POTTSTOWN >> Beer lovers were left thirsty for more Saturday after craft breweries brought their best firkins to Memorial Park.
Ale aficionados and craft beer connoisseurs crowded the park Saturday afternoon for the first ever Pottstown Firkin Fest. Dozens of local and national breweries representing their own version of the firkin set up shop to give Pottstown a taste of their specialty brews.
A firkin is a type of barrel that holds cask-conditioned ale. According to the Firkin Fest website, the beer has less carbonation and, as a result of being unfiltered, is more cloudy and has a “complex flavor and aromatic profile.” The specific type of beer allows brewers to experiment with different flavors and since all the beers available at the event were brewed specifically for the Pottstown Firkin Fest, guests got a unique opportunity to taste and admire the craft.
“Sometimes they (the brewers) experiment so they’ll throw in strawberries, or Hidden River has strawberries and vanilla bean in one of their IPAs. Another is an English dark mild ale and they have chocolate and habanera peppers,” said Tim Hennessey, creator of Pottstown’s Firkin Fest. “Lancaster Brewing Company brought a double chocolate Stout, which is a specialty beer for them but they’ve added coconut. It’s conditioned on coconut. So we have some really fantastic beers.”
Hennessey, who was also the driving force behind the successful Pottstown Brewfest in October, started Pottstown Firkin Fest as a way to bring economic redevelopment to Pottstown. It was created after the Brewfest in October drew in so much success that people who attended could hardly stand to wait a whole year for the next one.
“It all started last year at the Pottstown Brewfest,” explained Hennessey. “On the way out we had attendees say that they were really excited for the next event but they didn’t want to wait a whole year for a quality beer fest to happen in Pottstown. They asked me if we could create something within six months in the spring and at the time I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ But it actually made sense as time went on.”
At last year’s Brewfest, proceeds were given to the Elks Lodge for repair and upkeep. For Firkin Fest, proceeds will be benefitting the Pottstown Regional Public Library.
Guests eagerly enjoyed tastings of 40 different firkins from 24 brewers, picking their favorites as they progressed through the trials.
“I think my favorite right now is probably the Frecon Cider,” said Frank Urbanski, of Gilbertsville. “They have a lot of different kinds of breweries here so you have the giant ones, a lot of the really small ones, they even have a home brew one over there which is really cool and that really grabbed our attention. So it’s nice if you love beer. I think it’s a really cool place to come.”
Aside from the variety of craft brews, Hennessey’s plan to use the event to help redevelop Pottstown may just be an effective one according to some guests. However, if there was one criticism that guests shared it was that the event was not quite big enough.
“I like to go to different beer fests, Conshy, Lansdale, Philly,” said Mike Bru, as he stood at one of the brewery tents. ” In my opinion, this is way too small. If you’re going to have a beer fest and they know how many people they had last year, and they did it in the fall, if they have it in the spring why not make it twice as big?”
Bru wasn’t wrong about the number of people Brewfest attracted last year. The event brought in 1,300 people, which Hennessey said made the decision for many brewers to come back to Pottstown an easy one.
But just because Firkin Fest was smaller doesn’t mean it didn’t make an impression. The event brought in some guests from out of state and some who were seasoned beer fest attendees with insight on what Firkin Fest brought to the table.
“The firkins are completely different because usually at other beer festivals you just see breweries coming with what they normally make. But here there are all the different mixes that happen in the firkins and there are things that you would never see anywhere else except probably today right here,” said Alex Torok of Rockville, MD who was attending the event with his father, Frank Torok.
Featured breweries included known brands such as Troegs, Weyerbacher, Yards and Stone Brewing Company in addition to smaller breweries such as Manayunk Brewing, Conshohocken Brewing Company and Lancaster Brewing Company.
At the end of the day, a group of judges was tasked with naming the best beer at the event. Conshohocken Brewing and Weyerbacher tied for first place. While Conshohocken Brewing brought their Puddler’s Row ESB with Cinnamon, Weyerbacher brought along their Wit Fruit Explosion and Banana Hammock Monks beer.
After determining the success of the event, Hennessey said they will take some steps to decide whether Firkin Fest will be brought back next year along with Pottstown Brewfest.
“We’ll see. We’re going to essentially debrief and talk about what went well and what didn’t go well in a couple of weeks. If it goes well and it was very well received today then it very well could come back next year,” said Hennessey.
