Farewell to all my readers

Hello to all my readers out there! I just wanted all of you to know that I am ending my blog. This was a semester long assignment. I loved writing and educating you each week, but I do not have the time to continue on with the blog. But I want to take the time to thank all of you for reading my posts each week. I learned a lot about beer over the course of the past 15 weeks. From what it takes to be a home brewer to large scale brewing, to what it takes to run a beer event. But my favorite post was about Matt Lally he went from being a college grad that had a dead end job to doing something he loved and now gets paid for it. Even though my last post was not what I initially wanted it to be, it came out to be a great story. Thank you again for all of you that took the time to read my posts.

My top Five Favoirte Posts

From Fish worker to Brewer: Matt Lally 

From Model to Bartender- Micalela Piccolo 

Beer today or this weekend 

Top Places to get a craft beer 

Yards Brewery

From Model to Bartender- Micalea Piccolo

Micaela is not your average 20 something girl. Micaela decided to follow her dreams just like any young person would, she moved to New York City.

Even when Micaela was in high school she was out trying to make in the modeling world. Micaela was very good at, but she soon felt like there was no room for growth in the modeling industry.   After living in New York City for a while a pursuing her dream, her dreams suddenly changed.

Micaela decided to step away from being a model after months of not getting paid a lot and began a career as a bartender. She had fallen into from working the wee hours of the morning to try to make the ends meet. You might think why give up on your dreams. But Micaela had to follow her heart at this time. Her dream is to be a bartender at Distilled New York City. Micalea started working at Distilled this summer around July.

She said, “Craft cocktailing is huge in New York City and bartenders where being recognized for what they bring to the culinary world.”

Distilled is located in New York City at 211 West Broadway. Distilled is not your typical bar you would walk into here in New Jersey. They have a menu full of a wide variety of food. Then you get to the cocktail and wine menu and that’s where they don’t have your usual cocktails.  They serve all craft cocktails. Which is where Micaela becomes the pro.

Micalea gets to travel the world being a bartender as well. This year alone she has gone cross-country, Paris, and Puerto Rico, as well as she will soon go to Shanghi and Hong Kong to help work on some beverage programs.

Micaela knew she never wanted the typical 9 to 5 job. She loves that every night at work is something different, and she loves meeting the new people who walk into the bar.

Micaela is always trying to make her guests comfortable and ready to give them what they want in a drink. She is ready to suggest a drink if your unsure of what you want at first. But she is always greeting you and ready to hand you a glass of water while you make your drink choice. She is usually remembered for giving you a second drink with a twist.

Micaela is taking the bartending world by storm. She has competed in many different competitions most recently in Speed Rack an all women bartending competition. To support the cause to find a cure for breast cancer, all women created this competition. As well, she was featured in Men’s Health Magazine. She had a featured story on how to make the first drink she ever made as a bartender. This was also the second time she was featured in the magazine.

Micaela rocking her Speed Rack shirt before her competition

Micaela says “this is such a rewarding career, and I am ready to take the world by storm.”  I can do this with my friends and family by my side.

Philly Beer History Piktochart

 

Philadelphia has a long standing history with beer. From being the first to have a lager. To having the first bars made into cave walls along the Delaware River. Famous Landmarks were once locations of breweries such as the Liberty Bell, Penns Landing, and Fairmount Park. Being the first city to have a beer week and then have many other cities follow.

Winter Beer Fest! Was a no go!

This gallery contains 21 photos.

So i decided to photo blog the winter beer fest tonight at the 23rd st armory in Philadelphia. Though i was not impressed it was still an interesting time. No I would not recommend it to you my followers i did not see it as worth the money. They had about 42 different beers  none […]

Top Places to Get a Craft Beer

Top 3 Craft Beer Places in South Jersey

1. Iron Hill Brewery- Has 10 locations across the tristate area. I recently visited the maple shade location. There they offer good food in there restaurant. You cannot tour their brewery but all the beers they serve are brewed there. They have many house beers as well as release a new beer each month.
2. Keg and Kitchen Located in Westmont, NJ. Offers your regular noncraft beers as well as extensive list of craft beers. A few can be a bit pricey, but worth the experience. The beers offered come in cans, bottles, on tap, and they also feature specific beers each month.
3. The Pour House Has different locations one in Exton, PA and the other in Westmont, NJ.  For their Westmont location there on tap list is exceptional with over 22 beers and bottles 139 beers available at all times. So if you’re looking for something new to try this is your place to go.

