Features
Beer Is Art | Obakeng Malope’s Campaign to Lift South Africa’s Youth Out of Poverty Through Craft Beer
October 14, 2022 | Ruvani de Silva
Obakeng Malope has a mission. The South African brewer and filmmaker has started a project blending beer culture and social change with enormous scope on both a national and international level, and her hard work and tenacity has already led to significant press and multi-national collaboration.
Malope is the creator of Beer Is Art, an initiative to offer access to the craft beer industry to South Africa’s unemployed young people. In the second quarter of 2022, 4.8 million 15-34 year old South Africans were unemployed, 46.5% of the population in that age group. Malope believes that the growing South African craft beer industry has the potential to help lift some of these young people out of poverty. “The youth are sitting at home unemployed here in South Africa. The campaign teaches about beer, that beer is not something that you drink and get drunk off. We teach beer and food pairing, brewing, beer podcasting and licensing. We show them that they can turn beer into a career,” she says.
Staff Picks for Best Beers of the Month | September 2022
October 10, 2022 | Brandon Cohran
Spooky season is upon us and we’re thinking back to some of our favorite beers over the last month or so. Schedules and holiday plans are probably dotting your calendars already as the football season rolls on and winter sports are about to start. The positive thing about having such chaotic weeks lately is that beers have tasted really great. Each one allows for that small break from reality for just a few minutes. As always, we hope you’ve had some of these beers we loved, too. Read More
Beer Industry Workers Find Community Through Craft Beer Professionals Group
September 2, 2022 | Tristan Chan
For an industry so tightly built around togetherness and community, the pandemic could have easily crippled many aspects that came to define the very fabric of craft beer. But the digital age has helped us to adapt quickly and for one online beer community, it was the perfect opportunity to serve as a resource for togetherness at a time when connecting in person was prohibited.
PorchDrinking’s Best Beers of the Month | August 2022
August 31, 2022 | Brandon Cohran
Vacations are ending, and school is starting back. That can only mean one thing: summer is ending and 2022 isn’t slowing down at all. That’s alright, though, because the last quarter of the year means good weather, football and big beers. Most of the time anyway. Before we get ahead of ourselves and send summer sailing, let’s all raise a glass one more time for the staff favorite beers of August. Read More
Could Novel Strand’s New Fermented Tea Beverage Spark The Next Big Trend?
August 19, 2022 | Tristan Chan
The art of fermentation has been around for thousands of years, with evidence of fermented beverages tracing back to as far as 7000 BCE. Even still, innovative new techniques, modern ingredients and a deeper understanding of the science of fermentation have broken ground for new advancements in the field.
Tamir Danon, co-founder of Denver’s Novel Strand Brewing has embraced an unconventional approach toward microbial sciences since beyond the Baker neighborhood brewery first opened in 2018. Prior to Novel Strand, Danon earned his master’s degree in microbiology with a focus on genetically modifying yeast to model diseases like cancer for his graduate thesis. And at NYU, Danon worked studying genetic disorders. But nowadays, he’s applying what he’s learned toward experimenting with Brettanomyces and testing out unique new hop varietals.
AleBlazers Series | Q&A with Japas Cervejaria
August 18, 2022 | Emma Wargolet
Japas Cervejaria is a brewery that has been around for seven years, and is now taking America by storm with a series of special events throughout the month. Owned by three Nipo-Brazilian women, Maíra Kimura, Yumi Shimada and Fernanda Ueno, they have been brewing in Brazil since 2015. The Japas Cervejaria brand has already begun distribution throughout California, Florida, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, with plans to open South Carolina and Texas soon! We were able to connect with the three founders to discuss how they got started brewing beer and how it helped them explore their Japanese-Brazilian ancestry.
