Devil’s Den

I’m late for a weekend update, but my computer life has been mostly occupied with trying to recover from last weeks server crash.

Friday night Lois and I had a chance to check out the Devil’s Den in South Philly. It’s barely a month old, and I’ve been waiting for some time for its opening (with notably less anticipation than for Memphis Taproom). We didn’t eat, just stopped by to have some beers, and I’ve heard that, since then, they’ve fired the chef. The menu seemed basic, at best, so we’ll see what a new chef brings.

But the beer list was pretty nice. Several German beers were represented, which is (sadly) rare for most Philly beer bars. Lois had an Aventinus, always a good choice, but even better when served as a 22oz draft. I went with the Ettaler Curator Doppelbock. Both were good choices, and it was an interesting comparison to drink them side by side. Both are malty sweet, but the Aventinus was more on the fruity end, while the Curator was more on the molasses and maple syrup side. Its not necessarily a direct comparison, as Aventinus is a weizenbock and the Curator is a doppelbock, but screw it. They are both German, both bocks, and both delicious.

I continued on with a Smuttynose Blonde, a belgian single. I have a high opinion of Smuttynose due to their porter, but the blonde was a bit forgettable. I’ll chalk it up to being overshadowed by following such a heavy beer, and give it another chance sometime in the future. As the first beer of the night next time though.

I finished the night with an Ayinger hefe wiesen. I went back to a German, since I don’t get them that often. I’m not the biggest hefe fan, but this was enjoyable nonetheless. Though I wished that it was being enjoyed outside in a sunny beer garden (bier garten?), but there will be plenty of time for that.

I don’t get to south Philly very often these days. I wish this place was a round 3 years ago when we were down there all the time. But I’ll gladly put the Devil’s Den into my mental list of local bars, and now check it off my “to try” list.