Look Ma, No Glove!
Every year in Philadelphia there is an event called the Kitchen Aid© Book and the Cook Festival. There are events all over the Delaware Valley related to cooking, food, and drink. Some events are in restaurants and are led by renowned chefs from all over the world. Other events are showcases of equipment and books available to those of us who would like to learn more.
The one event that I have attended for the past three years, and I highly recommend the event to anyone that has even a passing interest in beer. The event is a tutored beer tasting with Michael Jackson hosted at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology , it is pretty wild drinking wonderful beer surrounded by artifacts from the ancient world.
Every year Mr. Jackson picks a theme for the tasting and then selects 8 beers to highlight in that theme. This year's theme was "Great Grains, Great Beers: A tasting of beers brewed with different grains, from the region and abroad."
This year's elite eight, (for beer tasting that is):
Four of the above breweries are very close to us, and we have had the pleasure of getting to know their products over the years. Two of those we have visited their Brewhouses, and enjoyed not only the beer but the food and super staff that those two companies present. Those two would be Sly Fox and Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (Named after Dogfish Head which is in Maine!). Both of these are worth even a longer drive, or a stop if you are passing through the area.
The elite 8: I liked all of the beers that Mr. Jackson presented this year. (This has not always been the case, he sometimes presents beers that are interesting either due to the way they were crafted, the ingredients or the history, but upon tasting I did not care for them.) The span was from the Chester County Lightning, which I can see drinking as a beverage on a hot summer day, to the Hitachino Red Rice Ale that was very good. Another very interesting beer was the Triumph Jewish Rye. Mr. Jackson always is good with a story and his personal flashback recollection as it related to the Jewish Rye was a hoot! (Note, if you do attend a Michael Jackson event, listen very carefully, his wit and humor are outstanding, but you have to pay attention).
Of the 8 my favorite was the Aventinus, (aside from the poor pour by an unknown table mate, pay no attention to the pour down center commercials on this one!) What a super look, feel, taste, finish. A very special beer for special occasions.
After the hour with Mr. Jackson you are turned loose into the rotunda where breweries and distributors from all over the globe are set up (along with food), so you can taste even more beers. This year there were 35 breweries/distributors listed on the program, on average each one had around 3 or 4 beers to try......you do the math!
The first year we went, I was out of control and didn't realize the task before me. This year I came to the event wanting to search out some new Belgian style beers. I still slanted back to my favorite styles IPA's and darker porters and stouts. All in all I didn't totally fill myself up this year, so dinner wasn't as uncomfortable as in years past.
For dinner our group went to an Italian restaurant called Ralph's in Philly (9th and Catherine), I will do a separate entry on Ralph's under "The List" category in the coming days, but know this, if you are within 100 miles of Philly, and you like Italian food, especially veal, GO TO RALPH'S!!!!
