The sixth annual Brewers Plate event was held for the first time at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Standing in the shadows of Franklin Field, brewers and restaurateurs from throughout the Philadelphia region came together in the name of craft beer and in support of the non-profit Fair Food. The gala was held among 4,000 year artifacts from ancient Egypt which provided a backdrop for Philadelphia’s foodies and beer geeks as they comingled in the name of charity.

“This is a huge event and the people are here for good beer,” David Hoffman, of Climax Brewing, said. “We have people here that are more aware of craft beer, and know that the Philly and New York area are turning out some damn good beer. This event shows that brewing ain’t all about the west coast and hop bombs – it’s about solid balanced beer.”

While Hoffman riffed on brewing in the region and served up his nut brown ale, he was well positioned next to Village Whiskey as they passed out samples of their bbq pork sandwich. The small speakeasy themed restaurant was serving up a perfect compliment to the surrounding brewers’ beer from Flying Fish and Dog Fish Head.

For the brewers and chefs, this was a place to present their creations and educate the consumer. Beau Baden, brew master from the Bethlehem BrewWorks, said the venue provided him with a unique opportunity.

“People that come to this event are usually curious and have a lot of questions,” Baden said. “This gives us a chance, as a craft brewery, to really showcase our beers and explain how well they go with the food selections here tonight. We can tell people how well spicy food can be complimented by hoppy beer, which sets this event apart from others.”

After a taste of the Boaks Russian Imperial stout paired with chocolate cupcakes and a solid Beligan Golden Ale from Triumph Brewing, it was time to go downstairs and explore the rest of the show.

A favorite attraction downstairs was a sampling of cheeses from the Pennsylvania Farmstead and Artisan Cheese Alliance, and the tremendous offerings from DiBruno Bros. Bill Covaleski brought two gems with him from his Victory Brewing Co. – the Smokin’ Oats Porter and St. Boisterous- a full bodied lager in the traditional Maibock style. Both beers provided an excellent pairing with the selection of cheeses and gourmet chocolates from John & Kira.

For the general public this event is a day to celebrate and unite craft beer and gourmet food from the region. Covaleski emphasizes that for the event organizers, the real focus of the day is on raising funds and supporting a nonprofit that works to promote healthy, local food systems.

All proceeds from the event benefited Fair Food, which is a nonprofit dedicated to bringing locally grown food to the marketplace and promoting a humane, sustainable agriculture system for the Greater Philadelphia region.

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For more information visit the Brewers Plate website or keep an eye on here for the beer for the latest from the Philadelphia area from our newest contributor, Dan.

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VIDEO – In this episode Tim and I attempt to decipher the difference between a Hefeweizen and a Witbier.  In our “Is Blue Moon Beer?” episode Tim dropped the ball and called Blue Moon a Hefeweizen.  (Thanks to Scott Jones on facebook and Chad9976 on YouTube for the catch). This prompted us to do some research to redeem ourselves in this video.   So I turned to one of my favorite sources The Complete World of Beer Styles presented by All About Beer Magazine and in this video we share the major differences between these two types of beer.

For the readers out there, the basics boil down to the fact that a Hefeweizen is technically a weizenbock (strong) one of the four Royal Baverian Wheat Beer styles.  For reference, the other three are weissbier (white beer), weizenbier (wheat beer), and dunkelweizen (dark).

All About Beer Magazine describes them as “cloudy, quirky, spritzy and top-fermented.  Ripe with odd flavors and aromas not usually acceptable in beers, never mind German Brews.” Which brings us to a key points a hefeweizen gains its clovey and banana flavor from the natural ingredients in the beer they are not adding clove and bananas to the mash.

A Witbier is often called a Belgian Witbier. This style was developed in Belgian just east of Brussels including the village of Hoegaarden, that’s a familiar one. All About Beer Magazine describes them as “light, fluffy body and a tart lemony finish. Textured with wheat, rambunctiously yeasty, with herbal hints and scented with pungent spices.” Today some witbiers substitute the lemon finish with an orange finish, like  Blue Moon.

