Until recently, Philadelphia’s food truck scene paled in comparison to other culinary counterparts like Portland, Austin, or New York.  Now, however, the city that has made so many strides to put itself alongside those cities with brick-and-mortar establishments is also beefing up its mobile repertoire.  There will be no better way to enjoy the best the city has to offer than hitting up the third annual Vendy Awards on June 8 at Penn Treaty Park from 2p.m. to 6p.m.

This year, the coveted Vendy Cup is guaranteed to trade hands as the well-loved winner of last year’s cup, Smoke Truck, has unfortunately moved on from Philly.  Other categories truck owners can win are Best Dessert, Peoples’ Choice (as voted by the attendees of the event) and the newly instituted Messy Yet Tasty award in conjunction with sponsor Tide Stain Eraser.  Nominees for this new award can be made online here.

Judging these prestigious awards this year will be chef and co-owner of Johnny Brenda’s and co-owner of Standard Tap Paul Kimock, third generation owner of Philadelphia’s iconic DiBruno Bros. Emilio Magnucci, editor-in-chief of Every Day with Rachel Ray Lauren Purcell, and Philly native and Brooklyn Brewery executive chef Andrew Gerson.

In addition to helping with the voting and rubbing elbows with food celebrities, attendees will be able to sample near-unlimited fare from the participating food trucks, as well as beer from Brooklyn Brewery.  For the price of $55 for adults and $35 for children 8-12, the amount of food is enormous and well-worth the ticket.  With every guest satisfied last year, and the local food truck convoy growing exponentially, there is sure to be more than enough food and something for everyone at this year’s event.

After attending last year, I can safely say I will be in attendance once again this year, and greatly looking forward to it.  If you want to sample the best of the best of the city’s mobile eateries, be sure to get your tickets here (they’ll sell out fast) and get to Penn Treaty Park for the Third Annual Vendy Awards.  Hopefully we’ll see you there.

Opening Tap will be held at the Independence Visitor’s Center beginning at 7:30, directly after the first tap as well as the awards ceremony for the Philadelphia Inquirer’s annual Brew-vitational awards.  The event will offer tastes from over 30 local breweries, including the likes of Dogfish Head, Dock Street, Nodding Head, Round Guys, Sly Fox, Stoudts, Troegs, Victory, Weyerbacher, and Yards, as well as many of the newer breweries that have popped up in recent months.

Tickets are available online for $45, with a VIP option for $90 which will include extra special beers, a food buffet, and other special surprises.  Both ticket options come with a souvenir glass.  Be sure to get your tickets now, as the event sells out every year and tickets will not be available at the door.  If you don’t opt for the VIP ticket, food will be available for purchase from Max & Me Catering—even before the event has started, the food options already sound much superior to last year’s event.  If, for some odd reason, beer isn’t quite your thing, a designated driver ticket can be purchased for $15, which will include complementary soft drinks and a PBW DD t-shirt.

In addition to the 30+ breweries, attendees will be able to get the first taste of Brotherly Suds 4, a local collaborative English Summer Ale with zesty citrus hops.  The beer was brewed at Yards by Tom Kehoe (Yards), Bill Covaleski (Victory), Gordon Grubb (Nodding Head), Mark Edelson (Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant), and Gene Muller (Flying Fish).

Should you like to know more about this event and all of the others filling the area from May 31 through June 9, you can download the official Philly Beer Week app for iPhone or Android, which is an ideal way to keep track of all of the events of the 10-day beer celebration. This year’s app offers many improvements, including event listings by time, brewery, or location, as well as all the breweries involved in each event.

Philly Beer Week is coming soon, so be sure to get your tickets for Opening Tap and download the app, because if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.  Be prepared for the largest celebration of its kind in the entire country, and show all those other wannabe beer cities (we’re looking at you, Asheville) how we do it in Philly.

