First Trip to Capone's

A nice haul from my first trip to Capone's in East Norriton, the gems being the two bottles of KBS, the Mephistopheles, and a nice gueze for Desiree. The selection is excellent there, but without a doubt you pay for it.

McShea's Restaurant and Bar

We mistakenly stumbled upon McShea’s (242 Haverford Avenue, Narberth, PA) a few years ago. We were trying to get to the Greeks, and before we made it to that side of the road from the Narberth train station (R5), decided to try out the little nondescript bar with an Irish flag flapping above the door.
Since that accidental discovery a few years ago, McShea’s has become a favorite – a weekly destination. We go (and so should you!) for a few reasons:
First, THE BEER! 12 beers on tap, over 60 bottles. Sure, some of them are BMC macro shit, but most of them are beers you won’t find at your usual bar – at least in this number. And sure, there are a few better places for beer on the Main Line (Guillifty’s in Rosemont, but their food sucks), but McShea’s has a great selection, location, and atmosphere. And not too expensive - $4.50 - $5 for something like Golden Monkey, Bass, Stella, or Philadelphia Brewing Co beers; up to about $7 for something like Ommegang’s Three Philosophers, Chimay Blue, or Dogfish head 90 Minute IPA. The beers don’t rotate as much as I’d like, but at least the standards are good. Plus, if you are coming with someone who’s not a beer drinker, there are gateway crafts. (OK, I haven’t actually had anything except beer while at McShea’s, but they do have my wife's absolute favorite gin, which most bars don’t have – Hendricks, and the wines seem decent. Plus, there is such a variety of beer that you could probably find something for your non-beer loving friend.)
Second, the Beer Box Challenge. Drink the 50 beers listed, and you get (get excited!!) your name on a brass plaque on the wall and your own mug to drink from while at the bar. Again, some of the beers in the Box suck (e.g. three different Michelob beers, c’mon! Michelob, Michelob Light, Michelob Ultra – ugh!), but they’re pretty good at letting you substitute a seasonal or other beer not on the Challenge for one of those I’d-rather-just-drink-water beers.
Third, the food is pretty good. You still go here for the beer, not the food, but the food is better than your usual bar food – pub food like fish and chips and seafood stew, but also some surprises like sushi, a hummus plate, mushroom quesadillas, etc.
And finally, the atmosphere – it’s a cozy, small bar area, but crowded or not, it feels warm. The bartenders are always accommodating, and you get the feeling that if they weren’t on shift they’d be right next to you with a nice pint. Also, this isn’t a place that you have to worry about looking up from your conversation or MegaTouch game to find that the place has been swarmed with undergrads. The age range is probably late twenties up to fifties. The exception to that is dinner time – a good number of kids, but they’re mostly confined to the restaurant area. No matter the time, just make sure to find a seat in the bar area, even if you have to stand around and wait – the atmosphere of the restaurant area is unimpressive, and even though this is no dive, I get the impression of sitting in a diner with wood floors covered in sawdust and picnic tables (to be clear, there isn’t actually any sawdust or picnic tables).
If you are in the Main Line area – go here! Also look for Quizzo on Tuesdays and Guest Bartender night on Wednesdays. A few drawbacks, but overall it’s a Main Line gem for beer.

The Iron Brewer Competition

June 11, 2010

Philly Beer Week isn’t just for metropolitan venues and professional brewers; with the thousand-plus events occurring in the ten-day span, it's no surprise to find beer week festivities overflowing into the suburbs. And at Iron Hill of West Chester, the Iron Brewer event highlighted the local talents of the home brewers extraordinaire of West Chester’s BUZZ club. If you’ve ever watched the Food Network, you know the basic idea: the ‘Commissioner,’ in this case Iron Hill’s Larry Horwitz, provided each competitor a ‘secret ingredient’ in March to serve as a base from which to craft their masterpiece. Twenty participants pitted their zymurgical prowess against one another to come up with the best beer from an identical pilsner malt wort with up to five pounds of additional fermentables.
By all accounts, each of the entrants put up a fierce battle, but a clear winner emerged in David Houseman’s Groundhog Baltic Porter. Fermented with an ale yeast under lagering conditions, Groundhog is a thick, black abyss with hints of raisins, prunes, and a trace of butternut squash.
On the night that Dave was awarded the coveted Iron Brewer trophy, Iron Hill West Chester offered the porter both on draft and firkin, which Dave and Larry brewed after the competition. The firkin version was even tastier than the draft, but even Larry agreed the best iteration was Dave's original. We were lucky to taste the bona fide home brew version, which brought a slightly hot alcohol character to the flavor and more intense nut and fruit notes.
Dave named the winning beer, along with all his other homebrews, after the groundhog that lives in his backyard. One of his favorites was Groundhog IPA.
It was interesting to taste the unusual pairing of a pilsner malt with an ale yeast, but original Baltic porters did use ale yeast at cooler lagering temperatures. When asked what type of beer he was expecting to win the competition, Larry approvingly replied “something just like this,” as he hoisted a pint of the hearty porter.
Congratulations, David, and thanks for a great beer!