The Avery Experience at Monk's Cafe
3/13/08

One of the craziest events we attended during Philly Beer Week was a tasting event with Adam Avery at Monk's. I had met and talked at length with Adam several years ago at Iron Hill-Wilmington and found him to be a very personable, if not a little crazy, person, but such are the artists. His artistry lies in brewing and an outstanding job he does attested to by his products.
Before the event, we figured we better eat something as Adam's creations are known for their WOW factor. We stopped at Tria for some paninis and a beer which were excellent.
We took a leisurely walk back to Monk's and went to the back bar where the event was to occur. Much to our surprise/chagrin, we found that the tasting was to consist of 3 oz. pours of 15 of AA's beers!!! 15!!! I thought, well we're in trouble here knowing we had an hour+ drive home afterwards. Tom Peters seeing that it was going to be a long afternoon, brought out lots of food...meats, cheeses, salads, etc.. to help the attendees deal with all the alcohol. I felt bad for the guy who already had a St. Bernardus 12 and an Old Rasputin prior to the tasting! Good thing he only lives 3 blocks away.
Well, the star of the show arrived ready to rock and roll. He gave us an overview of the company and what we were to expect today. He had the fifteen beers divided up into 5 groups of 3:
Avery Big Beers: Ellie's Brown, White Rascal Belgian Wheat, IPA
Bigger Beers: New World Porter, Collaboration Not Litigation Ale, 14 Anniversary Ale
The Holy Trinity: Salvation Golden Ale, The Reverend Quadrupel, Hog Heaven Barleywine
The Dictators Series: The Maharaja Imperial IPA, The Kaiser Imperial Oktoberfest, The Czar Imperial Stout
The Demons of Ale:The Beast Grand Cru '07, Samael's Oak-aged '07, Mephistopheles Stout '07

What a lineup! Our livers were going to be aching in the morning! I was taking Friday off from drinking anyway and was to catch up on some work around the house!
We were joined in our quest by Cornelia and Ray two former Beerdrinkers of the Year. They were up from Carolina for PBW and attended quite a few events during their brief stay.
Needless to say, we had a great time as did everyone. We still had one stop to make before we left for NJ. Around the corner at the Good Dog Cafe, Iron Hill Brewer, Chris LaPierre was to bring a firkin of Pale Ale, but upon arrival, we found that he had had some problems and showed up empty-handed. He was gracious enough to buy me a beer, however, which allowed us to get caught up on the latest news. Thanks, Chris!!!
Across the street, Don Russell had done a dinner at Jose Pistola's, so we stopped in on our way to the car. There we found Don, George Hummel and Nancy Rigberg just finishing up their dessert. Don's new book, The Philly Beer Guide, was for sale, so I bought one and got him to sign it.
Enough was enough, so we headed home anticipating our last event @Monk's on Sunday...3 Fonteinen.
Cheers!

HOME