We are so excited Burger Month is finally here. As some of you may know, May is National Burger Month!

Iron Hill celebrates National Burger Month by featuring a different burger each day for 31 days.

Also if you EAT ANY 5 OF THE 31 BURGERS DURING THE MONTH AND RECEIVE $15 OFF YOUR NEXT PURCHASE! (details available in any Iron Hill Brewery location)

Mark your calendars…here is this year’s calendar of burgers:

May 1 The Chip Kelly Burger – oregon blue cheese, red onion confit, crushed potato chips and mushroom spread

May 2 Au Poivre Burger – gorgonzola, caramelized onions and mushroom spread

May 3 Napa Valley Burger – balsamic-glazed onions, black pepper chevre, tomato and arugula

May 4 Smokehouse Burger - applewood smoked bacon, smoked gouda and barbequed onions

May 5 Cinco de Mayo Burger - sautéed onions and poblano peppers, bacon, guacamole, jack cheese and spicy chipotle ketchup

May 6 The Italian Stallion Burger - spicy Italian sausage, peppers, onions and provolone

May 7 Hickory Burger - topped with house-smoked pulled pork, sharp cheddar and barbeque sauce

May 8 South Philly Burger - garlicky broccoli rabe, roasted long hots, provolone and asiago

May 9 The Bumble Burger - pastrami, bacon, gruyère, caramelized onions and Larry’s secret sauce

May 10 The PittsBurger - tomato, coleslaw cheddar and house cut fries piled high on a soft bun

May 11 Saltimbocca Burger - prosciutto, provolone, sautéed spinach and caramelized onions

May 12 The Brunch Burger - fried egg, honey ham, fried onions, cheddar and dijonnaise

May 13 The Douro Burger - port wine-glazed onions, blue cheese and peppercorn aioli

May 14 Pizza Burger - pepperoni, mozzarella, asiago and tomato sauce

May 15 “Here’s the Beef” Burger - braised beef brisket, cheddar, fried onion strings and barbeque sauce

May 16 Fajita Burger - sautéed peppers and onions, mushrooms, pepper jack and chipotle ranch

May 17 Jammin’ Marley Burger - pineapple chutney, bacon, cheddar and Jamaican barbeque sauce

May 18 The DCB Burger - exotic mushrooms, gruyère, bacon and dijonnaise

May 19 The Ode to Jerry Garcia Burger - shrooms, jack cheese, caramelized onions and roasted garlic aioli

May 20 French Onion Burger - gruyère cheese, caramelized onions, bacon and french onion dip

May 21 Yogi Bear Picnic Burger - onion rings, bacon, barbeque sauce, potato salad and american cheese

May 22 Big Haas Burger - avocado, monterey jack, red onion and roasted garlic mayonnaise

May 23 The George Costanza Burger - pastrami, bacon, raw onion, wilted spinach and cream cheese

May 24 Alpine Burger - fried onion rings, bacon, swiss and horseradish sauce

May 25 Fresno Burger - haas avocado, applewood smoked bacon, gorgonzola and green chile aioli

May 26 The Black Forest Burger - exotic mushrooms, swiss cheese and horseradish sauce

May 27 Caprese Burger - fresh mozzarella, vine-ripened tomato, balsamic glaze and basil pesto

May 28 Vermont Burger - white sharp cheddar, applewood smoked bacon and maple glaze

May 29 Mediterranean Burger - prosciutto, spicy tomato-roasted pepper relish, feta aioli and provolone

May 30 Black and Blue Burger - blackened burger, gorgonzola, caramelized onions, tomato and bacon

May 31 Bistro Burger - boursin cheese and herb roasted exotic mushrooms

Enjoy!

Prime Time has been happening at Iron Hill every Sunday afternoon for the past 16 years. The promotion has always featured the classic,
Prime Rib of Beef au Jus. We have recently added a North Atlantic Salmon option but the draw remains the comforting, highly coveted piece of meat. Some of us remember the Holiday gatherings where Prime Rib would be mishandled and usually served overcooked and tough? That’s not the case at the Hill. “We use the finest USDA Choice Rib from corn fed cattle. Our chefs season the marbled roast with black pepper, rosemary and kosher salt and allow it to air dry overnight.  It’s then slow roasted for about 4 hours until the marbled fat has melted into the meat and produced a tender, flavorful slice of beef” said Chef Dan Bethard, Assistant Director of Culinary Operations.