The most exciting, perhaps, is Manneken-Penn, a collaboration from the “Win a Trip to Belgium” contest that sent raffle winner Matt Hohorst, head brewer at Weyerbacher Chris Wilson, and pub owner extraordinaire Tom Peters to Belgium to brew with Yvan De Baets at Brasserie De La Senne.  Together, the foursome brewed a Belgo-American Dubbel with oats, molasses, and a combination of Calypso American and Aurora European hops.  The art (above) is a mashup of Philly’s own William Penn statue and Brussels’ famous Manneken Pis sculpture of a young boy peeing in a fountain.

Other collaborative brews for the week include:

• Brotherly Suds 4: An English summer ale with zesty citrus hops brewed at Yards by Tom Kehoe (Yards), Bill Covaleski (Victory), Gordon Grubb (Nodding Head), Mark Edelson (Iron Hill), and Gene Muller (Flying Fish).
• Dock Street Trappiste Pale: a trappist-style IPA inspired by Orval and brewed at Dock Street by brewer Scott Morrison with Tom Peters and homebrew impresario George Hummel.  The beer is fermented with saccharomyces in primary and brettanomyces in secondary for a moderate sour character. Sonnet and East Kent Golding hops are used for a grassy, citrusy flavor.
• Johnny Berliner: a 4% Berliner Weisse—one of Philly’s favorite styles—brewed by Dock Street and Johnny Brenda’s.
• Standard Pale: The sixth collaboration between Sly Fox’s Brian O’Reilly and Standard Tap’s Will Reed. An American pale ale brewed with Calypso hops, this will be tapped for the first time when the HOG makes its way to Standard Tap during the HOG Relay on May 31.  The first firkin will be tapped and pints will be given out for free until the firkin is empty.
• DNA UK: Dogfish Head and Charles Wells collaborate from different continents to bring Dogfish Head’s 60 Minute IPA brewed with Wells’ own British yeast.
• Brewvolution II: The brewers of the ‘burbs—Prism, Evil Genius, and Boxcar—bring a hard root beer as an homage to Lancaster County’s Amish community, infused with root herbs and spices to bring the taste of root beer without the sweetness.

Most of these team brews will be available at Opening Tap, but some may require careful planning and a few site visits during Beer Week to track down.  Keep your eyes open and see if you can track them all down.

Why should you track them all down? The first person to email, tweet, or otherwise get us pictures holding each of the seven collaboration beers listed above—along with some proof (tap handle, menu, brewer, etc.)—will receive a prize pack that includes some Philly Tap Finder swag as well as other prizes to be announced.  You can use Philly Tap Finder to track down all the beers, as they’ll be doing their full-on press for Beer Week once again.  Be sure to send us your pictures as you get them*, and we’ll keep a running tab of everyone who is participating.  Good luck, and enjoy the beer!

*Submitting pictures constitutes permission for us to post them on the website in relation to the contest.

Each ticket purchase—for a scant $20 in advance or $25 at the door—allowed the attendee all the homebrew they could drink, as well as two sausages of their choice.  The sausages ranged from bier brats made with beer from the homebrew club to chorizo to kielbasa from Czerw’s to black bean vegan sausages from Cedar Point Bar and Kitchen. All sausages were provided with a variety of sauces and additives and the choice of pasta salad or a rice dish as a side. With sides, the two sausages per person were plenty of food for the four hours at the fest, but if you were still feeling a bit puckish after all that, there were three food trucks in attendance (Guerrilla Ultima, Maglio Sausage, and The Cow & the Curd) as well as a cart from Little Baby’s Ice Cream.

The ice cream would have come in handy on the warm, slightly breezy Saturday, if it weren’t for all the refreshing beer on offer at the event.  The organizers stepped up from their chili cook-off in the winter and had two beer serving stations, which made the lines for beverages a bit more manageable (though they could probably benefit from one more station).  The beer was an all-around solid selection, with some standouts being a very ginger Ginger Wheat, a 3% English mild on cask, and a very refreshing gluten free beer—these being the three I returned to the most.

