Midwest
Lagunitas Reopens its Chicago Taproom
April 11, 2023 | Rachel Morrison
This week, Lagunitas reopens its Chicago taproom in Douglass Park. Before you keep reading, open Spotify, search “Pure Imagination” and press play. Ready? OK. The Lagunitas Taproom reopens to the public on Thursday, April 13. You’re immediately transported back in time when you open the doors of the 30,000-square-foot brewing facility. Right away, guests are greeted with the nostalgic tune from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Both Lagunitas and the filmare set in a vast and imaginative space. The same 32 taps line the bar in the upstairs taproom, and the kitchen is serving bar bites, sandwiches, mussels and more.
AleBlazers Series | One Year Later with Funkytown Brewery
April 10, 2023 | Emma Wargolet
A brewery that has made a huge splash on the Chicago craft beer scene over the past year has been Funkytown Brewery, who brews at Pilot Project Brewing in both Chicago, IL and Milwaukee, WI. Owners Richard Bloomfield, Zachary Day and Gregory Williams chatted with PorchDrinking in February 2022 as a part of our AleBlazers series, so naturally we needed to catch up with them and see how the last year has been and where 2023 is taking them!
Flora Brewing Set to Make Commercial Debut at Pilot Project Brewing
April 3, 2023 | Emma Wargolet
Pilot Project Brewing, a brewery incubator based in Chicago, with a second location in Milwaukee, WI, is a collaborative space where multiple breweries are able to enter the market without certain barriers that traditionally plague startup breweries. Their newest addition is Flora Brewing, Sarah Flora’s brewery that started contract brewing recently, though many know her from her homebrewing videos over the past six years. Flora Brewing will be launching four beers, with the release event set for Saturday, April 29.
Bean to Barstool Podcast | Wolves, Sons & Ethereal Confections
March 29, 2023 | David Nilsen
In this episode we talk with Chris Davison of Wolf’s Ridge Brewing and Colin Vent of Seventh Son Brewing, both in Columbus, Ohio, who use quality cacao in a variety of their beers. Both brewers source their cacao from Ethereal Confections with Ethereal Confections in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, and we’ll also talk with Marisa Allen and Michael Ervin of Ethereal, who also provide cacao to a variety of other breweries.
BREAKING | Karben4 Set to Re-Release Ale Asylum Beers
March 16, 2023 | Emma Wargolet
For those across the Midwest, Ale Asylum Brewery in Madison, Wisconsin, was a staple of their beer fridge until they closed in July of 2022 after 16 years of operation. Less than a year later, however, their bold flavors are set to make a comeback under the Karben4 Brewing flag. Karben4 owners, brothers Ryan and Zak Koga, are excited to re-launch these staples of Madison craft beer in the same city that they operate their brewery.
Pathlight Brewing | No Touchy Barleywine
February 28, 2023 | Givon Blakney
Pathlight Brewing of Shawnee, Kansas, joined the ranks of events that nobody saw coming in February. Random flying objects drifting across the country. Rihanna revealing her pregnancy during the Super Bowl. And Pathlight Brewing rereleased its notorious No Touchy, a 14% ABV Barleywine that quickly became a legend in the Kansas City metro area in 2022. Read More
Yellow Springs & Urban Artifact Partner to Benefit Women’s Brewing Scholarship
February 24, 2023 | David Nilsen
Two southwest Ohio breweries are partnering for International Women’s Day to brew beers that will benefit a women’s scholarship to Cincinnati State’s Brewing Science program. Yellow Springs Brewery in Yellow Springs and Urban Artifact in Cincinnati will brew two beers to be released on March 4, with proceeds providing scholarship funds for a woman to attend the Brewing Science certificate or degree program and ideally enter the brewing industry. The collaboration is being organized by women at each brewery who credit the support and camaraderie of other women in helping them advance their careers.
BlackStack Brewing | Local 755 IPA
February 20, 2023 | Jack Bateman
In the Minnesota beer scene, it typically does not take long to find a really good Hazy IPA. With numerous breweries in the Twin Cities serving up solid Hazy styles year-round, there are plenty to try at any given time.
Off Color Brewing | Sī Fáng Pale Lager
February 9, 2023 | Rachel Morrison
Off Color Brewing of Chicago is known for its funky beers, an IPA-free menu and mice illustrations. More recently, the brewery is known for a sold-out beer and dumpling pairing event for the release of Sī Fáng Pale Lager, brewed in collaboration with QXY Dumplings. The collaboration between Off Color and QXY is unique from other collaborations. Typically, two breweries collaborate and leverage both of their respective audiences. For Sī Fáng, Off Color collaborated with Qing Xiang Yuan (QXY) to highlight an underrepresented neighborhood of Chicago, Chinatown. Unlike a regular beer release, the Off Color team worked with their friends at QXY to create not only an incredible beer but an exciting pairing experience.
Ultimate 6er | Road Trip Regional Edition: Midwest
January 26, 2023 | Jason Murphy
Join us as we road trip across the United States in what is to be a follow-up article to the Craft Beer Across America article. In that article, we explored a craft beer from every state (excluding districts and territories) to showcase some of the unknown, or lesser-known, craftier beers that the U.S. craft beer scene has to offer. While that article focused mainly on the beers, this article focuses on specific breweries from a region we think would be fun to visit. We’re going to sprinkle in a couple of bigger craft breweries in each six-brewery regional section just to help spread the word for some of the not-so-big breweries in the mix.
