The Kite and Key in Philadelphia. Photo: Kite and Key.

Want to up the ante? Name your bar after one of our best-known founding fathers. (Kite ... key ... Ben Franklin ... get it?) The popular Philadelphia watering hole Kite and Key seems on top of its North American of events, including our brethren to the north. Those stopping by for Canada Day will find a firkin of Yards Brawler, boasting a touch of maple syrup.

But the big event hereabouts is July Fourth, and Kite and Key will be pulling pints of -- what else? -- Yards Ales of the Revolution. Inspired by colonial beers or brewed from actual historical recipes, brews like the unique, rosemary-like Poor Richard's Tavern Spruce Ale or highly drinkable Thomas Jefferson's Tavern Ale are about as close as one can get to a taste of history. Kite and Key will be offering up Yards on tap throughout the Independence Day holiday weekend.

Superb chicken wings and the current Kite and Key draft list, after the jump.

Continue reading What's On Tap, Fourth of July Edition - Philadelphia's Kite and Key

The Great Lost Bear celebrates their 30th anniversary this week. Photo: greatlostbear.com

Continue reading What's On Tap, Portland, Maine - The Great Lost Bear

The Green Dragon in Portland, Oregon. Photo: mrzarquon/Flickr

Continue reading What's On Tap, Portland - Green Dragon

A weekly look at the draft selection in beer-friendly bars across the country.

Continue reading What's On Tap - Your Favorite Beer Bars

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A weekly look at the draft selection in beer-friendly bars across the country.

The San Diego area has so many great breweries -- AleSmith, Green Flash, Port, just to pull a few off a list in alphabetical order -- that it certainly needs its fair share of great beer bars to showcase the local SoCal talent. They've got the goods. Perennial powerhouse Hamilton's Tavern always keeps a mighty draft list. Significant start-ups like Toronado's recent San Diego location offers tons of taps. Even Stone Brewery gets in on the action, featuring not only their own brews but favorites from around California and beyond.

Today, however, O'Brien's Pub gets the nod for a trend worth supporting: draft beer archives! Not only do they offer up their own "On Tap" link via their website, but patrons can also view a complete list of every brew they've ever had on draft ... or at least for the past few years. "It's everything we've ever posted on the website," says owner Tom Nickel, "but the site only dates back to 2007." Still, two years of beers is the kind of comprehensive compiling that What's On Tap nerds can get behind!

After the jump, a reprint of the most current draft list off their website.

Continue reading What's On Tap, San Diego - O'Brien's Pub

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A weekly look at the draft selection in beer-friendly bars across the country.

Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer vacation season, so we turn our attention to one of America's largest tourist destinations, Las Vegas. Sin City has every indulgence one could ever hope for, and great beer is no exception. With a nice tap selection and an absurdly hefty bottled beer list featuring more than 900 possibilities, one of Vegas's best places to find rare brews is the Freakin' Frog.

Located across from UNLV's campus, Freakin' Frog may sound more aimed at college kids than tourists, but the bar is tailored to anyone looking for unique beers -- it boasts 900 bottles, 600 whiskeys, 300 tequilas and 15 taps. With an unassuming location in a strip mall a couple miles east of that "other" Strip, the Frog is a perfect alternative to the madness people associate with this desert city. "We're not a college bar," says owner Adam Carmer. "We're an intellectual, alcoholic coffee shop. We get people from all over the city, all over the country, all over the world."

Check out the Freakin' Frog's draft list after the jump.

Continue reading What's On Tap, Las Vegas - Freakin' Frog

A weekly look at the draft selection in beer-friendly bars across the country.

If all goes well for the Cleveland Cavaliers, sweeping their way through the NBA Playoffs, they'll only have four more games in the Rock-'n'-Roll Capital this season, giving both local and out-of-town fans a chance to drop into one of 14 outposts of the Winking Lizard Tavern.

Sports fans and the craft-craving crowd don't always see eye to eye. "This is the Midwest," partner John Lane says, "Unlike cities like Portland and Seattle where you can't find a yellow beer, [some people here] just want to quaff a big one."

