Southern Pines Brewing Company | North Carolina

When you talk to the owners of Southern Pines Brewing Company in North Carolina, you fall in love with craft brewing all over again. Their story is what craft beer in America is all about. Read More

Red Brick Brewing | Georgia’s Oldest Craft Brewery Celebrates 22 Years

This weekend, Atlanta’s Red Brick Brewing Co., Georgia’s oldest craft brewery, is throwing a big birthday bash for its 22 anniversary — and there’s a lot to celebrate.

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Savannah’s Coastal Empire Beer Co: 2015 Is a Year of Milestones

Savannah, Georgia, known for its ghost tours, historic riverwalk and ruckus St. Patrick’s Day parties, is swiftly attracting yet another type of tourism: craft beer adventurers. And the city’s Coastal Empire Beer Co. is part of the evolution.

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Cicerone Certification Program Releases New Test Guidelines

Are you studying to be a Certified Cicerone or a Certified Beer Server? Your new test guides are out, and there are some changes you want to pay attention to (for all your flashcard making needs).

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Three Taverns Brewery | Inceptus Wild Ale

ABV: 6%

Inceptus, a wild ale from Three Taverns Brewery in Decatur, Georgia, is on the short list of good things to come out of a rather ugly situation in Atlanta last winter.

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Alabama’s Back Forty Beer Company Embraces Ambitious Expansion

Deep Southern roots and big dreams. Those are additives you’ll find inside each beer from Alabama’s Back Forty Beer Company.

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Red Hare Brewing Co. | Whabbit Wheat

ABV: 5.6%

Georgia summers are long and hot. You’d swear they start in mid-April. So thank God the good folks at Marietta’s Red Hare Brewing Company thought to brew Whabbit Wheat, a summer beer with a delightful twist of fresh fruit and Saaz hops. It’s a beer that makes the drenching humid days a little bit more tolerable.

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Coco Loco Porter | NoDa Brewing

6.2% ABV

Newly-anointed craft beer drinkers sometimes think there are rules as to when you can drink a beer: Quads are only for Christmas! No zingy hefes if snow is on the ground!

I’m here to tell you there are no rules. You can drink whatever you want, no matter what time of year — and it’s always the season for Coco Loco Porter from Charlotte’s NoDa Brewing.

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Summer of Growth for Georgia’s Wild Heaven Craft Beers

In a warehouse about a mile east of the hubbub of historic downtown Decatur, Georgia in the Avondale district, a line snakes out of the front door of Wild Heaven Craft Beers on a steamy July Saturday.

The 95 degree heat index doesn’t seem to bother anyone. Neither does the occasional screech of the Marta light rail or the chug of the railroad nearby. You’re more likely to hear the ‘thump-thump’ of bags hitting the boards from the game of cornhole in the beer garden. Read More

Witnessing History as Georgia’s New Beer Laws Take Hold

As a hazy orange moon, colored by far away wildfires in Canada and Alaska, hung high in the late-July sky, a line snaked the length of half a football field outside the front door of Burnt Hickory Brewery in metro Atlanta Tuesday night.

The people at the very front of the line had been there since 3 p.m., tolerating Georgia’s heat and humidity for hours. Others had wandered up to the Kennesaw brewery after work or after dinner.

Craft beer lovers in other states may wonder, “What’s the big deal? People stand in line for bottle releases all the time.” But you’d be wrong. This doesn’t happen in Georgia. Read More

Good People Brewing Co. | Brown Ale

Birmingham, Alabama’s Good People Brewing Company is growing, but the brewery is firmly rooted in the best of its past. The Brown Ale has been pouring from Good People’s cans and draft lines since the brewery opened in 2008, offering a sweeter take on this classic style.
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Georgia’s Wild Heaven Brewery Adds Tequila-Aged Twist

Georgia’s Wild Heaven brewery busts into the barrel-aged release game with a tequila twist—and a little bit of heat—with the introduction of Height of Civilization. And true to form for this growing Atlanta-area brewery, Wild Heaven delivers.