Prime Time is available at all Iron Hill locations on Sunday’s from 1-9pm. Choose between Roast Prime Rib of Au Jus OR Pan Seared Atlantic Salmon. Accompanied by choice of garden salad or cup of soup and a pint of house beer or glass of house wine – All for $21.95.

Lancaster native Chad Rieker is returning to take the tiller on the brewhouse at Iron Hill Lancaster.  Chad has brewing in his blood.  His family founded the Rieker Star brewery in the 1800’s which produced fine pilsner beer largely consumed in the Cabbage Hill neighborhood.  During prohibition, Rieker Star beer was pumped through a hose in the sewers straight to the thirsty patrons of speakeasies.  Eventually the federal stranglehold on the once strong American brewing tradition proved too much for the Rieker Star brewery.  The building was razed during World War II and the land was turned into Crystal Park in 1957.

Chad has years of homebrewing under his belt, including brewing the first batch of St. James Brown Ale dedicated to his church in downtown Lancaster.  Chad scaled the recipe up to brew it in Iron Hill Lancaster’s brewhouse during his time as an assistant brewer here.  Releasing St. James has become an annual tradition that the beer drinking community of Lancaster looks forward to every November.

After almost two years in Lancaster, I am transferring to our West Chester location in anticipation of starting construction for a brand new Iron Hill in Voorhees, NJ, ending the five and a half year tradition of importing head brewers from Philadelphia.

I’ve got to know a lot of great people during my time in Lancaster and will surely miss them.  I can happily report that during my tenure we brought home the first Great American Beer Festival medal for this location, a Silver medal for Rauchtoberfest.  We’ve had a lot of fun at events and shared some good times together.  While I’m sorry to be leaving I’m happy to hand over the mash shovel to Chad.

Cheers!

Kevin
the Brewer

Hello King of the Hill Rewards Club members and Iron Hill customers,

 (Mug Club members are now King of the Hill Rewards Club members),

We have rolled out our new King of the Hill program and we are very excited about the changes.

I received dozens of emails with thank you’s as well as questions about the new club. So, I thought I would explain the thought process behind the changes, which should hopefully help answer many of your questions.

But first let me thank all of the people who worked hard to make the new club possible. We put together a team that met every week to brainstorm ideas to solve our issues and make the club better. We also spent time asking our current club members and customers what they would value in a new club. To everyone we surveyed and spoke with, we thank you in helping us make our club your club.

Why did we change the club in the first place?

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) told us our Mug Club was illegal because they felt it enticed customers to drink alcohol. In particular, they found two club benefits to be prohibitive:

1. They ruled it was enticement to award points for the purchase of alcohol. To site, “the offering of points for purchases is problematic when points are accumulated based on the purchase of beer/alcohol, regardless of whether the points are ultimately redeemed for food and non-alcoholic products only.”

2.  They deemed it an enticement to offer a club member a mug of beer for the same price as a pint (24 oz mug vs 16 oz pint). Citing their ruling “the Board’s regulations prohibits the sale and/or serving of an increased volume of one (1) drink of liquor, wine or malt or brewed beverages without a corresponding and proportionate increase in the price for the drink.”

Once this happened, we had little choice but to change the club and bring it into compliance.

How did you come up with the new points system?

We spent a great deal of time and effort to try to make the new club better while maintaining compliance with the PLCB ruling.

We surveyed club members. We talked to many, many other club members and customers as our team visited the restaurants.  I spoke with more than 100 club members and customers.

Our biggest challenge was to find a way to give rewards to guests that did not include the purchase of alcohol. Rewarding them for each visit (10 points per visit) seemed like a great answer to offset the inability to award points for alcohol purchases. We went back to the PLCB and asked if this was permissible. They ruled that it was.

Next, we did the math. We reviewed past club member transactions to see if the new system would be equal or better than the old system. When we were done, almost every purchase profile that we looked at ended up ahead in points with the new system. We added the monthly frequency component (an additional 25 points per every five visits in a month) to boost the rewards for our most loyal and frequent guests.

Do I need a new card now that the club has changed?

You may exchange your old Mug Club card for a new King of the Hill card at no charge, but it isn’t a requirement. You may also change cards at renewal or any other time. All members will start to automatically accumulate points under the new program starting October 27.

What about the points and rewards that I have already received, will I get to keep them?

Of course.  If your renewal date is after 10/27, you do not have to do anything until your next renewal date.

