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The first annual Sly Fox KanJam Tournament
at Phoenixville Brewhouse & Eatery on September 4 was won by Andy DiFronzo and Brian Keeth, The Mint Berry Jammers, who posted a flawless 9-0 record. For DiFronzo it was a repeat of the victory he earned with another partner, Randy Kirkner, at the tournament Sly Fox sponsored at Philadelphia's ritzy Four Seasons Hotel during Philly Beer Week in June.
DiFronzo, a musician and professional disc golfer for Dynamic Discs out of Emporia, KS, said that he and Kirkner bought their first KanJam set and practiced in their back yards for four days before the Four Seasons competition. They were scheduled to be partners again at Phoenixville when it was originally scheduled for August 28, but after Hurricane Irene forced a postponement and Kirkner was unavailable, Keeth, who had also competed in Philadelphia on another team, filled in.
There were 16 teams in the September tourney, which also marked the official release of the brewery's 2011 Oktoberfest. Second place went to Robert Birmingham and Danny Potts (Show Time and Prime Time) and third place to Tony and Dan Neffer (White Swans). The championship prize was a $250 Sly Fox gift card, a logo-ed KanJam game set and two cases of canned beer; second place, a $100 gift card, two logo-ed disks and two cases of canned beer, and third place, a $50 gift card and two cases of canned beer.
"I think KanJam is an awesome game," DiFronzo said, "and I'd like to see a lot more tournaments being held." He was first introduced to Sly Fox by Kirkner. "Randy used to live in Phoenixville and we'd go to this nearby disk golf course for practice and he took me over to get some wings one day. After that, it became a ritual almost every Monday. They are, hands down, the best wings I've ever had. And the beer is obviously great too."
The first annual Cantacular Person of the Year awards were also presented during the afternoon. Top honors when to craftcans.com, operated by Russell Phillips and his brother, Kelly, who designs and manages the site. Craftcans.com grew out of a private website where the brothers would exchange beer reviews. "I was attracted to all the canned craft beers that were coming out," Russell says, "and I suggested we do a site that was totally devoted to this new niche market because no one else was focusing on that. So he put something together and we took off from there. I have lots of family in the area and I've been to the Phoenixville pub a bunch of times. I really like Sly Fox beer and wish I could have been there to accept the award in person." His acceptance speech was read by Todd Palmer, of Virtual Farm Creative.
Runners-up for Cantacular honors were, in order, the KanJam game itself, Philadelphia's Memphis Taproom and Peggy, the three-legged winner of the 2011 Sly Fox Bock Festival Goat Race.