Chase away those mid-winter blues!
Updated: 30 January 2012
We Pennsylvanians believe very strongly in rodent based weather forecasting, so we assemble at The Grey Lodge every Groundhog Day at 7am to catch Punxsutawney Phil's prognostication.
To chase away the winter blues, we wear our best/worst Hawaiian shirts and have a Beer Breakfast. Later in the morning we kick off more oddity as Groundhog Day turns into Lucky Cat Day. Lucky Cat Day features Wissinoming Winnie's Beer Prognostication and other fun stuff.
We know you need a good reason to come out at 7am, and cheering on Punxatawny Phil as he makes his annual prognostication, while a great reason, probably isn't good enough,.. so we always have 10 really amazing beers on tap for Phil's annual moment of glory. Some of these beers we have been saving for almost a year, sometimes longer.
The Groundhog Day Hawaiian Shirt Beer Breakfast and Lucky Cat Beer Prognostication is probably the stupitest event that we do at The Grey Lodge, and we set the bar on stupit pretty high (or should that be low?), so don't miss it.
DrinkPhilly made a great video of 2011's Groundhog Day festivities.
With how cold this winter has been so far, we all need a Groundhog Day Hawaiian Shirt Beer Breakfast more than usual. What better way to tell winter to screw off than with beer and Hawaiian shirts at 7am?
FourSquare Groundhog Badge
This worked last year. The contact we had at VisitPA left so this may or may not work this year. Might as well give it a try if you didn't get the Groundhog Badge last year.
Thanks to the fine folks at VisitPA, you can get the FourSquare Groundhog Badge for joining us on Groundhog Day. It's as 1-2-3! Easier actually as there is no step 3. So it's as easy as 1-2 but that doesn't sound right. 1) follow VisitPA on 4square, 2) check in greylodge on 2/2. They did this last year, hopefullly they will do it again this year.
Beads: There are very few right times to wear beads. There's Mardi Gras in New Orleans, but only during Mardi Gras. Any other time and the locals think you're a douche. Groundhog Day at The Grey Lodge is also on the bead appropriate list. If you've been to New Orleans, you've probably bought some cool beads at a souvenir shop (I did), but you were too cool to wear them if it wasn't Mardi Gras. Well this is an appropriate time to break them out.
Need even more incentive? We will break out a case of Founders CBS that we have been saving for almost a whole year. Saving it just for this very day. CBS will be first come, first serve (we only have 12). Limit one per customer. It's a 25oz bottle, so why not share with some friends?
2012 Groundhog Day Hawaiian Shirt Beer Breakfast
& Lucky Cat Day Beer Prognostication
07am: Punxatowney Phil and Breakfast (and other) Stouts
Our doors will open at 7am, the earliest we are allowed to open by law.
We open at 7am because Punxsutawney Phil does his prognostication at 7:20am, and we can't miss that; that's the whole point of Groundhog Day! We will have our large-screen, high-def TVs tuned to PCN, ready for Phil's pronouncement. We'll have loads of noisemakers to greet Phil's appearance.
Our kitchen will be open with a special breakfast menu.
Featured Beers:Founders Breakfast Stout, Philadelphia Joe Porter, Woodchuk Winter Cider, Founders CBS (bottles)
Founders Breakfast Stout is special enough just itself, but we'll have Founders CBS bottles too. This one is really rare. We were lucky just to get the lone case we have. We have been saving it for almost a year now.
Philadelphia Joe Porter is a nice breakfast beer. Who needs a cup of coffee when its in your beer already? Even if you don't need a cup of coffee, you get one free anyway. Wash down your Joe with some joe. Chris Morris will provide some free super awesome coffee from his buddy Bob's place, Bodhi Coffee.
If things go right, we should have goodies from Woodchuck Cider too.
08am: Sierra Nevada Hawaiian Shirt Contest
The Hawaiian Shirt contest is an annual Groundhog Day tradition. Wear your best (worst) Hawaiian shirt. Sierra Nevada will have prizes for the best (worst) ones. Best/worst - same differnce.
Featured Beers: Sierra Nevada 30th Exportation and Sierra Nevada Life and Limb.
Both of these are super rare and we have been squirreling them away for many months now. Life and Limb is a second batch of the collaberation beer Sierra Nevada did with Dogfish Head for their 30th Anniversary.
Exportation is the beer that Scoats and friends brewed as part of Sierra's Bar Camp program. Some of that batch was sent down to Russian River to be dowsed with wild yeast and aged in wine barrels for a year. This keg has now been aging for 2 years. Our third and final Exportation will get tapped Groundhog Day 2013.
09am: Troegs Hula Hoop Contest
Nick didn't respond to yesterday's email so he has this time and contest. We know he'll have some fun with it.
Featured Beer: Troegs Scratch 55
Attention Hopheads, we haven't forgotten about you. Scratch 55 is a Double IPA, with all the subtlety of a hop sledgehammer.
10am: Yards It DEPENDS Contest
Be forewarned!.. Ginger aka Bad Steve is back for another Groundhog Day.Kind of like the movie; he's going to do it until he gets it right.Here is the lone rule for the It DEPENDS Contest. Come up with a question that the answer is "It Depends"? The funniest question will win a prize from Yards.
Featured Beer: Yards Old Bart.
Yards infamous barley wine sort of beer made a brief appearance last year. We scored a sixtel and have saving it for Groundhog Day.
11am: Victory Dart Lager
Victory's Steve Gates challanges you to darts. Dark Lager, Dart Lager... get it? Not super high concept, but it will work. Beat Steve at darts, win a Victory Shirt.
Featured Beer: Victory Dark Lager
Victory only made a tiny bit of this great session beer. We could only get one keg, so Groundhog Day is the day to tap it.
12noon: Lucky Cat Day Seasonal Beer Prognostication
Like Punxsutawney Phil, the Grey Lodge's Wissinoming Winnie is a prognosticator. Unlike Phil who prognosticates weather, Winnie prognosticates beer.
Every February 2nd, with the help of her Inner Circle, Winnie determines if there will be 6 more weeks of winter beers or if the spring seasonals will arrive early. Winnie's Inner Circle is comprised of her hand picked (paw picked?) menagerie of local beer folks.
Then it's time to go home for a well deserved nap. Or stay a spell, we'll be here til 2am.
Featured Beer: Ommegang Aphrodite
Aphrodite is an amazing sour beer with fruit.
Events like Groundhog Day and Friday the Firkinteenth are too hectic for us run tabs or accept credit cards. On rare days like those we are
cash only.
We Pennsylvanians believe very strongly in rodent based weather forecasting, so we assemble at The Grey Lodge every Groundhog Day at 7am to catch Punxsutawney Phil's prognostication.
FourSquare Groundhog Badge
Our doors will open at 7am, the earliest we are allowed to open by law. 
Like Punxsutawney Phil, the Grey Lodge's Wissinoming Winnie is a prognosticator. Unlike Phil who prognosticates weather, Winnie prognosticates beer. 