Philly Beer Week Officially Kicks Off With Annual "Opening Tap" Party
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philly Beer Week is in full swing with the annual 'Opening Tap' event. This year's tapping of the keg was in a new venue, the Fillmore in Fishtown.
As a live band cranked out tunes on stage, hundreds of people made their way from station to station Friday night, sampling the newest and strongest offerings from dozens of the Philadelphia area's favorite craft breweries.
During his opening remarks, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney reminisced about the city's well documented history and love of beer.
"Philly was once, and it's becoming more and more, the beer capital of America. Back in the day there were breweries all over our city, and all our craft brewers are coming back now," Kenney said, "so we're so proud that everyone is coming back to Philadelphia to enjoy our craft brews."
From there the mighty hammer, known as "The Hog," was passed on to legendary Philly beer maker Joe Ortlieb, whose family produced one of the city's first beers, to officially tap the keg and start ten days of beer related events.