Alongside the food and beer were live bands and a long row of homebrewers brewing away in the parking lot, honing their craft while fielding questions from anyone who was interested.  Onlookers would grab a sausage and a beer and wander the stands of brewers, taking in the labors of a hobby they either already partake in or most likely wanted to.  This all happened for many, of course, after they dropped their kids off at the bouncy castle or face painter.

At the end of the day—sunburned, full of sausage and beer, complimentary nonic pint tasting glass in hand—it was hard to think of a better way to spend four hours with friends.  It was also hard to think of a better bargain for $25.  If there is one thing I’ve learned from the Philly Homebrew events I’ve not attended, it’s that the price is as reasonable as you’ll find in Philly, and the bang for your buck is outstanding.  Make it a point to attend their next event being held sometime in late July/early August.  The only thing you’ll still crave when you leave is a nice long nap.

All photos are courtesy Stephen Lyford.  To see many more from the event, check out his full album here.

It is with this feeling of discovery and excitement that one would read DiBruno Bros. House of Cheese: A Guide to Wedges, Recipes, and Pairings, a new book from cheese maven Tenaya Darlington, due out in May (Running Press, $24.99).  As Tenaya has made a name for herself as the preeminent cheese blogger in Philadelphia—and I dare say beyond—with her website Madame Fromage, she takes the next logical step with this part DiBruno Bros. catalogue, part dairy love letter.

The book offers tasting notes on 170 cheeses, split up not by type of milk or style of cheese, but by personalities expertly assigned by Tenaya, ranging from Baby Faces and Quiet Types to Stinkers, Rock Stars, and Pierced Punks.  Each cheese gets a description, some fun factoids, and food and drink pairings. Interspersed amongst the cheeses are 30 cheese-centric recipes for either dishes including cheese, featuring cheese, or just delicious cheese accoutrements.  If all of this intimidates you, worry not: there are also plenty of how-to’s on tasting cheese, making your own cheese board, pairing, and hosting parties.

As I said before, Tenaya is the Nabokov of cheese writing: she loves the language and uses it with verve and an enjoyment that you don’t find many places.  It was this joy that made me read about different cheeses, cheeses I’d already tasted multiple times and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I didn’t like, and think, “You know what? I might have been wrong.”  Tenaya’s excitement is infectious.  As I read the book, all I wanted to do was to take my paycheck to DiBruno Bros., tell the cheesemonger to give me whatever that would buy, and then proceed to host a dozen cheese parties for dairy lovers and haters alike.  If there is anyone on this planet who can convert someone who is not an all-out lover of cheese, it is Tenaya.

There were only a few possible downsides to the book as I saw them, one being that if you didn’t live in Philadelphia and couldn’t run to a DiBruno Bros. after work to get your fix of whatever description you were drooling over, the book may be more of a tease than a treat in some cases.  However, it’s an excellent learning tool for anyone, anywhere.  The other drawback was the pictures—there weren’t nearly enough.  And though it would have exponentially increased the cost and size of the book, I’m sure, I would have loved a picture of every cheese and recipe in all their delicious glory.

Minor drawbacks aside, the book is for everyone and deserves a place on every kitchen bookshelf.  The book is available for pre-order at dibruno.com and Amazon for less than the cover price—order it now and all the money you save can go to your soon-to-be-found cheese habit.

