AboutBrian Phipps, Author at PorchDrinking.com
Brian Phipps
Brian Phipps is the Founder and a Strategist at Confluence in Denver, Colorado, that consults businesses to increase their positive impacts in their corporate giving and social responsibility practices.Lady Justice Brewing Creates Ski Jorts City For Holidays
December 9, 2024 | Brian Phipps
At some point every ski season, you’ll see someone out on the slopes rushing down wildly in some jeans. This usually means it is probably best to maintain a good space from their wild turns. However, if they have trimmed the jeans into some quality jorts and are hitting the pow pow in some jorts, then go hang out with them because they know how to have a good time. Well, Lady Justice Brewing in Englewood, Colorado, is bringing home that denim mountain magic in their taproom for the holiday season by branding their home as Ski Jorts City.
Colorado’s Best Kölsch Blind Tasting Presented by On Tap Credit Union
May 24, 2024 | Brian Phipps
Warmer days are rolling in and one of the best beers to pair with the sunshine is a good ol’ Kölsch! Thus, it was the perfect time to conduct the latest blind tasting to find some of the best Kölsch style beers made by breweries in Colorado.
Lady Justice Moves to Englewood, Continues Brewing for a Better World
March 19, 2024 | Brian Phipps
In February, Lady Justice Brewing announced it would be moving from its four-year-old home in Aurora and heading west to Englewood. Well, Lady Justice’s last day in Aurora was on Feb. 29. Now, the Lady Justice team is preparing for an official opening on Wednesday, March 20.
New Ownership Takes Over Resolute Brewing Company
March 11, 2024 | Brian Phipps
Resolute Brewing Company, a brewery with locations in Centennial and Arvada, is changing ownership. “We are thrilled to embark on this journey as the new owners of Resolute Brewing Company,” said Jacob Wells, a new owner of Resolute. “Resolute has established itself as a cornerstone of the community, and we are committed to upholding its values while infusing fresh energy and creativity into the brewery and taprooms. We’ve been big fans of Resolute for a long time and can’t wait to get started.”
Colorado’s Best Saisons Blind Tasting Presented by On Tap Credit Union
March 11, 2024 | Brian Phipps
Back with another edition, in fact, the tenth edition(!), of our Blind Tasting Series. For this iteration, our Blind Tasting focused on trying to find the best Saisons made by Colorado breweries. Altogether, 16 beers from 16 Colorado breweries were submitted. In the end, two took home Honorable Mention awards, two scored Top Marks, and one was crowned Best In Show.
Barquentine Brewing Celebrates 1st Leap Day Birthday
February 28, 2024 | Brian Phipps
Happy Leap Day and a happy birthday to all the Leap Day babies! This includes Colorado’s Barquentine Brewing, as it is celebrating its first Leap Day birthday (and fourth anniversary) … Read More
Lone Tree Brewing Expanding to Parker, Acquiring Barnett & Son Brewing
February 16, 2024 | Brian Phipps
Last week, Lone Tree Brewing Company announced plans to expand to a second location by acquiring Barnett and Son Brewing Company. Lone Tree will officially take over operations at the end of this month with a tentative opening of the new location on March 1.
“Lone Tree has been looking to expand for the last 4-5 years,” Director of Brewhouse Operations, Jerry Siote says. “With competition and maturation of the industry, we really wanted to grow into our brewhouse capacity, increase business opportunities, and provide more to our employees while continuing to innovate in neighboring communities.”
Colorado Pint Day Set for April 10 by Colorado Brewers Guild
January 12, 2024 | Brian Phipps
Recently, the Colorado Brewers Guild (CBG) announced this year’s Colorado Pint Day will occur on Wednesday, April 10, 2024. The 9th Annual fundraiser is for the CBG, which is a nonprofit trade group for independent craft breweries in the Centennial State. For Colorado Pint Day, breweries from around the state will sell the limited edition glasses and the CBG will receive $1 from each one sold.
Colorado’s Best Barleywines Blind Tasting Presented by On Tap Credit Union
December 27, 2023 | Brian Phipps
As we head into the coldest months of the calendar, a great-tasting Barleywine can be the perfect warmer. Which one though? Well, we are back with another Blind Tasting putting some of Colorado’s best Barleywines against one another. As it turned out, the Barleywine Blind Tasting ended up being one of our most competitive Blind Tastings as a high percentage of our submitted beers ended up winning recognition of Honorable Mention, Top Marks, or Best In Show.
Living The Dream taking over Grist Brew spaces; Ursula Brewery Announces Sale of Business
December 13, 2023 | Brian Phipps
As we near the end of 2023, several Colorado breweries are making changes. On November 30, 2023, two Colorado breweries reported significant news changes to their businesses. First, Living the Dream Brewing Co. in Littleton shared they will be opening a tap room at the Sterling Center in the Sterling Ranch neighborhood in Littleton. Then, one week later Living The Dream announced it would be taking over the assets and leases of Highlands Ranch’s Grist Brew Co. In an interview with the Denver Post, Grist Brew Co-owner Chuck Norman said, “Grist will still be alive, but what we do with it, I don’t know.”
