Thank you! Was it you who tipped off the organizers of the 2^nd annual Philly Beer Week that they should have it on Purim? What a great idea to have such a dynamic festival in Philadelphia, possibly reminiscent of many a Persian banquet of yore, at this exact time of year. Well whoever it was that pulled off this heist must be from Philly but for those of you peons who don’t know… Philly is quite the beer town. It is worth a look see and a draft.

From March 6 through the 15^th the City of Brotherly Love is expecting around 30,000 revelers to participate in over 670 events in the general area. The events range from numerous “meet the brewer” opportunities to tastings, classes, beer bus tours, and beer brunches, dinners and lunches. But that’s not all, move over Hazon, the organizers have even planned a 60-mile brewery bike ride where riders get to dismount at breweries, have a drink and then ride at a leisurely pace before dismounting at the next joint. Now how does that compare to your last ride?

Much like there is a growing Food Movement in the US there has also been a beer revival over the last decade. Burkhard Bilger author of the article A Better Brew The rise of Extreme Beer wrote, “Emboldened by the home-brewing movement, and the success of beers like New Albion, Sierra Nevada, and Samuel Adams, more than two hundred craft breweries had opened in the previous decade, as well as swarms of microbreweries and brewpubs.” This is absolutely the case in Philadelphia as Tom Peter the proprietor of the famous Monk’s Café in Center City put it, “”Not only do we have two dozen or so award-winning local breweries, we also have the most diverse selection of imports of any city in the country.”