Today’s Daily News uses tonight’s NLDS first-round series between the Phillies and the Brewers to set up another rivalry between Philadelphia and Milwaukee.
Resident ‘beerophile,’ Joe Sixpack makes the bold claim that the question of “which town is the best?” can really only be settled by taking a look at each city’s respective beers, beer traditions, and beer cultures. There’s a lot to support either the claim that Philly or Milwaukee reigns supreme, but of course, the evidence in favor of Philly seems the most compelling.
For example, “despite Milwaukee’s fame as a brewing capital, Pennsylvania actually makes more beer - about twice as much as Wisconsin.” Definite point for Philly. On the other hand, “Milwaukee claims to have more bars per capita than anywhere else in America, and its citizens reputedly drink more than any other town. Indeed, the state of Wisconsin drinks 38 gallons of beer a year per adult, about eight more gallons than Pennsylvania.” Okay, fine, point Milwaukee.
The real argument settlers though ought to come down to two things, which Joe Sixpack covers: first, Philadelphia’s storied history as a brewing town (all the way back to the days of Ben Franklin, y’all!), and secondly, the matter of quality. So, sure, Milwaukee is home to several beer colossi: Schlitz, Pabst, Blatz and Miller. However, price-point concerns aside, would anyone actually pick one of those brews over Iron Hill, Dogfish Head, Troegs, Stoudt’s, Victory? Yeah, that’s what we thought.
Oh, and a bit of news to support all of this even more! Men’s Journal just selected Victory Brewing Company’s Prima Pils as the only Northeastern beer in their piece of “What To Order When You’re On the Road.” (This after praising it as the “Best Lager in the World” in 2005.)
“Joe Sixpack: Brew Crew’s got nothing on Philly’s finest beverages” [Daily News]
“Men’s Journal praises Prima Pils” [The Clog]
[Photo: via Victorybeer.com]
