Chickie's & Pete's Where's the Beer (WTB)?

Chickie's & Pete's has recently opened in Audubon, PA. I'm sure most Philadelphian's who enjoy sports, drinks and bar grub are more than familiar with the, "Crab House and Sports Bar".  I've made it to several of their locations over the years and have succumb to the delicious spell of their crabs and famous Crabfries (cheese sauce please).  Now that they are essentially in my backyard the temptation to throwdown will be even harder to resist. However as great as their food menu is one look at their beer selection leaves a craft beer fan asking, "Where's the beer (WTB)"?

(from C&P website S.Philly Menu)
Draft List
Amstel Light, Blue Moon, Budweiser, Coors Light, Guinness, Heineken, Hoegaarden, Michelob Ultra, Miller Lite, Sam Adams Seasonal, Rolling Rock, Yuengling Lager

Bottle List

Amstel Light, Bass Ale, Budweiser, Bud Light, Bud Lime, Coors Light, Corona, Corona Light, Harp, Heineken, Heineken Light, Michelob, Michelob Ultra, Mike's Hard Lemonade, Miller Lite, Miller High Life, Miller 64, Molsen Golden, Moosehead, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Rolling Rock, Sam Adams Boston Lager, Smirnoff Ice, Smithwick's, Stella Artois, Twisted Tea, Twisted Tea 1/2 & 1/2, Twisted Light, Twisted Peach, Yuengling Lager, Yuengling Light, Yuengling Black & Tan, O'Doul's.

Why in a town known as, "America's Best Beer Drinking City", where the "Beer Week" phenomenon originated and whose residents support an amazing array of craft beer locations, does Chickie's & Pete's have one of the largest selections of bland, unimaginative, fizzy yellow, macro muck on draft and in bottles? One look at what the South Philly location is pouring and anyone who knows good beer would head in the other direction. There's barely even a thimble full of taste on either list and having Sam Adams  does nothing to appease my dissatisfied craft beer soul. Ironically this is happening at a time when even cookie cutter national chains such as T.G.I. Friday's and Applebee's are getting a clue and doing slight tweeks to improve their beer menus. Seems odd that a well run Philly based restaurant/bar chain would snub craft beer. Worse yet turn it's back on local brews.

Obviously the powers-that-be who guide the Chickie's & Pete's gravy train are successful with what they do and their business plan is certainly rapidly moving them forward. However why not offer some quality beer choices that go beyond what I'd find at a late night frat party. Would that take C & P too far off course? Hey, no need to get crazy with the beer offerings. I'm not shooting for a selection of 10% imperial, barrel aged, smoked, Whatchamacallits. To avoid getting lost in the sea of craft beer choices start simple and stay local.  Sorry, having Yuengling as the only local beer doesn't cut it. There are plenty of good choices from: Victory, Sly Fox, Troegs, Dogfish Head, Stoudt's, Weyerbacher, Yards etc. Imagine a successful local restaurant/bar with fantastic food and amazing local beer. Hmmm, (Standard Tap) wonder if that would work?

 

Now in fairness I haven't made a trip to the Audubon location of Chickie's & Pete's so I'm judging from past experience and relying on the beer menus posted on their website.  If the beer program has miraculously changed for the better I stand corrected. Hooray if that's the case. Then it's time for me to shut up and move on. Since I'm headed to C & P over the weekend I'll have recent first hand experience. I hope I'm not stuck asking, "WTB"? Check back here for what I uncover.

Meanwhile, to the guys who make the decisions at the house that Crabfries built, check out what craft beer can do for you. Just a thought.

Happy International Stout Day

November 3rd is officially proclaimed by those official enough to deem such things officially as, International Stout Day

(From the ISD website). International Stout Day is a worldwide celebration of the iconic beer style, Stout. Taking place in homes, pubs, breweries and restaurants; it’s all about celebrating the craft beer revolution, relishing in this beloved beer style, sharing your photos, tasting notes and events with the world

Now I am all for the celebration of a particular beer style. Ahhh, how I remember International IPA Day just like it was yesterday (actually Aug 4th). Heck if it puts people in bars, on their couches, in clubs or wherever they raise a glass, then I say, "Hell yeah lets celebrate".  However as a responsible citizen I must inform everyone of a few special days ahead. Prepare accordingly.

11/3  National Sandwich Day (Order a Cheesesteak and Stone IRS and the day is covered)
11/5  National Doughnut Day (Wonder if Krispie Kreme and DD are aware?)
11/9  National Bold and Pungent Day (So many ways I can celebrate this)
11/16  National Fast Food Day (Truly an American holiday)
11/9  National Scrapple Day (Another reason for Philadelpians to stand up and cheer)

Today, where ever you choose to imbibe, pick your favorite stout and hoist the glass high in honor of this most righteous day of beer.

