phillybeerguy.com

Last summer I was asked to host a private beer tasting for Villanova University Seniors through the “VU Seniors” professional development program. A professor had hosted a wine tasting in the past and it went over well. The students specifically asked for a beer tasting, and as luck would have it the event organizers were friends of mine who knew about my little “hobby” and asked me to host. So in September 2009 and April 2010 I hosted two “Drink Better, Drink Local” beer education events for 50-60 students each semester in which I featured 6-8 local beers in a variety of styles, explaining the differences in each as we went along, while dispelling popular beer “myths” in between pours. They were both very successful, and I was all-too-happy to enlist again this year.

My Fall Semester event will be next Tuesday, October 19th, but instead of doing the same thing I did in the past, I decided to mix it up a bit (partly for my own benefit, as the students coming this year won’t have had the experience last year and wouldn’t have known if I did the same events verbatim) and do a “Fall/Winter” beer tasting next week and “Spring/Summer” beer tasting next semester. I’m still trying to feature a variety of local beers in different styles, but whereas in the past I tried to showcase both ales and lagers in the most common styles (pilseners, IPAs, bocks, stouts, etc.), this time around I’m trying to confine this first event to styles that are common to the colder months. This will be the first time I’ve brought any non-Philadelphia area beers into the mix as well. I just got back from a trip to visit my friend Matt at The Beer Yard, and this is what’s currently in the walk-in chilling down until next Tuesday:

• Stoudt’s Oktoberfest
• Weyerbacher Harvest Ale
• Sierra Nevada Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale (not to be confused with Tumblr)
• Victory Moonglow Weizenbock
• Tröegs Trogenator Dopplebock
• Phila. Brewing Co. Joe (Coffee Porter)
• Southern Tier Pumking

A casual, informal survey last Fall revealed that the most popular beers I sampled were the maltier ones (Sly Fox Oktoberfest and Trogenator), as well as Weyerbacher’s Imperial Pumpkin, while the hoppier varieties didn’t fare so well. This makes sense, considering what most of these kids have likely been guzzling for the past 4 years, as hops are definitely an acquired taste. So this fall I only have one truly “hoppy” beer in Weyerbacher Harvest. I replaced the Imperial Pumpkin with Pumking (how lucky I felt to see the case sitting there when I walked in!), and added another malty beer in SN’s new Tumbler seasonal. We’ll see how their palates react to Joe and Moonglow, but something tells me they’ll like the variety, and I can justify that to a bottle, each of these beers is either a fall/winter seasonal for the brewery or a style that is traditionally served between September and February.

I’ll post a review and some photos after it’s all said and done next week. Until then, Cheers!