Philly Beer Week begins this Friday, June 1^st and continues through Sunday, June 10th.  To many in our area, especially Philly Beer Geeks, it’s the most exciting ten days of the year.  To help get your suds into a lather about Philly Beer Week, here are a few facts you may not already know:

• According to its founders, and to The Oxford Companion to Beer, Philly Beer Week was first festival of its kind when it debuted in March 2008.  Now more than 50 other cities have followed in our footsteps.
• Last year's Beer Week featured more than 1,000 events attended by more than 60,000 people.
• Philly Beer Week is operated by Philly Beer Week, Inc., a registered 501(c)(6) non-profit organization, co-chaired by Tom Peters (Monk’s Café) and William Reed (Standard Tap) and executive directed by Joe Sixpack himself, Don Russell.

And how will Philly Beer Week help you turn into a real Beer Geek?  There are three steps to becoming a true Beer Geek, and PBW offers opportunities to do them all:

• Drink Adventurously.  When a Beer Geek sees a list of 20 beers, he or she always tries the beer they’ve never had before. 
• Know More.  A Beer Geek doesn’t stop with tasting beer, she or he follows blogs, reads books and periodicals, and asks questions.  A Beer Geek takes the time to read the label on the beer they’re drinking. Want to get started reading more?  Pick up free copies of Mid Atlantic Brewing News and Philly Beer Scene wherever great beer is sold (or made).  Not enough? Check out some great beer titles from the Library on a variety of subjects, from food pairing suggestions like The Brewmaster’s Table by Brooklyn Brewery’s Garrett Oliver, to Brewing up a Business ,a book full of small business advice from Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione, to A Pint of Plain, Bill Barich’s history of the Irish Pub.
• Get Engaged.  The true mark of a Beer Geek is taking their love of beer to the next level.  They take brewery tours (check out Lew Bryson’s Pennsylvania Breweries for day trip ideas), meet master brewers, and even make their own beer (get started with The Complete Homebrew Beer Book by George Hummel, How to Brew by John Palmer or The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian).

Why does the Free Library love Beer Week?  Because the Library loves the fact that beer gets even better when you read about it.  With that in mind, we’re proud to announce our first ever Beer Week Author Event: George Hummel, author of The Complete Homebrew Beer Book and Rich Wagner, author of Philadelphia Beer: A Heady History of Brewing in the Cradle of Liberty will be at Parkway Central on Wednesday, June 6 at 7:30 p.m. talking about the history of beer making in Philadelphia from Ben Franklin to Tom Kehoe and how to get started making your own beer.  This event is made possible with sponsorship by Home Sweet Homebrew.