Said offerings included:

• BPA braised lamb necks with mint fregola, fava bean & BPA vinaigrette (Mike Deganis, Alla Spina)
• Duck arepa, duck confit with Rare Vos glaze, jamon & cherry fig marmalade (Yun Fuentes, JG Domestic)
• Foie dog with kimchi relish & Abbey Ale mustard on Abbey Ale potato roll, served with Abbey Ale pretzel jack with mustard powder and “Hall of Fame” crab fries (Eli Kulp, Fork)
• Hennepin cured coppa, pickled chilies, “ballpark” nuts with grains of paradise bread crumbs and orange & coriander sauce (Nick Macri, Southwark)
• Three Philosophers braised beef short ribs with pickled long hots & Three Philosophers cheddar sauce (Pat Szoke, Industry)
• Lamb barbacoa taco, hominy tortilla, watercress, radishes, with Witte consomé (Lucio Palazzo, La Calaca Feliz)

Some, of course, were better than others.   Macri’s charcuterie was the perfect blend of fatty, oily meat and acidic pickled chilies with a satisfying added crunch from the nuts for an all-around enjoyable bite.  So enjoyable, in fact, that the judges elected this dish the winner to defend Philly’s title from last year’s competition (which was won by former Stateside chef George Sabatino).  The peoples’ choice went to Yun Fuentes—recent winner of Star Chefs’ Rising Star award—for an equally tasty duck arepa that paired sweet and savory in a way that made me realize I don’t get out to JG Domestic nearly enough.

RayRay and I, however, were both of the opinion that Miek Deganis’s braised lamb necks were the clear standout of the night.  The neck meat was perfectly tender and gamey enough to be intriguing, but not so gamey as to turn anyone off.  Even the fava beans and Israeli cous cous were delicious—good enough that when the fava beans ran out and the chef began plating the dish without them, I actually missed the beans.

Unfortunately, some of the dishes fell short.  Most notably was Eli Kulp’s offering, which sounded great on paper and seemed to include everything I could possibly want in a small plate of food.  However, the kimchi was overpowering and the foie dog had the texture of a soggy hot dog with a casing that was hard to bite through.  Pat Szoke’s sandwich, which was little more than a glorified pulled pork slider, came off as somewhat pedestrian for a competition like this, even though it was delicious.

The general experience, though, was a step up from last year and a great improvement.  Despite also having a larger crowd, the space at Union Transfer seemed to be more open, and the beers were set up next to each chef to make pairing your beer and food much easier than last year.  There was also an open bar where you could get larger pours if you wanted—which included pours of Ommegang’s Iron Throne and Art of Darkness, which were not offered as pairings. The only step back this year was the Twitter trash-talk, but that will always quiet down when Scott Schroeder is not involved.

All in all, the food was delicious and each chef should be commended for bringing his A-game, whether it worked out or not.  Add to that a line-up of one of the better craft beer makers in the country in Ommegang, and you’ve got yourself an event that is worth going to every single year.  Even with the small plates and pours, you will find yourself full and happily drinking.  Is it worth the $50 ticket? Absolutely.  Will we be there next year? We’re already looking forward to it.

On Saturday, May 4, the Philadelphia Homebrew Club invites you to join them to celebrate National Homebrew Day with their Spring Craft Beer & Sausage Fest big brew day.  The celebration will be held at the Philly Homebrew Outlet (1447 N. American Street in Fishtown) and for a measly $20 advance ticket (a still-measly $25 at the door), guests will be able to partake in unlimited homebrew and all things meat-in-tube-form from noon to 5 p.m.

In addition to the unlimited homebrew (in tasting sizes described as “generous”) care of the Philly Homebrew Club, Yards will also be providing beer for your tasting pleasure.  And in honor of the day it is celebrating, the event will also feature live demonstrations on how to brew your own Imperial IPA and Lambic.  Some of the beers available for consumption will be announced soon.

As for the meat available, the Homebrew Club will be smoking and grilling some of Philadelphia’s best sausages, with the tubular meat being provided by Czerw’s Kielbasa, Cannuli Bros., and Maglio Sausage.  There will also be homemade sausage from Philly Homebrew Club (is there nothing these guys can’t make at home?) and vegan sausages from Cedar Point Bar & Kitchen for those of you who love sausage but don’t love hurting animals.  As a bonus, if you’re some kind of weirdo who doesn’t like sausage of any kind, there will be food trucks up and down American Street.

