Beer Showcases
PD’s own dissect beer. Leave the pretentiousness on the curb.
Fremont Brewing in Collaboration with Chuck’s Hop Shop | Phantom Chair
January 11, 2017 | Hannah Carlson
On Saturday, hundreds of craft lovers came together to celebrate Chuck’s Hop Shop’s third anniversary. The event was a testament to the craft beer bar quickly and swiftly making its mark in Seattle’s Central District neighborhood.
Red Hare Brewing Company | Berry Belgian Waffle
January 10, 2017 | Jose Minaya
Berry Belgian Waffle is a truly unique beer that pushes forward the possibilities of beer and brewing style. We can all appreciate breweries that focus on hitting style profiles to the letter. These breweries strive to make classic examples of beer – those efforts often resulting in successful campaigns at the Great American Beer Festival. Berry Belgian Waffle may not be the next GABF medal winning beer out of the booming Georgia brewing scene; What it is, instead, is a fun example of a small brewery, Red Hare Brewing Company, having fun and pushing what is acceptable and expected from American beer.
Free Will Brewing Company | The Kragle IPA
January 9, 2017 | Dan Bortz
ABV: 6.6% | IBU: 90
There is a beer that I walk past almost every day. Since it comes from a local brewery, I see it in bottle shops and grocery stores ALL the time. There is no particular reason that I had never tried it. I never read a bad review, heard bad word-of-mouth, or disliked a different beer from the same brewery. I just never reached out and grabbed one. When building a mixed six-pack today, I rectified that error. The last spot in my six-pack carrier was filled with The Kragle IPA from Free Will Brewing Company. Read More
Streetside Brewery | Raspberry Beret
January 6, 2017 | Kristen Ballinger
ABV: 4.2%
What a year 2016 has been! Cincinnati has welcomed multiple new breweries all throughout the Queen City. While I haven’t been able to make it to them all, … Read More
Great Notion Brewing | Juice Jr.
January 5, 2017 | Hannah Carlson
Photo Courtesy of Great Notion Brewing
One of the best perks about living in Seattle is being a hop, skip and a jump from Portland, Oregon – a city overflowing with places to fill your pint glasses. And during my last trip south, there was one spot in particular at the tippy top of my list: Great Notion Brewing.
Victory Brewing Company | Vital IPA
January 4, 2017 | Dan Bortz
ABV: 6.5%
As the second American IPA in Victory Brewing Company‘s year-round lineup, Vital IPA had to fight an uphill battle against the existing family favorite. This brew had to differentiate itself from Victory’s better-known Hop Devil IPA and prove that it could stand on its own. By being crisper, more subtle, and lighter-bodied than its predecessor, Vital IPA attracts an audience that Hop Devil may not: lager lovers.
Odyssey Beerwerks | Oh Snap!
January 3, 2017 | Holly Priestley
ABV: 6.4% | IBU: 20
The end of the year brings holidays, reflections about the year behind us, plans for the year ahead and some of the best seasonal brews around. In the northern hemisphere, this coincides with winter, darker days, colder temperatures and snow (usually). Lights go up on houses, relatives come down to visit and there’s little doubt you’ll make it to at least one brewery to while away the hours in avoidance of going to the mall to pick up that one last gift for the second uncle of your mom’s cousin thrice removed. Similar smells of cinnamon, pine trees and allspice waft out of stores and restaurants and even your neighborhood brewery.
Listermann Brewing Co. | Bourbon Barrel Aged Chickow!
January 2, 2017 | Spencer Mapes
We have a special beer here in Cincinnati, one in which is hard to pass up when you find it and has more delicious variations than Lady Gaga’s wardrobe. Listermann Brewing Co. is the proud father of Chickow!, a Hazelnut Double Brown Ale weighing in at a hefty 10% ABV. It has grown from a local favorite to being nationally recognized at the 2016 Festival of Barrel Aged Beers in Chicago. Listermann brought home two medals this year with their Barrel Aged Chickow! Not only did it win gold in the category of Speciality/Experimental beer, but it won the highest award of being Best in Show! Read More
Reformation Brewery | Stark Toasted Porter
December 30, 2016 | John Baum
ABV: 5.5%
The Time: October 1517
The Place: All Saints Church; Wittenburg, Germany
The Major Player: Martin Luther, Theology Professor
The Action: Unhappy with the Catholic Church, Martin Luther writes down 95 suggestions and nails a copy to the door of All Saints Church.
The Result: The Protestant Reformation. Boom.
Real Ale Brewing Co. | Axis IPA
December 29, 2016 | Pam Catoe
ABV: 7% | IBU: 70
This year Real Ale Brewing Co. celebrated 20 years of brewing and is the Austin area’s oldest brewery. Recently they released Axis IPA, a brand new mainstay that highlights its ability to continually innovate and produce a wide array of styles. I caught up with head brewer, Schmitty, to find out more about the new release.
Pipeworks Brewing Co. | Blueberry Cichlid
December 28, 2016 | Mike Zoller
ABV: 9.5%
There are few beers that I actively go out and look for the day that distribution begins. One of those rare exceptions is anytime Pipeworks Brewing Co. releases a new beer from their Fish Series. If you’re not familiar with this series, it consists of big imperial IPAs with the addition of fruit and, typically, honey. They’re sweet, they’re fruity and the most recent release does not deviate.
