Philadelphia Makes Its Case as Nation's Best Beer-Drinking City

March 10, 2008 -- PHILADELPHIA — Never mind the cheesesteak. Where's the beer?

It's a question that should be asked more often in a city whose neighborhood pubs and award-winning brews have been sorely overlooked as a point of pride and historical significance, according to beer aficionados.

In fact, Philadelphia is the best beer-drinking city in America, argues Don Russell, also known as beer columnist Joe Sixpack. And he's out to prove it as one of the organizers of Philly Beer Week, a 10-day, 150-event extravaganza designed to highlight the city's centuries-old tradition of brewing — and tippling.

"Our Founding Fathers wrote the Declaration of Independence and Constitution in the taverns of Philadelphia," Russell said.

It kicked off March 7, when Mayor Michael Nutter tapped the festival's first keg, now followed by beer tastings and dinners, brewery tours, pub crawls, seminars, meet-the-brewer events and trivia contests, including the "Philly Beer Geek" competition.

It's a chance to see every aspect of the region's beer community, said William Reed, co-owner of two bars and a former brewer. He also sees it as an opportunity to champion the brands he proudly pours at the Standard Tap and Johnny Brenda's, which serve only local brews.

"Sometimes Philadelphia sort of has a low self-esteem problem. We wanted to kind of put our foot down and say, 'be excited about the local stuff,'" Reed said. "These guys locally are doing great, great beers."

Philadelphia's beer history dates back at least to 1680, when city founder William Penn began work on his brewery. The first American lager is said to have been brewed here in 1840. And U.S. Marine lore holds that the corps was conceived at long-gone Tun Tavern in the Old City neighborhood in 1775.

By 1870, there were 69 breweries in Philadelphia, according to Russell, and eventually an entire neighborhood called Brewerytown. But Prohibition shuttered many facilities, and the last city brewery, Schmidt's, closed in 1987.

It wasn't long before the microbrew trend caught on and the region began returning to its roots. Today, there are at least 20 breweries in the Philadelphia area, including Yards, Flying Fish, Stoudts, Sly Fox and Victory. Yuengling, the oldest brewery in America (1829), continues to operate about 75 miles away in Pottsville.