Book Review | Pairing Beer & Chocolate by David Nilsen

While beer trends come and go, pairing is and continues to be a skill that never goes out of fashion, and quite rightly so. As beer lovers, we seek out sensory experiences from every sip we take, factoring in variables ranging from serving temperature to glass size to express and explain the precise nature of our drinking experience, so naturally once food substances are thrown into the mix, we aim to optimize our enjoyment by successfully pairing flavors and textures that are complimentary.

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Hop Seasons | What Happens at a Small Hop Farm Throughout the Year

In the year-long agricultural cycle of beer’s main ingredients, hop harvest gets all the glory. Fresh hop and wet hop beers fill shelves and taplists every fall, a celebration of craft beer’s trendiest ingredient. Brewers flock to the Pacific Northwest (or their local hop yard) to evaluate the season’s best lots and choose hops for the coming year. Most of our “seasonal” beer styles today are nods to tradition rather than agricultural dictate, but these beers are different, a hold out from a time when brewing schedules and beer styles were guided by the growing calendar.

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Growing Change: Small Growers Adapt to a Shifting Craft Beer Market

Craft beer grew at an impressive rate in the decade preceding the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, from 1,813 U.S. breweries in 2010 to 9,092 in 2020, according to the Brewers Association. As it grew, it pulled a number of supporting industries up wthe

ith it, perhaps most notably small-scale ingredient growers and suppliers. The number of small hop farms in the U.S. increased from 68 in 2007 to 817 in 2017 (according to figures published by Penn State University), and member count of the Craft Maltsters Guild grew from eight companies when the guild was founded in 2013 to 67 by 2022.

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2024 Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival Adds Local Flare to Up Its Fest Experience

The Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival has perennially proven why it endures as one of the country’s premier craft beer festivals. Elements that have distinguished it above the thousands of other festivals that take place each year range from the festival’s carefully curated list of participating breweries along with brewers/founders who make the trip to interact with attendees, its stellar lineup of food purveyors, dishing out all-you-can-taste high-level culinary bites ranging from charcuterie to lobster rolls, mac and cheese to artisan ice creams, its inherent advantages of showcasing one of the country’s preeminent brewing campuses located in the picturesque setting surrounded by the natural splendor of wine country, special festival-only Firestone Walker beers; with too many more to list.

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Mixed Results: How Sour Ale Producers Make the Numbers Work

Mixed-fermentation, long-aged sours are among the most prestigious styles in all of beer. The esoteric flavors and lore of Belgian Lambic styles have inspired countless American brewers to look beyond conventional fermentations in search of mystery and glory. It’s an expensive but esteemed branch of brewing, and one upon which many reputations have been built. The only problem? Hardly anyone seems to be buying these beers anymore.

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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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The Payroll Dept Offers Hands-On HR & Payroll Solutions to Breweries

In a world where artificial intelligence is now being used to create beer recipes and entire brew systems are fueled by automation, the craft beer industry is beginning to look less like the scrappy bootstrapped, mom-and-pop entrepreneurial operation that inspired approximately 10,000 neighborhood breweries across the country and more like the big box corporate breweries that have monopolized the market for so many decades.

While automation has helped to create efficiencies that become critical for fueling explosive growth, some aspects of operating a brewery just work better with a human touch. 

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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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Casks & Camaraderie | Oak & Steel

In an unintended continuation from the last installment, Casks & Camaraderie is again headed to Missouri. Previously exploring Cape Girardeau’s Cask Craft Spirits and Beer Lounge, we focused on their elevation of barrel picks to expand exclusively from whiskey distillers into the realm of private picks with local brewery barrel stocks. This iteration picks up in the same barrel room it left off in, with Cory King and Side Project Brewing. His newest collaboration in the Silent Barrel series was with Kyle Howard, owner of Oak & Steel craft drinkery out of Kansas City. We took a deeper dive into his experience, the barrel, and the impact it’s had on the ever-changing beer scene in northwestern MO.

