The PorchCast Ep 56 | Novel Strand Brewing

The PorchCast team of Tristan, Sam and Sami gathered to bring you a Thanksgiving treat. For episode 56 of the PorchCast, they spoke with Novel Strand Brewing co-founders, Tamir Danon and Chantel Columna, who were sadly without their third co-founder Ayana Coker, to talk about their brewery/coffee shop, their unique approach toward beer and community, as well as some more controversial views on Instagram culture, flight boards and Untappd.

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Brewery Showcase | Honest Weight Artisan Beer

One of my favorite aspects of the craft beer community is just that: the community. There’s a sense of comfort when you’re able to strike up a conversation with locals about the happenings around town. Contributing to the community is one of the main values for Honest Weight. Located on the edge of the Pioneer Valley and neighboring the Quabbin Reservoir (one of the primary water supplies for Boston), Honest Weight Artisan Beer has started to become a household name in the area.

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Liberati Blends Innovative Beer-Wine Hybrid with Elevated Italian Cuisine

When you enter Denver’s newest brewery, Liberati Osteria & Oenobeers, it’s hard not to imagine Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297, “L’inverno” (Winter) being played by a bank of violins at a … Read More

Brewery Showcase | St. Elmo Brewing Company

I’m not sure what age I was when I started favoring breweries to bars. I distinctly remember frequenting the only brewery in my tiny college town more and more, while braving the sticky floors of the dive bars less and less. Not to say there isn’t a time and a place for a great dive bar; however, if you’re reading this it’s more likely that you’d rather drink something exciting, fresh and flavorful than pay for a bottom-shelf vodka soda. What hasn’t changed as I have gotten older is the desire to socialize over a drink.

Enter the neighborhood craft brewery. A far cry from the empty warehouses of my college days. Neighborhood breweries have become gathering places for the entire family, both two and four-legged, to come together to listen to music, play games and explore new styles of beer. However, occasionally these neighborhood breweries transcend beyond just a community hangout by producing extremely high-quality beers.

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Brewery Showcase | Brickstone Brewery

Brickstone Brewery has won medals at FoBAB, the World Cup, and GABF. One can find Brickstone at every Jewel, several Buffalo Wild Wings, throughout Guaranteed Rate Field (White Sox games), at beer fests — and even gas stations these days. It’s tough to find a Chicago-area bar without some tap handles adorned by Brickstone artwork. Yet, most Chicago-area beer fans have never been to Brickstone. Born of a family-restaurant in the 1990s, the Bourbonnais business added a brewery in 2006 and has since evolved into a dually-located, full-fledged, 9k to 10k barrel-per-year brewery (with a capacity for 18k) and, as it always has been, family restaurant. Located 45 miles south of downtown Chicago, Brickstone has simultaneously discovered a way to cater to its local clientele while also existing among the biggest names in Chicago beer.
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Solemn Oath in Logan Square | Emporium Pop-Up Bar & A New Taproom

Solemn Oath Brewing, located in the large and populous Chicago suburb of Naperville, has remained a stabilizing force within the broader, changing Chicago craft beer market. Since opening in 2012, the brewery has adapted to internal and external changes without ever losing its identity, nor its popularity among beer fans; that’s what good people serving well-executed beer will do for a brewery.

Solemn Oath is now ready to take the next step in its craft beer journey by expanding to a second location and joining a slew of breweries in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood. But first, a pop-up bar is in the works.

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Une Année Quietly Emerges as One of Chicago’s Best Breweries

Lieferbräu Brewery is About Family, Small Town America & Great Beer

First, a piece of advice. Do not speed as you travel the picturesque country roads of southern Illinois. The first reason is, of course, the cops. The speed limits drop quickly from 55 to 35 as you near and enter the small farming towns along Highway 158. The second reason is the simple beauty of the drive. Country roads should be cherished and with the debut of Lieferbräu Brewery as a reward for heading in this direction, you’ll be driving with a smile the whole time.

