Firestone Walker Brewing Co. | Opal

Farmhouse Ale | Dry-hopped Saison

ABV: 7.5%

IBU: 35

It’s an early spring morning, the first bit of sunlight on the horizon peeks through my south-eastern facing window and I begin to stir. The chickadees and robins are creating quite the early morning chatter. It’s more peaceful than my usual weekday alarm but I still grumble and roll over covering my head with my pillow. 5:30am – seriously?! I think to myself. As I try and coax myself back to sleep, I’m inundated by the crisp spring morning air wafting through my windows. Laden with pollen the air is ripe and wonderful. It’s what I’m sure Charmin was shooting for, but fell far short of, in their “Spring Breeze” detergent. The sun climbs higher in my window and I become more aware of the beautiful spring aromatics- growth, pollination, snow run-off and life. As the Colorado spring transitions to summer, I walk to the farmers market. On my way I cross Boulder Creek, a run-off fueled torrent raging through the middle of town. The sounds of earth erosion are almost deafening; I’m humbled knowing that what I’m hearing is but a fraction of the change the Boulder Creek watershed will see in its lifetime. The farmers’ market is bustling with people; young, old, families, children and smiling faces. I walk past a small stand on the northern side of the market and a 6-year-old boy Jason greets me. The Plowshares farmstand has the most beautiful arrangement of spring vegetables. After conversing with Jason about the creek, playground and squirrels I’m warmed from the inside by his charm and joy. I purchase a bundle of beets, mizuna, collard greens, and a bag of mixed salad greens from his mother. Walking back through the market the ripe aromas of fresh herb starter plants consume me. Basil, cilantro, parley, rosemary, thyme and lemongrass create an unforgettable floral bouquet. Read More

Weekly Growler Fill | National Beer News Roundup

New ideas, new brews, and new news. Is Sam Adams too big to be considered ‘craft beer’? Are craft beer firms overvalued? Are you excited for Great Divide’s new releases? I explore these hard-hitting questions and more in this edition of the Weekly Growler Fill.

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Event Preview | 2014 Big Eat Denver

Denver Craft beer lovers know how hard it is to stay on top of your suds between new breweries popping up like wildflowers and all those special and seasonal releases from your old standbys tempting you from the shelves of your local bottle shop. It’s even more difficult to make progress through our ever-expanding list of fine independent restaurants. Fortunately, EatDenver throws an epic annual summer food and drink bash giving us an opportunity to sample what some of the Mile-High City’s best culinary minds have to offer. Read More

Frankenmuth Brewery | Twisted Helles

ABV: 5.5%

Summers in Michigan were a staple of my childhood, from celebrating my first birthday at Higgins Lake to weeklong vacations in Harbor Springs. We took day trips to Petoskey, Charlevoix and Big Bear Dunes, and we usually made a pit stop in Frankenmuth, Michigan’s Little Bavaria. It should come as no surprise then that today’s showcase from Frankenmuth Brewery is Twisted Helles Summer Lager. Read More

Dry Dock Brewery | Aloha Biz Hawaiian Porter

ABV 5.7%

We left the Denver city confines last night to get brewing supplies at our favorite store, The Brew Hut, in Aurora, Colorado. After purchasing the items on our list (and then some), we ducked into Dry Dock Brewery for a beer. The Brew Hut is literally fused to Dry Dock’s brewhouse, making after-shopping samples close to impossible to resist. Tricky bastards.

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Jungle Jim’s 9th Annual International Beer Festival

Over 350 beers and 100 breweries. This bold statement rang true the weekend of June 13-14 as Jungle Jim’s International Market in Fairfield, Ohio (Greater Cincinnati) delivered another phenomenal beer festival.

Jungle Jim’s International Market specializes in bringing in a large and diverse selection of, well, everything. From produce, to seafood, to deli, to foreign land’s cultural foods. Jungle Jim’s has a lot of everything and their beer festivals are no exception.

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Lantern Brewing | Tripel

Lantern Brewing | Tripel – 8% ABV

If you are even casual fan of Belgian style beers, especially the tripel, you know they can get pretty out there with high ABV, bacteria treated sours, complicated aging processes, and unusual ingredients. They can become so complex that it’s easy to forget why people loved them to start with: they are refreshing, clean-flavored, balanced beers that happen to punch above their weight class in terms of alcohol content. Read More

PorchDrinking’s Weekly Denver Beer Beat

Hey there PorchDrinkers! Native to the city and looking for events to tide you over for the week? New to the city and looking for the best place to find … Read More

Migration Week Kick-Off Party | Goose Island Beer Co.