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8 Reasons ‘Charlotte’s Got A Lot’ for Craft Beer Lovers

North Carolina, land of mountains, fresh air and the beer-friendly laws that allow small breweries to thrive, and at the same time, attract larger West Coast breweries to set up new homes.

But if you’re only making trips to Asheville, you’re missing out. Charlotte’s slogan “Charlotte’s Got a Lot,” is no joke, particularly if you’re a craft beer explorer. Fresh off 40 hours in Charlotte, here are 8 reasons you’ll dig the #cltbeer scene.

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Boulevard Brewing Co. | Hibiscus Gose

ABV: 4.2%
IBU: 11

I have a secret. I can’t stop buying Boulevard’s Hibiscus Gose. My hands keep grabbing the cardboard box the sixer comes in. I’ve bought three so far. I can’t control it. Hey, Boulevard, why don’t I just direct deposit part of my paycheck to you?

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‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ | Avenger Beer Pairings

“Avengers: Age of Ultron” is finally here! It’s no secret that, like Cap 2, “Winter Solider,” this storyline will shift the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it. Alliances will fall. Will we lose a hero? How much chaos will be left in the end?

The only thing that seems certain is that Earth’s Mightiest Heroes will need a beer (or seven) after the dust settles. The question is, which beer do these characters turn to? We kept it American (depending on which cities Ultron destroys, imports might be tough in the MCU anyway, right?). We’re also basing the picks on cinematic storylines, and not purely on comic book history (since that’s about to reset itself again as The Verge reports).  Read More

Ultimate 6er | 6 Southern Beers to Shoot the Hooch

Summer in Atlanta means three things: drenching humidity, the annual 4th of July Peachtree 10K Road Race (which is held in the drenching humidity), and Shooting the Hooch.

While Shooting the Hooch may sound a little NSFW, we promise, it’s not. “Hooch” is short for the Chattahoochee River, and “Shootin’” means you’re leisurely floating down said river in an inner tube — and trust me, you’re going to need a beer for that. Read More

SweetWater 420 Fest | 7 Reasons Rain Couldn’t Stop This Party

The SweetWater 420 Fest rolled into downtown Atlanta April 17-19 — and so did big time thunderstorms.

It had rained in Atlanta every single day of the week leading up to the festival’s kick-off Friday. The weather left Centennial Olympic Park, home of the 1996 Summer Olympics, a virtual mud pit. Even the walkways were a slip ’n slide of muck.

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5 Seasons Brewing Co. | Atlanta, Georgia

Inspired beer. Delicious food. Patio seating. You’ll find all three and more at 5 Seasons Brewing Co. in metro Atlanta.

After a crushing move by state legislators to peel Georgia brew pubs out of take-home beer sales that were originally proposed in Senate Bill 63, I’m throwing some extra love towards 5 Seasons Brewing Co. If you’re visiting Atlanta, it’s a must. If you live here and haven’t been to 5 Seasons in a few months, go back. Go support your local brewers. Read More

6 Reasons Sierra Nevada’s New NC Taproom Will Impress You

Tuesday, March 10, 2015, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. opened its East Coast Taproom and Restaurant on an expansive wooded property in Mills River, North Carolina, two miles west of the Asheville Regional Airport and about 20 miles south of downtown Asheville.

From the commanding presence of the 200-barrel brewhouse, to the Taproom and Restaurant featuring more than two-dozen beers and a menu that doesn’t look anything like your typical pub fare, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company built this facility to impress. Here are the six things that’ll stand out on your visit. Read More

Proposed Laws Could Change Craft Beer In Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Texas

If you’re reading PorchDrinking.com, then you’re likely well aware the craft beer industry is killing it in the U.S. The Brewers Association says the industry hit $19.6 Billion in retail and took hold of 11 percent of the volume share in 2014 — the first double digit share ever.

While the success stories are widely reported and cheered, including West Virginia’s legislature passing a law earlier this month to allow state breweries to offer samples, lawmakers in several states are right now debating proposals that could significantly impact how beer-loving residents and visitors legally consume and buy craft beer. While there are smaller legal issues around the nation, the heated debates in Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Texas are the ones we’re watching very closely right now. Here’s why.

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