JDub’s Brewing Company | Passion Wheat

Christmas as a kid is a wonderland of gifts and anticipation for gifts; Christmas as an adult is travel and worrying about travel. The gift we receive is—once we’ve finally reached our destination—a whole new world of local beers at our fingertips. I went to the beautiful shores of Sarasota, FL where I spent most of my time in the pool sipping JDub’s Brewing Company’s Passion Wheat, pretending it wasn’t winter. The Passion Wheat definitely helped maintain my self-delusion.
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The 2019 Best of Utah Craft Beer

What would America be without its Purple Mountains Majesty? Utah sits amidst some of the most beautiful mountain ranges in the country — and what’s better than enjoying a mountain view than with a good beer? Utah may not be the most discussed beer location in the country, but the quality and diversity of its brewing scene can’t be ignored. And, like any region, the craft beer community continues to grow and evolve. We hope you enjoy our efforts to compile the 2019 Best of Utah Craft Beer; and we hope you get a chance to drink a few of our regional beers soon!

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A Year Without Hazy IPAs

At the end of last year, I wrote a piece on how in 2019 I was going to stop drinking hazy IPAs. Many people didn’t read past the headline and assumed it was just a purely negative piece on hazy IPAs; however, that couldn’t have been further from the truth.

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Lil Beaver Brewery | Citraic

Lil Beaver Brewery comes from Bloomington, Illinois—a town nearly smack dab in the middle of the state—and has been brewing up tasty treats since 2017.

They are fresh off their great performance at FoBAB, when we listed them as one of the best newcomers, and are finally starting to expand more and more throughout Illinois. The vast majority of their brews are Stouts but they have also made a name for themselves producing some tasty hazy Pale Ales and IPAs. Read More

The 2019 Best of Chicago Craft Brewing

As the Chicago-area craft scene inches its way towards 200 breweries, the annual task of summarizing the year’s best beer stories has grown ever so daunting — and exhilarating. To peer through one’s pictures of the beers, events, and interviews and re-discover the year in beer offers a reminder of how enriching the job of a beer writer can be. Indeed, the pick the minds of brewers and industry folks, and drink the fruits of their labor, is satisfying to no end.  Mike Zoller, Chicago and Midwest Editor and I, Chicago writer and National Content Editor, decided to provide some of our highlights this year. Without further ado, enjoy our 2019 Best of Chicago Craft Brewing

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What We’re Drinking | December 27, 2019

The Holiday’s have come and passed almost as quickly as this year as felt—in a flash! While you are nursing that “omg so much family time” eighth glass of wine or holiday travel hangover, we here at Porch Drinking were churning out some stellar holiday and end-of-year round-ups! We work hard so we can play hard. Grab some sugar cookies, chuck the dead tree outside, and see what we’re drinking.

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Fair State Brewing Cooperative & 3 Floyds Brewing | Partying Past Burning Bridges

Christmas came early for Midwest craft beer enthusiasts this year as Minneapolis’ Fair State Brewing Cooperative and Munster, Indiana’s 3 Floyds Brewing gave us Partying Past Burning Bridges, a collaborative dip-hopped IPA.

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2 Days 2 Nights | Stockholm, Sweden

Sweden – a country whose northern tip breaches the Arctic Circle, making the summer days long and joyful and outdoor activities bountiful. Unfortunately, I decided to visit the capital of Stockholm in early November, and was greeted with 3pm sunsets and a Seattle-but-colder weather vibe. I didn’t mind, as it gave me ample excuse to visit the city’s numerous beer bars, leading to some enjoyable long, brisk, waterside stumbles. Swedes love their craft beer, and you will not find it hard to indulge yourself while taking in this extremely walk-able city.

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Level Crossing Brewing Company | Suss It Out

Happy holidays from our home to yours. We are hoping everyone’s had a memorable 2019 like we have. Furthermore, it’s been a fun year for craft beer in our good old home state of Utah. For example, five new breweries opened their doors to the public, including Level Crossing Brewing Company. Although it may not seem like much compared to other areas, multiple brand-new options in just one year pumped us up. So essentially that means over 10% of the Beehive state’s total breweries started in 2019. And not only have breweries popped up with increased frequency, but the quality being offered is world class. Read More

Russian River’s Pliny the Younger Going into Bottles For the First Time

Christmas has come early for fans of Russian River Brewing’s wildly hyped Pliny the Younger Triple IPA. Last night as beer fans around the world were hanging their stockings with … Read More

Recapping Five Trends from a Crazy 2019 In the Craft Beer Industry

What a decade it has been for beer drinkers. In 10 years, craft beer went from a bundle of small upstarts to a booming and cutthroat industry that has solidified itself as an important part of social culture. 2019 was a fitting conclusion to a wild decade of beer as the past 12 tumultuous months offered readers and drinkers alike a bevy of perplexing headlines, new beers, exciting new initiatives and cautious optimism for what is to come in 2020. The year offered too many topics, trends and social media flareups to count, but I thought it would be helpful to recap five of the most notable trends I observed this year. 

