Sure, Portland, Oregon still produces great suds (Widmer, Hopworks)—and, yes, you P-town natives are so cool because you all can telemark ski—but the crown of Best Beer Town has been swiped from you guys and smuggled back east to the scrappy and beer-soaked City of Brotherly Love. Here’s why:
The New Brew School
There are dozens of beer makers in and around Philadelphia that are crushing national and international taste-test contests like the Great American Beer Festival and Beer World Cup. Translation: Philly is producing big-flavored craft beers that are super drinkable. The notables: Victory, Iron Hill, Sly Fox, Stoudts, Nodding Head, and Triumph. Sit and spin, Portland!
The mayor taps the first keg of Philly Beer Week.
This beer festival isn’t some piddly two-tent deal. The early-June drunkfest is a true citywide brew blowout featuring free home-brew classes and, of course, millions of homegrown kegs to the head. A source* tells Maxim that the teachers’ union had the school year shortened so they could booze up at Beer Week.
*Some toothless guy at the Philly bus station
It was America’s first beer town.
The Constitution was hatched while dudes in wigs knocked back beer in Philadelphia taverns.
Ben Franklin says so:
“Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants to see us happy.”
Get more bubbly insight:
The 25 Best New Beers in America
Drink Beer, Live Longer
America's Best Beer Jobs
Beer Must-Have