Porch Sessions: Meet Your Brewer John Fiorilli Vine Street Pub and Brewery

Porch Sessions are meant to take you behind the scenes of your favorite breweries to meet the people who make your beer possible. This week we were lucky enough to hang with John Fiorilli the head brewer of Vine Street Pub and Brewery.

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Vail Big Beers Belgians and Barleywines Festival Photo Gallery

As we mentioned on Monday the Vail Big Beers Belgians and Barleywines Festival was Legend… wait for it… dary it was LEGENDARY!  So we thought we’d share with you a few pictures that really helps to tell the full tale of exactly just how awesome it was.  These brilliant shots were taken by Erin Horn. Enjoy!

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Homebrew 101 – Equipment and Prepping to Brew

Most people know how to cook. In fact a lot of people excel at this skill, but if asked if they could make a drink from scratch using raw ingredients, most would pass. Well never fear fellow beer lovers, beer is no harder to make at home than Ramen. With some basic equipment, patience, and curiosity, you can make some amazing beers at home. First up in the series: Equipment & Sanitation

In order to make beer, there are some items that are must haves, and quite a few items that are optional but will make life easier if you have them, most of which come in handy during fermentation and bottling. Once you have the basics down, you can then explore into some equipment for more advanced brewing, but we will cover those when we reach that part of the series.

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Awesomesauce- BadLipReading

Move over Gossip Girl, there’s a new queen bee in town.

While Gossip Girl can be cutting, BadLipReading never fails to elicit a laugh.  The YouTube account’s owner has released a series of videos that embarrass politicians, musicians, and the occasional movie star in equal measure.  The anonymous creator takes video clips from the internet, television, and movies and overdubs the dialogue or lyrics to comic effect. Read More

New Beers Resolutions

Drink more craft beer!

So much amazing beer… so little time.

Don’t become a snob.

Yes we love to promote Craft, but really it all starts with beer to begin with. When talking to our friend in Kentucky they mentioned that right now it’s all about getting people to enjoy beer first, then expanding their horizons. So drink beer. Whether it’s Coors or Westy 12.

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Crafting a Nation Kickstarter

Recently we had the chance to sit down with Thomas Kolicko, the Director and one of the Producers of the upcoming documentary, Crafting a Nation.   This is the story of the recent boom of the craft beer industry throughout the United States.  Thomas’s mission much like ours here at PorchDrinking.com is to build a better beer community and he’s done so through this project.

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PorchDrinking and Country Boy Brewing God’s Pantry Food Bank Event

We are extremely excited to announce our first of many future benefit events.  Join us THIS Thursday, December 20, 2012 at Country Boy Brewing in Lexington, Kentucky for a night of special tappings with 10 percent of proceeds benefiting God’s Pantry Food Bank.

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Denver Bicycle Cafe- Beer and Bikes

Writer’s block.

I’m supposed to put together an article and my mind races for something to write about. A beer I’ve tried recently? Rantings from a brewery taproom? Perhaps a well put-together article about beer laws around the country and how the affect the beer-culture in those states. None of the above really gets me going and I continue to search for a topic until I realize what I really feel like writing about: beer and bikes.

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14th Annual Ohio Pawpaw Festival

Two months ago, back when it was still 70 degrees and absolutely gorgeous outside, I went back to good ol’ Athens, Ohio, home of Ohio Brew Week, to check out the beers on tap at the 14^th Annual Ohio Pawpaw Festival. For those of you who don’t know, the pawpaw is North America’s largest native tree fruit, and Southern Ohio is home to some of the largest and best tasting on the planet. I picked up my parents ’95 Jaguar and my good friend Bruce, and we headed out to Lake Snowden in Albany. Bruce was the optimal choice for a companion, as he was voted Athens 2^nd Best Bartender by The Athens News. Despite my parents having lived in Athens for the last 13 years, I had actually never been to the Pawpaw Festival before, and I was surprised by how many people were there. Read More

Goose Island: In Memoriam

Goose Island was the first true craft beer I ever tried. It was a well-respected and widely available brand throughout the Chicago area, so it only made sense. 312 (named after the area code in which it was originally brewed) quickly became one of the first beers I would recommend to folks who aren’t traditionally fans of beer, or are looking to expand beyond the typical Bud or Miller products. Similar to most wheat beers, 312 is easy to drink and lacks the hoppy or malty impact of heavier beers. It’s not a great beer – it’s a great beginner’s beer.

