All Praise the Summer Beer Garden
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All Praise the Summer Beer Garden
Except in Florida. You'll die. Or be very sweaty.
Memorial Day is the unofficial start of Summer. It’s been that way for so long I wonder why we don’t just make it the official start of Summer. How long does something have to be unofficial before it heads to the big leagues of officialness? Who do I have to cut a check to?
When my wife and I lived in Philadelphia from 2018 until 2019 I worked Friday night bartending shifts at the brewery I was at. The brewery was out in the suburbs so I had to drive and coming home around midnight could make for quite a challenge at finding a parking spot in densely populated South Philly neighborhoods. Sometimes I spent what seemed like more time trying to find a parking spot than it actually took me to drive from work to my neighborhood. At times the best spot I could find was 4-5 blocks from my place. But then one night it was all different. I pulled into my neighborhood and something wasn’t right. The streets seemed eerie. “Where are all the cars?” I asked myself.
I found a spot right in front of my house in complete shock but it wasn’t the only one. There were a ton of spots. Prime parking just for the taking on a Friday night. As I fumbled around with my keys at my door it finally hit me. It was Memorial Day weekend. People went down the shore!
That afternoon thousands upon thousands of Philly folks piled into their cars and made way to the bridges across the Delaware River to head to the beaches of New Jersey affectionately called “The Shore.” The whole city felt like a ghost town the entire weekend. It was pretty nice honestly. We did a lot in the city that weekend with very little issues. One of my favorite things that weekend and most weekends living in the city was visiting a local beer garden.
Summer time means beer gardens in the City of Pretzels and Roast Pork. Empty lots for the majority of the year get converted into lovely spaces with comfy seating, shade, string lights and makeshift bars. Many of them are run by non-profits like the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society—who run the PHS Pop-Up Beer Garden locations—or the Fairmount Park Conservancy with their weekly rotating Parks on Tap. Just become a member of the individual organization, which is free, and show your membership email and you get it. Some emails from a local organization telling you about what’s going on in your city is a small price to pay to enjoy these beautiful spaces.
Parks on Tap is an especially cool concept as each weekend they go to a different park in the city to setup and run Thursday through Sunday. Some are vast spaces that can fit a lot of people like when they setup in FDR Park along the lake. Some are tight quarters like when they were at Dickinson Square Park by our house. People showed up, drank some tasty drinks, ate some food and had great times. Count me as a satisfied customer.
I know some form of this type of culture happens in a lot of cities in the northern parts of the US. It’s a fun way to celebrate getting outside after a potentially cold and depressing winter. It’s made even more enjoyable if your locale isn’t blisteringly hot with unbearable humidity on top of it. This is one of the reasons South Florida sucks as a spot for this sort of thing. On the day I am writing this we are supposed to hit 85 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity is almost at 90%. It’s only 9:15 am. But this doesn’t mean we can’t have nice things.
From late November until late April temperatures are usually pretty nice here. Sure we can still get a few hot days but our winter and early spring provide mostly comfortable days. Also that time frame is our “season” for tourists and snowbirds alike trying to escape colder temperatures in the north. I see no reason we couldn’t have beer gardens like these during the opposite time as the rest of the country.
There is a spot on the 500 block of Clematis Street in downtown West Palm Beach that I have thought for a while would be perfect for this. It’s long been an empty lot with the owner trying to sell or lease it. Just look at this thing.
Tell me this isn’t just perfect for a pop-up beer garden! Hell, the spot to the left is owned by the same people and would be an amazing brewery, brewpub, beer garden spot if all combined. Anyone have a spare $6 million lying around and want to make that happen? I digress but, man, it already has some great mural work done. It would be so easy to make this a public space with seating, sail shades and mobile bars and kitchens (think a food truck).
The owners of the lot would probably be the issue with having such a wonderful space there. They almost certainly aren’t going to let something happen on those grounds without payment. Oh, there is also our amazingly shitty mayor who hates fun. Fuck Keith James, by the way.
I’m sure there are spaces like this one all over the region. There are probably many that the cities even own. Cities and local charities could work together (like Philly) to create these beer gardens during season and raise money for the charities or for the city’s parks department or both. So much missed opportunity to build community, make money for the community and just create fun spaces that people will come and enjoy.
If you have seasonal, pop-up beer gardens where you live please enjoy them this summer. Raise a pint for me while you’re at it.
I’d Have a Beer
You may recall all the way back to my first edition of this newsletter I talked about Green Bench’s Sunshine City IPA. In that post I mentioned that another beer of theirs was very common in my fridge, Postcard Pils. Well, I’m talking about that one.
Postcard is truly one of the best pilsners in this state. I put it right up there with our own Das Pils, at Copperpoint. La Playita from The Tank is also a phenomenal pils. Those are are my top 3 for sure. I’ll fight you on this. But, beware, I cheat. It might not work out well for you.
Postcard is everything you need for an impending summer of heat and pain. It’s light but with a really good hop character that gives you a little extra flavor when you just don’t want water. It’s crisp and bubbly carb level just hits your tongue oh so right.
This beer will be accompanying me on many a grilling sessions over the next few months. If you have the ability to purchase this beer I recommend that you let this accompany you on the same journey.
This is a Photo
West Palm Beach, FL
Going back to downtown West Palm Beach for this one. Hotel Evernia has always caught my eye when I would head downtown. It was built in 1925 as the Hotel Enoree but new ownership in 1979 renovated and renamed it to what it is today. It remains in operation as the city’s oldest running hotel and is still owned by the same family that bought it in 1979.
I finally shot it a few weeks back and can’t believe it took me that long to do. I hope to get back to it someday for some night shots as it’s beautiful neon sign is a sight to see.
Like my photos? I have a number shots available on my store if you want to buy a print. It’s super appreciated.
Short Break
There will not be a newsletter next Monday, June 5th. The family is going on our first long haul vacation together since the boys were born. We’re flying to northern California to spend time in San Francisco, Marin County and Sonoma County visiting a number of my wife’s friends. I’m not a religious person but send good juju for us on these cross country flights. I hope the boys can sleep.
I’ll be back June 12th with a new edition of Last Call with a Beer Guy then. Be excellent to each other.
A big thanks as always for reaching this point of the newsletter. I hope you enjoyed. You can follow me on Twitter or Instagram. Listen to me talk about beer on my podcast, United We Drink.