Category Archives: Beer

Frankford Hall Fills Philly Beer Garden Niche

A lot of city residents have probably never spent much time in the neighborhood of Fishtown.  Until the past few years, there never had been much reason to head up to the Girard Avenue and north area.  Now, there is.  There are some terrific bars and restaurants in the area, including restaurant/music venue Johnny Brendas, Italian BYO Modo Mio, hipster hangout Kung Fu Necktie and sandwich shop extraordinaire Paesanos.  Memphis Taproom is also not too far away in Kensington.

Frankford Hall is both the latest addition to Stephen Starr empire and his first foray into Fishtown.  It’s themed as a beer garden in the true German tradition.  That means there’s no women waitresses coming around dressed with lederhosen carrying pitchers of beers in tables.  In fact, only tourist traps like the Munich Hofbräuhaus have such features.  Instead, Frankford Hall has walk-up bars to order your beer and food, and it has table service only for food deliveries.  It’s definitely different than how people in town are used to dining and drinking in Philly.

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Craft Beer Store Sticks Out in South Philly

South Philadelphia has certain areas – such as Newbold and the Passyunk Avenue neighborhood that have gotten with the times in terms of modern establishments (think the likes of South Philadelphia Tap Room, Brew, Cantina Los Caballitos, Green Aisle Grocery, etc.).  The vast majority of it, however, still clings to the older establishments and is reluctant to change.

So it was rather surprising that while driving down South Columbus Boulevard past Washington, I passed by an establishment named Beer Heaven, The Craft Beer Store.  Shocked, more than anything else, I had to stop on by.

Apparently, the store, which is in the same strip mall shopping center as Pep Boys and the costume store, has been open for about six months.  It’s relatively small but features some pretty heavy hitters in the craft beer world in its two rows of refrigerators and other shelves among.  There’s Alesmith Speedway Stout, which is not readily available in the city.  Two months ago, it had the famed Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout.  Other good selections abound among its 850 plus beers.

Pricing is relatively fair for the quality of beer you’re buying  (right in line with the pricing at Brew and Food and Friends).  Plus, it’s open on Sundays, which is a big bonus.  So, the next time you decide you really need to get to the costume superstore, make sure to drop on by to pick up some good beer as well.

Drinking Alcohol on the Night Before a Marathon

In my months of training for my marathon, I have learned one indefatigable truth: drinking a lot of alcohol on the night before a long run is quite detrimental for your performance.

Sure, there are the typical circumstances that generally accompany consumption of a few drinks, such as possibly being out late and having less sleep.  Then, there are the other adverse physical effects.  Alcohol, of course, is a diuretic, which leads to dehydration.  It causes the body to lose fluids quicker, impairs performance and makes those long runs even tougher.  By extension, drinking alcohol also significantly increases the rate of urination.  There have been times I’ve gone out on long runs (after a night of drinking) and had to stop to use the restroom multiple times.

Not surprisingly, most articles providing advice on running marathons generally discourage drinking on the night before the race.  At the same time, many runners are used to drinking beer or wine on almost a nightly basis.  It can certainly be done.  Witness former U.S. Olympic marathoner Deena Kastor, who used to drink a glass of wine before races, including before her bronze medal performance.  Hey, if it’s good enough for an Olympic bronze medal, it’s good enough for me.  If nothing else, it would help calm the nerves, and, after all, you shouldn’t stop what you have been doing all throughout training right before the marathon.

With that said, it appears to be ok, for those who are used to drinking wine or beer, to have ONE (and only one) glass of wine on the night before the race, particularly having it early in the evening with dinner.  Accompanying the drink with adequate water afterwards is also for the best.  Of course, if my performance during the race is below par or if I end up having to stop for restroom breaks multiple times, I also then have a built-in excuse.