What could make all of this better?  How about the fact that you can bring the whole family?  There will be homemade iced tea and lemonade available, as well as face painting, a bouncy castle, balloon animals and much more to keep the kiddies occupied while you sample as much beer as you can.

It wouldn’t be a celebration of homebrewing if there wasn’t some kind of competition, so in the background of all this will be the Philly Homebrew Club’s Spring Ale competition, judging Weizens and Weissbiers, Witbiers, and Saisons.  If you’d like to join in the competition, more information can be found at the Philly Homebrew Club’s website.  As stated, tickets can be bought at the door, but if you’d like the advanced discount, you can purchase them here.

Neither of us had eaten anything before arriving, and I was at first disappointed to find the brewpub only had the barest minimum of selections where food was concerned.  Three paninis, a few appetizers, three different pickles, and some homemade bread were the only things on the board.  With a distinct melancholy setting in over the dinner I wasn’t going to have, Sean and I agreed to start with an order of the house-made bread, which comes with a mound of butter and a side of fleur de sel.  The bread was rich and dense, a hearty—if not the heartiest—yet fluffy pile of slices with the option of as much butter or salt as you wished.  The bread was delicious and unexpectedly filling—so much so that, after ordering a trio of their house-made pickles (which also came with a side of bread) we were both satisfied.  Anyone who knows me knows that to be able to satisfy me with a few pickles and a few slices of bread is quite the feat.

Bread aside, the real star here is the beer.  Jean Broillet IV, who brewed at Iron Hill’s West Chester location for five years, has a great handle on both big and small beers, with actual flavor being king rather than a beer simply being extra hoppy or super alcoholic.  I began the night with Ancient Knovvledge, an Asian-inspired saison with sesame and hemp seeds, nori, Satsuma tangerines, long hots, and Szechuan peppercorns.  Being a fan of Szechuan cuisine, I naturally gravitated to this one first, and was not disappointed.  While the ingredient list would make one imagine the beer being overly spiced and pulled in many different directions, Broillet is able to tame each one and make the beer something greatly enjoy.

Other favorites from the night were the LiverPool, a 4% dark mild that was bursting with flavor—much more than many would expect from a session beer, despite the latest focus on the low ABV offerings.  This was one of the few that, after trying the small tastes, I came back to for a full glass.  The other of those being the A Cold Freezing Night, a beer that almost overwhelmed (but in the best way possible) with coffee, chocolate, and general roastiness.  The stout was simply delicious, and a beer Sean and I raved over the entire night, made more impressive when Jean told us it was the first proper stout they’d brewed at the now eight month old brewpub.

The best part about Tired Hands is the ability to order beers in either four or eight ounce portions, or full pints for those being offered as such (the Mrs. Pigman triple IPA, for example, would only go up to eight-ounce pours due to its 11.5% ABV).  The ability to try all the beers in small pours, as well as the phenomenal bread, should be reason enough for anyone to make the 20-minute train trip to Ardmore. I’m almost ashamed that it took me this long to get out there, and if you haven’t yet you should be ashamed as well.  Walk if you have to, because Tired Hands will be worth the tired feet any day of the week.

The last two pictures are courtesy of our friend Rich at Rich on Beer.

The brewery was full of people, but the team at Yards has a great handle on how many people can fit comfortably inside the space and don’t oversell their events, so while there were lines (which are to be expected), none of the beers were impossible to get to, and even the most highly-touted casks of beer were still pouring late in the day.  The food was also well-planned, with plenty of English-influenced food from the brewery (cheddar and grits soufflé, mushy peas, English beef stew) in addition to a pile of soft pretzels and an outside station with boxes of Marchiano’s tomato pie.

And while the food was plentiful, the beer was more so, with over 30 casks from local and international breweries alike.  One of the most talked-about of these was J.W. Lee’s cask of Moonraker Strong Ale, a rich, dark ale brewed from an original recipe over 50 years old.  To top off the English imports, local favorite Bluebird Bitter from Coniston—a staple on hand pump at Memphis Taproom—which perfectly embodied the cask mentality of a light, thirst-quenching session beer.