Who needs to renew right now?

If your renewal date is between May 1^st and October 27^th you will have 30 days to renew starting 10/27/12. Last day to renew is 11/27/12 before your membership becomes inactive. If your renewal date is after 10/27, you will need to come in to renew at that time.

Why did you choose the name King of the Hill Rewards Club?

We brainstormed a variety of names but we decided on King of the Hill because it was the name of a loyalty program we had many years ago in our flagship store in Newark, Delaware. We still liked the name and felt it worked for the new program. Rest assured it has nothing to do with the animated TV show!

I can choose either taking home the mug or receiving points ?

Yes, that is a new option.  If you don’t want to take home a mug, you can elect to take 25 points when signing up instead. Whether you choose the take-home mug or points at sign up, you can always drink out of the signature club mug when you visit. Please note that the new mugs are now 22 ounces (more on that below).

I like to see my beer, why not a glass mug?

We considered switching to a glass mug instead of a ceramic one. We researched a variety of glass mugs but after surveying our members, we found that an overwhelming majority of our members still preferred a ceramic mug over a glass mug. 

Okay, but can I still drink out of a glass mug?

Absolutely. You can drink out of the 22 oz Frankfurt mug.

The PLCB ruling forced us to offer an identical portion of beer to members as well as non-members at the same price (but not necessarily in the same serving container). We could not find a comparable 24 oz glass mug that met our standards. So, we decided to use our large 22 oz Frankfurt glass. It is a great alternative for those folks who wanted to drink out of a glass mug and allowed us to comply with the PLCB laws.

Why did Delaware and New Jersey have to change because of a Pennsylvania ruling?

We explored having different rewards programs but couldn’t make it work based on our global POS system as well as some other factors. This component was the key factor to going to one club. A more in-depth explanation is available.

I want to get a companion card, can I get one now?

Yes. Based on guest feedback, we added this great benefit.  If you like, you can turn in your old mug club card and get two new King of the Hill Rewards Club cards with the same account number. You will keep any points and/or rewards that you have, but you will have to resubmit your profile history online. The cost of the companion card is an additional $5 per member. Both cardholders can use their cards on the same day in different restaurants.

Please continue to discuss our new rewards club program and any concerns with a manager or email rewards@ironhillbrewery.com.

Sincerely,

Kevin Finn
President
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant

Hello Club Members and Iron Hill Customers,

Let me start by saying thank you for your patience as well as your continued support during this transition.

When I last wrote in June, the PLCB had just informed us we had to change our Mug Club to comply with certain rules and regulations pertaining to the sale of alcohol. I also made a promise that we would be re-introducing a new club with rewards and benefits worthy of the extreme loyalty you have shown us.

After spending the summer surveying and talking with Mug Club members and other Iron Hill guests, I am excited to announce the launch of Iron Hill Brewery’s new customer rewards club.

Introducing The King of the Hill Rewards Club

This new club combines parts of the original Mug Club with new features and benefits as well as a whole new look. Our goal was to do more than just change the club to meet the state regulators’ demands. We wanted to take the opportunity to improve the club and add the features most requested by our guests. I feel we have done just that.

Rewards Club Details

• Lower membership price — Only $25 to join
• Faster rewards — Receive $25 when you earn 250 points
• More ways to earn points — Earn for purchases AND visits to Iron Hill

Point Structure

• 150 free points at sign-up
• 1 point for each dollar spent excluding alcohol, tax, tip and the purchase of gift cards
• 10 points for each visit to Iron Hill
• 25 additional points for every 5 visits in a single month

• Earn points faster with a Companion Card on the same account for just $5 more
• Free gift on your birthday
• Choose your own gift: a free handmade mug OR 25 free points at sign up and renewal
• Drink from an exclusive handmade beer mug
• Receive invitations to exclusive mug club events throughout the year
• Enjoy direct contact via email with the head brewer about upcoming releases and events

The King of the Hill Rewards Club officially launches on October 27

I would like to personally invite you to visit your local Iron Hill Brewery Saturday, October 27, between 12:00 and 5:00 PM for the launch of the new rewards club. Enjoy seasonal beers and complimentary snacks while you learn about the new club.

If you missed renewing your membership during the old Mug Club suspension, a full staff will be on-hand on October 27 to help you renew. This includes members whose renewal dates fall between May 1 and October 27, 2012. All of your rewards and points will automatically roll over. If you can’t make it to the launch party, you will have until November 27 to renew, or your membership will become inactive. Check your renewal date here: mug club. Unfortunately, the online renewal process will not be functional during the launch.