But Lane realizes the importance of having a great craft selection too, with Stone Levitation Ale sidling right up alongside Bud Light. Mass-market brews are the biggest sellers, but Lane strives to get special selections on tap at all Lizard lounges with recent events from craft brewers like Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada. So though Lane jokes that he "wishes the Cavs would lose one or two to extend the season," (careful, buddy) patrons know great suds will be on tap all year long.

Find yesterday's complete draft list from the Winking Lizard Tavern's Gateway District location after the jump.

Continue reading What's On Tap, Cleveland - Winking Lizard Tavern

A weekly look at the draft selection in beer-friendly bars and eateries across the country.

With Mother's Day just around the bend we hunted far and wide for an establishment whose name pays lip service to mama, happily stumbling upon the tiny but tantalizing tap selection at Cambridge (Mass.)' Hungry Mother. Though she only boasts five suds, they're solid: "Craft and quality beers pair just as well with food as wine [does]," says owner John Kessen. "Although [our draft list] is small, it's a really interesting one and a good cross section of styles."

This Mother plays favorites with careful curation:

5. Stone Ruination IPA is one of the most intense and highly regarded imperial IPAs on the market.

4. Bear Republic's Hop Rod Rye is another nationally renowned India Pale Ale but, since it is brewed with 20 percent rye malt), it boasts a distinctly different flavor.

3. Fisherman's Brew, a local amber lager, donates part of their proceeds to out-of-work fisherman.

Read Mother's last two picks after the jump.

Continue reading What's On Tap, Cambridge (Mother's Day Edition) - Hungry Mother

Some brews, such as Guinness, shine in colder weather while others are more suited to the beachy crowd (ever seen a Corona commercial?). As per American craft beers, plenty of breweries have a summer seasonal in their arsenals, but these eight feature a whole slew of suds to keep you refreshed despite the heat waves (we listed our faves alphabetically).

8. Abita - Maybe it's the local swelter in which they were created, but Louisiana's Abita brews seem well-suited to any hot day, especially Purple Haze, Restoration and Strawberry Harvest -- as fruity as it sounds.

7. Bell's - Some say that spring isn't actually here until Bell's Oberon is released (a notion we far prefer to a neurotic groundhog) and their Two-Hearted Ale may be the best summer IPA in the biz.

6. Brooklyn - Sure, they offer a Summer Ale, but with year-rounds including a nice Weisse, a baseball-adorned Pennant Ale and a refreshing Pilsner, summer in Brooklyn is secure.

5. Harpoon - Harpoon has an aptly named Summer Beer made in the Kölsch style, but their UFO Hefeweizen garnished with a touch of citrus is one of the most drinkable American wheats on the market. The light, crisp Harpoon IPA is only mildly hoppy and is another winner.

Continue reading Favorite Summer Beers

A weekly look at the draft selection in beer-friendly bars across the country.

If your definition of summertime doesn't include barbecue, beer and baseball it's time make some serious corrections to your agenda -- like, with a bright red pen.

In Detroit, those properly schooled in brews amble on over to Slows Bar BQ a joint that caters to fans of all three types of fanatic. Just a mile or so down the road from Comerica Park and in the shadow of the old Tiger Stadium, Slows is a popular pre- and post-game stop for Tigers fans. Manager Terry Perrone notes that its primary appeal is the food: "We're a barbecue restaurant first and foremost." Terry isn't stopping suds snobs with a nose for microbrews from slipping through the door, too, though.

With renowned Michigan names like Bell's, Founders and New Holland, Slows has no shortage of local breweries to draw from and stocks as many as possible: of 20 taps Perrone says they try to keep "no less than 14 from Michigan or the region." Some, such as Great Lakes Grass Roots Ale and Dragonmead Corktown Red, aren't readily available anywhere else. So though Slows puts eats first, Peronne admits, "We see more and more [beer lovers] as the notoriety gets out that we are a great destination to find these local beers."

Check out yesterday's complete draft list after the jump. (Got a fave on the list? Let us know what we should be sipping this summer).

Continue reading What's On Tap, Detroit - Slows Bar BQ

Mamma mia!

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A weekly look at the draft selection in beer-friendly bars across the country.

