Nodding Head’s Royal Stumble has certainly been in stealth mode. The July 11th beer festival where the brewers bring the beer to you only has six tickets left as of this morning.

Call now to reserve yours. 215-569-9525

Nodding Head [Official Site]

Update: Sold Out

Ah, Beer Week, the only 10-day week of the year! And it’s just 14 days away! So many numbers! So many events! So many beers! So many days! Weeeee!

Joe Sixpack wets our whistles with a sampling of new brews that will be making their first appearances during the festival. Who are these frothy debutantes? Sixy has a full list over on Beer Radar, but a few that stand out are  Philadelphia Brewing Imperial Stout, Nodding Head Da Phunk and Victory WildDevil. Plan now on taking one of these ladies out for a whirl during Beer Week – they’re going to have a very full dance card.

New Beers [Beer Radar]
Philly Beer Week [Official Site]

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]

OK, we’ve safely gotten our tickets so we’ll share with you that Nodding Head’s Royal Stumble is set for Saturday, July 12th.

This year’s theme will be mud wrestling. Local breweries will be providing kegs of their best unfiltered beers to see who is crowned champion.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the Royal Stumble, it is an event that pits brewers against each other as they race to empty their kegs first. So that means no lines, instead the brewers come to you, pitcher in hand urging you to try their beer.

Tickets are $40 and can be purchased over the phone by credit card or with cash at the bar.

UPDATE: SOLD OUT

Nodding Head [Official Site]

The hotly anticipated Fishtown spot Memphis Taproom gets one step closer to opening. They’ve hired a chef, Jesse Kimball, formerly of LaCroix. Fancy!

Prior to LaCroix, Jesse spent two years mastering New American cuisine at Matyson, the popular 19th Street BYOB. Jesse got his Philadelphia start as an apprentice to Food and Wine’s Best New Chef 2004, Dominic Filoni at Bianca, in Bryn Mawr. He received a culinary degree and the Best Young Culinary award from the Art Institute in Philadelphia.

Sounds like a nice pedigree to us. Also, say goodbye to Spanky this Friday:

Brendan Hartranft (okay, “Spanky”) one of the owners of the Memphis Taproom, and (almost former) Nodding Head Main Man will be pouring his last beers there this Friday (2/29).  Come out to say hello and goodbye from lunchtime to 7pm.  After Friday he’ll be all Memphis Taproom, all the time.

Hiring a chef and quitting your day job? Translation: opening very soon!

Memphis Taproom [Official Site]

City Paper asks if there are any good spots to watch sports in this city. A surprisingly difficult question. But luckily for us they came up with some varied and decent answers.

Are there any places in this city where a discerning sports fan can go to see a game, drink good beer, enjoy decent grub and not have to listen to the rantings of overemotional lunatics? Are there bars here — not sports bars, necessarily, just good bars — that serve up both plenty of college and pro football action and a decent atmosphere?

• Misconduct Tavern
• Nodding Head Brewery and Restaurant
• McNally’s Tavern
• Barristers Bar & Grille
• Eulogy Belgian Tavern

Pint, Pass & Kick [City Paper]

City Paper lists their favorite bar fries and what kind of beer to wash them down.

1. Locust Rendezvous – waffle fries covered in onions and jalapeños
2. N. 3rd – Served with chipotle Asian chile mayo
3. Nodding Head – With a side of bourbon jalapeño mayo
4. Royal Tavern – Classic crab fries
5. Sugar Mom’s – Intensely spicy Spanish fries

Bar Fries for Bar Flies [City Paper]

Minor holidays in America go one of two ways, they become a reason to have appliance sales or a reason to party it up. It looks like Bloomsday is taking the second path. Bloomsday celebrates the works of Irish author James Joyce and in particular his book Ulysses, which takes place on June 16th 1904 in Dublin.

Now sure there are cerebral events taking place like at the Rosenbach Museum but Foobooz is naturally more interested in the drinking-related events.

Friday night there is the Bloomsday 101 Bar Crawl.
Show up at Fergie’s Pub at 6 PM for a crash course in Ulysses. Then head out on a bar crawl that includes Fergie’s, Irish Pub at 1123 Walnut Street, Nodding Head and McGlinchey’s.

On Saturday McGillin’s Old Ale House will feature and anyone can bring in a book by James Joyce for a free beer.

McGillin’s Old Ale House [Official Site]
Bloomsday Events [Rosenbach Museum]

Joe Sixpack lays out his favorite “extreme beers” for summer. Extreme in this case meaning a “beer that’s made either with excessive amounts of traditional ingredients (malt and hops) or well-crafted with nontraditional ingredients.”

• Ich Bin Ein Berliner Weisse – Nodding Head
• Monkey Knife Fight – Nodding Head
• Festina Peche – Dogfish Head
• Apricot Coriander – Bethlehem Beer Works
• Strawberry Wheat – Lancaster Brewing
• Monk’s Cafe Flemish Sour Ale – Monk’s Cafe
• Triple H – Legacy Brewing

For your summer brew, it’s OK to go to extremes [Philadelphia Daily News]
Joe Sixpack [Official Site]

It’s American Craft Beer Week so why not have a delicious beer from a local microbrewery such as Nodding Head or Triumph Brewing Co.