Event Preview| The Grand Coffee Bazaar

What: The Grand Coffee Bazaar – A coffee-centric event celebrating Denver coffee roasters.
Where: Our Mutual Friend – 2810 Larimer St, Denver, Colorado
When: Sunday, October 19, 2014 – 10am-2pm

We here at PorchDrinking.com believe in all of our libations being well-crafted, and this doesn’t fall short in the AM when we need a quick pick-me-up. Denver is seeing a resurgence of craft coffee and artisan roasters, and we aren’t the only ones taking note. So, it only makes sense that we are getting hella stoked on Denver’s upcoming caffeinated invitational, the Grand Coffee Bazaar. Our down-ass-homies over at Imbibe are throwing this first-of-its-kind event, promising deliciously roasted beans, brews carefully prepared from a variety of mechanisms and methods, brunch foods via food trucks, specialty coffee libations and craft beer.

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Founders Brewing Co. | Dark Penance

Imperial Black IPA

ABV: 8.9%

IBU: 100

October is finally here! And half gone at that! But, there is still plenty of time to drink some of the best seasonal beer selections breweries have to offer. Now, it is no surprise that pumpkin beers have been taking over the market selection for seasonal brews this year. However, there are a ton of other great beer styles to drink this October, such as Harvest Ales, Brown Ales, Black Ales, really any full-bodied dark beer with toasty notes to keep you warm by a fire. Founders Brewing Co. introduced one such brew to their autumn line-up, a bold new speciality beer, Dark Penance Imperial Black IPA. From appearance all the way to flavor, Dark Penance sets a fresh new tone for beers this season, capturing all the right characteristics of fall. Read More

Happy Hour Post | Doe Bay Music Festival with NBB

If you haven’t learned by now, I get no greater joy in life than great music, great beer, and Kentucky Basketball. And while I try to make as many references … Read More

Weekly Growler Fill | National Beer News Roundup

Instead of bringing you a bunch of small beer news stories, this week I’m bringing you four HUGE beer news stories. As an added bonus, most of them have videos included just in case you don’t feel like reading today. To sum it up: Dogfish Head promoted a new CEO, Stone announced its new brewery location, New Holland broke ground on a new site, and breweries are teaming up to bring us cleaner water. Read on to get all the details in this edition of the Weekly Growler Fill.

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Nebraska Brewing | Brunette Nut Brown Ale

ABV: 4.8%

IBU: 15

Although I typically write about Northeastern craft beers, I could not resist ordering a Nebraska Brunette Nut Brown Ale this past week while at happy hour. If not solely for the name, then surely for the implication of it’s flavor. Being that I have been a brunette since birth, I firmly believe that we do it better — whatever “it” may be — which in this case, is choosing the most delectable craft beers from a remarkably curated menu.

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The Ballard Brews Cruise

Craft beer thrives on a few key factors. High quality, small batches, unique beers, and local breweries act as the natural foil to the big bad macro-brewery where distribution, the … Read More

Schlafly | Pumpkin Ale

ABV: 8.0% | IBU: 16

Pumpkin beers have been a contentious issue on PorchDrinking over the past six weeks. Opinions certainly differ on the propriety of drinking pumpkin beer in August, but since we’re well into October, I hope I’m not in the minority in calling pumpkin beer season officially open for business. They’re not for everyone, these pumpkin beers. They tend to offend the Reinheitsgebot in nearly every way possible. Not only do they have adulterating spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves, but they’re usually chock full of “pumpkin”. Read More

Awesomesauce | Subscription Boxes

We all have those moments when we realize that we’ve turned into a full-fledged adult.  For most of us, it’s the first time we decide that we’d rather not drink Natty Light, or the time when we say “it was a really long week, can we just stay in tonight?” on a Friday at 6pm.  Read More

Beer Cocktails | Pumpkin Citrus Smash

Seattle, Washington is the destination of the beer that is used in this beer cocktail. The Pike Brewing Company has been making beer since 1989 in Seattle. They are housed in the famous Pike Place Public Market and have a pub as well as a brewery. They brew many different beers, some of which include:

