The National Constitution Center: a pilgrimage site for high school American History classes, patriotic tours, and as of last night, beer aficionados.The Bathtub Beer Festival (a reference to how beer was brewed illegally during Prohibition) brought together over 40 kinds of beer, from regional stars such as Yards and Dogfish Head, to smaller breweries like Prism and Straub, all for the sake of raising funds for even more brewski-related fun at Philly Beer Week this summer. Many heeded to the Prohibition theme: they parked their kegs in clawfoot tubs (most had multiple on tap) and wore feathers, suspenders and gold.The event organizers even set up a tightly guarded bathtub of openly brewed beer that was not open to consumption, though we heard rumors that it would be funneled and served “tomorrow”. Luckily for those suspender-and-fedora-wearing guests in attendance, that was the only prohibited brew: The four ounce cups handed to everyone upon entering were filled to the top, while a band played music right out of the roaring twenties. The drinking here was as serious as Al Capone with a Tommy gun: Those spit buckets that they have at wine tastings were nowhere to be found. And why would they be? We were remembering a time when kegs and cans were illegal and not a drop could be wasted. Just ask our managing editor, who approached the venue with scientific curiosity, scribbling notes after each sip. It quickly got illegible but we think he had fun.
While we loved the slighlty rebellious drinking in a museum vibes and embraced the chance to spot some drop waisted black dresses, we really enjoyed the beer. Many were tasted, most were good, but only a few topped our list. We’ll be looking for these brews at a tap house near us (do you hear us Tap House?)
Prism’s Hazelnut Coffee Porter Flying Fish’s Exit 4 Evil Genius’s Blind Eye PA 10th and Blake’s Big Eddy Imperial Dogfish Head’s 75-Minute IPA
