Starr Hill’s Monticello Reserve Ale

Starr Hill’s Monticello Reserve Ale – 27 IBU, 5.5% ABV

My wife, Sarah, and I began our geeked-out Spring Break en route to Washington D.C. with a trip to the home of our third President, Thomas Jefferson. Monticello is a vast rollercoaster of hills and hollers nestled in the northern outskirts of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Jefferson, a vegetarian for all intents and purposes (“using meat merely as a condiment,” as our tour guide informed us), fancied himself a farmer, as evidenced by acres of flowers, orchards, groves, gardens, and vineyards. The Monticello Reserve Ale from Charlottesville’s own Starr Hill Brewing is an homage to the type of beer that would have been consumed regularly in the Jefferson household, using two ingredients that were readily available on the Monticello grounds, wheat and corn. Read More

Getting a Woody – New Belgium La Folie

New Belgium La Folie

Style: Flemish Sour Brown

ABV: 6.0% Read More

April Fools Beer Pranks

The Quest for the Perfect Beer Prank

Jake Metzler is a homebrewing fanatic who loves to write and share his knowledge with others. When he’s not brewing, you can probably find him rock climbing and/or listening to eighties metal.

With April Fools coming just around the corner, I’ve been thinking about pranks that I could pull on my friends. I’m not much of a prankster, as I feel that tricks can quickly turn malicious, and the ones that don’t are often pretty dumb.

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PorchDrinking Got Twitter Hacked

Early this morning, in the twilight hours, PorchDrinking.com fell victim to the same salacious crimes that Burger King and Jeep had been terrorized with earlier last month.  While we are deeply disturbed and saddened by these juvenile acts, we are also not ashamed to share the results of this heinous ambush.  Mark my words, we will find these terrorists… and we will serve up the sweetest slice of pwnage pie they have ever tasted (thats l33tspeak for we will exact revenge).

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Ultimate 6er | Retro Juice Boxes

Nothing says refreshment quite like a good old fashioned zero ABV retro juice boxes party. You don’t need to drink beer to quench your thirst. We’ve compiled a list of old school lunch throwbacks to hit happy hour the sober way.

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Franzia – Vintner’s Select White Merlot

ABV: 12.5%

IBU: 0

As an avid wine drinker, I’ve sampled the gamut of varietals – from French Burgundy to Argentinian Torrontes – but am always seeking out a truly special wine experience. I’ve come very close in the past with some choice picks, such as the slightly jammy Meiomi Pinot Noir from California I sampled a few weeks ago. However, nothing could have prepared me for this gem of a find that had been hidden in plain sight for all of these years.

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One Minute Beer Review: New Belgium Oh La La

Last night I happened upon the jackpot of tap lists for a random Wednesday night.  My buddy Andy was craving the sweet nectar known as Pliny the Elder and there was only one place in town that you could guarantee to have it on tap, Falling Rock.  As I spied their specialty tap lists etched on 4 separate chalk boards I quickly realized that I had been swept into the perfect storm of accidental leftover tappings.

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Awesomesauce- TeeFury

While t-shirt websites like Threadless or Society6  are awesome for their incredible designs, fantastic selection, and amazing tees (seriously, they’re really soft) I find them lacking in a few key areas.

1. Their tee selections just aren’t nerdy enough.
2. I have to wait for a good sale to buy a tee- I can’t bring myself to spend almost 50 bucks on a hoodie or twenty bucks for a tee (OK, unless it’s an Homage tee…Homage tees are my Kryptonite.)

Enter TeeFury, stage right. Read More

Uinta Brewing Dubhe Imperial Black IPA

ABV: 9.2%

IBU: 109

SRM: 110 (apparently blacker than the blackest black times infinity)

It’s like riding a chocolate wave of star-dust through floral hop galaxies. Taking on the Uinta Brewing Dubhe Imperial Black IPA is a journey through the stars that is dry yet refreshing, malty yet hoppy, light yet bold. Shit is crazy, brah. The beer pours a rich, malty black with a rocky tan head. Is this a fucking stout? Is this a porter? What the shit is going on in my glass? I was expecting a big, hop-heavy aroma with the five hop varietals in this brew but it comes off as a malty, sweet beast. There is a floral ester coming in before the first sip and most of that must be the hemp seeds? That first quaff is creamy and thick, with chocolate malts and a slight bitter punch coming mid-palate to fight off any cloying, bitch-ass malts trying to hang out on the tongue. Malt goodnesses AND hops galore. Wicked. Read More

Spring Ultimate 6er

Grab a beer, spring is near! Finally, after a long and dreary winter, spring is just weeks away. This means, a bitter-sweet goodbye to my beloved heavy dark ales and a warm-welcoming hello to sweet and hoppy spring ales. Although these recently cold and snowy days in the Midwest region doesn’t feel like spring weather, I have high hopes that sunny days are soon to come!

