DC Brau Leads Collaboration Effort to Honor Ben Tolkan

One of the greatest things about the craft beer community is the community itself. Without a large group of like-minded individuals drinking it and bonding over it, craft beer would simply be a liquid with a curious chemical composition. And when tragedy strikes, breweries are often among the first to rally support, most often with a collaboration release.

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Previewing Revolution Brewing’s 4th Deep Wood Release

A drier, barrel-focused release is the theme in Revolution Brewing’s 4th Deep Wood release of 2020 with three different beer styles hitting cans this weekend.

With the last two releases featuring adjuncts like cherries, maple, and honey, the release of Mineshaft Gap, Ryeway to Heaven, and Double Barrel V.S.O.D. go quite a different direction in the December Deep Wood installment.

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CraftCellr Changes Name to Oznr, Helps Breweries Pivot During Pandemic

It’s been a busy year for the craft beer marketplace app Oznr. The app has changed names, been acquired and has seen a spike in usage with the pandemic shifting how breweries and bottle shops do their bottle releases.

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Begyle Brewing 2020 Barrel-Aged Imperial Pajamas Preview

The 2019 GABF Gold Medal for Chicago’s Begyle Brewing Barrel-Aged Imperial Pajamas gave credence to those who boasted of its excellence, and the award did wonders for its popularity. However, medals only go so far; Chicago’s beer crowd can be downright snobby about BBAs. The annual Imperial Pajamas release enjoys increasing fanfare because of its consistency, quality and a taproom party consisting of hour-by-hour variant tappings. Sadly, the global pandemic prevented Begyle from throwing its annual gathering. Nevertheless, the three packaged Pajamas stand as exemplary BBAs and evidence of why the program now hangs with the big boys and girls of the strong barrel-aging beer world.

This year’s three Imperial Pajamas release consists of the classic in Heaven Hill barrels, a vanilla variant and a special version aged in Booker Bourbon barrels. “We’ve had a lot of fun with release day variants, the way we handled those hourly releases allowed us to explore many different flavor combinations over the years. With our first foray into canning a barrel aged variant we chose vanilla as it is one of the most versatile ingredients we use in several of the variant combos we have done in the past. From the feedback we’ve gotten vanilla was always the most popular flavor, whether it was just vanilla, or vanilla combined with other ingredients,” said Kevin Cary, Begyle co-founder.

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Yakima Chief Hops Announces the Pink Boots Blend for 2021

Typically the ladies of Pink Boots Society (PBS) come together at the Great American Beer Festival for the Annual Hop Rub. The tradition began in 2017 when PBS partnered with Yakima Chief Hops (YCH) to bring the best of their hop harvest, carefully laid out on tables for attendees to smell, touch and taste, with the goal of selecting the annual Pink Boots Society hop blend.

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Pipeworks Brewing & Manny’s Deli Collaborate on Beef-Focused Pastrami on Rye Ale

In a year that feels like it will never end, waiting almost a decade must feel like an eternity. Yet, some things are worth the wait. Case in point: the return of Pipeworks Brewing Co.’s Pastrami on Rye, which returns this month with a fun twist: a collaboration with local Chicago pastrami staple Manny’s Deli. First brewed in 2010, the eclectic ale is back again in 2020, thanks in small part to the beer-focused musings of one of our own writers: Mike Zoller (aka Instagram’s @ChicagoBeer) and the creative, collaborative spirit of two local Chicago businesses. Here are the details on what Chicago beer lovers can expect for the return of Pastrami on Rye. 

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Familiar Beers Return for Latest Revolution Deep Wood Release

A trio of familiar faces make up Chicago’s Revolution Brewing’s third Deep Wood release of barrel-aged beers with pickup beginning this weekend at the brewery’s taproom.

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Opening in a Pandemic | Here Today Brewery & Kitchen Eyes Spring 2021

Over the past eight months, we’ve heard many stories of creativity, resilience and perseverance throughout the on-going pandemic. For many in the beer industry, this period has called for the necessity to adapt in order to survive. But for those ambitious entrepreneurs who had just barely begun working toward their dreams of launching a brewery, these past few months have been just as trying in different ways.

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Peculier Ales Launches Collaborative Beer for Colorado Wildfire Relief

While this year continues to be a harrowing one for most across the country, residents of Northern Colorado have had a particularly trying summer as forest fires ravaged significant parts of the state.

