Brewery Showcase | Hop Lot Brewing Co. (Suttons Bay, MI)

Featured photo by Garrin Ball, courtesy of themittenadventure.com

When Steve and Drew Lutke bought a Groupon for a beer brewing kit they never imagined it would lead to them opening a brewery. After years of talking about the idea, gathering investments, planning the space and actually building a brewhouse, Hop Lot Brewing Co. is celebrating their one year anniversary this month.

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Reuben’s Brews | Daily Pale

It’s an exciting time to be in Seattle. The cold, grey weather is shedding itself – transforming into long, euphoric days of sunshine. The Bumbershoot lineup has been announced, and is looking absolutely superb. The light rail has finally — finally! — expanded to Capital Hill and the University of Washington, giving us all a new opportunity to escape blood boiling traffic. But the best news of all, at least for Emerald City beer lovers, is that Seattle Beer Week is kicking off on May 12 for ten sweet days of celebration, experimentation and collaboration.

Though we have to wait a few more days until Seattle Beer Week is officially underway, Reuben’s Brews has given us a taste of what we can expect from the festival. Literally. And we must say, it’s damn near perfection. Read More

Weekly Growler Fill | National Beer News Roundup

There were big wins at the World Beer Cup, Green Flash is launching cans nationally, and Greg Koch announces a new craft beer investment company. For once, there’s no news of an AB-InBev buyout, which is reason to celebrate. Sit back, relax, and enjoy a cold one while you read all of the details in this edition of the Weekly Growler Fill.

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Event Recap | 2016 Chicago Beer Classic

Those in attendance at Saturday’s 2016 Chicago Beer Classic should have a greater appreciation for Chicago Bears’ kicker Robbie Gould. The swirling winds created some unique challenges for the festival held at Soldier Field. The breweries struggling to keep their signs from falling down and SWAG from blowing all over the field, could only imagine what it’s like to kick a 50-yard field goal in those same conditions.

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Metropolitan Brewing | Magnetron

ABV: 5.6% | IBU: 30

There are some cities that capture your imagination without reason or rationale, and never to let go. These towns have an energy, a pulse, a vibe, an unmistakable heartbeat. They pull you in. They become a part of you. 

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National Homebrew Day Celebrates Reinheitsgebot

Raise a glass, drink a beer, and kiss, it’s National Homebrew Day! I know that sounds odd, so let me explain.

In 1988, Congress declared May 7 as National Homebrew Day. So … Read More

BREAKING | Colorado Breweries Win Big at 2016 World Beer Cup

Colorado breweries showed up in full force during tonight’s World Beer Cup. The competition featured breweries from across the world competing in 96 categories, and Colorado’s contingent scored top marks taking home 37 medals, including 12Degree Brewing which took home World Beer Cup Champion Brewery and Brewmaster of the year in the Small Brewpub category. Additionally CO Breweries swept the Belgian Strong Pale Category. Read More

What We’re Drinking | May 6th, 2016

G’day, drinkers. Happy weekend to you. One of my favorite kinds of people to encounter in my taproom are the “I don’t really like beer” types. I always reply with … Read More

New Colorado Breweries Opening Summer 2016

The official start to summer is June 20, which means it’s the perfect time to start planning trips to the newest additions to Colorado’s craft beer scene! The 2016 class of new breweries … Read More

Old Ox Brewery | Alpha Ox

ABV: 4.5% | IBU: 31

Feature image courtesy of Old Ox.

Supermarkets in the DC-MD-VA region do a solid job of carrying craft and high-quality beer. It’s not hard to find Stone … Read More

Ultimate 6er | Washington Collaboration Beers

The collaborative spirit of the craft beer industry has long been one of my favorite topics to cover, so I was ecstatic to learn about the first-ever Washington Beer Collaboration Festival put on by the Washington Beer Commission. The two-day festival featured 25 collaboration beers from 50 different Washington breweries and celebrated the collaborative and creative culture among Washington brewers. I attended the inaugural festival on a sunny Saturday afternoon and sampled about half of these unique brews. Read on for some of my favorite concoctions from this innovative festival.

