Brewery Showcase | Frankenmuth Brewery

Frankenmuth is one of the top tourist destinations in the beautiful state of Michigan. Located just south of Saginaw and 90 miles north of Detroit along the well-traveled I-75, people have been stopping here for years to visit the German-themed shops, eat world-famous chicken dinners, shop at the giant Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, and have a pint at the Frankenmuth Brewery.

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Crafting History | Brussels Edition

Back in July, I had the incredible opportunity to visit Brussels, Belgium. A city and country rich with beer history, this trip is a bucket list destination for many connoisseurs. Belgium’s diversity of styles, centuries-old brewing techniques, and preservation of tradition have all impacted its place as one of the most culturally significant countries in the world when it comes to heritage. This installment of Crafting History features contributions from legends of the industry Werner Van Obberghen – Owner and Managing Director of 3 Fonteinen, Moeder Lambic owner Jean Hummler, and former Chairman of De Heikantse Bierliefhebbers Fons Minne, as well as reviews of a few Belgian relics – some of which have been cellared for over two decades.

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Collaborating for a Cause | Narragansett Life Barleywine

It’s been nearly three months since the last installment of Collaborating for a Cause. This newest collaboration with Narragansett Brewing and their Life barleywine is the perfect place to pick the series back up, highlighting a very special beer that had two iterations bottled exclusively for PorchDrinking.

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Incantation Brewing Opening New Taproom & Coffee Shop

The taproom model of brewery expansion has proved to be a popular means for breweries to open new locations while keeping profit margins higher through on-site sales. However, as craft beer sales have slowed and the public is not drinking beer like it used to, breweries must adapt to the changing landscape by offering patrons options beyond beer.

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Former Uhl’s Brewing Owner Revives Denver’s Renegade Brewing

Aaron Uhl is no stranger to taking the road less traveled. The former founder of Boulder’s now-shuttered Uhl’s Brewing took an unconventional path toward realizing his dream of owning his own brewery. And while Uhl’s ultimately shuttered its doors almost exactly a year ago, Uhl himself has announced his return to the Colorado brewing scene by teaming up with new business partner, Dan Colbourne, to revive the Renegade Brewing brand, which announced its own closure just three months prior. And while it’ll be a few months before the revamped Renegade re-opens, they’ll be making a splash by pouring some special beers at this weekend’s Wibby’s Hooplagers Festival on Saturday, July 19.

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Brewery Showcase | WestFax Springs

WestFax has officially opened its second location, located in Colorado Springs! Be sure to stop by to check out the great beers and awesome space!

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Ludlam Island Brewery | Grand Reopening Preview

Since opening in 2016, South Jersey staple Ludlam Island Brewing has been a consistent stop for travelers heading to the Jersey Shore. Now, only four minutes from its previous tasting room in Ocean View, Ludlam Island has renovated a former bowling alley, The Mouse Trap, into a rarity for New Jersey—a brewpub.

“We are so excited for everyone to see the new place,” says Ludlam Island Brewery owner William Topley in a press release. “We poured our hearts and souls into creating this space for Woodbine and the surrounding communities.”

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Brewery Showcase | Other Lands

How does one decide where and when to open a brewery? For Founder and Brewer Mel Wilcox of Other Lands, the destination was clear but the pathway was unexpected and arduous at times. However, with a mantra of “evolve or die,” he set out to turn his vision of uniquely blended beers paired with an antithetical designed community-centric taproom into a reality.

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Horus Aged Ales | Year Nine Spotlight

It has been over a year now since collaborating with Kyle Harrop and Horus Aged Ales on a spotlight of his unique and formidable barrel program. Now, Horus finds itself preparing to open year seven of the Convocation membership. We reconnected with Harrop for a brand new feature, highlighting some of his recent projects as well as digging deeper into what we can hope to expect from this sought after program in 2024.

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milieu fermentation company | Opening Weekend Preview

Opening a brewery is a journey full of challenging times and rewarding payoffs. For every newly installed and wrenched tapline spewing precious liquid across the countertop upon first test, there is the hard earned reward of that very first draft pour. Rob Bessett and Andrew Bergeron, co-owners of milieu fermentation company (pronounced mil-you) in Aurora, just outside of Denver, know all too well the difficult work that has gone into preparing their brewery for its opening weekend on May 4. Now that the date is set and the opening is just around the corner, PorchDrinking took some time to check out their renovated taproom and chat about what the future holds for milieu.

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Demo Brewing Opens Up in Chicago’s Malt Row

For any beer nerd that is visiting Chicago, the Ravenswood/Andersonville area is an obvious choice; you are within walking distance to Hop Butcher for the World, Dovetail, Half Acre and more. You would think that there are maybe enough breweries for us. That would not be the case. This area is always looking to add another locally owned business, and when it’s a brewery, everyone is even more excited. After the loss of both Empirical Brewery and Urban Brew Labs in 2022, Demo Brewing Company is a great addition to the community.