Top 3 Craft Beer Breweries in Philadelphia

1. Triumph Brewery- Has many different locations across Philadelphia and New Jersey. They have great food options as well each location offers something different to be unique from a game room, to live bands. As well as many different options for craft beer, so be too sure to go try one of their plights.
2. Philly Brew Company –Offers many delicious seasonal brews, as well as offers more of a hopper German beer that is delicious. They have many different styles for a small brewery. As well as offers brew tours on Friday and Saturdays.
3. Yards Brewing Company Has to be my favorite brewery in Philadelphia. They have a lot to offer for a small brewery and keep growing. For more details about my visit at Yards read my post Small town brewery: Yards Brewing Company.

 

Kenz o’Lantern best pumpkin ale

Since yesterday was Halloween. I thought it was only fitting to give a review on my favorite pumpkin beer. Kenz o’Lantern from Philly Brewing Company, is probably one the best pumpkin beers I have ever tasted. It is available from mid August to about now. Kenz o’Lantern is a darker ale. With every sip you take you get the pumpkin flavor as well as a great pumpkin after taste. If you like pumpkin but unsure if you would like it in a beer. You really need to try Kenz o’Lantern next fall.

Not your typical Home Brewer: Jeremy Koestel

From Fish Worker to Brewer: Matt Lally

Matt Lally, a graduate of LaSalle University. A man who didn’t like beer until he was 22, he was not your typical college kid that got drunk on the weekend to have fun with his friends.  “It wasn’t until I’d had craft beer that I realized that beer could be a delicious, delicious thing,” said Lally.

It really all started after college when Lally would frequent liquor stores that would allow him to create his own 6 packs. Lally then decided to start home brewing in his kitchen. That then led him to look into the history of brewing, styles, and chemistry. This then led Lally to think about taking it on as a career.

Lally now works at Triumph Brewery in Philadelphia. He currently holds the position of Assistant Brewer. Lally got to this position with a lot of hard work and dedication to beer.

At first he chose Triumph because “well they where the only ones that would give me an apprenticeship. It took a lot of time for someone to take me on, it’s a lot of work for brewery to take on an apprentice” said Lally. When Lally first started he kept his normal 9-5 job at Adventure Aquarium, in Camden, New Jersey. He worked at the aquarium five days a week then those other two days he drove to New Hope, to work for free in the brewery. Jokingly Lally said my actual payment was free lunch.

His first days on the job “I shadowed the brewer, watching everything he did until he felt I was ready to do tasks myself.  And I made a lot of mistakes and felt super clumsy for a while, but eventually, I was able to do pretty much all the tasks involved with the job without supervision from brewing to cleaning the taps.” said Lally After a year of being an apprentice Lally was offered the full-time position to become the Assistant Brewer.

Lally can’t name a favorite beer of his when at the bar he tries to get something he’s never had before. But his favorite at Triumph is “probably our Jewish Rye, because it’s so unique.  It takes exactly like a slice of rye bread.  But I can only drink that once in a while. One of ours that I could drink all the time would be our Dortmunder Export or our Irish Red.”

Fun fact about Lally is he is SCUBA certified and a brown belt in Aikido.

 

Blue Monkey Fall Fest!

The Blue Monkey Tavern located in Merchantville, New Jersey is a small town restaurant that serves great food and offers 40 beers on tap at any given time. The beers on tap change every once in a while. Haliel Gongur is a small restaurant owner that not only owns the Blue Monkey Tavern but the Collins House attached to it where they offer hall rentals for various events. He also began to offer in 2009 a Oktoberfest and then decided to add one in the spring as well based on the success of the first Oktoberfest. Visit them daily at 11 a.m. for lunch, dinner or late night at 2 South Centre St. Merchantville, NJ.
How do you choose what beer to bring?
We look to see what the various companies offer. See if they will fit with the event. For the Fall Fest we go with the more seasonal availability like your ciders and pumpkin ales. We like to make sure we have a variety for the people.
What’s the average amount of beer you bring to the event?
We usually try to get a range between 50-70 beers. One year we had 80 beers and that was just to many beers. We don’t want to overwhelm are guests but make sure they have a vast variety of beers.
How do you choose what companies to bring?

We look to see what types of beers they brew. They also have one qualification of brewing just craft beers only.

Taken from the Blue Monkey Facebook Page

Do you always try to get the same companies to attend?
No not all the same companies attend. We do have some returning companies each year though. We want to provide variety for the guest.
When was your first fall event?
We first started them in 2009 had such a successful year. I then decided to continue it next year as well add a second one in the spring. Which is called the spring fest.

 

Photo Credit: Blue Monkey Facebook Page

 

All About Me

Hello, I’m Karlee Adair. I am a student at Rowan University with a major in Public Relations and concentration in New Media. I have a passion for beer specifically craft beer. For my Online Journalism Class I decided to create this blog and cover local breweries in South Jersey and Philadelphia. I plan to visit as many breweries as I can over the semester. As well as cover Octoberfest’s, find local home brewers and taste their beer.