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Brewery Showcase | The Booth Brewery

The Booth Brewery, originally based in Korea, is taking it global.

The Booth Brewery has recently expanded to the U.S., with a brewery in Eureka, California. They purchased the 30-barrel brewing facility from Lost Coast Brewing, who recently expanded to a new location. The new facility is up and running, and The Booth has set a goal of producing 10,000 barrels in the next year. This will include both U.S. distribution and Korean exports.

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Brewery Showcase | Rogue Ales

Here at PorchDrinking.com, we ran a series in August titled “the OGs of Craft Beer,” in which we featured classic or well-known beers that have helped to define and grow craft beer culture throughout the country. One beer featured in our series was Dead Guy Ale from Rogue Ales, a beer born in 1990 when the craft beer wave was in its infancy. Rogue Ales, established in 1988, is one of the true OGs of craft breweries and we’re proud to be featuring them today. Read More

Brewery Showcase | BuckleDown Brewing

Enter the BuckleDown Brewing taproom and you’ll find, among other elements, an arrangement of leather furniture around a table (barrel) that makes one feel as if they have been invited into the BuckleDown home. It’s a fitting setting for an inviting brewery where the people matter as much, if not more, than the beer served to them. Ironically, BuckleDown opened with a production mindset in place rather than a brewpub or any concept intended to draw people through the door. Nonetheless, people arrived and relationships were forged. Catering to people isn’t a business strategy at BuckleDown: it’s organic and genuine. Read More

Red Truck Beer Company Revs Engines in Fort Collins

Many craft beer fans are apt to consider Fort Collins, Colorado as integral to the genesis of America’s craft beer boom. It’s not uncommon to hear this northern Colorado town described as the “Napa Valley of Craft Beer.” With this in mind, it is understandable that the introduction of any new brewery could prove challenging. It is an even more daunting task then to bring an established brewery from a foreign country and set up the first state-side shop in the former lot where long-time beer veterans Fort Collins Brewery stood (FCB was acquired by the Vancouver brewery last year). While a hefty endeavor indeed, the crew at Red Truck Beer Company relished the idea of such a challenge.

(READ: Fort Collins Brewery Acquired by Vancouver’s Red Truck Beer Co.)

The Vancouver brewery opened the doors to the Truck Stop, their Fort Collins location, on August 17; they did not disappoint. We had the chance to discuss the opening with general manager, Laird Mulderink, who shared the process behind the opening. We also spoke with head brewer Shaun Salyards, previously of Fort Collins Brewery and Snowbank Brewing, who provided insight on the 18 (yes, 18) beers on tap.

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New Belgium Partners with The Source Hotel on The Woods Rooftop Bar

The long-awaited project pairing a budding local mixed-use development empire in Zeppelin Places, with one of craft beer’s most storied pioneers, New Belgium Brewing, has finally opened to the public.

The Source Hotel, the fourth major mixed-use space in Denver’s River North Art District from the Zeppelin team following Taxi, The Source and Zeppelin Station, has been a long time coming. In fact, New Belgium Brewing and Kyle Zeppelin’s team had been collaborating on this project since 2014. Normal construction delays and accidents made opening a practice of patience for everyone involved, but the excitement was palpable as Kyle Zepplin (developer), Stephen Dynia (architect) David Stutz (The Source Hotel GM) and Kim Jordan (New Belgium) addressed the crowd at the soft-opening this past Thursday.

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Brewery Preview | Burns Family Artisan Ales Set to Open in Denver on Saturday

Last Fall, the Denver beer scene saw two pioneers embark on a unique partnership, which left the brewery space at Wit’s End available for purchase. As Wit’s End was closing their doors, two industry veterans happened to be looking to begin a new path of their own. Taking over the space and equipment at Wit’s End gave Wayne Burns and Laura Worley just the opportunity they were looking for.