The major similarity between the two styles is that they are both brewed with wheat. The major difference is that they are from two completely different regions. Hefeweizen is a German style of beer while Witbier is a Belgian style of beer.

In upcoming episodes we will dive into the history of these two styles of beer, we will also be doing more with beer styles. So stay tuned and thank you for watching here for the beer.

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In this weeks video we answer the question – Is Blue Moon Beer? This popular beer from Coors Brewing Co. in Colorado is widely available and marketed heavily. The result – it is what most Americans think of when you talk about Hefeweizen or Wheat Beers. Is that a bad thing? We don’t think so.

First of all Blue Moon, despite the immediate beer snob reaction of “that’s a Coors beer”, is a decent beer. It’s even earned itself a solid B- with over 1,000 reviews on Beer Advocate. Is it the best interpretation of a Belgian White? No. But it IS a great gateway beer. I can’t tell you how many people in our pub, when confronted with not a single macro choice, try (and love) the Ayinger Hefeweizen because they recognize the style name from Blue Moon. From there they often ask what other beers they would like that are similar – and thus a craft beer lover is born.

Face it, craft beer is not likely to outpace the big boys anytime soon. But as long as the big boys are dabbling in the craft market, they are helping transition the macro beer drinker into a craft beer experimenter.

If AB or Coors was to try to market a new macro as an “American IPA” can you imagine the crossover that would happen as people start to gain recognition of the style? Once they were hooked on the big guys marketing message, there are so many great craft IPAs that they could transition to. It would probably be the best thing that could happen to the craft beer industry.

So while our video is short and fun and addresses a funny question of “Is Blue Moon Beer?” the reality is that we owe Coors a thank you for helping turn some of the fizzy yellow water drinkers into craft beer lovers like us.

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It’s winter in Vermont. So even a honest to goodness Corona fan probably wouldn’t crack one open in our 4 degree weather. So what’s there to do with the stuff… Well, luckily I caught this video today on another beer blog and thought you may enjoy it (the video and the other beer blog!). The perfect use for a case of Corona…

As an aside, Amy and I are working on some fun new projects for some regular videos starting in the new year and have a couple of fun beer events we will be sharing with you soon. In the mean time, enjoy this Carol of the Beers and have a Merry Christmas from here for the beer!

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VIDEO – Victory Brewing Company has recently been doing some expanding at the brewery. One of the reasons for the expansion is that as of today, Victory Brewing Company is now distributing in our great state of Vermont. We were lucky enough to get the first keg of Victory beer in Vermont at our Inn, and even more lucky to have Victory Co-Founder Bill Covaleski come up to share the first pint poured in Vermont with us!

In this episode we chat with Bill about the expansion of their distribution area and plans for New England. While Victory makes 30 different beers all of which are available at their pub in Downingtown, PA, Vermonters can look forward to trying the Hop Devil, Prima Pils, Golden Monkey, Storm King and Wild Devil starting this week. Your interest and demand will determine what other of their brews may make it our way.

A short while back we toured the Victory brewery and checked out their new restaurant space with Ron, the co-founder. If you haven’t seen those videos yet, check them out – Ron doesn’t make too many appearances on camera ;)

Victory is one of my personal favorite breweries. It was Victory’s Hop Devil that turned me onto those glorious bitter sweet hops nearly 10 years ago. It was also the Victory Golden Monkey that taught me a hard lesson about ABV. Bill’s motto is “Respect the Monkey”, I know first hand why … hehe.

According to Bill Victory is now available in 39 states across the US. So grab yourself a Victory beer and tell us which one is your favorite, and which you are hoping to see near you. We will see you next time on here for the beer, Cheers!

