Tria - We started the day out with lunch and a beer here. I had the Stoudt's Gold Lager, a light but flavorful beer that typifies the ability of East Coast brewers to craft tasty, sessionable lagers. Tria had good, reasonably priced food and a small, but solid draft and bottle list. The staff was very friendly and enthusiastic about our plan to hit as many Philly beer stops as possible in one day.

Nodding Head was the only Philly brewery we visited. I tried the BPA (Bill Payer Ale) a hoppy pale ale. I wanted to try the 3C Extreme Double IPA, but I had to remind myself that it was a marathon, not a sprint. An 8% beer wouldn't do me any favors later in the day. As at Tria, we encountered friendly folks here, including a bar patron who was having a beer on his lunch break. He recommended several places as I furiously took notes.

The Khyber is one of Philly's first beer bars and perhaps my favorite place of the day because of the mix of atmosphere and beer selection (they had mostly Pennsylvania beers with a few from other parts of the country such as Abita and Flying Dog). I sampled the Philadelphia Brewing Company's Kenzinger, a pilsner/kolsch hybrid that was an easy drinker but had enough flavor to be taken seriously. The bartender here was great and I wish we could've had a couple more rounds with him. The Khyber is the kind of place I'd go all the time if I lived in Philadelphia.

Brownie's - We stopped in here on the recommendation of the barkeep at the Khyber. Billed as an Irish pub, it reminded me of my local dive bar in SF (Dovre Club). Brownie's had a solid craft beer selection mixed with the usual macros and a pool table upstairs. I had a Founders Red Rye, a spicy rye beer from Michigan. We didn't do much socializing, just shot some pool and enjoyed one beer.

Standard Tap was one of my most anticipated stops of the day since they only carry draft beers produced within a 70-mile radius of the bar. I stuck with my pattern of having just one beer at each stop, but man, it took every ounce of my willpower not to drink half the beers on the board. My one beer ended up being the Sly Fox Pale Ale, which had an IPA-like hoppiness and good drinkability.

José Pistola's was the only spot in Philly that we visited twice. The first time, early in the evening, we stopped by to meet Suzanne Woods (a.k.a. the Beer Lass) who was celebrating her 30th birthday. We returned and ended the day here later and were fortunate enough to meet co-owner Casey Parker, who was a great guy. He was very generous with both his time and beer samples. José Pistola's is a combination beer bar/Tex-Mex restaurant. We didn't try the food, but the beer selection was excellent--a mix of regional craft beers and a healthy selection of Belgian and German imports.

Monk's Café - On the Beer Lass's recommendation, we had dinner at the world famous Monk's Cafe. Even though this trip was about drinking local, I knew we had to stop here. I didn't think it would be for dinner, but I'm glad things worked out that way. Monk's has a pretty good vegetarian selection--a seitan cake in a rich mushroom gravy with potatoes. It was just the kind of meal I needed to keep me going during a long day of drinking. As you might expect, the Belgian beer selection was great. I had a Rodenbach Grand Cru, a beer I always order when it's available.

All in all, it was a great beer-drinking day in Philadelphia. What really stood out for me were the people. Everywhere we went, we encountered friendly folks who were passionate about Philadelphia beer. It was refreshing to talk beer with people who were extremely knowledgeable but had none of the pretension you sometimes find in beer geeks. I can't wait to return to Philly to discover new beer spots and meet more beer enthusiasts. I'm thinking I'll need a lot more than 24 hours to do the city justice.

Tomorrow marks the annual release of Georgetown Brewing's Bob's Beer. The beer, a big, 6.3% brown ale, is a tribute to Charles "Bob" Hirsch, who died of leukemia just after his twenty-first birthday. Georgetown co-owner and brewer Manny Chao met Bob in 1999 when Chao was a counselor at a Vashon Island summer retreat for children with cancer. They kept in touch over the years and became close when Bob moved from Alaska to Seattle for treatment.

After Bob's death, his brother suggested that Manny brew a beer in his honor. When Georgetown first released the beer on Bob's birthday (May 14th) in 2005, they decided to donate 100% of the proceeds to the Ronald McDonald House in Bob's name. In 2007, Bob's Beer raised over $20,000, and Georgetown hopes to make it $30,000 this year.

If you'd like to have a pint of Bob's Brown Ale, you have some options. There's a release party at Nickerson St. Saloon tomorrow at 6pm, complete with raffle prizes and a limited release commemorative t-shirt. You can also head over to the brewery and get a growler of Bob's for $12. There's a two growler limit, and when I was at the brewery last month, they told me that supplies won't last for more than 24 hours. Finally, there will be a limited number of kegs of the beer in spots around Seattle. A full list can be found here.

• Several Cantillon lambics on draft along with several vintage bottles from the cellar
• Russian River's Deviation (Bottleworks IX)
• Selections from New Belgium Brewing include: La Folie (a wood-aged sour red), Eric's Ale (a sour peach), Le Terroir (wood-aged and dry-hopped sour brown) and a special version of Le Terroir called Foudre #3, which is not dry-hopped but instead transferred straight from the foudre to the keg (this beer was sent by New Belgium for Toronado's 20th Anniversary last year).
• Walkingman Bloot Voeste Bruin (a Belgian-style brown soured with Kombucha mushrooms)

In addition to these, expect some early surprises, perhaps some offerings from another renowned California brewery that knows it's way around Belgian-style beers (hint, hint)?

Brouwer's will serve the American sours in twelve ounce pours and the true Belgian lambics such as the Cantillons in six ounce portions. The festival will run until all the beers run dry. No telling how long that might be, but I'd say get there opening weekend if you can.

Brewer Drew Cluley used green chili peppers and poblanos in the Cerveza Rosanna from an old recipe that the brewery's owners, Charles and Rose Finkel, brought back since re-acquiring the brewery in 2006. I've gotta say that the Rosanna is a good beer. Served on cask, it's a clear amber color and you can pick up the faint smell of peppers in the aroma. Sweetness from the malt hits your tastebuds first and then spiciness hits the back of your mouth and throat. The burn from the chili lingers but doesn't overwhelm. Serving the beer on cask lets the flavors come out more strongly than if it had a lot of carbonation, something that works since the beer is solidly executed underneath the spiciness.

Most amber ales don't have flavors that jump out at you. I think the best examples of the style are ones that have a distinctively hoppy edge or some other characteristic that makes them unique. The Pike Cerveza Rosanna fits into that category by substituting a spicy edge for a hoppy edge. While a little of this beer may go a long way, it's a well-made and interesting beer that's worth trying. Unfortunately, it won't be on for long. The Pike is estimating that they only have enough of the cask left to make it through some of happy hour tonight. If you want to try some, you'd better get down there soon.