All About Mug Club website pages will officially change over to King of the Hill website pages on October 27. Feel free to discuss our new rewards club program and any concerns with a manager or email rewards@ironhillbrewery.com. You may also send an email directly to me at kfinn@ironhillbrewery.com.

Sincerely,

Kevin Finn
President
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant

I am happy to announce that once again, our brewers had a great year at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. Not only did Iron Hill , for the 16^th year in a row, bring home medals, but it was also a great showing for Philadelphia area and Pennsylvania brewers.

Iron Hill was awarded four medals this year: a bronze for “Black IPA” in the American-Style Black Ale category which was brewed in Wilmington by brewer Brian Finn (who is also my brother) and a bronze for “Roggenbier” in the Rye Beer category which was brewed by Tim Stumpf in Phoenixville. Our Lancaster brewer Kevin Walter also brought home his first GABF award, a silver for “Rauchtoberfest” in the Smoked Beer category. Our final medal was a bronze for “Russian Imperial Stout” which was brewed by Bob Barrar in Media who continued his 11 year winning streak with a total of 15 medals at the GABF. To know Bob is to love him, he is great brewer but a truly wonderful person. I think the medals represent his passion and love for his craft.

Our brewers continue to amaze me, with our GABF medal count now at 39.

But at Iron Hill, the GABF is more than just medals, it is our celebration of being a part of something wonderful, the craft brewing industry. This year almost 80 people went to the GABF with Iron Hill and over 60 of them were employees and the rest where customers and friends of Iron Hill. Every year I get to walk the floor with one of our employees who have never attended the festival, and they are amazed at the variety and quality of beers there as well as how well our breweries are recognized throughout the craft brewing world.

For me, it is also a time to see friends in the industry. One of the things that makes the craft brewing world special is the camaraderie that is present with many of the brewers and breweries. I got to celebrate with Ric Hoffman from Stewarts, Tom Kehoe from Yards, and Gina Marsaglia of Lost Abbey/Pizza Port on the festival floor after each of them won medals.

Finally, I got to spend the day visiting three local breweries when our Maple Shade brewer Chris LaPierre put together a wonderful bus tour for about a dozen of our employees. We visited Left Hand, New Belgium and Odell’s breweries and each one rolled out the red carpet for us.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip on many fronts: our brewers won medals, our staff got to see what it means to be a part of the craft brewing industry and we all got to visit some of the wonderful Colorado craft breweries. I can’t wait for next year!

Cheers!

Kevin Finn

(Chris LaPierre is the Head Brewer at Iron Hill Maple Shade)

I have to admit I shudder a little bit every year the first time I smell a pumpkin-scented candle, drive by a roadside stand full of pumpkins or even see someone walking down the street with a pumpkin latte. What it means to me is that I’ve got some very early mornings and very long days coming up in the brewery. Brewing a pumpkin ale means I have to be in early enough to get my pumpkins cut up and roasted and cleaned up well before the kitchen staff shows up to start prepping for their work day. I’m using their knives, cutting boards and ovens so I’ve got to be careful not to wear out my welcome.

Every year I kind of wonder whether it’s worth it, roasting the pumpkins that is. There are brewers who say you don’t really need the squash in the beer. All people are looking for are the spices they say. But then every year when I open up that convection oven and get hit with that blast of warm air carrying that first whiff of roasted, caramelized pie pumpkins, I’m reminded why I forced myself to get up at 4:30 in the morning.

I used to do all of the chopping, roasting and skinning myself or with an insomniac volunteer while my assistant mashed in. A few years ago I got smart and started employing the help of some poor soul from the kitchen. Not only did it free up some time for me to help my assistant in the brewery, but it ensured that someone who actually knew how to cook was manning the blades and ovens! They can get those pumpkins ready in about half of the time I can. This year it was Shaun who helped me out. He was the obvious victim for me to prey on. In addition to being a chef, he’s also an avid home brewer. If I had a chance of suckering anyone into getting up early to help me, it was him. He got something out of it too. He used the pumpkin meat from the bulb of the pumpkin to make a pumpkin soup that day and he spiced and roasted up the seeds to use them as an accompaniment to the cheese plate in our upcoming Mug Club beer dinner in Maple Shade.

