Event Recap | Hi-Wire Brewing’s Stout Bout Crowns Blind Tasting Champ

There is a slight half-season, somewhere between the end of summer and the middle of autumn, where you can start to see your breath as you walk the dog in … Read More

What’s the Difference Between Wet and Dry Foam in Beer?

Everyone has improperly poured a beer in their life to the grimaces and eye-rolls of their drinking buddies and colleagues. The prime illustrator of a poorly-produced draft beer in any American bar or drinking table is the overwhelming presence of foam that inundates the glass and misbalances the minute equation between liquid and bubble. The copious head of white, quickly-dissipating bubbles – you can call it “dry foam” – is a sure sign that you’re not going to have an ideal drinking experience, regardless of if you’re drinking a Natty Lite or an award-winning IPA. But what if the overwhelming presence of foam was a good thing?

If you’ve had a properly-poured Pilsner Urquell straight from a Pilsner Side-Pour faucet, you’ll know that the presence of wet foam in your pour of a Pilsner is a good thing – and by design. So, what’s the difference between the foam in a typical beer and what is present in a proper pint of Pilsner Urquell? To find out, we asked the historic Czech brewer.

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Transient Artisan Ales | Buckley Reserves No. 1 and No. 2

On a rainy May 19, more than 1,000 people showed up to the sleepy, lake town of Bridgman, Mich., all because a dog tricked his owner to get out of … Read More

New Belgium Brewing Acquired by Kirin’s Lion Little World Beverages

One of craft beer’s largest remaining truly independent craft breweries has become the next major domino to fall in the industry’s on-going saga of mergers and acquisitions. Earlier this May, two craft beer titans in Boston Beer and Dogfish Head announced a major merger that changed the landscape of American craft beer, but today’s announcement may have an even larger impact.

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Asia Rising | Will Japanese Rice Lagers Conquer America?

The race is on within the craft beer industry to meet consumer demand for lighter, lower ABV beverages like hard seltzers and session beers. However, there’s already a longstanding beer style that meets both these tests: Japanese rice lager. Could the time be right for this beer to follow the likes of Sours and Hazy IPAs and become an official craft brew trend? Read More

Saint Errant Brewing | Cauallier

It’s November in Chicago and stout season has arrived and it’s not just because Festival of Barrel-Aged Beers (FOBAB) brought a deluge of fabulous new barrel-aged beers. Rather, the 3-5 inches of snow and single-digit temperatures are really putting the city in the mood for a beer as dark as the sky at 4:45 p.m. (sigh)

Luckily, Saint Errant Brewing has an indulgent option for Chicagoans: Cauallier, an imperial stout brewed with cacao nibs and roasted peanuts. This brew starts with a dense black pour, visually preparing you for its richness. With a burnt but chocolatey aroma, the first sniff does its job of pulling you in with sweet, warm vanilla notes while still letting you know this imperial means business.

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Chicago Quick Sips | November 18 Chicago Beer News & Events

Quick Sips is our way of highlighting beer events, tap takeovers and other notable beer news around the city of Chicago. If you’d like to submit something to be included in the next Quick Sips, please email us at [email protected].

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Stem Ciders + Stowaway Kitchen Partner on Progressive Meal at Acreage

This is a sponsored post from our friends at Stem Ciders

If you haven’t made the pilgrimage out to Stem Ciders’ Acreage facility in Lafayette, CO you’re sleeping one of … Read More

The End of San Diego Beer Week 2019

Sunday November 10th’s festivities at Arroyo Terrace of the Lodge at Torrey Pines were the close of this year’s San Diego Beer Week. There were a variety of events at breweries across San Diego to celebrate this year’s event, as well.

The beer scene has changed in San Diego, but the local guild tries to make sure to maintain a “we’re all in this together” community. I discussed some of the reasons why guilds are important to the local brewing scene with San Diego Guild President Matthew Zirpolo.

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The Difference Between Gluten-Free vs Gluten-Reduced Beer

“If someone with a peanut allergy walked into a restaurant and told the chef she/he couldn’t have peanut oil, you wouldn’t hear the chef tell her/him that it’s peanut-reduced and … Read More

Best of Hands Barrelhouse & Matchless Brewing | Family Influence Hazy IPA

I’ve written before about Seattle’s best bottle shop, The Beer Junction, and how lucky I am to live in the same neighborhood so I can access their brilliantly curated selection and knowledgeable staff as frequently as I want. But earlier this year, The Beer Junction gave me and fellow West Seattle residents a new reason to appreciate their craft beer expertise in the form of Best of Hands Barrelhouse.