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2020 FoBAB Winners Announced | Cider Makes Best of Show History

The Illinois Craft Brewers Guild‘s annual Festival of Wood and Barrel Aged Beers (FoBAB) competition, which hosts breweries from throughout the nation, is usually one where the Barrel-Aged Stouts get most of the focus. However, it was a surprising, different style that for the first time took home the top honor in FoBAB’s Best of Show category.

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Waffle House Has A Beer | Oconee Brewing Waffle House Bacon & Kegs

You’ve been there. I’ve most certainly been there. Many nights after work, a night out or after a day’s worth of brewery visits. Where, you might ask? Only to the greatest after-hours breakfast place of all time: Waffle House.

It’s a terrific place for nights to come to an end over good conversation, hashbrowns and cups of coffee. Except now, you can sub the coffee for a beer, well, kind of. Oconee Brewing Company, located in Greensboro, Georgia, can make that happen next month with their new beer: Waffle House Bacon & Kegs. Grab a booth, pass the syrup and discover how this all came to be.

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Cheers, Yinz! A Beer Fest That Gives Back to Breweries

The culture of craft beer has always had a strong connection to the communities in which it thrives. For many of us, our neighborhood brewery is far more than merely a place that produces the things we enjoy drinking–it is a community center, a gathering place, and an intrinsic part of our daily lives, not to mention a foundational element for hobbies, relationships, and fostering a sense of place. Enter Cheers, Yinz!, a beer festival built to help beloved local breweries weather the economic (and emotional) effects of decreased sales and temporary closures.

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First Taste | Cruz Blanca’s 2020 Luchador Series

Each year, Chicago’s Cruz Blanca continues to get bolder with its barrel-aged series, Luchador. In 2019 the brewery released six different variants and in 2020 upped that number to eight different masked bottles that will be released this Saturday.

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An Interview with GABF’s Biggest Winners, Sun King

When one thinks about the state of Indiana, a few things may immediately come to mind. Corn, basketball and the show “Parks and Recreation” are all likely answers but for many, craft beer is not necessarily one of them. That is a shame, considering that at the 2020 Great American Beer Festival competition, the Hoosier State picked up an impressive 10 medals and was home to the brewery with the highest number of winning beers overall: Sun King Brewing.

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First Look | Other Half Brewing Company’s DC Taproom

Other Half Brewing Company is opening its next location in Washington, DC and PorchDrinking was given a sneak preview of the new space this month as the brewery aims for an end-of-year opening. Other Half (OH), known for weekly can releases and huge events, is bringing its talents to the nation’s capital and has already started brewing and selling beer on-site. Four-packs are available for pickup at the Ivy City location by ordering online and then walking or driving up to grab them.

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Denver Amends Home by Ten Public Health Order for Bars & Breweries

As COVID cases and hospitalizations continue to dramatically spike across the country, the city of Denver, Colorado announced a new set of regulations on Friday named the “Home by Ten” … Read More

Georgia’s SweetWater Brewery Acquired by Canadian Cannabis Company

*Updated to reflect SweetWater’s independence status*

While the nation continues to focus its political gaze on the state of Georgia as election officials continue to tally mail-in ballots, the Peach State made headlines today for a significant acquisition in the beer world. Atlanta’s SweetWater Brewery announced today that it has been acquired by Aphria Inc.(APHA), a leading global cannabis company based in Leamington, Ontario, Canada.

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Primary Colors Releases First Set of Blended Beers to Market

Even as COVID restrictions continue to hamper businesses across the country, Chicago’s brewery scene has added another brewery to the always growing roster as Primary Colors Brewing has packaged their first mixed six-pack of eight-ounce beers.

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Texas Brewery Explorer App Latest Tool to Help Save TX Breweries

It’s no secret that beer nerds love apps – especially apps with badges, rewards and that all-important score board so you can keep track of what your friends are up to. In response to the devastating effect that the pandemic, lockdown, and some extremely tenuous and controversial decisions by the State Governor and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, the Texas Craft Brewer’s Association are fighting back with their very own Texas Brewery Explorer app.
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Great Lakes Brewing Co. Spices Up Christmas Ale Release with New Cans, Artwork

One thing that has remained consistent this year in the world of craft beer is the tried and true cadence of much-anticipated seasonal beer releases. While spring, summer and fall releases might be more frequent, a few special beers are released in the build up leading up to Christmas. Great Lakes Brewing Co‘s Christmas Ale, from the OG out of Cleveland, is one of those beers.

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