The 75th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition is tomorrow and naturally we and bars are celebrating.

 

If you’re out early hit up the Memphis Taproom from 3 to 4pm when they’ll pouring all beer on draft for just a buck.

Chick’s Cafe will be featuring several old school specialty cocktails priced at $7.50 that are made using all American spirits - the Ward Eight (bourbon), Sazerac (rye), Scofflaw (blended American whiskey) and the Jack Rose (applejack).

The Institute gets in on the repeal day specials with 3.50 Tullemore Dew, $3.50 flavored Bacardi $1.50 PBR  all day.  From 9pm until 11pm there will be $2.00 Philly Brewing and Yards drafts. And they go all 1933 crazy at 19:33 (that’s 7:33pm), they’ll be offering all their draft beer for 10 cent beers for 19 minutes and 33 seconds. Never tried a Backwoods Bastard, it’s a worthwhile gamble for a dime.

On Saturday from 7 to 10pm APO Bar and Lounge (formerly Apothecary) and Philadelphia Distilling will be celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Repeal with big of Punch and some early jazz. APO will be offering bottles of punch (which serve 4-5), featuring Bluecoat American Dry Gin and Penn 1681 Organic Rye Vodka, for $19.33. They’ll also have select cocktails available for $6. [Facebook Invite]

Resist Prohibition is the tag line for Victory Brewing, so do your part and lift a pint of cask-conditioned Hop Devil at the London Grill.

And where could be more appropriate to go than to the recently opened Prohibition Taproom.

Meal Ticket has posted a couple of interviews with folk who love beer. Jesse Kimball explains how he went from Lacroix and Matyson to the Memphis Taproom and Nodding Head brewer, Gordon Grubb spills the deets on how he got into brewing.

Chef Jesse Kimball, Memphis Taproom [Meal Ticket]
Gordon Grubb, Brewmaster, Nodding Head [Meal Ticket]

Wow, we’re impressed. In a field of beer dorks Jim Keaveney came up on top as he won the prize at Mystery Beer Weekend at the Memphis Taproom. Jim was able to correctly identify 28 of the 30 beers poured.

Mystery Beer Weekend [Memphis Taproom]
The Winners [Memphis Taproom]

The Memphis Taproom’s Brendan “Spanky” Hartranft was on the 10 Show Tuesday explaining beers and promoting his Mystery Beer Weekend.

And just what is Mystery Beer Weekend? Well we’re glad you asked.

Mystery Beer Weekend will take place Labor Day weekend, August 29 to the 31st starting at noon on the 29th. The Taproom will tap 33 beers of 11 different styles in 3 days . It’s up to you to taste them all and tell us what you’re drinking. Mystery ballots will be available at the bar and at www.memphistaproom.com starting August 25, 2008.

Video via LIQUID DIET.

We like the idea of a Pittsburgh ex-pat happy hour if only because we know where not to go. We kid, we kid. But seriously, from 5 to 7pm tonight and the first Tuesday of every month, the Memphis Taproom is opening its arms to our friends from that burgh to our west. Beers of Penn Brewery, an ‘Ode to the Primanti Brothers Sandwich’ and Iron City beer specials.

Memphis Taproom [Official Site]

The Memphis Taproom goes under the LaBan microscope this week and passes with flying colors.

But the Memphis’ menu of updated bar food is impressively affordable and varied, topping out at $15 for a lamb-chop special, with prices that actually compete with the nearby Applebee’s. There’s a worthy nod to the neighborhood’s Polish tradition with the Port Richmond platter, a plate of awesomely smoked kielbasa from Czerw’s on Tilton Street, cheesy pierogis, kraut, and a potato pancake. And there’s also plenty to draw the area’s young new residents, with a focus on local ingredients drawn from urban farm pioneer Greensgrow, just down the street, and a vegan sous chef in the kitchen, Rob Notowitz, turning out homemade seitan barbecue sandwiches and smoked walnut gravy with biscuits for brunch.

Two Bells - Very Good

Memphis Taproom [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Memphis Taproom [Official Site]

If you haven’t had a pasty from the Memphis Taproom yet we really don’t know what you are waiting for.

Memphis Taproom’s modern pasties appetizer serves up two crunchy, greaseless pastries filled with moist shreds of beer-braised beef. It’s the perfect bar snack for pairing with one of the draft beers, like Ommegang Hennepin.

Pasty Alert [Taste Daily]

Hey interlopers from Pittsburgh, finally something for you other than Fox & Hound. The Memphis Taproom is celebrating Pittsburgh with a happy hour for “all Pittsburgh ex-pats and the people who tolerate them.”

From 5 to 7pm tonight there will be beers from Penn Brewery, and an “Ode to a Primanti Brothers Sandwich” plus $2 Iron City bottles.

Elisa Ludwig drinks and dines at the Memphis Taproom and certainly has a better time of it than Adam Erace of Philadelphia Weekly.

Chef Jesse Kimball (of Matyson and Lacroix) has crafted a smart day-to-night menu that distinguishes his kitchen without overshadowing the liquid refreshments. Indeed, if there’s a theme to the cuisine, it’s how to incorporate beer into as many menu items as possible.

In the house version of Cornish meat pies (”PAs-ties have tassles. We serve pAH-sties,” our server says. “I have to make the joke so no one else does”), starter-sized, coarse salt-crusted pockets of golden flaky dough are filled with shredded Belgian beer-braised beef, then set over a slather of creamy horseradish-dill sauce. Beer brines hot wings and brightens hummus. Mixed with a little oil, it makes a delicate vinaigrette for the house green salad. Malty Old Peculier ale is swirled into molten cheddar for the “King Rarebit” sandwich; the tangy fondue is layered with sunny-side-up eggs between two thick slices of grilled Texas toast. At weekend brunch, a rotating wheat beer even replaces champagne in the house mimosa. Recently, it was Tröegs DreamWeaver, the cloudy ale’s banana perfume playing nicely to the orange juice. Ingenious.

Strictly Memphis [City Paper]
Memphis Taproom [Official Site]

Adam Erace wants to like the Memphis Taproom but he just can’t get excited about the food, except for maybe the king rarebit.

[Chef Jesse] Kimball tops the browned toast with two sunny-side-up pastured eggs (gracias, Green Meadow Farms) dusted with Turkish aleppo pepper and Old Peculiar ale gravy sharpened with cheddar.
Pierced, the yolks spill into the fondue, mingling in a brown-and-yellow slurry that doesn’t look pretty but tastes rich and satisfying. The king rarebit is the kind of sustenance that’ll set you right after a long night in the company of Sly Foxes and the PBC, something the Memphis menu will need once the Port Fishington buzz wears off.

Memphis Taproom [Philadelphia Weekly]
Memphis Taproom [Official Site]