Deschutes Brewery | Armory XPA and Sagefight Imperial IPA
December 27, 2016 | David Thompson
Armory XPA ABV: 5.9% | IBU: 55
Sagefight Imperial IPA ABV: 8.0% | IBU: 75
I spent the first few of my formative beer drinking years living in Portland, Oregon, where IPAs are king. Like a child who doesn’t like broccoli, I was naive about hoppy, aromatic beers and stuck to sweeter beers as much as I could. But alas, a beer drinker can repent of their beer drinking sins, and however naive I once was, I have seen the light.
SweetWater Brewing Company | Dank Tank Pulled Porter
December 26, 2016 | Jose Minaya
ABV: 7.7%
BBQ is a deeply rooted tradition in the south. SweetWater Brewing Company asks the question we all truly want answered. Does BBQ make everything better? Settle down there is no meat or thick BBQ sauce in Pulled Porter. Rather, Nick Nock and the rest of the brewing staff at SweetWater Brewing Co. decided to smoke some of the malt for this beer. I’ll repeat that because it really is heavenly to read. Nick Nock and the SweetWater Brewing Co.’s brewing staff decided to take some of their base malt down to Fox Brothers BBQ, one of Atlanta’s top BBQ spots, and smoke that malt and then make Pulled Porter. Genius!
Schlafly Beer Debuts New “From The Ibex Cellar” Specialty Series
December 23, 2016 | Jordan Palmer
This week I got the rare pleasure to visit the Schlafly Beer Taproom and sit down with Ambassador Brewer Stephen Hale. I’ve known Hale for 15 years and I credit him with introducing me to craft beer.
12 Beers of Christmas | Cellarmaker Wreather Madness
December 23, 2016 | Victoria Pratt
Cover photo by Simon Offord
ABV: 7.6% | IBU: 35
Dankota Fanning, Barbarian Steissand and Wicked Juicy are a few of the names of beers made by one of the best breweries in the Bay Area: Cellarmaker Brewing Company. Conveniently located in the South of Market (SOMA) neighborhood of San Francisco, anytime you find yourself nearby is a great time to enjoy some of the finest brews around. Their motto is “Beer Without Limits” and they live by the creed that they are a “neighborhood brewery making fresh beer for the Bay Area. Hoppy, dark, Belgian, barrel aged, etc. We enjoy making a wide variety of brews.” Their attention to detail and expertise at their craft really shows through their beer.
12 Beers of Christmas | Fremont Brewing Coffee Cinnamon B-Bomb
December 22, 2016 | Jan Wanot
ABV: 14.0% | IBU: 65
Fremont Brewing delivers another liquid giant to liven up another holiday season. Coffee Cinnamon B-Bomb is the awesomely adjunct-ed, cooler and even more popular older cousin of Bourbon Barrel Aged Winter Ale, Fremont’s flagship bourbon barrel aged beer. It can be found lounging around the MoonTower, slicking back it’s long golden waxy locks, and murmuring phrases like: “Alright, alright, alright.”
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12 Beers of Christmas | Great Lakes Brewing Company | Christmas Ale
December 21, 2016 | John Amantea
ABV: 7.5% | IBU: 30
My friends who know me well know that I love food and I love to cook. From trying different restaurants or expanding my tastes with different cuisines to just staying in and making something for dinner, I’ve always had a knack for knowing my way in the kitchen. Cooking has been something I’ve loved to do for a long time, to the point where I considered going to culinary school after undergrad. I owe a lot of what I know and what I love about cooking to one person: my mom.
12 Beers of Christmas | Live Oak Brewing Co. | Primus
December 20, 2016 | Pam Catoe
ABV: 8.0% | IBU: 10
You have probably heard the old adage, “if you don’t like the weather in Texas, wait thirty minutes”. Quite true, it’s more than typical for temperatures to rise and fall over thirty degrees in a matter of hours; therefore, Christmas in Texas can mean flip flops or fur lined boots. However, one thing that is consistent year to year is the release of one of my all time favorite seasonal releases Primus by Live Oak Brewing Company.
12 Beers of Christmas | Port Brewing Santa’s Little Helper
December 19, 2016 | Brady Akers
ABV: 10.5%
When the weather outside gets frightful, a nice big imperial stout can be very delightful, but you should be sure that you’ve got no place to go. For me, one of my favorite big imperial stouts during the holiday season is Port Brewing’s Santa’s Little Helper. Like sweet baby Jesus, Santa’s Little Helper is pure and good in every way. The beer doesn’t have any “holiday seasoning” in it, which is a nice break after pumpkin beer season to avoid nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, etc.
12 Beers of Christmas | Baderbräu Christmas Bliss Baltic Porter
December 16, 2016 | Mathew Powers
French hens, ladies dancing, swans swimming and, of course, a porter in a beer tree. These are necessary components for a successful 12 days of Christmas. For this writer, the beer found under the tree is Baderbräu Christmas Bliss Baltic Porter with vanilla and orange peel. Because, in Chicago, Jack Frost does more than nip our noses, it darn near renders them red enough to qualify us to guide Santa’s sleigh. Hence, any porter good enough for those traversing the frigid waters of the Baltic Sea is good enough for us living on the ice-covered shores of Lake Michigan.
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