Craft Beer

As a teenager stacking barrels after school at his family's brewery in Pottsville, Pa., Richard L. Yuengling Jr. was encouraged by plant workers to avoid a career in the family business. America's taste for national brands such as Budweiser, Coors, and Miller, they said, was going to put them all out of a job. Undeterred, Yuengling bought D.G Yuengling & Son Inc. from his father in 1985, and built it into the maker of the country's best-selling craft beer brand. As the company's value soared in the last decade amid a surge in demand for craft brews, Yuengling became a billionaire.

FORGET SOCCER MOMS and NASCAR dads. In November, the presidency could go to the candidate who attracts the most craft-beer drinkers. Don't laugh, because it appears President Obama's re-election campaign has already taken note of an astounding phenomenon in 2008 election results - with the hope of a suds-soaked repeat in 2012. It's a stunning and previously unnoticed voting trend that almost certainly explains the presence last week of a craft brewer among the Democratic National Convention speakers, as well as the recent release of the Obama White House home-brew recipes.

A 3 1/2-barrel handmade batch of pale ale is simmering just over his shoulder, filling the garage-size brewery with the sweetest aroma known to man, when Tim Hanna, one of four partners in the brand-new Tuckahoe Brewing Co., mentions the unfortunate gorilla in the room: "We're never going to totally get past C oors Light and M iller Lite down here. " "Down here" is the Jersey Shore, land of Snooki and Smirnoff Ice. Down here, "good beer" means it's cold, wet and half-price during happy hour.

Craft beers are blooming in the Philadelphia region, giving hops-heads craving big flavors plenty to get excited about. Ten small breweries in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware earned spots on a recent list of the 100 best in the world. Pennsylvania had five in the ranking by RateBeer.com, third behind California, with 10, and Michigan, with seven. "I think eastern Pennsylvania is the best place in the United States to be a beer drinker right now," said Brian O'Reilly, brewmaster at Sly Fox Brewhouse, which came in 54th and has locations in Phoenixville and Royersford.

Matt Hall majored in business administration at Bloomsburg University, but even in college, he knew there was only one thing he wanted to do: brew beer. Traditionally, the world of craft brewing has been small and insular - like a hidden pub on a back alley. But in Philadelphia, where the roster of upscale gastropubs is ever growing and Philly Beer Week is fast becoming a civic holiday, opportunities to launch a successful full-time career in beer-making are expanding as quickly as the head of a carelessly poured pint.

Remember when wine became popular enough to be "the new beer"? And then it flipped when craft beer became "the new wine"? It was inevitable the two would collide someday into one crazy fermented creature, and now we have it, an all-out "Bine" Revolution with everyone from Sonoma (Russian River) to Portland, Maine, (Allagash) aging beer in wine barrels. Victory is the latest to go grape guns on their brews, with the recent limited release of White Monkey, their popular Golden Monkey tripel aged three months in used chardonnay casks from Wente Vineyards.

Selling out the brewery to Anheuser-Busch InBev is, in the eyes of craft beer drinkers, the equivalent of ditching Gryffindor for Voldemort and the Death Eaters. So it's no wonder Chicago's homegrown Goose Island has taken the beer-geek heat since its sale to the Bud Who Shall Not Be Named in 2011. The good news: since production of Goose Islands' mass-market brews (like 312 Urban Wheat) have been moved to Colorado and New York for a national rollout, there's more room at the original Chicago brewery for its more interesting efforts.

Scott Rudich got a text one November night from his pal Rich DiLiberto, who was in a bar drinking bad beer and listening to a bad cover band. "We should either start a brewery or a band," DiLiberto wrote. Rudich's reply: "Neither of us play instruments. " And so it was that the grains of Round Guys Brewery were set to steep. Of course, that dream would ferment for nearly 31/2 years before these two pharmaceutical workers would finally open the doors to their Lansdale brewery in early March, when Rudich could legitimately pick up the phone and say with a wink: "Hello, I am the yeast whisperer.

In a wonky world like craft beer, where small-batch is often most sexy, it's easy to overlook a pioneer that's grown large with success. But don't snooze when walking past those piles of Sierra Nevada in your local beer store. This trail-blazer of the peppy pale ale, now in its 31st year and the second-largest craft beer producer in America (after Sam Adams' Boston Brewing), can still bring the flavor when it comes to seasonals and special offerings. Their Southern Hemisphere Harvest last year was one of the freshest hops-forward brews I've sipped.

