Well the time has finally come. Lehigh Valley Beer Week kicks off this afternoon and we have for you what we think will be the best events featuring the best beers all week. Without further ado, we offer to you the best of beer week:
Monday, February 11th:
Opening Tap at Allentown Brew Works, 5:15pm – This is by far the event to be at this evening. Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan and Easton Mayor Sal Panto will both be in attendance to cut the ribbon on the first ever Lehigh Valley Beer Week. Even better? Free samples of LVBW1 will be handed out. LVBW1 is a homebrew recipe created by Michael Sexton, who won a contest to brew the first Beer Week beer. It’s a Black Rye Pale Ale.
Free Will at Two Rivers – John Stemler from Free Will Brewing in Perkasie will be on hand to pour beer and answer questions. They’re bringing along four brews (not sure what) and at 7pm they will be hosting a beer dinner with pairings.
Tuesday, February 12th:
Strange Brew Hop Head Event – The tap list won’t be posted until later today, but we’ve seen it, and this is the only thing you should be hitting. They’re having a whole bunch of things you never see on draft around here (outside of Philly, that is).
Wednesday, February 13th:
Round Guys Cask Night at Strange Brew – Round Guys is a relatively new brewery down in Lancaster area that has been pumping out some very solid stuff since their inception. No word on what they’ll be pouring, but this will surely be worth giving a look.
Mephistopheles Espresso Randall at Spinnerstown – although they’re a bit outside the Lehigh Valley, it’s great to see Spinnerstown getting in on this because they’re a little too far out to participate in Philly Beer Week. And this will be a hell of an event. For those that aren’t aware, Avery Mephistopheles is a 16.8% stout, so you’ll want to sip slowly and/or bring a DD for this one. And for those that don’t know what a Randall is, it’s a tool designed by Dogfish Head Brewery to quickly infuse a beer with whatever’s thrown in the infusion chamber. So what you’re getting here is a huge 16.8% stout infused with espresso beans. Aw hell yeah. Avery makes a similar beer with Mephistopheles as a base aged on coffee beans called Tweak (formerly called Meph Addict) that is astounding. If this is anything like that, it’ll be a huge winner.
Thursday, February 14th:
Bitches and Bastards Anti-Valentine’s Day at Black & Blue – Usually the whole “blah blah screw Valentine’s Day’ thing is obnoxiously played out all day by bitter people who aren’t in love and can’t shut up about it for a day. However this involves beer and is actually kind of funny, hence it making this list. Stop by and have pints of Raging Bitch, Dirty Bastard, Mad Bitch, Arrogant Bastard, or Bitches Brew. And yes, those are all real beer names.
Geiger Beverage Night at Porter’s Pub – There’s going to be a bunch of the ‘usuals’ there (i.e. Stoudts and Weyerbacher), however a brewery that’s been increasingly popping up around the area will be there as well: Springhouse. They haven’t listed what Springhouse will have there, but they’re putting out some really interesting and crazy beers right now. We recently tasted Braaaiins!, a fall pumpkin beer seasonal that was like shoving a fistful of graham crackers into a beer, and Big Gruesome, a particularly tasty chocolate peanut butter stout. Other recent beers they’ve been brewing include Little Gruesome, a PB&J stout, and Satan’s Bake Sale, a mint chocolate chip stout. Certainly worth a look at Porter’s to see what they’re bringing this night.
Friday, February 15th:
Hijinx Cask Night at Strange Brew – the Lehigh Valley’s own Curt Keck will be on hand with a bunch of casks brewed at his local nanobrewery, Hijinx. In our opinion casks are the superior way of serving beer, so this is what we’ll be hitting to get our Hijinx fix. Not sure if it will be tapped here, but Mr. Keck told us that Hijinx Barista’s Choice #1 Honduran Coffee Porter should be ready for beer week, so be on the lookout if not at Strange Brew, at any of the other Hijinx events for this one. It’s awesome as all hell.
Free Will at the Trapp Door – Yet another Free Will event, in case you missed the one earlier in the week. They will be unveiling a new Quad, as well as serving their Citra pale ale on cask, their Seven Course Red Ale, 10W Porter, and their Coffee Oatmeal Brown. Also available will be small plated paired with the beers.
Spinnerstown Hop Fest Weekend Tap Takeover (Fri & Sat) – Spinnterstown has the unique ability to get a lot of stuff from Philly distribution because they’re right on the outside of the area. That’s stuff that we can’t get in the Lehigh Valley proper. This list is absolutely stupid. Absolute hell of a way to end the week. We actually did a double take when we saw the list. First off we have Lagunitas Sucks, a stupendous IPA that recently became an all-year staple. Then we have Hopslam, the beer that hopheads crave around this time of year. And then, the real surprise, Fat Heads Head Hunter IPA, which we’ve never, ever seen or heard about being on the Eastern side of Pennsylvania. If you love IPAs you must attend this.
Saturday, February 16th:
Arctic Alchemy at Bethlehem Brew Works – Lehigh Valley brewer Christopher Bowen will be showing some of the footage from his upcoming historical brewing documentary (look for an article on this tomorrow) as well as sampling his barrel aged Arctic Ale. This is definitely a highlight event worth checking out.
Spinnerstown Hop Fest Weekend Tap Takeover (Fri & Sat) – Spinnterstown has the unique ability to get a lot of stuff from Philly distribution because they’re right on the outside of the area. That’s stuff that we can’t get in the Lehigh Valley proper. This list is absolutely stupid. Absolute hell of a way to end the week. We actually did a double take when we saw the list. First off we have Lagunitas Sucks, a stupendous IPA that recently became an all-year staple. Then we have Hopslam, the beer that hopheads crave around this time of year. And then, the real surprise, Fat Heads Head Hunter IPA, which we’ve never, ever seen or heard about being on the Eastern side of Pennsylvania. If you love IPAs you must attend this.
Sunday, February 17th:
Hijinx Beer Dinner with the West End Gastro Club – Our friends at the WEGC are taking over Jack Callaghan’s Ale House in Allentown with brewer Curt Keck of Hijinx. Tickets are $50 and includes a meet-the-brewer hour from 6pm-7pm followed by an four course meal. We think that sounds like a pretty solid way to end the first beer week.
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Hijinx/Curt was also at Jack Callaghan’s on Monday night to talk to local beer fans. He had to run back to the brewery for another keg of the Pitch Penny ESB halfway through the evening—I’d call that a successful night!