Continue reading What's On Tap, Anchorage - Humpy's Great Alaskan Alehouse

We look at what has the beer blogs bubbling these days.

1. Tonight's screening of "Beer Wars" -- a "no holds barred exploration of the U.S. beer industry" -- is generating a lot of chatter, some positive and some not so much.
2. A "documentary" from St. Louis's Schlafly Brewery is much less controversial. The takeaway? Beer is good.
   
3. Kasper On Tap mulls over the best state for suds-o-philes to live based on the brewery-to-population ratio. Mississippi, you're in trouble, with only one brewery for your nearly 3 million residents.
4. Brookston Beer Bulletin discusses Life after Anheuser-Busch, a report on what high-profile former A-B employees are doing since the company was bought out by InBev.
   
5. Rolling Rock is up for sale. Want to buy it?
6. Beernews.org has updated their Craft Beer Releases Calendar, an excellent way to see what seasonals and new releases are soon to hit shelves.
7. Lyke 2 Drink asks "Are Beer Festivals Recession Proof?" (His answer: Yes, for now.)
8. Finally, according to DRAFT Magazine, a beer at the Masters only cost $2! By modern sporting event standards, that is amazing. We wouldn't believe it unless we saw it with our own eyes: Was anyone there?
   

A weekly look at the draft selection at beer-friendly bars across the country.

Continue reading What's On Tap, St. Louis - Bailey's Chocolate Bar

It's baseball season, and we're a little obsessed 'round these parts. The MLB kicked the season off on Sunday when the Braves beat the Phillies, but for us Slashfoodies baseball is as much about beers and brats as it is about worrying how our teams will fare.

With that in mind, this week's Slashfood Ate (8) is dedicated to recent brew-related stadium stories.

1. Philadelphia Daily News' Joe Sixpack hints at some of the new draft beers at the Phillies stadium.
   
2. D.C. Sports Bog brags about the beers at Nats Park this year. And rightfully so. Do any other ballparks offer up Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA?
   
3. Not too far up the road in Bal'more, Kasper on Tap reflects on what Camden Yards is serving.
4. CNBC breaks the story on which stadiums boast cheapest beer prices in the league (the Pirates) and which are the most pricey (thanks a lot, Red Sox Nation).
5. Raucous Yankees fans can once again purchase beer in the bleachers. ...
6. ... But in a sign that the new Yanks stadium is still out of touch with the times, 24-ounce cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon will retail for an absurd $9.
7. The New York Mets turn up their noses at such piracy, lowering beer prices at their new stadium, Citi Field.
8. Sports fans, keep your boozin' in line or all of the above will be a moot point: Alcohol sales were banned for game two of the Tigers-Blue Jays series after drunken revelers ruined a rowdy opener.
   

Seen any interesting new suds offerings as your local ballpark? Can you even afford MLB beer prices in this economy?

A weekly look at the draft selection at beer-friendly bars across the country.

The city of Milwaukee has long been known as Beer Town USA. Considered "the beer capital of the world" at the turn of the 20th century, it was home to four of the world's largest breweries (Blatz, Miller, Pabst and Schlitz).

Nowadays less than 1 percent of Milwaukee's workforce is employed by the brewing industry, but as long as Miller stays in business, Old Milwaukee remains on store shelves and the city keeps calling their baseball team the Brewers, it will continue to earn its moniker. Like many cities, the area is seeing a boom in craft-beer culture. Smaller brewers like Lakefront and Sprecher have national followings and the city is home to a number of brewpubs.

One of Milwaukee's most highly regarded watering holes is Romans' Pub, which DRAFT and Imbibe Magazines have called among the best beer bars in the nation. Indeed, 30 selections grace today's tap list. Sounds like Wisconsinites like to stay relatively local when they booze, though: Owner Mike Romans informed us that Goose Island IPA from nearby Chicago is their most popular brew. Locals craving a beer can simply check the list: "As soon as one gets changed out, it goes up on our site."

A sampling of suds on tap is after the jump. Got a favorite microbrew? Let us know in the comments.

Continue reading What's On Tap, Milwaukee - Romans' Pub