South Asian Heritage Month | Why It Matters To The Beer Industry
August 9, 2022 | Ruvani de Silva
Being a South Asian in beer within the diaspora can be a lonely business. As per Brewer’s Association data from 2021, just 2% of US breweries are owned by Asians, with no available information on South Asians specifically. With so few South Asians involved in the beer industry, taking time to reflect on and celebrate South Asian Heritage Month* (July 18 -August 1**) offers an opportunity to amplify our presence, support one another, and reach out and share our culture through the medium of beer, our chosen career or interest.
Celebrate IPA Day with Firestone Walker’s Hop Dreams: A Brewer’s Journey
August 4, 2022 | Tristan Chan
The idea of craft beer is often romanticized around the idea of artisan-grown hops, grain, and locally sourced water. But over the years as the craft beer movement has exploded and craft beer’s base has grown wider, some of that sense of craftmanship may have gotten lost in the messaging.
Firestone Walker IPA Mixed Pack Featuring Melon Conspiracy
July 22, 2022 | Emma Wargolet
Much like ordering a flight at a new brewery, mixed packs are a great option when you want to have a variety of beers available to you. If you find yourself unsure what to bring to that summer barbecue or boat ride, variety packs can provide the perfect solution! Fortunately, Firestone Walker has a variety of mixed packs to choose from, including the new IPA Mixed Pack featuring Melon Conspiracy.
Colorado Beer Beat | Bi-Weekly Beer Release Guide 6/30
June 30, 2022 | Mackenzie Helms
Welcome to the Colorado Beer Beat, a bi-weekly roundup of all of the new can releases around the state. From Denver to Grand Junction and everywhere in between, we have you covered. Be sure to check back on Thursdays (usually!) to find out what’s new in the Colorado beer scene.
The holiday weekend is starting a little bit early because of the Avs Championship Parade going on today! Now it’s just a matter of finding the perfect spot to watch from and the perfect brew to sip on while you’re there. Keep the suds flowing all the way through the 4th of July to make it one of the best weekends in Colorado this summer!
AleBlazers Series | Q&A with Sarah Flora of Flora Brewing
June 21, 2022 | Emma Wargolet
As part of the PorchDrinking AleBlazers Series, I was excited to get to chat with Sarah Flora of Flora Brewing. If you’ve had a chance to peruse her website or YouTube channel, you know that she is a top-notch homebrewer. Additionally, she just made her commercial debut at Pilot Project Brewing, a brewery incubator in Chicago, with Medusa, a Pale Ale that is perfect for summer!
2022 Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival Pour List Announced
May 25, 2022 | Tristan Chan
We are just a week and a half away from the grand return of the 2022 Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival taking place in Paso Robles, CA on Saturday, June 4. Having built a reputation as one of the most celebrated festivals within the craft beer industry the FWIBF returns after a COVID-induced hiatus with another all-star cast of breweries.
Not only are some of the best of the best breweries represented from around the globe, but a festival of this caliber always brings out the rarest beers as well. In addition to the usual hyped barrel-aged styles typically found at destination festivals, it’s refreshing to see a wider representation of world-class lagers as well.
Be sure to check back as we break down some of the can’t-miss beers to try at this year’s Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival, but for now, enjoy a look at the initial pour list. Tickets are SOLD OUT for this year’s festival as last year’s ticket holders were offered first right of refusal. Keep in mind, as with all beer festivals, pour lists are subject to change, but this serves as a nice preview of what’s anticipated from each brewery.
Hooray for Craft Beer! | A Review & Interview with Author Em Sauter
May 25, 2022 | David Nilsen
Hooray for Craft Beer!, the new book of educational beer cartoons from Em Sauter of Pints & Panels, celebrates learning about beer in an inclusive and non-intimidating way. The follow-up to 2017’s Beer Is For Everyone (of Drinking Age)!, this new title from Brewers Publications issues an invitation to people of all levels of beer knowledge to enjoy and understand our favorite beverage.
