Three memories from GABF

Now that I am finally back in the friendly confines of Boston and away from people graciously shoving beer into my face, I’ve had the chance to detox a little bit, and I’ve been able to gather some quick memories from a wonderful visit to the Great American Beer Festival. This won’t be some cohesive, extensive recap, but rather the random memories of GABF that I’ll look back on for years and years to come.

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GABF Winners Announced

Saturday we live tweeted the 2013 Great American Beer Festival awards ceremony where breweries were recognized by the Brewer’s Association for their accomplishments by style in this year’s competition. … Read More

Four Nights at Lord Hobo for Zwanze Day

I rarely go to Beer Festivals. I am sure they can be a lot of fun and people that do go to them seem to have a great time there, … Read More

Vermont Beer Trip Prospectus

When I decided to start writing here, my plan was to focus exclusively on Boston breweries. I enjoy showing people around my town and talking about it, and I felt … Read More

Pretty Things’ Taproom: Don’t build it, they’ll still come (for great beer)

Breweries – not the brands, but the actual spaces where brewing happens – are some of my favorite places on earth. Yes, a lot of if has to do with the fact that phenomenal beers are “tap room exclusives.” But it’s beyond that. You often get a good sense of the ethos behind a company and the people who live and breathe the beer.

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#FreeTreeHouse – Let my people brew!

“’Cause he knows that it’s me they’ve been coming to see/To forget about neighbors for awhile” sang Dean Rohan, one of the four owners of Tree House Brewing Co, while … Read More

Lawson’s Finest Liquids – Spring Fever Session IPA

My journey to acquire Lawson’s Finest Liquids put all of my beer-hunting skills to the test. Rural roads, quaint stores, and rare beers combined to make my search for Lawson’s … Read More

The Alchemist Brewery – Heady Topper

I still remember vividly my first can of Heady Topper. I was out celebrating my birthday with my girlfriend, a burger, some oysters, and beers. Inexplicably, The Alchemist’s Heady Topper … Read More

Jack’s Abby Brewing | Leisure Time Lager

By the time this weekend comes around I will have written close to 5,000 words on beer, interviewed the head of the “best brewery in the world” ^[1], driven over 500 miles visiting breweries, and taken more pictures of pints than I care to admit. I love doing this, but even the best things can be exhausting, especially since those numbers only scratch the surface of how much thought I try to put into every post and that is not easily quantifiable. Yes, it’s beer and beer is great, but it’s also writing and writing is hard. At the end of the “day,” which seldom is only 24 hours, my brain needs a quick reboot. After years of highly scientific research, I’ve come up with the perfect reset button: a good, long run and a bottle of the adequately named Jack’s Abby’s Leisure Time Lager.

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Ultimate 6er | Game of Thrones

The season finale for HBO’s Game of Thrones is right around the corner, so what better way to send away some of the best (and worst) people on TV than an Ultimate (Robert Baratheon-sized) 6er? This is a big one, so take it easy or you’ll end up killed by a boar.

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Night Shift Brewing – Snow

ABV = 3.4%

It’s easy to get jaded about being a “grown-up”. Here at PorchDrinking.com, we try to help you navigate adulthood as best as we can because we understand … Read More

Night Shift Brewing – Ever Weisse

ABV: 5.1%

Beer should be enjoyable. That’s simple enough, right? But sometimes I feel like as beer nerds we lose track of that. I know I do. I spend way too much time rummaging through Beeradvocate[1] and ratebeer, I obsess over “white-whale” beers and it legitimately bothers me when I try a much-hyped, rare, “highly rated” beer and it just disappoints me[2].  Then I start thinking about all the time I spent checking draft lists[3] and twitter feeds and the disappointment turns into pure anger, mostly directed at myself. I won’t even go into how frustrated I get at beer distribution[4] and beer laws because I am sure anyone reading this already feels my pain there. But here’s the good news: it does not have to be this way. Assuming you live close to a city, I can almost guarantee that you have phenomenal beer in your backyard[5] and you should be drinking and enjoying it. Not because it’s easy[6], but because it’s delicious and worth knowing about. Night Shift’s Ever Weisse, a superbly funky, sinfully red sour Berliner Weisse beer is the perfect example of the beers we should all be spending more of our time on. Read More

Backlash Beer Co’s Salute Epitomizes Boston Spirit

Although this may not be obvious all the time, the reason why I started writing here is not because I love the Boston beer scene and think it is special and you should be aware of it, though I do. It is because I think Boston, the city, is special, and I humbly hoped I could transmit a little bit of that emotion through my beer writing.

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Samuel Adams’ 26.2 Boston Brew

It’s Marathon Monday! If you don’t know what that means, you obviously do not live in Boston. I suppose it’s known as “Patriots’ Day” elsewhere[1], but ironically, in the land of the Pats, the Boston Marathon is the main event. Imagine if Macy’s Thanksgiving Day was 20 miles longer in a city 1/20th the size of New York: things get a little crazy and crowded.

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Trillium Brewery

Beers of Boston – Trillium and me, the new guys.

I thought it would be fitting, given that it’s the spring and this is my first feature, to write about a new brewery. So, on what seems to be the first pleasant Friday afternoon of the year, my girlfriend Clare and I head on an “adventure” to Fort Point’s Trillium, the first brewery to open in “Boston proper” since Jamaica Plain’s Boston Beer Company, the makers of Sam Adam’s.

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