Beer

For David April, the improbable road from Fishtown to GQ Spain started with a run and ended with a beer. A Kenzinger, no doubt. And a toast. "To the professor!" "To the professor!" echoed the endorphined crowd Thursday night at the American Sardine Bar in Point Breeze. To the professor? Is this Gilligan's Island? A brainy fraternity? No, it is the Fishtown Beer Runners' weekly homage to the scholar - Professor Manuel J. Castillo of the School of Medicine, University of Granada, Spain - who supplied them with a rather happy, not to mention hoppy, organizing principle.

THE "WORLD'S BEST BEER" finally comes to America, you're damn straight Jason Johnson is going to get himself a sixpack. By 4:30 a.m. yesterday, the Acme meat cutter was first in line outside a Delaware liquor store, patient but shivering in anticipation of the long-awaited arrival of Westvleteren 12. "Hell, I want to try this beer so much, I was ready to tailgate this motherf-----," said Johnson, 32, of Wilmington. The prayerful monks who brew the strong, dark ale at a Belgian Trappist monastery would no doubt cringe at Johnson's salty language.

Americans have long been inspired by the beers of Belgium. But the admiration is mutual. This 2012 edition of Duvel's Tripel Hop is a stunning example of the kind of bounce-back influence Americans are having on Belgians, too. This annual limited edition of the classic strong ale (9.5 percent alcohol) adds one variety of U.S. hops to its standard Euro hop duo of Saaz-Saaz and Styrian Golding. Last year it was Amarillo. Aromatically dry-hopped Citra is the choice this year, and the result is simply gorgeous.

IT WILL be a sad day, a generation from now or so, when everyone does his or her Christmas shopping online. That will be the death of the Great Xmas Beer Run. Most beer lovers have their own version of the annual pursuit, I'm sure. An hour, an afternoon, a weekend devoted to scooping up special beers of the season. A favorite winter warmer, a mixed case of spicy holiday ales, a gift for sharing, an oversize bottle for a celebratory toast. Nondrinkers might consider it a waste of time, unproductive hours lost to the pursuit of nothing more than a bottle of beer.

A giant Hershey bar brushed past me, waved, and stepped onto the escalator - and I'll admit I did a double take. It was morning. Hadn't had my coffee. And the prospect of breakfasting with a cast of human-sized Kit Kat bars and York Peppermint Patties at the Hershey Lodge was only just coming into focus. Of course there were walking Reese's Peanut Butter Cups here: Central Pennsylvania's cocoa capital, a playland of amusement rides, endless sweets, and candy-themed attractions that run straight through the holidays, is where every kid's chocolate fantasies can almost come to life.

WITH THE HOLIDAYS approaching, my thoughts are on eating good food with great beer. As usual, I have a bunch of suggestions. But first, I want to make a pitch to support those who don't have enough to eat. This season, I'm partnering with Philabundance, the city's food bank, to drive hunger from our community. It's a very simple program that I'm calling Eat, Drink & Be Generous, and it works like this: The next time you buy a sixpack, I want you to plunk down an equal amount to help buy food for the needy.

A prosecutor told jurors this morning that a former assistant district attorney who allegedly struck a teen and left him lying in the road with serious injuries drank an estimated 140 ounces of Guinness Stout before the crash. Prosecutor Joseph McGettigan outlined the case in Delaware County this morning against Michael Donahue, who is accused of the hit and run. Donahue's defense attorney didn't dispute his client struck the Haverford Township teen or that he left the scene but said he was not drunk.

SATURDAY IS Learn How to Homebrew Day, and I'm here to tell anyone who's tempted: Forget about it. It takes hours to make and weeks till it's ready to drink. It's messy. Something often goes wrong. Sometimes it doesn't taste so great. And it's not 1980 anymore. Back then there were, like, two beers in America, and one of them was Schlitz . Today, who needs home-brew? There are about 10,000 beers - professionally made and ready to drink - that you can enjoy through the modern convenience known as the debit card.

Sure, they said to stay off the roads. But plenty of people took advantage of Sandy's slow start Monday morning to mob the few stores still open in search of last-minute storm supplies. At the Lowes on Roosevelt Boulevard near Grant Avenue, employees helped bob Woudenberg, 39, load a generator into the back of his car. "I've been running around trying to get a generator the past few days with no luck. I probably should have been more proactive a week or so ago," Woudenberg said with a laugh.

WHEN THE BIG ONE drops, I suggest we all head to Philadelphia Brewing Co. 's massive 19th-century brewhouse in Kensington. Have you ever seen the rock-solid walls and floors in that place? They'd hold up to all but a direct hit, and even if the rest of the city is a smoldering wasteland, we'd have plenty of beer for the apocalypse. People aren't so consumed by the threat of a nuclear holocaust these days. It's terrorists that have us most worried. And zombies. But 50 years ago, at the height of the Cold War, atomic bombs were a big deal.