A Comprehensive Guide to Colorado’s Best Lager Breweries
May 20, 2022 | Ryan Pachmayer
Just a few short decades ago, state-side Lager beers were largely considered light, watered-down beer for the masses. In recent years, a host of breweries have proven that stereotype wrong, and a multitude of Lager-focused breweries are now flourishing in Colorado. Drawing inspiration from European breweries, often in the Czech Republic or Germany, and sometimes combining those elements with modern techniques, these breweries are making a range of bottom-fermented beer that is sure to intrigue both the casual drinker and the connoisseur.
Editorial | Making the Case for Widely Adopting Craft Malting in Beer
May 16, 2022 | Josh Watterson
Forget Cold IPAs, Hard Seltzers, and Ready to Drink Cocktails, because as we’ve seen with many other style trends that have come before, they’re likely momentary flashes in the pan. What is the next trend that’s more likely to elevate craft beer? How about Craft Malt? Brewers often call malt the ‘Soul of Beer’ and it’s unmistakably the backbone.
CanSource Provides Canning Solutions Amid Minimum Increases
May 16, 2022 | Tristan Chan
At the onset of the pandemic, the ability to pivot quickly after tasting rooms were closed for on-site consumption led a majority of breweries to focus their attention on packaging beer to-go. It was at that moment that aluminum cans became one of the hottest commodities in the industry.
But just as canning beer became a major relief for breweries who desperately needed a way to get beer in the hands of consumers, it also became a major pain point. Ball Corp, which has long been the dominant supplier of aluminum cans, announced that it would increase minimum orders for a single SKU of printed cans from one truckload to five truck loads. This meant that a brewery that could previously order 200,000 printed cans of a single brand would now be forced to order approximately 1 million cans, essentially eliminating a primary supplier of printed cans for a majority of breweries in the market today.
5 Essential Minnesota Brewery Day Trips Outside of the Twin Cities
April 29, 2022 | Kim Thiel
Minnesota is known as the “Land of 10,000 Beers,” or is it the “Land of 10,000 Lakes?” Either way, with a little over 200 breweries currently located in the state, exploring the Twin Cities and beyond will lead you to some of Minnesota’s finest beers. Listed below are 5 essential day trips to breweries outside of the Twin Cities that can be completed in a day or less. This article is by no means an exhaustive list of all the day trips that could be planned to visit breweries in the “Land of 10,000 Beers” but rather a launchpad to begin exploration.
The Complete Guide to the Best Breweries in the Twin Cities
April 28, 2022 | Adam Rozanas
So, you’re coming to Minneapolis in May for the 2022 Craft Brewers Conference.
Awesome! If you’ve never been to the Land of 10,000 Lakes before, you’re in for a treat. … Read More
Beers of the Month | March 2022
April 8, 2022 | Brandon Cohran 1
It’s almost impressive that a quarter of the year is already in the books. Maybe it’s the increase of activity from the last two years in a COVID world, but the first few months of 2022 has kept drinkers happy and fridges full with beer events and special releases across the country. We certainly can’t make every event, or pop every top, but we’re giving it hell to try and find some of the best beers monthly to showcase. From Lagers to Barrel-aged Stouts and all of the dry-hopped IPAs in between, who knows which beers or styles will make this monthly list. So, grab a glass and, potentially, one of the beers featured for March. Cheers.
The Complete Guide | Best Breweries in New Orleans
March 31, 2022 | Britt Antley
Welcome to New Orleans, one of the most culturally rich and unique cities in America and the world. While you’re most likely here to take in the Men’s College Basketball Final Four, the city offers much more than the ideal location to host large sporting events. New Orleans has a rich tradition of alcohol innovation as the home of the Sazerac and Hurricane drinks, but the emphasis has historically been on cocktails as opposed to beer.
The beer scene has undoubtedly improved in the last decade with the arrival of many breweries and expanding interest in craft beer, and today there are a plethora of options for the beer nerd to satiate their needs in the Big Easy. With my knowledge having lived in the city 2017-2021 and current resident Katie de la Rosa’s expertise, we have assembled a guide of the best places to drink beer in New Orleans along with some extra tips on food and entertainment.
This guide was co-written by Britt Antley and Katie de la Rosa
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