Cheers my friends!

Lets Have Breakfast @ The Sidecar Bar and Grille

What more needs to be said?

THE PUMPKINS LIVE!!!! (Pumpkin Beers Part Deux).

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the bottle shop..........(dramatic pause)............More pumpkin beers cometh!!!!  No one ever expects a horror movie to end on the first go around.  You have to beat any good idea into the ground like it's a stumbling, worm infested zombie. Thus, The Pumpkins Live.

In round one a Pie-in-a-glass (aka P.I.G) scale was introduced to judge the pumpkin pie effect of the selected brews. A 1 rating denotes it's less pie like while a 5 rating suggests a side of whip cream is appropriate.  Let the tasting commence.

Heavy Seas:  Great'Er Pumpkin (Imperial Pumpkin Ale Aged in Bourbon Barrels)

If you're launching back into the pumpkin beer sea you might as well go big and boozy.  Great'Er (9.0% abv) is the bourbon aged version of Heavy Seas Great Pumpkin (not reviewed) and there is no denying this beer spent some time in the wood. Bourbon catches air during the pour, lashes out at first sip and remains the dominate flavor. Pie spices, pumpkin and roasted malt are detectable while the bourbon provides a mild sweetness. As expected the warmth kicks in towards the end and hangs on through the finish. Overall Great'Er is good but a fuller bodied imperial pumpkin beer as a base may of worked better with the barrel treatment. P.I.G factor 2. This is one serious drunkin' pumpkin.

Cigar City: Good Gourd Imperial Pumpkin Ale

This seems to be the year that brewers want to say, "My pumpkin is bigger than yours". The imperial train keeps on rolling with Good Gourd (9.0% abv). This is one of the few bottles that I didn't drag from my cellar. I was lucky to share this with friends at Craft Ale House one evening. The yummy pie flavors are all present but what stood out most was the great balance of flavors.  Pumpkin, spices, graham cracker, sweetness and booze were all in check. No high octane burn, no sudden nutmeg spikes and not a single sugary rush. Simply a solid flavorful pumpkin beer. The P.I.G is high on this one 4.

New Belgium w/Elysian: Kick (pumpkin, cranberry, barrel aged)

Leave it to New Belgium to put a sour twist on the pumpkin beer tradition.  Part of the Lips of Faith series, Kick (8.5) is a pumpkin cranberry ale that's blended with wood aged beer. In this unique wrestling match for flavor supremacy the cranberry lays a serious smackdown on the old orange gourd. Sweet tart cranberry, crisp citrus and oak flavors barely give the pumpkin a chance to surface. The sour effect is low so it's not a tongue buckler. Pumpkin lovers don't let the kickass Jack-o-Lanterns on the bottle fool ya. This one is more Thanksgiving than Halloween. A very good lightly sour beer that sends the pie a packing. Zero P.I.G.

Rock Bottom Brewery (King of Prussia) Ichabod's Pumpkin Ale

One of the few things that keeps an extended trip to the mall bearable is the ability to sneak away to Rock Bottom for a pint. No shifty moves were needed to seek out their pumpkin beer. Ichabod is a break away from the imperialized trend. In fact it could officially be the anti-imperial pumpkin. The most exciting option offered when ordering a pint was the sugar & cinnamon treatment done to the rim of the glass. I opted out and went in clean. Everything about the 5.5% abv ale is clean and easy going. The pie spices and pumpkin flavors are middle of the road and almost textbook plain. Surprisingly the underlying flavor even leans more towards a traditional macro lager than an ale. Tasting more light hops and malt than in-your-face pie spice isn't necessarily a bad thing. However on the P.I.G it gets you a 2.5.

Pumking on display at Wegmans Collegeville

2010 & 2009
(Ghostly finger provided by Big Dan)

Southern Tier:  Pumking

If there were a heavyweight equivalent to pumpkin beer, Southern Tier Pumking (9.0% abv 2011) would be champ. The hurrah hype that hits every fall causing bottle packed displays to quickly dwindle down to empty cardboard stacks is almost deserved. I've reviewed this beer multiple times so I'll keep it simple this go around. This is the Grand Puba P.I.G 5. Sure, go ahead toss in a dollop of fresh whip cream for effect (just kidding). Sweet cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, yadda, yadda, yadda, yummy pie goodness, you get the idea. To make it somewhat interesting this year I had the chance to taste the 2009, 2010 and this year's draft and bottle versions. The draft had a more pronounced cinnamon sharpness than the bottle and a pallet far better than mine is needed to pick out any subtle difference between the  09 and 10. Whichever one you encounter, here's to raising a pint of pie.

Now that Halloween has passed does this mean a death to the pumpkin beers? Something tells me this tale of spice and hops has not seen it's final chapter.  To be continued..........????