Philly Beer Week’s new nonprofit looks to raise city’s profile as beer destination

Philadelphia is already known as "America's best beer-drinking city," but this month, the Philly Beer Week board will take that a step further with the establishment of Philly Loves Beer, billed as the first and only nonprofit in America that focuses on beer appreciation.

A re-branding of the the 17-person Philly Beer Week board, Philly Loves Beer will work year-round to raise Philadelphia's "global profile as a destination city for beer tourism," according to a release. To accomplish that goal, Philly Loves Beer has announced a series of events that will get things started.

The first Philly Loves Beer week will take place in Belgium, where 2016 Philly Beer Week raffle winner Felicia D'Ambrosio (a partner in Federal Donuts) will join 2SP's Bob Barrar to brew PBW's 10th anniversary beer at Brouwerij DeRanke. Dubbed "Belgium Brew Day," the brew day will serve as PLB's inaugural event.

After that, on Feb. 19 at Heritage, PLB will host "Flannel Animal," an all-flannel fashion show that will serve as the nonprofit's first fundraiser. Local female beer celebrities will judge the show, which will feature PLB members on the catwalk.

"Beer Madness," a beer bracket modeled after March Madness, will debut March 13, with a playing field of 32 local beers. This year's event will be the fourth Beer Madness tournament. Last year, Evil Genius Beer Company's Shut Up, Meg! took home the gold.

All that leads up to Philly Beer Week's Opening Tap event on June 1, which will take place at the Fillmore Philadelphia. Be on the lookout for the Hammer of Glory as the PLB crew parades it about town in a customary Olympic torch-style relay.

This year's Philly Beer Week, the 10th edition, runs June 2 through June 11.