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My Ultimate Brewpub

After some careful consideration, I’ve decided that my ultimate brewery would actually be the best brewpub you’ve ever been to.  Yes, I do love a lot of big name breweries for their awesome and usually well-distributed beers (thanks, Deschutes), but the neighborhood hangouts are the ones that stick with me. My ultimate brewpub would be a hybrid of all of my favorite places in Colorado to drink quality craft beer. Read More

The Evolution of Beer Part II

The general consensus around the Porch is that for most of us, our first foray into drinking consisted of shitty watered down piss poor beers. In fact, I spent the first two decades of my life swearing up and down that I would never drink beer. This likely was a direct result of stealing sips from my father’s Milwaukee’s Best, or to the layman, BEAST, when I was just a little guy. Needless to say, most uninitiated drinkers have at one point or another served their time sloshing swill before arriving at the great awakening that is craft beer.

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Evolution of Beer Part I

The general consensus around the Porch is that for most of us, our first foray into drinking consisted of shitty watered down piss poor beers.  In fact, I spent the first two decades of my life swearing up and down that I would never drink beer.  This likely was a result of stealing sips from my father’s Milwaukee’s Best, or to the layman, BEAST, when I was just a little guy. Needless to say, most uninitiated drinkers have at one point or another served their time sloshing swill before arriving at the great awakening that is craft beer.

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Dream Team Breweries

I think it’s safe to say that the United States is in the midst of a gold age in craft beer.  As of July 1, 2012 the Brewer’s Association counted 2075 craft breweries in operation, and I’m guessing since then at least a hundred more have opened.  During the diminutive tenure of my craft beer journey, I have managed to make a small dent in that two thousand some brewery sample.

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Sweet Action Celebrates Awesome Beer with Beer Ice Cream

Have you discovered that Sweet Action Ice Cream yet?

No?

Well, get the hell over there. It’s just past 1st on Broadway, not but a mere block away from the Mayan Theatre–which just might be the greatest one-two punch in date history. Read More

Waste your time at the Great American Beer Festival: The Strong Ale Route

The Great American Beer Festival has so much to offer. Below is a tasting from all over the country of exceptional beer. There’s just one problem: this route is a strong beer tasting. Though beer is poured one ounce at a time, these little droplets will mess you up. Honestly, I would not recommend tasting all of these in the same day but the options are available … well, maybe. I cannot guarantee these beers will be poured, but these are popular, so there’s a chance. Read More

GABF Denver Beer Bars Guide

Coming to town for the Great American Beer Festival is about more than just the festival itself.  It involves local breweries, restaurants, the city of Denver, and beer bars.  We decided to break down some of the local Denver beer bars that you may want to check out just in case you couldn’t already find enough beer.

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The Official PorchDrinking.com Presidential Debate Drinking Game

Tonight, the two men running for President will go head-to-head in Denver for a televised debate on domestic policy issues. According to the latest popular vote polling, it’s a dead heat (although according to the electoral vote, it’s already a landslide). While this campaign is not as exciting as the “Hope-And-Change,” “I-Can-See-Russia-From-My-House” quotes of 2008, the presidential debate tonight promises us a unique opportunity to see democracy in action and discern the ideological rifts between our candidates and our nation.
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Wynkoop Brewing Company- Denver, CO

This is where it all started, folks. Colorado’s esteemed governor, John Hickenlooper, helped plant the seed for what would eventually turn Denver into one of the top beer towns in the world at Wynkoop Brewing Company. Not only is Wynkoop celebrated as Denver’s first microbrewery/brewpub, it was also the first to utilize the long dormant factories peppering the city’s current downtown area. Before Coors Field and before LoDo turned into the weekend destination for locals, there was Wynkoop.
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News: Great American Beer Fest Floor Plan Released!

The floor plan for this year’s Great American Beer Fest was released earlier this morning. Most notably this means that hardcore festival goers can begin plotting out their ultimate beer routes.  I’ve seen many approaches for GABF in the past. Here are a few to help you decide which route you might want to take first. We’ll be breaking down a few more routes in more detail in the coming weeks for our complete GABF Coverage:

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