The wait for Philly Beer Week 2013 will no longer be so treacherous now that the area’s craft beer lovers have an event to distract them from their ongoing anticipation. Bathtub Beer Fest is the event and it’s slated to ease everyone’s waiting tension on Thursday, November 15th from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m. Better yet, this Prohibition-era beer-drinking party, which will take place at the National Constitution Center (5th and Arch Streets), will serve as a fundraiser (and beer-raiser) for Philly Beer Week (PBW) 2013.
“Waiting for Philly Beer Week to roll around every year is exciting – but sometimes, we need a great beer event to tide us over,” says Executive Director Don Russell. “The Bathtub Beer Fest is it: a suds-filled celebration of beer and beer drinking with some of the best in the business bringing special and unusual brews that we’ll serve out of sixtels chilled in bathtubs full of ice. It’s a fun homage to Prohibition-era home brewing.”
While sampling beers from top breweries (listed below), attendees will be able to observe an on-site “bathtub brew” that will utilize an open fermentation style of brewing, an homage to the way beer was made (illegally) during Prohibition. The beer will be available exclusively during PBW 2013.
Also on hand for the event: author Daniel Okrent, whose Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition (Scribner, May 2012) is the inspiration for the exhibit and was featured in Ken Burns’ comprehensive PBS documentary. Guests are encouraged to don Prohibition-era duds, including fedoras and flapper attire.
Everyone’s favorite line-up of beer events in the Philadelphia area kicks off on the first Friday in June annually. This year, the 10-day celebration of “America’s Best Beer-Drinking City” which we’ve learned to know and love as Philly Beer Week, will be held from Friday, May 31st until Sunday, June 9th.
The event will include beers from PBW brewery participants including:
Great Lakes, featuring their era-appropriate Eliot Ness amber lager
Tenth & Blake, featuring its pre-Prohibition-style Batch 19 Lager
For more information about Philly Beer Week, including the ever-expanding schedule of events both during PBW and throughout the year, a list of participants and other details, please visit www.phillybeerweek.org and follow them on Twitter (@PhillyBeerWeek). PBW tweets should include the hashtag #PBW. You can also like them on Facebook.