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All of the Colorado Stouts, BA Stouts, & Variant Releases Through 2019

Judging by the fact that Colorado has already experienced record snowfall in the month of October, it’s safe to say that Stout season has officially arrived. To help Colorado craft … Read More

What We’re Drinking | November 15, 2019

Most of us were hit with an Arctic blast this week, dropping temperatures in Texas by 30 degrees within an hour. Although a welcome change from the oppressive heat, things turned wintery quick! Here are a few ideas to keep you warm this week from your PorchDrinking staffers. Read More

Event Recap | Stone DRK Beer Fest

The Stone DRK Beer Fest was set to kick off right at 6 p.m. The grounds of the Stone gardens is beautiful, tranquil and primal. Rocks and boulders are everywhere with the natural landscape coming through between the ponds and small brooks. On the site there are multiple tasting booths, some serving straight from bottles, other serving from keezers and kegerators, and of course one of the bars.

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Chicago’s Luna Bay Booch Co. Looks to Make its Mark in Busy Craft Beer Market

Drink good, feed good? That’s the vision behind Chicago’s first local hard kombucha maker, Luna Bay Booch Co. While Chicago is home to the nation’s most craft breweries per capita, the city’s appetite for lighter alternatives like White Claw and Truly Spiked Seltzer is also clear. So, why not hard kombucha as well? Kombucha continues to increase its popularity in the health and wellness market, especially among younger drinkers, creating a myriad of adjacent business opportunities for courageous thinkers like Luna Bay Booch Co. founders Bridget Connelly and Claire Ridge. The two saw the opportunity to bring hard kombucha, a popular product on the West Coast, to the Midwest by creating a local, Chicago-based brand that targets Chicago drinkers looking for a break from a beer along with those wellness-focused folks looking for a fun, spiked alternative to their favorite antioxidant-laden kombucha beverage. To find out more about the upstart hard kombucha business and what Chicagoans can expect from Luna Bay Booch, PorchDrinking spoke with Bridget. 

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Proper Brewing Co. | Monolith Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout

With Monolith, Salt Lake City’s Proper Brewing Co. begins its much-anticipated barrel program.

Monolith is a barrel-aged version of Proper Brewing’s Grand Sláinte Imperial Stout. It’s a limited-edition brew you’ll want to get your hands on.
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Preview of GABF Gold Begyle BBA Imperial Pajamas | Nov 15 Release

The GABF Gold Medal awarded to Begyle Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Pajamas validated what many already knew: in a town abound in exceptional bourbon-barrel-aged beer, Begyle’s has risen to become one of the best. The 2019 release on Friday, November 15, will be the first for the Community Supported Brewery (CSB) since winning the medal. They graciously hosted PorchDrinking a couple of days early, offering to provide us with a few tastes and plenty of discussion about its barreling program.

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5 Questions with Legacy Breweries on Aspen Brewing & Laurelwood Acquisition

Last month, Legacy Breweries, one of craft beer’s newest upstart brewing conglomerates, followed up their first major acquisition last year, of Eugene-based Ninkasi Brewery, by adding Aspen Brewing and Portland’s … Read More

Staff Picks | The Festival of Barrel-Aged Beer’s (FoBAB) Best of the Best

Once again the UIC Forum was packed with breweries from all over the country pouring some of their best barrel-aged beers at this weekend’s Festival of Wood and Barrel-Aged Beers. In 17th annual showcase of country’s elite barrel-aged beers, Bottle Logic repeated in taking home Best-in-Show honors for Arcane Ritual.

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BareBottle Brewing | Secret City IPA

BareBottle Brewing Company has quickly risen to one of the trendiest breweries in Northern California. Opened by three friends that started as homebrewers, BareBottle pushes the limit with super popular hop combos and beer styles. One very unique aspect of BareBottle is that they give a nod to their homebrew experience by providing a 5-gallon recipe for all of their packaged beers directly on the bottle or can. That way you can take a shot at brewing any of the beers that you enjoy from them. Truly an ingenious idea!

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