Of the local offerings, there were many standouts as well. Stewart’s, whose beer doesn’t make it to Philadelphia often, served up a delightful Smoked Porter, and Neshaminy Creek brought a surprisingly tasty Coconut Mudbank Milk Stout, whose coconut flavor wasn’t overpowering and melded perfectly with the sweetness of the milk stout.  Evolution’s Incubator, a dry, hoppy Belgian-inspired ale, was a crowd favorite, as was the Black Widow from Fegley’s Brew Works—a blend of their Bourbon Aged Insidious imperial stout and their triple IPA Hopsolutely.  This was a combination that didn’t sound like it would work, but it did.  Having it in the cask smoothed out what could have definitely been some sharp edges, making the beer oddly drinkable for its 9.5% ABV.

Overall, Yards continues to put on some of the best beer events in Philadelphia, all while the brewery is growing and the space in which it can house an event is shrinking.  And while this space does seem to fill up, it’s never overly packed and the crowd is easy enough to navigate through, which is a must given the 33 beers to dry in four hours as well as the food you’d need to eat to soak up some of that alcohol.  And whether you spring for the VIP ticket (which we’d highly recommend) or go for the normal four hours, you won’t be disappointed and you won’t find yourself without at any point.  If you’re a lover of cask ale or a relative novice, do not miss this event next year.  This is one of the real musts of the Philly beer scene.

Photos are courtesy of Stephen Lyford.  More pictures from this event can be found on his Google+ page.

The bar will surely be one of the highlights, along with the excellent raised outdoor deck and the top-notch food, self-described as “retro-American classics mixed with soulful, contemporary concepts.”  Cedar Point will feature 14 taps—10 of them rotating—along with a rotating cask on hand-pump.  The bar also has a selection of standby local craft beer cans from Sly Fox and Sixpoint, as well as a bottle list that caters to the sour-loving Philly beer regulars with the likes of Hanssen’s Oude Gueuze, Professor Fritz Bream’s 1809 Berliner Weisse, and Duchesse du Bourgogne.  Aside the beer will be a tasty cocktail list and a wine program that has the potential to be the best in Fishtown.

The food, though, promises to stand out amongst the local fare, with a menu that is at least a third vegan but all delicious thus far.  The restaurant has a few must-haves, like a burger (though this one has pimento cheddar and caramelized onion) and reubens (on which you can choose to have turkey or tempeh) mixed with a nice selection of creole food like their catfish or friend green tomato po-boys, jambalaya, or creole redfish.  The real standouts, though, are things that you don’t find many other places, such as their chicken and waffles, which features juicy boneless buttermilk chicken over a cornbread waffle and drizzled with BBQ syrup.  The other dish worth mentioning is something you definitely won’t find anywhere else—The Onion Theory: a hollowed-out, roasted onion filled with BBQ “pulled” portabella stems (which some may remember from their offering at Brewer’s Plate), topped with a cashew cream and served with red flannel hash (diced sweet potatoes, beets, poblanos, onions, and apples).

While Loco Pez was a boon to this inner-Fishtown intersection, Cedar Point is the icing on the cake, serving as a perfect foil to the Mexican food haven across the street.  And though some growing pains are to be expected in the first few weeks, the restaurant’s heart is in the right place and owners have been open to suggestions big and small in order to better serve the area.  They open at 5pm for dinner service and plan on soon adding lunch at 11am.  The future will also bring a late-night menu starting around 10pm, and if you can’t make it for any of those options there is always brunch on Saturday and Sunday beginning at 10am.

Stake your claim here now, because during the summer the large front windows will allow for a cool breeze and the beautiful front deck will be in high demand.  Between the welcoming atmosphere and the delicious drinks, you won’t have a hard time justifying stopping by, no matter what the season—especially as long as that chicken and waffles stays on the menu.