Braven Brewing Takes Flight

Marshall S. Thompson and Eric Feldman both fell in love with the Bushwick neighborhood in Brooklyn: the people, the burgeoning arts scene and its differentiation from Manhattan. They also both were avid homebrewers and wanted to make the jump to go pro.

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Ska Brewing – Hoperation Ivy #23 Wet Hop IPA

Ska Brewing – Hoperation Ivy #23 Wet Hop IPA
ABV:?
IBU:?

Ska Brewing boasts a limited release every fall in the form of a harvest, wet hop IPA. It’s moniker – a word play on their love of ska and the ska-punk band, Operation Ivy. If you are not familiar, they are recommended if you like Rancid, Against All Authority and Common Rider. This year they have opted for an “all-Colorado” batch of Hoperation Ivy in which they commandeer fresh Colorado hops from High Wire Hop Farms in Paonia, and grain from Colorado Malting Company in Alamosa. This harvest IPA is a real treat. Big on hops but well balanced with malty sweetness. Bright, lively flavors of pine, spices, citrus, wildflowers, and spruce are rested on a substructure of creamy, smooth malts.

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Hops and Pie Pumpkin Beer Festival

It comes to no surprise that people go absolutely bazonkers over pumpkin beers. As soon as that first chilly morning sends us racing indoors for a a sweater, as soon … Read More

Crooked Stave – St. Bretta (Fall)

Beer: St. Bretta (Fall)
Brewer: Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: 25

I hate to admit that I had never really heard of Crooked Stave until the end of this past August. I was attending a homebrewer’s competition for a local non-profit and was invited to guest judge. (Apparently my credentials at PorchDrinking and my affinity for beer were enough to give me the exclusive rights to judge.) When I arrived, I learned that I would be the only judge that night as the two brewers from “Crooked Stave” would not be able to show. Read More

Getting a Woody | Odell’s Fernet Aged Porter

Background

Odell’s Fernet Aged Porter
Style: Barrel Aged Porter
ABV: 9.8% Read More

Dogfish Head – American Beauty

9.0% ABV, 55 IBU

Workingman’s Dead on CD, bought for $5 from the used bin at the local record store my Freshman year of high school. For a short period of time, they were the only band that existed in my provincial teenage mindset. Read More

2013 GABF Fantasy Brewery Final Results

Last week we introduced PorchDrinking.com’s Inaugural GABF Fantasy Brewery Draft. We assembled a tremendous collection of national and local writers who selected breweries and earned points from medals won by those breweries during the GABF awards ceremony which took place on Saturday.  Here was the scoring guide we went by:

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Samuel Adams | Fat Jack

ABV: 8.5% | IBU: 25

This small-batch, double pumpkin ale eluded me last year, so imagine my surprise when I found a bomber of it at the Kroger in little ol’ Athens, Ohio over the weekend. I was ecstatic! And I have to say, it did not disappoint. Made with 28 pounds of real pumpkin per barrel, from the moment I opened the bottle all I could think was “this is fall.”

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GABF A Prospectus

What do New Glarus, The Bruery, Three Floyds, Sun King, Surly, Bells, Destihl, The Lost Abbey, Cigar City, Funky Buddha, and New Holland all have in common?  Aside being a tremendous lineup of breweries in their own right, they also served as one of the most ridiculous 20 minute murderer’s row starts to a Great American Beer Festival I’ve ever encountered.

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GABF Winners Announced

Saturday we live tweeted the 2013 Great American Beer Festival awards ceremony where breweries were recognized by the Brewer’s Association for their accomplishments by style in this year’s competition. … Read More

Mrs. O’Leary’s Chocolate Milk Stout

ABV: 7%

Chicagoan or not, we all know of The Great Chicago Fire. Recently, I mentioned breweries like Revolution and Haymarket Brewing who incorporate a bit of Chicago history in … Read More

“The Beer Diaries” Craft Beer Series Comes To Denver

For the craft beer enthusiast, simply drinking a great beer sometimes isn’t enough. Director Mike Mann and his crew at The Beer Diaries, have taken their love for craft beer to the next … Read More

Awesomesauce- WhiteWhine

As you can probably tell by a few of my previous posts, there’s nothing I like more than a snarky comeback or witty remark.   Add in a little dose of … Read More

Logsdon Farmhouse Ales- Fresh Hop Seizoen

This past weekend I volunteered pouring beers at the Portland Fresh Hops Festival. The event is an annual tribute to our love of lupulin-laden libations that are crafted within hours of the hop harvest. While the vast majority of breweries showcased their share of lagers and pale ales, IPAs and CDAs, there was one beer that really stood out to me. Logsdon Farmhouse Ales’ Fresh Hop Seizoen piqued the interest of my taste buds in a way that no other fresh hop beer has. After about ten 4 oz. samplers of hop-forward beers, a subtly-hopped Belgian Saison was just what the doctor ordered. The Fresh Hop Seizoen from Hood River, OR is 7.5% ABV and really opened up a new perspective on fresh-hopped beers for me.

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Roundtable Discussion – Pairings

While a lot of breweries are now stating suggested food pairings for their beers on either the bottles or their website, we here at PorchDrinking have decided to make similar pairing suggestions, but this time with activities. So we polled our staff: “What are your favorite beer and activity pairings?” Read More

2013 GABF Must Try Beer List

From our extensive pour list, a few of our resident beer geeks have put their heads together to compile a list of “must-try” beers at GABF. These are beers that we have either tried ourselves and give the highest praise or are from breweries that we have come to know and love who’s beer intrigues us enough to hype it up! So here we go, make sure you taste your way through some of these beers at GABF, and if you manage to catch one of our staff at the same booth, be sure to throw up a high-five! Read More

Mørke – Pumpernickel Porter by Beer Here

Beer Here – Mørke (Pumpernickel Porter)

ABV – 7.5% Read More

2013 GABF Fantasy Brewery Draft Results

Beyond the Beer – Wednesday – Battery 621

Join us this Wednesday night as Denver-based companies Crafting a Nation, Business of Fun, and PorchDrinking.com come together for the Inaugural event “Beyond the Beer Panel Discussion and Craft Beer Showcase.” The event will take place at Battery 621, 621 Kalamath Street, Denver, CO 80204; on October 9th, 2013. Doors to “Beyond the Beer” Hangout open at 6pm followed by a showcase featuring unique craft beers, reserved for this tasting event, at 8pm.

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2013 GABF Pour List – Full Regional Breakdown

For the past month we’ve been calling and e-mailing breweries in order to provide you with a list of what your favorite breweries will be pouring at this weekend’s … Read More