Wayne, brewing resume dates back to the early 90’s having spent time with Michigan staples such as Bell’s Beer and Kuhnhenn’s. And since moving to Denver, he’s spent time brewing with Vine Street Pub, Jagged Mountain, Wynkoop, and recently Holidaily. Burns’ wife Laura has also run the gamut of brewery experience, having spent time bartending or serving as General Manager as the likes of Tommyknocker, Lost Highway, and Woods Boss. Together this combined experience of front to back of house operations is something both Laura and Wayne believe will help them succeed with Burns Family Artisan Ales which opens tomorrow August 18th at 2:00 PM. Read More

Brewery Showcase | Wiley Roots Brewing Co.

For the past five years, Kyle and Miranda Carbaugh have been operating Wiley Roots Brewing Company on a quiet dead-end street in Greeley, Colorado. They’ve run their small space with a friendly and humble mindset, believing that if the beer is good, then the rest will fall into place. The Carbaughs have even come to affectionately refer to themselves and their brewery as “the weird kid in class”.
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Brewery Showcase | Carton Brewing Company

For nearly seven years, Carton Brewing Company has exemplified life in New Jersey and the team has kept its focus on local, for-the-moment beers. The brewery opened on August 11, 2011 in Atlantic Highlands and it became the state’s 13th brewery. Owned by Augie Carton (who was previously an underwear salesman, among other professions) and his cousin Chris, the brewery is located where the owners were born and raised.

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Brewery Showcase | Drake’s Brewing Co.

Drake’s Brewing Co. was founded back in 1989 by Roger Lind in what was half of an old Chrysler Dodge factory powerhouse in San Leandro, CA. Back then, the brewery was named after Lind, Lind Brewing Company, and he brewed English-style ales. Lind built the original gravity-fed brewing system himself (10 barrels) but he left the brewery in 1998. Drake’s was owned by JBR Coffee Company from 1998-2008 and then John Martin, who Lind used to previously work for at Triple Rock Brewery, purchased Drake’s in 2008.

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Brewery Showcase | Burning Barrel Brewing

Burning Barrel Brewing is the vision of a father/son duo; Jack and Duncan Alexander. Jack, a longtime homebrewer, and Duncan are leading the way on the build-out of the brewery located within the Barrel District of Rancho Cordova, a city just east of downtown Sacramento. Rancho Cordova has embraced the “Maker Spirit” by creating its Barrel District, streamlining the process of opening a brewery — and more. The Barrel District currently includes six breweries, two distilleries, and one meadery.

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First Look | Novel Strand Brewing Opens Today in Denver’s Baker Neighborhood

Tamir Danon isn’t concerned about your Instagram photos, he isn’t interested in your Untappd reviews, and you won’t be sampling a flight at his brewery any time soon. He just wants you to relax, step aside from all of the distractions and just enjoy the beer. Danon, along with his wife Chantel Columna, and college friend Ayana Coker are the co-founders of Denver’s newest brewery, Novel Strand Brewing. Opening today at 1st and Cherokee in Denver’s Baker District at 3 pm, Novel Strand will focus predominantly on lower ABV hoppy, sour and funky/wild beers, but will also open with a 4.3% oatmeal stout as well.

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Summer Brew & Starting Anew | Rockyard Brewing’s Dramatic Makeover

I’ve always been a bit cynical. I’m not a rare breed in that sense; the beer world has many stubborn, cranky cynics. We’re the ones shouting at you to get off our lawns with your sour, hazy, glittery slush stouts as we rock cantankerously back and forth on the porch with our pint glasses full of clear, reliable IPA. But even the most hardened beer traditionalist among us can look forward to summer. In summer, we can rise from the ashes of our self-loathing like a magnificent, tipsy phoenix. Even if for just a season, we can crack a smile and enjoy the sun on our face while the bubbles of an unfamiliar brew caress our puckered lips.

In that spirit, Colorado’s Rockyard Brewing Company is showing us how it’s done. Shedding its skin and undergoing a major renewal of its own, the brewery has done away with ALL of its award-winning original lineup.

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