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In this episode we venture north to Harpoon Brewery to check out the Harpoon Championships of New England BBQ competition.  We enjoyed some great barbecue, great beer and live music all outside on a beautiful Vermont summer day. This family friendly event offered all of Harpoons standard beers and all of their craft brew soda’s (unfortunately they hid the Leviathan brews for the day).   We were hoping to taste some of the BBQ delights from the infamous “I Smell Smoke” team, however it seems they were completely sold out in the first hour of the event. Perhaps next year!

Overall this was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon, my only wish was that I could have had a sample of two of the Leviathan Series.  I was looking forward to taking home a growler of the newly released Big Bohemian Pilsner, but they were not offering it on draft.  I guess we will have to give a call to Scott Shirley, head brewer at Harpoon Windsor, and give him a piece of our mind!  Just kidding Scott…

I guess we will just have to order ourselves a case for our Putney Road Pub.  So if you are in the Brattleboro area we hope that you will come join us for a pint!

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• We’re back. In time to take a break. But watch out for 2011.

Actually, I am torn as to call this a parody – it’s more of a tribute.  If you recall the video from the Craft Brewers Conference that was put together by the folks at Stone Brewing, these home brewers took it upon themselves to make their own version celebrating home brewing.

While we get our act together and get back to making our videos, we thought we would give a shout out to the home brewers who clearly put a lot of time and effort into these 4 minutes.

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In this episode, we are at Cask Night hosted by Harpoon Brewery in Boston, MA. Cask Night was the last of the many hospitality events offered at the Craft Brewers Conference. This event featured 60 different cask conditioned beers, some that have never been brewed before and others that were making there premier, such as the Imperial IPA by Otter Creek Brewery (a must have for all of you fellow hopheads out there at 135 IBU this beer was like a great dream).

This event was also my personal favorite as you can see in frames 1:29 and 2:22. I enjoyed myself so much that I forgot to change the setting on the microphone, so I must apologize that most of the interviews are difficult to hear. I promise to do better next time.

Listed below are the beers available at this event.  By the way,  I actually typed that all in for you guys – do you feel the love??  I hope so!  We will see you next time on Here for the Beer!  Amy

Allagash Brewing in Portland, ME

• Allagash Burnham Road a Belgian Style Smoked Strong Ale (IBU:35 OG:1.065 ABV:7.4)
• Allagash CBC Barrel Blend a Blend of several barrels from their Wild Barrel Room (ABV:8.5)

American Flatbread Burlington Hearth in Burlington, VT

• London Calling an Original Bitter (IBU:26 OG:9.8P ABV:3.7

Amherst Brewing Company in Amherst, MA

• Graduation Ale a Dry-hopped Golden Ale (IBU:40 OG:14P ABV:5.8
• Super Stout a Cocoa infused Stout (IBU:33 OG:15.5P ABV:6)

Berkshire Brewing Company in S. Deerfield, MA

• Imperial Stout (IBU:30 OG:20P ABV:8.5)
• Lost Sailor IPA (IBU:40 OG:15P ABV:5.9)

Bobcat Cafe in Bristol, VT

• Lincoln Lager (IBU:25 OG:1.043 ABV:5)
• Ripton Red (IBU:30 OG:1.056 ABV:5)

Boston Beer Company in Boston, MA

• International IPA (IBU:47 OG:15.5P ABV:6.13)
• Ungespundet Pils (IBU:30 OG:13.5P ABV:5.27)

Boston Beer Works (Canal St) in Boston, MA

• The Big Gouda a Smoked Lager (IBU:28, OG:18P ABV:7)
• Splendid Splinter a Golden Ale (IBU:25 OG:12P ABV:5)

Boston Beer Works (Fenway) in Boston, MA

• Old Ironsides an English-Style Old Ale (IBU:35 OG:1.064 ABV:6)

Cambridge Brewing Company in Cambridge, MA

• The Colonel a “Vatted Ported” (IBU:55 OG:15P ABV:6.5)
• Spring Training IPA (IBU:40 OG:14.5P ABV:6.3)