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Collaborating for a Cause | Lua Brewing

The outpouring of support for Alex Kidd and his family has been incredible over the last eight months. In particular, when backtracking to those first 30 days after he announced his Stage IV cancer diagnosis, it’s mind-blowing just how quickly so many breweries and individuals banded together to raise funds. Lua Brewing was no exception. Just four days after the unexpected announcement on Don’t Drink Beer’s social accounts, Lua organized a vintage sale offering full sets of their sought-after Destroyer Barleywine, with 100% earned going straight to the Kidd family. Read More

Kicking 2024 Off with Indeed Brewing

With a slew of closures in the craft beer world in 2023, it’s always great to watch a brewery flourish. Indeed Brewing Company, with taprooms in both Minneapolis and Milwaukee, had a huge 2023. Not only were its flagship beers, Flavorwave IPA and Pistachio Cream Ale, big hits in its market, but it donated over $50,000 to various nonprofit organizations in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

PorchDrinking chatted with chief business officer Ryan Bandy, who was appointed to the role in 2023 after over 10 years with the brewery, including as director of experiences.

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Barrel Room Spotlight | Floodland Brewing

Up until this point, the Barrel Room Spotlight has exclusively featured brewery programs specializing in malty, high-gravity, oak-aged beers. For this installment, Floodland Brewing breaks the mold. We had the privilege of interviewing founder and brewer Adam Paysse to gain some insight into Floodland’s mixed fermentation portfolio, some of his approaches to culture collection and ingredients, and how he is able to assert his vision through unique, high-quality, bottle-conditioned beers. Read More

Collaborating for a Cause | Fox Farm Copestone

Happy New Year! When we began this series last year, we had no idea what to expect. No one was quite prepared for the sheer magnitude of support Alex Kidd and his family would receive after his cancer diagnosis, but it’s been incredible to watch unfold. This series powers ahead into the new year, beginning with Fox Farm Brewery in Salem, Connecticut.

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Collaborating for a Cause | Westum Hjemmebryggeri

Back in May, immediately after hearing the news of Alex Kidd’s cancer diagnosis, PorchDrinking helped to organize a razzle with the Barleywine is Life Facebook group to raise money for his recovery through donations to his GoFundMe.  On the 19th we published an article outlining how breweries could get involved with rare bottle contributions for the razzle, and then on June 6th officially announced the packages up for grabs. For every $10 forwarded to his recovery fund (with emailed proof), donors would receive one entry. Submissions closed at Midnight EST on June 18, with winners selected live on the morning of Tuesday, June 20 by Stephen Loh and Michael Gabriel of Malt Couture on Instagram.

One brewery donation in particular came all the way from Norway, contributing two special iterations of home-brewed, high-gravity ales that were randomly added to three winning boxes from the PorchDrinking razzle. We had the privilege to talk with Espen Westum extensively about his passion project, Westum Hjemmebryggeri, as well as the inspirations provided by Alex Kidd and what’s led him to this point in his brewing journey. Additionally, we were able to review and share the very exclusive charity releases Westum sent stateside to support the Kidds.

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Brewery Showcase | Nuckolls Brewing (Sante Fe, NM)

It was 4:45 on a weekday in the Santa Fe Railyard, and Nuckolls Brewing was already in full swing. There were 25 people in the beer line and a party of contemporary art gallerists were hobnobbing near the copper-accented bar. Clearly, this was the new Santa Fe hotspot. 

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FIRST LOOK | Denver Beer Co. Opens In Downtown Littleton, CO

The Denver Beer Company (DBC) armada continues to amass an even greater reach across the Front Range opening its 5th taproom and brewpub location in downtown Littleton, CO earlier this … Read More

Brewery Showcase | Denver’s Monolith Brewing Opens in Former Black Project Space

While Denver’s RiNo neighborhood has dominated beer headlines for the last decade, the Platt Park stretch of South Broadway has certainly been making the most waves over the last two … Read More

Collaborating for a Cause | DDBIL

This week, Collaborating for a Cause sets its sights on Florida, where Hialeah-based brewery King Fox joined forces with Shōjō Beer Co. and Odd Breed Wild Ales to release DDBIL, a special beer to support Alex Kidd. This is unbelievably the tenth installment in this series, with more to come. We can only hope that by highlighting the immense generosity from the Industry through these dedicated releases that we’ve not only inspired others to contribute help, but also motivated people to get checked regularly and learn the importance of monitoring their bodies.

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