Something curious has been popping up at Pennsylvania breweries: glasses of beer that are full to the brim with foam. While beer drinkers appreciate a healthy head on their beers (it helps give a full aromatic expression of the liquid), too much foam has long been viewed as a pouring mistake or the result of an agitated keg. But this new trend, called milk pours, is all about the foam, and craft beer lovers are drinking it up!
In Pennsylvania, the milk pour trend was kicked off by Human Robot Brewery, a craft brewery in the Olde Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. The brewery’s co-founder Jake Atkinson explains:
“In the Czech Republic, they do what’s called a Mliko pour, which is a full mug of foam. A mug is a little much to chug, so one night we put it in a Kolsch glass, called a stange, and called it a MilkTube,” he says.
The beer is poured through a special Lukr faucet, which comes from the Czech Republic. This piece of equipment allows precise flow control, and is made with extra filters that forces a denser foam. So, unlike light, airy beer foam you might see on other pours, the milk pour foam is dense, silky and smooth, somewhere between a liquid and a foam (kind of like a perfectly steamed cappuccino).
Human Robot’s MilkTubes have been super-popular with its guests, who gleefully chug them out of the tube-like glasses. When asked why this ritual has resonated with so many people, Atkinson replies, “It’s like taking a shot, without the drunkenness. It’s highly Instagram-able, and the bottom line is, it is actually delicious.”
Other local breweries are also offering milk pours, including Fourscore Beer Co. in Gettysburg, Our Town Brewery in Lancaster, Allusion Brewing Co. in Vandergrift, PA, Wolf Brewing Co. in Mechanicsburg, Hop Farm Brewing in Pittsburgh and Broken Goblet Brewing in Bensalem.
If you’re curious to chug a MilkTube at Human Robot, consider coming out for an event its hosting on Sunday, December 12: the 1st Annual Tube-a-Thon!
This fun event will run from noon to 4 p.m., with tube-themed raffles, live Tuba music, and a real-time scoreboard counting each MilkTube poured. Proceeds from all MilkTube sales are being donated to Hops for Hunger, our collaborative fundraising initiative with Feeding PA and Breweries in PA.
Have you seen milk pours at your local brewery? Have you ever tried one? Let us know over on the PA Eats Facebook Page.
- Photos and flyer: Human Robot Brewery