Cambridge House Brewpub in Torrington, CT

• Cambridge House IPA (IBU:60 OG:15P ABV:6.4)
• Three Steve Stout (IBU:30 OG:12.5P ABV:4)

Cape Ann Brewing Comapany in Gloucester, MA

• Fisherman’s Tea Party a Barley-wine made with 3 styles of tea (IBU:86 OG:1.089 ABV: 9)

Gardner Ale House in Gardner, MA

• Chair City Pale Ale (IBU:32 OG:11.5P ABV:4.8)
• Chocolate Porter (IBU:35 OG:12.5P ABV:5.5)

Gritty McDuff’s in Portland, ME

• Black Fly Stout 2001 Gold Medal Winner at the Real Ale Festival (IBU:16 OG:1.045 ABV:4.1)
• Gritty’s Best Bitter 2000 Gold Medal Winner at the Real Ale Festival (IBU:25 OG:1.050 ABV:4.9)

Harpoon Brewery in Boston, MA

• Harpoon IPA (IBU:42 OG:15.8P ABV:5.9)
• Harpoon Summer Beer (IBU:26 OG:12.8 ABV:4.8)

Haverhill Brewery/The Tap in Haverhill, MA

• Merrimack Mild an English Dark Mild (IBU:19 OG;9.4P ABV:3.8)
• Scapegoat Bock a German Dunkel Dark Bock (IBU:26 OG:16.4P ABV:6.6)

John Harvard’s Brew House in Manchester, CT

• The Dark Bootlegger Ale a blend of a traditional Brown Porter and Barley Wine aged in a Thomas Tew rum barrel for 7 wks (IBU:37 OG:16.8P ABV:6.7)

Kennebunkport Brewing Company in Kennebunk, ME

• Taint Town Pale Ale the local favorite (IBU:32 OG:1.048 ABV:4.75)
• Vintange 2008 Prelude Holiday Ale a traditional strong Enlish Ale (OG:1.078 ABV:7.5)

Lowel Beer Works in Lowell, MA

• Bohemian Pilsner made with all Moravian malt & dry-hopped with whole Czech Saaz (IBU:25 OG:1.050 ABV:5)

Martha’s Exchange in Nashua, NH

• Dr. Hoppenstein’s Double IPA Hopped thoughout the entire brew process from mash-in to cask (IBU:93 OG:1.091 ABV:9.1)
• Revolution Red a medium bodied red brewed with beets and carmalized malts. (IBU:42 OG:1.056 ABV:5.5)

Mayflower Brewing Company in Plymouth, MA

• Mayflower Golden Ale the moderate mineral content in there water is perfect for this style of beer (IBU:18 OG:10.5P ABV:4.2)
• Mayflower Pale Ale made with Victory Malt, Caramel Malt, East Kent Golding Hops, and Nugget Hops (IBU:40 OG:11.9P ABV:4.9)

Mercury Brewing Co. Ipswich, MA

• Ipswich Dark Ale (IBU:40 OG:14.1P ABV:5.8)
• Ipswich IPA a cross between an American and English style IPA (IBU:60 OG:14.3P ABV:6.3)

Moat Mountain Brewing in North Conway, NH

• Moat Pale Ale an American Style Pale Ale with a firm bitterness (OG:11.5P ABV:4.5)
• Moat Spruce Brown standard session Brown Ale both malty and bready in body, medium bitterness (OG:12P ABV:5)

Opa Opa Brewing Company in Williamsburg, MA

• Opa-Opa IPA (IBU:55 OG:14.7P ABV:6)

Otter Creek Brewing in Middlebury, VT

• Imperial India Pale Ale has a generous supply of hops throughout the entire process providing an enormous hop flavor (IBU:135 OG:24.5P ABV:11)
• Russian Imperial Stout brewed with double the malts and four time the hops of a regular stout (IBU:65, OG:24P ABV:10.6)