Of course we couldn’t stop at just standard Pumpkin Ale. This year we had to add a Belgian Pumpkin Ale and Bourbon Imperial Pumpkin Ale to the mix. And we’re continuing our tradition of filling hand-packaged 750 ml bottles of the Great Imperial Pumpkin Ale dressed in art work from West Chester artist and friend to Iron Hill, Jeff Schaller.

The bottles will be available at our Maple Shade location starting on September 29 and company-wide on October 1. I hope you enjoy them! Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get to bed. I’ve got to be up in a few hours to help Shaun roast pumpkins for batch number two!

Cheers,

Chris

On Tuesday, August 21^st my partner, Mark Edelson, and I traveled to Shadowbrook Inn & Resort in Tunkhannock, PA to testify before the PA House Liquor Control Committee regarding our recent issues involving the mug club, as well as answer questions about the craft brewing industry in Pennsylvania.

Overall, I believe the committee was extremely receptive to our issues and said they would work with the Brewers of Pennsylvania (our brewer’s guild) to find ways to help rectify the issues.   Interestingly, one of the members of the committee was also a member of the Allegany Brewing mug club and had received an email from Allegany about some of the changes.

Below is my testimony.

Brewers of Pennsylvania

Presented by Kevin Finn, President Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant

Testimony before the House Liquor Control Committee

August 21, 2012

Good morning Chairman Taylor and members of the House Liquor Control Committee.  Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today.  My name is Kevin Finn and I am a Partner and President of Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant.  Today I am here on behalf of the brewpub members of the Brewers of Pennsylvania.

Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant was founded in 1996 and owns and operates 9 brewery restaurants in the Philadelphia region, 6 of which are in the State of Pennsylvania.  In Pennsylvania, we employ more than 650 people.

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board regulates the state’s 17,000 licensees. It interprets the law and sets standards by which licensees can operate. While this is certainly necessary to ensure compliance of licensees, there are times where the PLCB oversight runs contrary to reasonable and current business practices and is inconsistent in its application of the law between various industries. A recent issue that has affected many of the State’s small brewers has been a ruling from the PLCB on Mug Clubs. Loyalty programs have become a standard business practice for most industries, including the State’s small brewers. Many in our industry use loyalty programs to promote our unique hand crafted products and expand the horizons for our customers.  They can see and experience the quality of the products brewed in Pennsylvania.

Recently, The PLCB has determined that certain benefits received from a mug club membership, illegal under the law. This has been a non-issue over the past 15 years and the recent crackdown seems to be aimed at solving a problem where none existed.  For Iron Hill, this resulted in the suspense of benefits for its 8,000 members in the State. Specifically, club benefits that are deemed illegal include selling beer in a larger portion (mug) without a price increase, accumulation of loyalty point for the purchase of alcohol and offering discounts to club members that are not offered to other customers.   Most of these have been interpreted by the PLCB as illegal because they are considered “enticements” to purchase alcohol by the PLCB.

Specifically on the offering of points, we fail to see how offering points on all food and beverage purchases equally in any way entices a customer to purchases alcohol. Certainly this is standard practice in other industries. Loyalty programs offered by all of the major credit cards offer point accumulations for purchases, which include alcohol. Every day in Pennsylvania, customers walk into the State’s liquor and wine stores and receive points on their credit cards for the purchase of alcohol. We fail to see where this standard business practice is any different than loyalty programs run by the State’s small brewers.

Additionally, we believe that restrictions on offering of a larger portion of beer to our mug club members are unfair and arbitrary.  We are currently allowed to offer one free drink per customer per visit under our license but we are not allowed to offer a larger portion of beer to a paying customer? This does not seem to make sense.  Additionally, the casinos in the State are allowed unlimited free drinks to customers. While the PLCB seems concerned that loyalty clubs are enticing customers to drink too much, the law allows casinos to use unlimited amounts of alcohol to entice customers to gamble.  Hardly seems like we are all playing by the same rules.

We ask for fair and equal treatment for small brewers in PA and that that regulators consider accepted industry marketing practices rather than outdated strict interpretations of the law, that interfere with the growth of small businesses.

I would like to again thank the committee for the opportunity to appear before you today.  The Brewers of Pennsylvania are most appreciative of the professional and personal relationships we have with the committee and members of the General Assembly.  We look forward to continuing to work with you in improving Pennsylvania’s liquor laws and stand ready now and in the future to answer any questions you may have.