The geese have landed in Denver and the PorchDrinkers are rejoicing. Why? Migration Week a.k.a. the week of Goose Island Beer Co. festivities in Denver has just begun and we couldn’t be any happier. Is it because we got to try a 2009 Bourbon County Stout? I’d say that’s a large part of it. But it’s not only the beer we are excited about, Goose Island has also come to town with a giant plinko game, photo booth, cooking classes, and more. Is it a coincidence that they happened to fly in during the week of PorchDrinking.com’s anniversary? I think not! The beer gods are blessing us Porch Drinkers with some great creations such as Sofie, Matilda, and Coffee BCS – and we will continue to worship them in the form of drinking all the beer that comes our way. Cheers to Goose Island and cheers to Migration Week!

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2 Years of PorchDrinking | Our Favorite Posts

Today marks the 2 year anniversary of PorchDrinking.com. So to celebrate we thought we’d take a look back at some of our more memorable, successful, impactful and hilarious posts. As … Read More

West Sixth Brewing | West Sixth IPA

Think back to the first time you tasted a true craft beer. Better yet, think back to the first time you tasted a local craft beer: one that was created in your state, your town or perhaps even in your neighborhood. Did it have a little extra “flair” to it? Read More

Upland Brewing Company | Peach Lambic

According to the Presidents of the United States of America, peaches come from a can, but Upland Brewing Company in Bloomington, Indiana is proving that peaches can come in a bottle too. Upland is famous throughout the US for their fruited lambic style beers. Lambics are a style from Belgium that is normally a low abv beer that is incredibly tart. The fruit is used to cut the tartness and add a little bit of sweet fruit flavor. Upland’s lambics have become so popular that they’ve had to implement a lottery system. You have to enter to win the opportunity to buy their beer. They just released a peach and persimmon version. Read More

Weekly Growler Fill | National Beer News Roundup

I’ve scoured the internet far and wide (with the help from some other Porch Drinkers) to bring you this week’s beer news. We’ve got updates on laws – some good, some bad – a list of some fun beer names, tips on brewing, and a great SNL skit of Rick Perry. How could it get any better? Read More

Adroit Theory Takes Brews to D.C.

In Washington, D.C., old collides with new. It’s a city of rows of Georgetown mansions and burgeoning hipster neighborhoods, of traditional politicking and feisty, unfettered eagerness. Last week, the “History and … Read More

Devils Backbone Brewing Company | The Vienna Lager

ABV: 4.9%
IBU: 18

There are few things I love more than the serendipity of walking through the doors to a New York City saloon, and almost instantly, falling in love with a lager. This past month, not only did I find love, but it was a winner in the most literal sense.

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Milwaukee Brewing Company Hop Freak Double IPA

ABV: 8.70%
IBU: 80

Writer Ritu Ghatorey said “Sometimes You Need To Look At Life From A Different Perspective.” And she was right, which is why I am going to do two reviews in one. I was able to try Hop Freak in 2 different formats in 2 different settings. My first experience was a draft of Hop Freak on the patio deck at Milwaukee Brewing Company overlooking the Milwaukee River on a hot Milwaukee summer day. My other experience with Hop Freak was out of a can on a cold, rainy Denver night. Both experiences were delicious, but very different.

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Cooking with Beer | Stone Cold IPA Pickles

When was the last time you went to a farmer’s market or a flea market and didn’t see a jar of IPA Pickles selling for some ridiculous price? Along with the boom in craft beer production has also come a boom in craft beer related items – one of them being beer pickles. Instead of giving in and paying top dollar for one of these jars, I decided to go off and make pickles on my own.

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Southern Tier | Farmer’s Tan

ABV:  4.6 %

Now that Summer is fully upon us, I thought it would be nice to showcase one of my favorite summer seasonal beers!  Southern Tier, a brewery out of Lakewood, New York, has dialed in on a phenom in their Session India Pale Ale named “Farmer’s Tan.”   If the name alone isn’t reason enough to give it a try,  just wait until you taste it. Read More

Ultimate 6er | Summer Road Trip

Summer and road trips are as American as apple pie and ice cream, or cheddar cheese if you’re into that sort of thing. I love road trips and though I don’t have epic adventures planned for summer 2014, I wrapped one up with my brother last year that covered 6,000 miles in a two-week span of elation, madness and general fun. Read More

Great Divide | 20th Anniversary Celebration Recap

This past Saturday we celebrated Great Divide Brewing Company’s 20^th Anniversary with 2,000 of our hop cone compatriots in Denver, CO!

A long, line of craft beer connoisseurs formed on Brighton Boulevard. Cars slowly passed by looking for open parking spaces; patrons cruised in on their two wheelers and entered into the queue for bicycle valet (free courtesy of our friends over at Denver B-Cycle). A line of kegs outlined the entryway with Great Divide staff members donned in their 20^th anniversary red shirts and sporting the largest of smiles. They knew what we were in for as we were wrist banded. . .

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