Inside Revolution Brewing’s Latest Deep Wood Release
January 18, 2023 | Mike Zoller
Capping off the 2022-23 Deep Wood lineup from Revolution Brewing are two of the most highly anticipated releases since the beers were announced over the summer. Later this week, several locations will host preview parties and pickups will begin.
Event Preview | Scarlet Lane Scarelastic Book Fair
January 13, 2023 | David Nilsen
As bookish adults, many of us get nostalgic at the memory of the Scholastic Book Fairs from our school days, when we got out of class to spend our allowance money on cheap reading material. A horror-themed brewery in Indiana is bringing the delight of those book fairs back for adults, this time with beer.
Barrel Room Spotlight | Phase Three Brewing
January 12, 2023 | Eric Griffin
The first brewery cast in the Spotlight in 2023, Phase Three Brewing is a welcomed addition to this growing series. A culmination of three phases of built relationships, experience and passion, the story behind this young brewery never ceases to garner continued support. We had the opportunity to speak with Shaun Berns, co-founder and Head Brewer at Phase Three, to not only learn more about his passion project as a whole but to hear specifically about their impressive barrel program that has people across the country talking.
Go Brewing Opens Taproom Focused on Non-Alcoholic Beer
December 30, 2022 | Rachel Morrison
There’s a new brewery in Naperville, Illinois! Go Brewing offers non-alcoholic and low-alcohol beers, exclusively. It recently took over the former Two Fools Cider space nearby Solemn Oath Brewery. As one of the few taprooms solely focused on non-alcoholic and low-alcohol beers, the taproom provides a space for people to gather without alcohol. Go Brewing’s founder, Joe Chura, was inspired to start the brewery after taking a sabbatical and participating in the seventy-five hard. During that time, he realized there were so few places not centered around drinking. The taproom offers non-alcoholic and low-alcohol beers in a variety of styles, along with an extensive list of programming, providing their community with even more reasons to come together.
PorchDrinking’s Year in Ohio Beer 2022
December 16, 2022 | David Nilsen
Ohio is much more than the butt of TikTok jokes. We’re perenially hovering around the top five craft beer-producing states by volume, and bring in a healthy haul of medals at every World Beer Cup, Great American Beer Festival, and Festival of Barrel-Aged Beer. With numerous mid-sized big cities, Ohio has countless beercation destinations for the beer savvy traveler. Here are my picks for the noteworthy beers, breweries, and stories of 2022 in Ohio beer.
Seventh Son Reborn | One Brewery’s Unusual Strategy for Expansion
December 14, 2022 | David Nilsen
Seventh Son Brewing opened in the historic Italian Village neighborhood of Columbus, OH, in April 2013. Their beer was good and their taproom was friendly and inviting—obvious prerequisites for success—and they set about doing what many other breweries around the country had done before them and have done since: offering classic American craft styles in a communal, social atmosphere.
Off Color Brewing | Beer for Dealing with Your Family (Malt Liquor)
November 23, 2022 | Rachel Morrison 1
The holidays are among us and there’s no better Thanksgiving beer paring than Beer for Dealing with Your Family by Off Color Brewing. Technically, it’s not beer; it’s malt liquor. However, it’s included in the brewery’s “beer for” series and plays off of what everyone knows and loves about Off Color. It’s complex, well-rounded, multi-dimensional, and high ABV, but without carrying the heat. Additionally, and most importantly (to some), the can art is absolutely incredible.
2022 Chicago Area Black Wednesday and Black Friday Beer Events Guide
November 22, 2022 | Mathew Powers
A multitude of bottle shops and breweries are celebrating the entire Thanksgiving weekend with beer releases, special cellar finds and offering a host of indulgences. While the bulk of the activities will occur on Black Wednesday and Black Friday, one can find good beer from Wednesday through Sunday. And, although dark beer (notably strong, barrel-aged) reigns supreme this weekend, there are a few alternative beer choices, too. If we missed an event, by all means let us know — the idea is to make sure everyone knows where to go this weekend to satisfy their beer cravings. Without further ado, here’s the comprehensive 2022 Chicago Area Black Wednesday and Black Friday beer events guide.
2022 FoBAB Results | Festival of Wood & Barrel-Aged Beers Award Winners
November 5, 2022 | Tristan Chan
The results are IN and we now know all of the big award winners from this year’s 2022 Festival of Wood and Barrel-Aged Beers (FoBAB). This year’s 20th anniversary of FoBAB was once again a spectacular success with over 160 breweries showcasing the country’s absolute best producers in the wood and barrel-aged beer categories.
District Brew Yards Now Open in Wheeling, IL
November 4, 2022 | Emma Wargolet
District Brew Yards is well-known within the West Loop of Chicago as a pour-your-own beer hall with four different breweries in operation. After looking for expansion opportunities throughout the past year, the previous Ram Brewing location in Wheeling, Illinois was the perfect fit. The current West Loop location has four breweries in residency: Around the Bend Beer Co, Burnt City Brewing, Twisted Hippo and Casa Humilde Cerveceria. At the Wheeling location, customers will find these four breweries, as well as Histrionic Brewlab. In addition to these five breweries, there is an Added Libations Tab, where ciders and wines will be available.
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