Secondly, Jonathan Shikes of the Denver Post shared that Ursula Brewery of Aurora is selling its business to unnamed owners. The new owners will shut down the business temporarily and reopen under a new name at some point in the first half of 2024.
Colorado Craft Brewers Summit Announced for November 9 & 10
November 1, 2023 | Brian Phipps
Returning for a seventh year is the Colorado Craft Brewers Guild Summit and Trade Show. This year’s show takes place on November 9 and 10 at the Embassy Suites Downtown Denver.
Colorado’s Best Wild & Spontaneous Ales Blind Tasting Presented by On Tap Credit Union
October 27, 2023 | Brian Phipps
Let’s get fun-ky, Colorado! Last week, we held the eighth installment of our Blind Tasting Series examining some of the best Wild & Spontaneous Ales from around the state. We received beers from 19 different breweries representing nine different counties. On hand evaluating were nine judges from all different parts of Colorado’s craft beer industry.
2023 Guide to Colorado’s Oktoberfest Releases & Celebrations
August 25, 2023 | Brian Phipps 2
The 2023 Oktoberfest season is here! Polka season is here! Dirndls and lederhosen season is here! Hopefully, you’ve been working out those arms as stein-holding competition season is here! From this Friday, August 25 to Sunday, October 1, there are a ton of Oktoberfest releases and events. You can find events and beer releases across Colorado and many breweries are offering exciting steins to take home. Festbiers and märzens all around! Prost!
Check out the list below, in chronological order, for all of the 2023 Oktoberfest beer releases and celebrations across Colorado.
Colorado’s Best Pale Ales Blind Tasting Presented by On Tap Credit Union
July 7, 2023 | Brian Phipps
Here ye, here ye! Another PorchDrinking Blind Tasting has been conducted! This time 24 of Colorado’s Best Pale Ales were submitted from breweries from all across the state. All beers were non-adjunct and needed to mostly follow the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) guidelines of the Pale Ale style.
For starters, the goal of the Blind Tasting Series is to find the best beer of each style in the Centennial, regardless of the beer’s label, the brewery’s marketing or notoriety.
Colorado’s Best Light Mexican Lagers Blind Tasting Presented by On Tap Credit Union
April 27, 2023 | Brian Phipps
Back with the first of four scheduled Blind Tastings for 2023, the starting style on this year’s slate is Light Mexican Lagers. The goal is to find some of the best Light Mexican Lagers around Colorado. For this Blind Tasting, a group of eight judges evaluated 35 Light Mexican Lagers. Beers were submitted from breweries of all different sizes from all across Colorado.
PorchDrinking’s Blind Tasting Series is presented by On Tap Credit Union.
2023 Brewers Association Industry Award Winners
April 17, 2023 | Brian Phipps
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.”
Silly Valentine’s Day Cards for Your Craft Beer Fan
February 14, 2023 | Brian Phipps
Finding the right Valentine’s Day card can be tricky. Wasn’t it easier just to buy a box of the fun cartoon valentine cards that you gave to friends at school? Well, if you’ve got a craft beer fan in your life, perhaps try one of these cheesy, good, terrible and maybe enticing puns for your valentine this year.
Colorado’s Best Coffee Stout Blind Tasting Presented by On Tap Credit Union
December 16, 2022 | Brian Phipps
Taking the stage in the latest edition of PorchDrinking’s Blind Tasting series are Coffee Stouts. In this latest tasting, we asked a group of 10 judges to taste 26 Coffee Stouts made by Colorado breweries. By conducting a tasting blindly, we are able to put all sizes of breweries across Colorado on an even playing field that removes all marketing and preconceived notions that the judges may have. In previous installments, the Blind Tasting Series focused on Märzens, Barrel-Aged Stouts, Pilsners, and Fresh Hop Beers.
PorchDrinking’s Blind Tasting Series is presented by On Tap Credit Union. The Coffee Stout tasting is sponsored by Novo Coffee as they proudly served as our hosts.
Colorado’s Best Fresh Hop Beers Presented by On Tap Credit Union
October 11, 2022 | Brian Phipps
For the fourth installment of PorchDrinking’s Blind Tasting Series presented by On Tap Credit Union, breweries from around Colorado submitted their fresh hop beers. To start with, the Brewer’s Association defines Fresh Hop beers as, “Ales or lagers are brewed with freshly harvested hops, typically no more than 72 hours prior to being added. Such hops might be undried fresh or frozen cones or ground material, or freshly kilned dried cones or pellets.” For this tasting, we received Fresh Hop beers from 16 different Colorado breweries.
Westbound & Down Opens Taproom in Denver’s Dairy Block
July 5, 2022 | Brian Phipps
Idaho Springs brewery, Westbound & Down, is now serving its beer inside the Free Market building in Downtown Denver’s Dairy Block. Patrons will have ten beers available on draft and seven beers available to-go in four-packs.
Excitingly, the opportunity to have an opening in Denver started with an invitation by id est hospitality and BRUTØ. The new taproom exists in the BRUTØ space.
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