Go Play in the Yards

This past Thursday night I attended the "Go Play in the Yards" class at Tria Fermentation School with Tom Kehoe of Yards Brewing.

The general idea of the class was to compare classic British Ale styles with contemporary creations. Tom also led us through the, now more complicated, history of Yards.

Here's a list of what was poured:

1. Yards Brawler
2. Batemans XXXB
3. Yards ESA
4. Fuller's ESB
5. Yards General Washington's Tavern Porter
6. Young's Double Chocolate Stout
7. Yards IPA
8. Morland "Old Speckled Hen" Fine English Ale
9. Yards Philly Pale Ale

The most interesting part of the class was "brewing" a beer, based upon the classes' voting, to be tapped at Tria Washington Square during Philly Beer Week.

The class selected the base beer, two hop varietals, and the potential addition of homemade mason jar bourbon chips. Yards Brawler won out with whole leaf Nugget hops and East Kent Golding hops. A tie-breaking vote nixed the addition of bourbon chips.

It'll be interesting to see how the beer turns out. The class seemed to be enthralled with the process. And let's just say, I've had enough "bung hole" jokes to last me through beer week.