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Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co – Canoe Paddler

ABV: 5%

Spring has officially arrived, but with a large portion of the country buried under snow from yet another winter storm, it doesn’t quite feel like it. For those of us without a nice, warm spring break to look forward to, I give you Leinenkugel’s Canoe Paddler.

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ReCap of the Inaugural DC Beer Festival

The Journey Begins

The Inaugural DC Beer Festival began as many DC events do: a trip on the metro that starts as any usual metro ride, and then the train cars slowly shift to carry only those destined for a day of fun (minus a few confused stragglers and tourists). I hopped on the train near my house with very few fellow festival-goers, but as soon as we hit Gallery Place, hordes of eager beer drinkers filled the train. The chatter en route confirmed their final destination: the Inaugural DC Beer Festival at National’s Park.

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Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier

After attempting to pronounce the name of this beer, you’re definitely going to need a drink. Advertised as one of the oldest breweries in the world, this Bavarian beer is a a delicious and traditional German wheat beer. The Bavarian State Brewery Weihenstephan in Bavaria, Germany has literally been around for over a thousand years.  It first started out as a monastery brewery of the Benedictine Monks and then later turned into the Royal State Brewery.  Today, it is property of the Free State of Bavaria and is considered the oldest brewery in the world. Read More

Beervana: Chicago

So, just a bit of background – I’m originally from the Chicago area, and I lived in the city for four years prior to moving to Denver in late 2009. I wasn’t really approaching the ranks of beer geek prior to my move, but I’ve been fortunate to retain a fantastic group of friends and family that still live all over the north side of Chicago and a job that affords me the opportunity to make a return trip every couple months. I’ve made it my goal to hit up the best bars and breweries the city has to offer each time I’m back.

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Green Flash Brewery-Rayon Vert

Green Flash Brewery Rayon Vert

California, USA

ABV: 7.00%

A while back I met a Green Flash sales rep during one of my random bar hopping adventures. Green Flash I have to say is a brand I haven’t followed too closely, but surprises me each time I try it. With the news of it being the latest western craft brewer to break ground on the east coast, as they plan to break ground in Virginia Beach in 2015 I figured I should get to know them better.

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Terrapin Brewing – Hop Karma Brown IPA

I generally follow the edict that beer should not be snobby. Drink it out of the bottle, hell bust out a solo cup if you must, but Terrapin’s Hop Karma Brown IPA is meant to breathe. It isn’t often you come across a Brown IPA.  Generally the nutty malty flavors are a bit hard to manage with the bitter hoppy flavors, but Terrapin Brewing’s Hop Karma Brown IPA balances those tastes perfectly.

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Smuttynose “Finestkind” IPA

Smuttynose “Finestkind” IPA – 6.9% ABV, 75 IBU

At home this weekend taking care of a sick wife, I did not get to partake in the normal St. Paddy’s Day melee to which I have become accustomed, and am thus not feeling the residual effects of day-long Guiness-swilling and inadvertent ingestion of gallons of green food dye. Instead, I opted for the not-so-festive confines of my dining room and the company of an American craft beer, today’s companion “Finestkind” IPA from Smuttynose Brewing.

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THIS WEEKEND: The Inaugural DC Beer Festival Comes to Nationals Park!

This weekend in DC will be one to remember for Beer Lovers. The Inaugural DC Beer Festival is coming to Nationals Park! The festival will run from Saturday, March 23rd to Sunday, March 24th. Sadly, tickets are sold out for Saturday festivities (with a wait list for the evening – 6-9pm –  slot), but tickets are STILL AVAILABLE for Sunday, March 24th!

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Colorado Craft Beer Week

I revel every day at how lucky I am to live in this amazing state that we call Colorado. Much like the incubator that my home state of Kentucky is for fervent basketball fans, Colorado is the perfect climate for craft beer, and nothing fully captures brewing fertility quite like Colorado Craft Beer Week.

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Odell Brewing Bouquet Array IPA

A few months ago, I was asked by Brent Cordle of Odell Brewing Company if I wanted to brew a beer on their pilot system with them. Of course I said yes. After a few emails back in forth with Cordle, the pilot system brewer, we decided on a floral IPA.  I had recently had Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp No. 53, Floral IPA, and fell in love. The inspiration was rose petals, but we decided to also throw in hibiscus and lavender.  For our hop additions we went we varieties that have more floral characteristics, Chinook, centennial, and a little cascade. Most of the hops were added later in the boil, adding more aroma and flavor than bitterness.

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