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Beer Week 2008: Schmidt’s History at Triumph Brewing

Tuesday the 11th was my next outing, and this time I dragged my wife along to one of the many “Meet the Brewer” events, this one featuring local beer historian Rich Wagner and Jack Ehmann (formerly of Schmidt’s) at Triumph Brewing. Unlike most of the other events, this one wasn’t built around tasting a variety of craft beer, but my father was a loyal Schmidt’s drinker, and besides, I had never seen Rich Wagner speak.

We arrived around 6:30 and asked to be seated as close to the screen (past the bar on the back wall) as possible. Since there were quite a few people there already, we weren’t that close, so while it was pretty easy to see, it wasn’t so easy to hear. We settled in and started ordering. During the course of the talk, we ordered schlachtplatte mit brotchen (a sausage and cheese sampler—a Beer Week special), buffalo chicken spring rolls, edamame, and a nicoise salad. I’ve always enjoyed the food at Triumph, and tonight the sampler was particularly outstanding. Our beer selection included a Kellerbier Pilsner and Bengal Gold IPA (for me) and a Honey Wheat and Schwarzbier (for Anne).

Somehow I got the impression that this lecture would be an overview of the history of brewing in Philadelphia, but it was really only about the history of Schmidt’s. No problem, as the history of Schmidt’s alone provided more than enough material for a fascinating presentation.