A Triumph for sure

Although 'Choralation' is a music-related blog, with the occasional football post thrown in, there is another hobby that holds my interest: craft beer. I've always enjoyed a good brew, but a year in England really gave me a taste for quality, crafted beers (beers made by smaller breweries rather than mass-produced by a giant like Budweiser or Miller). Fortunately there are a lot of good brewers in the Philadelphia area: Yards, Victory, Flying Fish, Dogfish Head, Troegs, and Stoudt's to name a few. There area also a few brewpubs in town who make their own beer: The Nodding Head on Sansom, and Independence Brewpub near Market East Station. Well, now there is a new brewery in town that gives the others a run for their money: Triumph Brewpub on 2nd and Chestnut. I'd been familiar with the Triumph company, having frequented their Princeton branch when I was in college there. Never one to shy away from a new beer, I opted for the sampler tray which featured the whole range of Triumph's beers: a couple German beers, a stout and porter representing England, and a few American-style pale ales. Each beer was very balanced and had a distinctive flavour profile packing a few surprises. Perhaps the most unique brews were a pleasantly smooth dark lager, a delicious honey wheat beer, and an American IPA with some lovely flowery notes. I'm looking forward to going back an seeing what sort of seasonal beers they come up with. Yum.

Hiatus?

I apologise for the recent 'Choralation' hiatus. I've been rather busy with a new job and a variety of Easter singing gigs. I hope to find time to post something of substance again in the near future. Until then, please explore some of the links to the right. There are some interesting articles on Arts Journal at the moment: Joshua Bell busking in D.C., the rise of Chinese classical musicians, an ongoing debate about whether classical music sales are rising or falling, Handel-mania in NY and London (including Michael Marissen's very stimulating article on the possible propagandist origins of 'Messiah'), and the surprising selection of Gustavo Dudamel to lead the LA Phil.

On another note, there wasn't a single performance of the Bach Passions in Philadelphia this season. Sad, really.