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Pairing Stem Ciders with Your Perfect Holiday Celebration

While putting out milk and cookies for Santa may have been enough to satisfy old Saint Nick back when we were kids, Santa of 2019 is likely looking for a … Read More

PorchDrinking’s Weekly Denver Beer Beat | December 23, 2019

The Denver Beer Beat is a weekly roundup of brewery openings, special tappings, firkins and one-off batches, bottle releases, dinners, pairings, and more happening in the Front Range and beyond. Be sure to check in each Wednesday to discover anything and everything happening around Colorado’s beer scene. Now let’s get to this week’s can’t miss beer events. Read More

Christmas Classics | Triptych Brewing O Christmas Meme

It’s a well regarded fact that the best beer to make you recall fond memories of Christmases of yore is a terrifically dark, malty ale. Perhaps it’s spiced, like Great Lake Christmas Ale. Maybe it’s minty with deep chocolate notes. Or it could be barrel-aged, resulting in a boozy, syrupy confection that’s meant to inoculate you from the inevitable holiday hangover. But what if, just this one time, you wanted to enjoy a Christmas beer that embodies the current haze craze? Well, we’ve found the beer for you.

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The PorchCast Ep 66 | Bests of 2019 w/ Shawnee Adelson & Traci Wilcox

In episode 66 of the PorchCast, Tristan, Sami and Hunter sat down with Shawnee Adelson, Executive Director of the Colorado Brewers Guild and Traci Wilcox, CEO of OnTap Credit Union … Read More

Our Favorite Chicago and Midwestern Beers from 2019

As another year comes to a close, we’d like to look back at the past 12 months on some of our favorite beers we had that came out of Midwest breweries.

With the number of breweries increasing, it becomes harder and harder to narrow down a list, but we have a handful of Midwest writers who contributed their favorite beers of 2019.

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Christmas Classics | Spoetzl Brewery Shiner Holiday Cheer

Dear Santa,

I’ve done my best this year. Sure, I may have had a few bumps in the road on my way to the Nice List, but what can I say? I’m only human. Besides, a few parking tickets never hurt anyone! Look Santa, I want to reason with you. I don’t need anything too fancy, so you can save the diamond earrings and shiny new cars for the real heroes out there. There is really only one thing I want to find in my stocking this year, and it’s a shiny new bottle of Shiner Holiday Cheer from Spoetzl Brewery. Now, they probably don’t sell this one where you’re from up North, so I’ll give you a few pointers to make sure you know what you’re looking for. 

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Two Breweries in Denver Out to Prove Being Vegan is Cool and Inclusive

For two Denver breweries, the decision to brew vegan beer was as organic as their ingredients.

The vegan scene has exploded in the Colorado capital in recent years, but that popularity hasn’t always translated to beer, especially in the age of pastry stouts and milkshake IPAs. Little Machine Beer, a 10-barrel brewery perched just north of the Denver Broncos’ Mile High Stadium, noticed the dearth of options.

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Best Star Wars Themed Beers for The Rise of Skywalker

You’re probably the fanatic that clicked refresh 1977 times in order to be the first to purchase tickets for Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker. You’ve concocted the wildest theories ranging from R2D2 actually being a Sith Lord, to the Mandalorian and Baby Yoda being Rey’s parents.

As one of the most iconic movies of all time, it’s clear to see how Star Wars has inspired countless numbers of brewers to pay homage to this epic saga that took place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….

The Force is strong with these Star Wars Themed Beers. In honor of tomorrow’s epic conclusion with the release of Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker, we’ve updated our roundup of Star Wars beers… just don’t try to drink them all at once. I have a bad feeling about this…

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Inside Samuel Adams Utopias

Every two years, Samuel Adams releases a beer, in an uniquely-shaped and expensive bottle, that tastes like nothing you’ve ever had before. Utopias has the highest naturally fermenting ABV at 28% and while it can best be described as a port or cognac, it is indeed a beer.

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