Pennichuck Brewing Company in Milford, NH

• Chief’s Imperial IPA unfiltered and dry-hopped with Centennial, Cascade, and Simcoe (IBU:106  OG:23.3P ABV:10)

Portsmouth Brewery in Portsmouth, NH

• Baltic Porter dry-hopped with Warrior (IBU:38 OG:19P ABV:7.5)
• Saison Prentemps dry-hopped with Rose  Hips and pepercorns (IBU:32 OG:16.75P ABV:6)

Redhook Ale Brewery in Portsmouth, NH

• Triple Nelson made with Candi sugar, Crystal malts, and dry-hopped with Nelson Sauvin in the cask (IBU:40 OG:20.5P ABV:9.6)
• Saturnaleia Double Red rich malty notes of a traditional red and dry-hopped with Amarillo and Centenial (IBU:71 OG:19.5P ABV:8.1)

Salem Beer Works in Salem, MA

• Customs House IPA full hop character, Cascade & Amarillo, with a supporting background of solid malt (IBU:56 OG:12.5P ABV:6.25)

Sabago Brewing in Gorham, ME

• Boathouse Brown Ale brewed with Caramel, Chocolate and Black malts and hopped with American hops (IBU:24 OG:11P ABV:4.8)
• Full Throttle Double IPA featuring Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, and Simcoe hops and has been dry-hopped for over a month (IBU:85 OG:20P ABV:8.2)

Shipyard Brewing in Portland, ME

• Chamberlain Pale Ale featuring Pale Ale, Crystal and Chocolate malts and Fuggles, Cascade and Tettnang hops (IBU:37 OG:1.050 ABV:5)
• Old Thumper Extra Special Ale from the Ringwood Brewery in Hampshire, England (IBU:35 OG:1.060 ABV:5.8

Smuttynose Brewing Co.  in Portsmouth, NH

• Smuttynose IPA includes Simcoe, Amarillo, Warrior and Centennial hops (IBU:70 OG:15 ABV:6.6)
• Star Island Single spicy, light bodied with drinkablity (IBU:30 OG:13P ABV:5.5)

Thomas Hooker Brewery in Bloomfield, CT

• Liberator Dopplebock, chocolaty with notes of figs, raisins and brown sugar (IBU:45 OG:20 ABV:8.4)

Trinity Brewhouse in Providence, RI

• Scotch Ale oak aged in barrels for 8 months (IBU:32 OG:21 ABV:9)

Tuckerman’s Brewing in Conway, NH

• Tuckerman Headwall Alt a German style brown ale (IBU:32 OG:12 ABV:4.75)
• Tuckerman Pale Ale (IBU:39 OG:12 ABV:5.5)

Watch City Brewing Co. in Waltham, MA

• Bitter (and Jaded) ESB in honor of their original beer from 13 years ago (IBU:40 OG1.04)

Willamantic Brewing Co. in Willimantic, CT

• Well Read Ale an English Red Ale (IBU31.5 OG1.057 ABV5.7)

Woodstock Inn Brewery in North Woodstock, NH

• Pemi Pale Ale (IBU:56 OG:1.057 ABV:5.7)
• Pigs Ear Brown Ale (IBU:25 OG:1.054 ABV:4.3)

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• 2009 Here for the Beer – Year in Review
• The Brewers Plate 2010
• Hefeweizen vs. Witbier
• Blue Moon
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We have set up a new function using the new service “seesmic” where you can leave your comments as videos.  After all, we are a video site, so why not participate in video form!  Just click the link at the bottom of any comment-able post and you can instantly add a video comment to one of our posts using your webcam.  Share a beer with us, or fill us in on something we missed – we are interested (and maybe a little scared) to see what this turns up!  For more about this service, check out seesmic.com.  And feel free to try it out on this post!

Related Posts:

• The Brewers Plate 2010
• Hefeweizen vs. Witbier
• Blue Moon
• Finally A Practical Use For A Case of Corona
• Victory In Vermont