated) stumping on behalf of the noble, nonindustrial beers of the world already legendary.
So the fact that this city will be the scene, starting tomorrow, of its first, and unexpectedly sprawling, Beer Week is, well, it's sort of Michael Jackson's fault - and a salute to him, as well.
His presence did a lot to get Philadelphia's craft beer barrel rolling.
And his sudden absence? Don Russell, Philadelphia's own beer bard, argues that Beer Week - with close to 150 tastings, pub crawls, and meet-the-brewer sessions - was inspired to fill the vacuum left by Jackson's departure.
His visits were typically timed for this time of year, as part of the Book and the Cook. But even as that dinner-promotion has shriveled, the star of local brewers and gastropubs has been inexorably rising.
What goes around, comes around: Farmer's markets had to fade in order for farm-fresh food to regain its panache. Cheese had to be industrialized before local cheese-makers found an unsatisfied hunger. Ditto for chocolate and artisan bread.
The upside of the artisan brewing movement is that it lets 1,000 flowers bloom. Last Saturday's Philly Craft Beer Festival at the Navy Yard showcased the personalities of 80 small-scale brews - from Belgian-esque Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, N.Y., to Harrisburg's Appalachian Brewing, to contenders from greater Philadelphia: Sly Fox, Victory, Stoudt's, Flying Fish, Dogfish Head and Triumph.
Talk about stars rising: An estimated 5,000 drinkers showed up, buying out the $40 tickets a week ahead, then lining up at the taps, sipping four-ounce pours (at first), and a few hours later, tossing them down willy-nilly.
It was a young, well-mannered, good-time crowd - at least in the afternoon session - jammed over-tightly into the cavernous cruise terminal.
This was not perhaps the best venue to explore the soul of beer. But neither was it, thankfully, a habitat conducive to the posturings of a new species - the beer snob.
Michael Jackson certainly avoided that pose: He may have done his bit, as one obituary noted, "to dispel the image of the slovenly beer guzzler by focusing on the enjoyment of exquisite beers over terrific meals."
But while he might have felt vindicated that only one tall, floppy, beer-mug hat was in evidence at the Navy Yard, he wasn't without an expansive sense of humor.
Might he have smiled at the sheer silliness of it, a reminder on the eve of Beer Week that even at its best, beer shouldn't be taken too soberly?
Update
On Feb. 21, this column reported on David Allison, the president-elect of the Obesity Society, who testified on behalf of chain restaurants suing to halt New York's proposed rule requiring them to post calorie counts.
Since the society's own stance - more calorie information, not less - was the opposite of Allison's, we suggested he might not be the right man for the job.
Apparently he came to the same conclusion last week. Saying he had made "a serious political error," he resigned the Obesity Society post.