Brewery Showcase | Helper Beer (Helper, Utah)

At Helper Beer’s grand opening in May 2023, brewer Jaron Anderson had 11 beers on the board, all brewed in-house. Anderson, a protégé of Templin Family Brewing’s Kevin Templin, is a beer nerd. His eyes kind of roll back in his head if you ask him a question about beer, and he stops whatever he’s doing—even if he’s busy in the taproom—and enters a kind of reverie. Templin taught him well.
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2020 Utah Best in Beer Year-End Honors

Well, 2020 was certainly one for the books! And, while most of these year-end reports could go on about how difficult the year has been, there is a lot to celebrate. Of course, with lockdowns, restrictions, and curfews all contributing to a down year, we are happy to say that our local breweries have so far made it through by weathering the elements and persevering.

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The 2019 Best of Utah Craft Beer

What would America be without its Purple Mountains Majesty? Utah sits amidst some of the most beautiful mountain ranges in the country — and what’s better than enjoying a mountain view than with a good beer? Utah may not be the most discussed beer location in the country, but the quality and diversity of its brewing scene can’t be ignored. And, like any region, the craft beer community continues to grow and evolve. We hope you enjoy our efforts to compile the 2019 Best of Utah Craft Beer; and we hope you get a chance to drink a few of our regional beers soon!

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Utah Breweries Get Creative to Draw Crowds at Off-Peak Times

New Utah breweries are opening at a rate not seen in a generation, if ever. The boom is providing plenty of options for craft beer lovers to drink directly at the source.

At peak times, many brewery taprooms are filled with good beer and lively conversations. However, as with any business, it’s not all-bustling, all the time.

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PorchDrinking’s Best in Beer 2018 | Utah and Beyond

Chris & Sylvia Hollands and our Utah team take a look at the year in beer, 2018.

From new laws to near beers, the PorchDrinking.com Utah team covers everything from local occurrences to the national and regional scene, and that’s reflected in the picks from the crew. So, let’s take a final look at 2018, shall we?

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Dispelling the Myths Behind Utah’s Emerging Beer Scene

Let’s face it, when you are planning a vacation around beer, Utah isn’t usually at the top of the list. The liquor laws that dictate ABV and where you can consume may deter serious beer drinkers before even firing up an Airbnb search. However, Utah beer has a character of its own, a character that is both quiet and formidable all at once: A sleeping bear that is slow to wake but indomitable when angered. As such, let’s dispel some of the myths surrounding Utah’s beer culture. Read More

Event Recap | Utah Beer Festival 2016

As the gate opened, it revealed a welcome invitation into the belly of the beast. Salt Lake City Weekly’s 7th Annual Utah Beer Festival 2016 was ready to rage. We prepared to soak up some sun, listen to solid tunes, gobble great eats and drink world class beer. Read More

Event Preview | Utah Beer Festival 2016

What: 7th Annual Utah Beer Festival

When: Saturday, August 27, 2016 from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Where: Utah State Fair Park – 155 N 1000 W, Salt Lake City, UT

Price: General Admission – $20 advance ($25 day of), includes 5 tokens and taster mug Early Beer Drinker Entry – $30, includes 1 hour early entry, 8 tokens and taster mug VIP $50 – Includes all GA benefits, access to the Devour VIP Lounge with exclusive samples, food pairings and Brewer Q&A. VIP Designated Driver – $20, all VIP entitlements excluding beer tokens and beer tastings in the VIP lounge Designated Driver Ticket – $5, includes admission and pats on the back for being a good friend. Purchase tickets here. Read More

Ultimate 6er | A Guide to Utah Pils

As I drive to meet a local brewer to learn about his most recent release, I think about the time we once asked another brewer what he felt was the ‘next big thing’ in craft beer. His reply: “German Pilsner.” This no doubt came as a bit of a shock. Berliner Weisse, session IPA, or even Imperial fruit beer would have all seemed appropriate. Instead, he picked a classic style originating from the Czech Republic in 1842. Interesting enough, we started noticing a trend: Friends working in breweries often mentioned pilsner as their go-to-beer. A few years ago there might not have been enough local quality pils to make an Ultimate 6er and although it hasn’t become the ‘next big thing’, it has made a resurgence. We give you a guide to Utah’s very own Pilsners. Read More

Epic Brewing Company | Sour IPA Utah Session Series

We live in a state known for our curious alcohol laws. Laws we would say have inadvertently given strength to the Utah beer industry. Local breweries have been forced to brew beer at the low-alcohol 4% abv in order to serve on draft or be available in grocery or convenience stores. How can this possibly be a good thing you ask? It means: Utah-based breweries perfected the art of the ‘Session’ beer long before ‘Session’ became a thing for breweries (outside of the Beehive state) who looked for ways to avoid knocking out their consumers with huge alcohol content. In a land surrounded by high elevation, we’ve been keeping it low for years. Read More

Ultimate 6er | Reliving Utah’s Past GABF Success

At the time you are reading this, we are either recovering from a week long hangover or dead! GABF would be the way to die. Hundreds of breweries bringing the best beers in the world. There is nothing greater than walking shoulder to shoulder with tens of thousands of like-minded people. Everywhere you turn is a new friend and a beer. Yep, pretty sure we died. Seems like the pearly gates are drenched in golden suds.

