Philly Beer Week 2015 kicked off Friday night, May 29th, as the Hammer of Glory was paraded in by the A-Team after a long journey with several stops along the way. Once carted into the 23rd Street Armory on the western edge of Rittenhouse, the crowd cheered and lined up for photos with the famed mallet.
At the start of the night the winners of the Philly.com Brew-vitational Awards were announced. 59 beers were submitted by 33 breweries, and judges for the Philadelphia Inquirer named six champions in two categories:
- Best New Beer
- River Horse Chocolate Porter
- Tired Hands Guillemot Dark Desser Saison
- Round Guys Cyrano Fruit Saison
- Best Wheat Beer
- Round Guys The Berliner
- Stoudts Hefe
- Evil Genius I Love Lamp
Libations were flowing very shortly after the awards, with a sweaty and thirsty crowd visiting every table possible. Over 40 breweries were in attendance, including 2nd Story, Barren Hill, Conshohocken Brewing Company, Dock Street Brewery, Dogfish Head, Evil Genius, Flying Fish, Weyerbacher, Yards, Lancaster Brewing Company, Troegs, and more. Many were pouring a mix of flagship offerings, and some brought special beers brewed just for Beer Week.
Also in attendance was Ashley Routson, also known as The Beer Wench, promoting her new book, The Beer Wench’s Guide to Beer.
The doors to the event opened to the public at 7:00, and in what seemed like the blink of an eye ended at 10:00. As the crowd shuffled out, many were planning their next event to celebrate local brews in arguably the best beer city in the world.
Philly Beer Week comes to an end on Sunday, June 7th.