• Pike Place Pale Ale: Heirloom amber ale with nutty and malty fruit flavors. ABV: 5.00% | IBU: 32
• Pike Kilt Lifter: Ruby ale with subtle smokiness and rich malt flavor. ABV: 6.50% | IBU: 27
• Pike Naughty Nellie: Golden artisan ale with fruity and soft malt flavors. ABV: 4.70% | IBU: 24

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Perennial Artisan Ales | Saison d’Alina

ABV: 5.2%
IBU: 20

You know that guy from college that was, like, a champion beer drinker? You know, the guy who, no matter how you trained, prepared, or strategized, could single-handedly win Beer Olympics on his own – who you watched in awe as he made his way through a case of Natty completely unfazed? Well, for me, this guy is my friend Andy Hille. And from the moment I met him, I knew he had to be destined for beer greatness.

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2014 GABF Recap

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Glass Is Life for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

Well folks the 2014 Great American Beer Festival is … Read More

PorchDrinking’s Weekly Denver Beer Beat

Another crazy week of GABF events is behind us as well as summer and its festival season. This week is a breath of fresh air for many brewers, front of house staff and bottle shoppe owners in the Denver area. As we push closer to the holidays, we will see an increase in more localized tastings, pairings and celebrations. So we raise a glass to our friends in beer and congratulate them on their medals, lack of beer and lack of sleep as we eschew you readers into a few events that are most excellent. The local #Denverbeer scene isn’t off the rails this week but their is still some serious buzzing on the track and light moving through the tunnel.

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Sly Fox Brewery | Phoenix Pale Ale

Few things get you excited after getting home from work late: catching the rest of a game won by your favorite team (or your most hated losing it), a full DVR arsenal locked and loaded for your viewing pleasure, and of course a hidden drawer in your fridge of delicious beers.

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2014 GABF Fantasy Brewery League Results

It’s officially time to crown a new champion to this year’s 2014 Fantasy Brewery League. This year’s league faced challenges due to new limitations on the number of entries a brewery could … Read More

4 Hands Brewing | Resurrected IPA

My 3 year old daughter asks me this question every night at dinner – “Daddy, may I sniff your beer?” She then daintily sticks her nose into the glass and takes a very theatric, deep inhale. When I ask her what it smells like, she always tells me the same thing, “It smells like beer.” As if I didn’t already love her enough? Though she gave me the usual reply on my recent can of Resurrected IPA from 4 Hands Brewing, I’m here to tell you that it smells MUCH more interesting than just beer.

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GABF Medal Results and Takeaways

On Saturday morning, the craft beer industry celebrated the competition portion of the Great American Beer Festival. The GABF competition recognizes proficiency in brewing beer stylistically in 90 categories as well as … Read More

2014 GABF Events Guide | UPDATED 10/4

For a little over a week each year, beer fanatics from across the globe descend on Denver, CO, in honor of the Great American Beer Festival.  Denver’s events outside of the beerhall are sometimes better than the festival itself. We’ve compiled the complete GABF Events Guide surrounding this year’s Great American Beer Festival.

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GABF Night Must Trys!

Day 1 of the Great American Beer Festival is in the books. Many beers were consumed to bring you this recap, pretzel crumbs still being brushed off my clothes, and … Read More

Greenport Harbor Brewing | Leaf Pile Ale

ABV: 5.2%

If there is one thing I absolutely need so that I cheerfully adjust to the seasonal transition of Fall, it would have to be pumpkin. Nothing says comfort like an over-sized sweater, multicolored horizon, warm fireplace, and a tall pint.  Read More

Cooking with Beer | The Great American Beer Burger

Since the Great American Beer Festival is approaching, I decided to post the ultimate Cooking with Beer recipe: the Great American Beer Burger. To properly honor the most epic festival of all time, I knew I had to come up a downright mind-blowing creation and I knew it had to be loaded with beer. I figured nothing is more American than a good ol’ fashioned burger topped with about 1000 calories of ingredients – so I made this dream a reality. A whopping total of six different beers are used to create this monster of a meal plus whatever brews you decide to drink. If you make this thing, you’ll be so impressed with yourself for actually putting it all together, even if you don’t manage to fit it all in your belly. Hell, I’ll be impressed that you actually had to balls to try. If you’re on the fence and can’t decide, just think of this: Why settle for just one recipe with beer when you can combine them all?

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