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Event Preview | Science on Tap

Science is the cornerstone to brewing beer. Although many of our craft beer events are centered around performers or special beer releases, it’s nice to see these gatherings celebrating the study of our favorite beverages. That’s the goal of “Science on Tap,” an outdoor festival for educating beer novices and aficionados alike on beer chemistry. And there’s no better place to have this event than at the heart of Virginia’s largest craft beer community, our capital Richmond. Read More

Brewery Showcase | Silver City Brewery (Bremerton, WA)

Steve and Scott Houmes were bored.

The brothers were in the thick of their family restaurant business — a burger and fry joint. Despite their success, Steve and Scott … Read More

Pipeworks Brewing Co. | Sunburst Peacock

One of my favorite series of beers right now is Pipeworks Brewing’s Fish Series of Imperial IPAs. The brewery rolls these beers out continuously over the year, while throwing a new fish into the pond every so often. Typically these beers feature Citra hops, honey, a tropical ingredient or two, and of course, a high ABV. The newest fish to swim (puns will stop) amongst the others is Sunburst Peacock. Like the others, Sunburst Peacock highlights Citra hops and honey — the adjunct ingredient in this particular release is guava purée.

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Inside the Tank | Spiteful Brewing’s Jason Klein

Spiteful Brewing, started by Brad Shaffer & Jason Klein, has put out a lot of different beers since they began brewing back in 2012. The beers are well-known in Chicago for their unique labels and creative names. When we walked into their brewing space for the first time I was shocked at how small of an area they work with. In fact their current space is only 1,600 sq. feet, but luckily will be moving into a new space with nearly 7,500 sq. ft – a tremendous upgrade.

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Ultimate 6er | Denver’s Top Beer

Denver is a city of world class breweries. You can literally close your eyes, spin around, start walking in any particular direction, and you’ll find amazing beer. I’m talking world class, triple-A examples of every style imaginable. But what if we were to narrow down everything that we have to offer into a format that we all understand? A six pack perhaps? The rules are simple: the beers can’t be distributed out of state, have to be available at least once per year, and packaging isn’t a requirement. Yes, I have taken on the unreasonably lofty task of narrowing down the top in the state to six total beers. Clearly you can’t go wrong with Denver beers, but these in my opinion, are some of the beers that are most representative of Denver’s top tier craft beer scene. Be gentle. Read More

Event Recap | Tip Top Tours Visits South Slope Breweries

Craft beer is all about new experiences. The craft beer industry has taken a goods / commodities based enterprise and evolved it into an experience based business model. This is evident in brewery hosted events, taprooms/bier gardens and beers unbound by categories. This influence has extended past the brewers and imbibers to the retailers who are dreaming up new and innovative ideas to draw their customers into the door and encourage them to return many times thereafter.  Read More

PorchDrinking’s Weekly Denver Beer Beat | May 4th, 2016

TICKET ALERT: Avery’s Sour Fest tix go on sale this week! Don’t sleep on this; they sell out in just minutes!

The first week of May is pretty much a … Read More

D9 Brewing Company | Systema Naturæ 1st Edition

ABV: 6.3% | IBU: 0

North of Charlotte, along the lovely Lake Norman, lies Cornelius, North Carolina, home to D9 Brewing Company. I am tempted to describe D9 as “up-and-coming” but after tasting their Systema Naturæ 1st Edition — a wild sour ale brewed with sweet Devilwood blossoms and musky, tart apricot — they might have already arrived. Read More

Chicago’s Atlas Brewing is now Burnt City Brewing

Macrobreweries are buying craft breweries. Breweries are fighting over names and labels. All this “business talk”  may shock, annoy, and upset craft-beer aficionados, but let us not forget, that beer … Read More