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Downloadable 2024 Bingo Boards for Super Bowl LVIII

It doesn’t matter if you’re only tuning in to catch glimpses of a potential Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce proposal after the Chiefs win yet another Super Bowl, or perhaps you’re looking to re-live your high school prom by making some Love in this Club with Usher. Or maybe you’re just in it for the commercials. Either way, we’re here to help spice up your Super Bowl viewing experience once again with this year’s 2024 Super Bowl Bingo Boards for Super Bowl LVIII.

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80+ Black-Owned Breweries to Support Across the Country

Back in 2020, PorchDrinking released this list of Black-owned breweries, and we’ve recently updated it to reflect new breweries that have opened across the country. While other prolific beer writers and media members like Ale Sharpton and @BlackBeerTravelers have laid the groundwork previously, we also wanted to help highlight the black-owned breweries who are doing tremendous work in beer throughout the United States.  As we continue to reflect on ways to more directly make the craft beer industry a more diverse and welcoming community, one of the easiest ways is by actively spending your money at Black-owned breweries. 

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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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Butchertown Brewing Announces All-Star 2024 Collaboration Lineup

If it’s true that you can judge a person by the company they keep, then it’s likely you can also judge a brewery by the company with whom they collaborate.

Like many emerging innovative craft breweries, Louisville, KY’s Butchertown Brewing, has adopted the philosophy of utilizing collaborations as a means to not only further hone their craft, but to also build greater relationships with other like-minded breweries that share similar philosophies and stylistic focus.

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Roasty & Alcohol-Free | Brewing Non-Alcoholic Stouts

While Stouts and other dark beer styles can be enjoyed any time of year, their comforting roast flavors of chocolate, coffee, toast, and burnt caramel provide a cozy accompaniment to the winter season. Many non-alcoholic (NA) producers are brewing NA Stouts both as seasonal releases and year-round core offerings. Brewing these styles without alcohol presents unique production challenges.

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A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats: Eight Trillion Allies and the Future of Beer Collaborations

While not the first of its kind, the collaboration between Russian River and Avery Brewing on Collaboration Not Litigation Ale in 2006 would eventually lead to breweries around the world following in their footsteps.

Since then, the craft beer industry has been filled with collaborations of all kinds. Smaller breweries have often partnered with larger breweries, which eventually led to breweries collaborating with people in and around the craft beer industry like rappers, bands, chefs, influencers, and more.

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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

Sierra Nevada Enters Non-Alcoholic Craft Beer with Trail Pass

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company is entering the growing non-alcoholic (NA) beer space with their new Trail Pass series, which hits shelves this month with two initial beers: Golden and IPA. The iconic brewery known for standard alcoholic brands like Pale Ale, Celebration Ale, and Hazy Little Thing debuted their new NA offerings at Denver’s Great American Beer Festival in September, and expects the beers to hit shelves across their full distribution footprint by the beginning of January.

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Casks & Camaraderie | Cask Craft Spirits and Beer Lounge

Breweries are always looking for new and unique ways to share their beers. Recently, one way that many have looked to showcase their barrel room in particular has been through barrel picks.

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Living The Dream taking over Grist Brew spaces; Ursula Brewery Announces Sale of Business

As we near the end of 2023, several Colorado breweries are making changes. On November 30, 2023, two Colorado breweries reported significant news changes to their businesses. First, Living the Dream Brewing Co. in Littleton shared they will be opening a tap room at the Sterling Center in the Sterling Ranch neighborhood in Littleton. Then, one week later Living The Dream announced it would be taking over the assets and leases of Highlands Ranch’s Grist Brew Co. In an interview with the Denver Post, Grist Brew Co-owner Chuck Norman said, “Grist will still be alive, but what we do with it, I don’t know.”

Secondly, Jonathan Shikes of the Denver Post shared that Ursula Brewery of Aurora is selling its business to unnamed owners. The new owners will shut down the business temporarily and reopen under a new name at some point in the first half of 2024.

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2023 Georgia Best in Beer Recap

Here we are again – counting down the days of in-laws, traveling, stress and everything in between – and just strolling through the light shows until the calendar flips to January. Overall, it’s been a great year for the Georgia beer scene, but there are certainly reasons to be a little bah-humbug about the year in review, as closures happened more frequently than in any year in memory. But, this article is all about the great things that happened in 2023, so as usual, grab a glass, pour a pint and let’s highlight the great moments of Georgia beer. Read More