Craft beer in cans is a rising trend, but it's especially great for summer, when the can's lightweight portability and quick-chilling powers are perfect for a picnic road trip. So it makes perfect sense that Lancaster Brewing Co.'s first canned beer is a crisp kölsch that's perfect for the hot weather, too. An uncommon American rendition of the light golden ales made famous in Cologne, this is actually the second kölsch made recently by one of the region's German-centric breweries (with Stoudt's slightly fuller-bodied Karnival Kölsch being the other)

WHAT'S with all the beer and food pairings? It's getting that you can't down a mug without someone shoving a plate of ale-braised Brussels sprouts under your chin. Wednesday night, Nick Macri, the chef at Southwark, at 4th and Bainbridge, laid out a four-course menu pairing imaginative dishes (seafood stew and hot-pepper relish) with suds from Ardmore's Tired Hands Brewery. Friday, the new Victoria Freehouse, on Front Street in Old City, will throw down a variety of British-style bitters and complementary English-themed plates.

Remember when wine became popular enough to be "the new beer"? And then it flipped when craft beer became "the new wine"? It was inevitable the two would collide someday into one crazy fermented creature, and now we have it, an all-out "Bine" Revolution with everyone from Sonoma (Russian River) to Portland, Maine, (Allagash) aging beer in wine barrels. Victory is the latest to go grape guns on their brews, with the recent limited release of White Monkey, their popular Golden Monkey tripel aged three months in used chardonnay casks from Wente Vineyards.

Selling out the brewery to Anheuser-Busch InBev is, in the eyes of craft beer drinkers, the equivalent of ditching Gryffindor for Voldemort and the Death Eaters. So it's no wonder Chicago's homegrown Goose Island has taken the beer-geek heat since its sale to the Bud Who Shall Not Be Named in 2011. The good news: since production of Goose Islands' mass-market brews (like 312 Urban Wheat) have been moved to Colorado and New York for a national rollout, there's more room at the original Chicago brewery for its more interesting efforts.

IT WAS inevitable that Pennsylvania's new breed of cheese-makers would bond with the state's thriving brewers. Artisan creameries and breweries are small, locally-owned businesses with handmade products that typically are unique, full-flavored alternatives to their run-of-the-mill mainstream competitors. Also, as Howard Field of Farm Fromage in Lancaster observed, "We're both nuts. " He added: "We're kind of O.C.D. We both like to adjust this and that. We're always trying different techniques.

As a teenager stacking barrels after school at his family's brewery in Pottsville, Pa., Richard L. Yuengling Jr. was encouraged by plant workers to avoid a career in the family business. America's taste for national brands such as Budweiser, Coors, and Miller, they said, was going to put them all out of a job. Undeterred, Yuengling bought D.G Yuengling & Son Inc. from his father in 1985, and built it into the maker of the country's best-selling craft beer brand. As the company's value soared in the last decade amid a surge in demand for craft brews, Yuengling became a billionaire.

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.

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.

IN HONOR OF the centennial anniversary of its sinking on April 5, 1912, the Franklin Institute offers "Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition," Saturday through April 7, 2013. The show illustrates the ship's conception, aftermath and, of course, its ill-fated maiden voyage. What separates this from many other Titanic centenary activities is its focus on the personal stories associated with certain artifacts. Objects include a set of tiny perfume bottles - some still containing their original perfumes - a salesman was taking to the U.S., and the iconic cherub statue that graced the ship's Grand Staircase, an artifact never before seen in museums.

Two downtown restaurateurs - Rob Wasserman (Rouge, 500 Degrees) and chef Michael Schulson (Sampan, Izakaya) - have ventured into the Main Line with the Saint James (30 Parking Plaza, Ardmore, 610-649-6200), an American bistro in Suburban Square. Chris Sheffield of SLDesign created an open, lived-in look, with a skylight in the foyer, wooden tables, leather- and wool-covered booths, and white brick walls. It's an amalgam of Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel, with a dash of Anthropologie.

FORGET SOCCER MOMS and NASCAR dads. In November, the presidency could go to the candidate who attracts the most craft-beer drinkers. Don't laugh, because it appears President Obama's re-election campaign has already taken note of an astounding phenomenon in 2008 election results - with the hope of a suds-soaked repeat in 2012. It's a stunning and previously unnoticed voting trend that almost certainly explains the presence last week of a craft brewer among the Democratic National Convention speakers, as well as the recent release of the Obama White House home-brew recipes.