We live in Utah and dream of Denver, Bend, San Diego and Asheville. But wait a minute… if you believe in the alcohol lockdown in the Wasatch Mountains, we surely live in beer hell. We are here to say, this is absolutely not true. We present six GABF medal winning beers from the last several years. So when the Zion curtain locks us in, we will be okay, because Utah brewers make some sweet brews. Read More

Festival Recap | Utah Beer Festival

They came by the thousands this last weekend. A wave of thirsty beer lovers coming together to try hundreds of new brews from dozens of local and out of state … Read More

Event Preview | Utah Beer Festival

What: The 6th Annual Utah Beer Festival

When: Saturday August 15, 2015 from 3 to 8 PM

Where: 200 E & Library Square (Downtown, Salt Lake City)

Price(s):

General Admission – … Read More

The Ultimate 6er | Finding Beer in Utah on a Sunday

The taboos associated with Utah seem to be broad and polarizing. Locals are protective of their state. From the outside looking in you can only imagine men with five wives who belong to a cult that won’t allow you to drink alcohol. Visitors to the state seem to revel in its beauty, gloating over world-class ski resorts to the vast red rock desert in the southern regions and are often puzzled over the strange Utah liquor laws.
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Hashtags to Hops | The Hawk Tuah Beer Sensation

In June 2024, the internet was taken by storm with Hailey Welch’s viral “Hawk Tuah” video. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, perhaps it’s time to consider coming out from under the rock where you live. No, I won’t explain it to you, but let’s just say you shouldn’t go looking it up with your kids around. It’s not explicit by any means, but it’s certainly… umm… suggestive. Think PG–13, not R.

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80+ Black-Owned Breweries to Support Across the Country

Back in 2020, PorchDrinking released this list of Black-owned breweries, and we’ve recently updated it to reflect new breweries that have opened across the country. While other prolific beer writers and media members like Ale Sharpton and @BlackBeerTravelers have laid the groundwork previously, we also wanted to help highlight the black-owned breweries who are doing tremendous work in beer throughout the United States.  As we continue to reflect on ways to more directly make the craft beer industry a more diverse and welcoming community, one of the easiest ways is by actively spending your money at Black-owned breweries. 

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2023 Brewers Association Industry Award Winners

Yesterday, the Brewers Association announced its Industry Award recipients for 2023. The five recipients are Ret. Representative Peter DeFazio, Ben Edmunds, Jessica and Richard Fierro, and Julie Rhodes. All will be officially honored at a ceremony on May 8, 2023, at the Craft Brewers Conference. Starting in 1987, the Brewers Association presents the Industry Awards to individuals that “inspire, defend, and innovate within the craft brewing industry.”

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Can’t Miss Beers to Try at This Weekend’s 2023 Collaboration Fest

Throughout the years, the Colorado Brewers Guild’s Collaboration Fest has not only represented the incredible spirit of camaraderie and togetherness that has driven the craft beer industry for the last three decades, but it has also served as a platform for experimentation and innovation.

By participating in a festival focused on the creation of one-off, one-of-a-kind releases, breweries have often seized the opportunity to broaden their scope to test out innovative new techniques and also play with bizarre ingredients.

While this year’s fest won’t feature as many non-traditional ingredients like years past, there are still plenty of head-turning beers, innovative approaches, and dream collaborating pairings to get excited about, so we’ve rounded up some of our can’t miss beers ahead of Saturday’s festival.

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Bean to Barstool Podcast | The Chocolate Conspiracy’s Beer-Infused Bars

AJ Wentworth, the founder and chocolate maker for Utah’s The Chocolate Conspiracy, loves craft beer almost as much as he loves craft chocolate, and he’s partnered with several Salt Lake City craft breweries on a series of beer-infused craft chocolate bars, including bars with Uinta Brewing Baba Black Lager, Kiitos Brewing Coffee Cream Ales and Level Crossing Brewing Soul Rex Double IPA.

In today’s episode, AJ and beer writer David Nilsen discuss the partnerships The Chocolate Conspiracy and neighboring breweries, his process for infusing beer flavors into his bars, the burgeoning Salt Lake City beer and chocolate scenes and his background in raw cuisine.

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Epic Brewing Announces Closure of Denver Taproom & Brewery

After nine years of operating as one of the pioneer breweries in Denver’s RiNo neighborhood, Epic Brewing will close its Denver location before the end of the year. Opening just a year after River North Brewery, Our Mutual Friend Brewing, and Black Shirt Brewery, Epic Brewing joined a groundswell of craft beer producers to transform the North side of Denver into one of the most heavily saturated craft brewery neighborhoods in the country.

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