"ben franklin" news and stories

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

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

Celebrating Independence Day is a big deal all over America, but especially so in the City of Brotherly Love where that famous Declaration was signed.

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.

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." - Benjamin Franklin.

...or maybe not. Last month, the Elevator Brewery & Draught House turned some heads after issuing a recall on T-shirts they sold bearing the above quote and a likeness of the man to which it's attributed, Ben Franklin. Turns out the accuracy of the quote has been in question for quite a few years, and after hearing a talk from brewing historian Bob Skilnik, Elevator's Dick Stevens was convinced the quote was flawed and offered to replace the historically inaccurate T-shirts.

Most of us probably have heard the quote at some point, and many of us have used it in our internal monologue for justifying an unwarranted trip to the pub. But Skilnik does a solid job laying out his logic for debunking the quote on his Beer In Food website.

In actuality, Franklin was talking about wine when he wrote, "Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards; there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy." Whoops! Time to toss those koozies and pick up a corkscrew. Or you could just make your own beverage decisions instead of deferring to the founding fathers.

[via Realbeer.com] [Photo Credit: wikipedia.org]

Some bloke's birthday falls on the 17th January. Doesn't mean much to us Brits that Ben Franklin would have been 300 years old. 

In commemoration of this historic event, craft brewers from across America will join together to make and serve Poor Richard's Ale. There will be nearly 100 breweries in 35 states participating in this event. The name of the ale comes from Franklin's book Poor Richard's Almanack published in the mid 1700's.

The website - http://www.poorrichardsale.com (which actually links to the brewers association website) has a full list of where you can drink and buy the ale, the recipe from which is being shared.