Beer

Will Philly’s Keg Hammer of Glory Crush Boston Beer Week?

B. Franklin and the Keg Hammer of Glory
B. Franklin and the Keg Hammer of Glory Photo: Philly Beer Week

It looks like Boston has taken note of the unparalleled awesomeness of Philly Beer Week and decided to embark on a Beer Week of its own. While we applaud the introduction of Beer Weeks that actually last 10 days to all cities, we noted that Boston’s brand new Beer Week, which will run from June 11th through the 20th, overlaps Philly’s, which was moved from March and now runs from June 4th to the 13th. A small overlap, but still, way to bang on our ride, Beantown! For the official sudsy statement of smacktalk, we checked in with Philly Beer Week co-chair Don Russell, a.k.a Daily News columnist Joe Sixpack.

Russell had some choice words, via email, for the Yankee interlopers:

“In the world of beer, it’s usually bad form to drink your friends’ dregs. But in Boston’s case, it’s no surprise: They’ve been riding in Philly’s wake since Ben Franklin left Beantown for the City of Brotherly Love.”

Well then. Some official stats to back up Philly Beer Week’s supremacy:

Last year PBW hosted 50 of the biggest names in brewing and brought a conservatively estimated 35,000 people to the city and its suburbs who attended close to 700 events. Philly Beer Week is by far America’s largest beer event of its kind; it’s been so successful, more than 20 cities across the country have copied our model.

Make that 21 cities! And then there’s the internet traffic.

Over the 10 days of PBW, the site received approximately 8 million hits, 400,000 page views and 160,000 unique visits. On the first day of PBW, it attracted over 1 million hits.

More important, does Boston have a Keg Hammer of Glory wielded by Fake Benjamin Franklin? Maybe they can fill up a silver teapot with Sam Adams and let Fake Paul Revere gallop it around town.

Will Philly’s Keg Hammer of Glory Crush Boston Beer Week?