Beer Tourism II

Today was another great day for beer.  The weather has been beautiful and cool; a nice breeze, great food, and delicious beer.  What more could you ask?  While today was good, let's start with last night.

Last night, we went to Monk's Cafe, which has exquisite food in addition to good beer.  The pulled pork sandwich was up to my southern standards, and I had this delectible brew pictured to the right.  It's the Blood Moon from Dogfish Head Brewing.  I had heard about Dogfish Head before heading east, and even tried one of their beers--thanks to John Adams.  Leading with an inciting nutty aroma, this beer draws you in.  The front end taste is woody and smoky followed by a full bodied middle.  The finish is clean and the consistency is full but not thick.  I really enjoyed this beer

 At lunch today, I hit a burger place near the hotel.  It was okay--kinda like five guys, but with a bar.  I ordered an Ommegang Witte and I was not disappointed.  It's a bright wheat beer perfect for midday.  Fresh, crisp, and light it won't way you down for the rest of the day.  However, it was not watery and did possess flavor.  

Tonight, we were walking back to the hotel.  It was so cool and breezy we stopped at an english style pub and sat outside.  As luck would have it, our water was from wales; so his accent really sold the ambiance.  I had the Double Chocolate Stout on Nitro pictured to the right.  Easily the second best beer I have had in Philly (the first was the Blood Moon).  Ironically it is from Wells and Young out of the U.K.  Here I am in the city where we threw off the yoke of English tyranny and the best pint of stout I can find is English.  It's too ironic even for hipsters.  Anyway, this beer is delicious.  It's a lot like guinness but not as heavy and with a dark chocolate finish.  There wasn't a sweetness to it; so it definitely led with a stout flavor.  The chocolate finish rounded off the beer nicely.

I have enjoyed my beer excursions here in Philly, but I have to say the best beers I have had are from out of town.  Philly's got a lot going for it, especially the food here.  But most of the local brews, while okay, I didn't feel were special enough to even picture here.  In other words, you can get a great pint in Philly, but it's likely to be from Delaware.