Independence Brewing Company | Cowboys from Helles

Austin-based Independence Brewing Company just announced the release of their newest seasonal — a Munich-style Lager inspired by Pantera’s “Cowboys from Hell.” According to head brewer Brannon Radicke, “We listened to a lot of Pantera while making that beer, so it’s kind of infused with that attitude.”
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PorchDrinking Playlist & Event Preview | WinterWonderGrass Festival

This upcoming weekend marks the sixth annual WinterWonderGrass Festival. It is also the bluegrass festival’s second year in the town of Steamboat Springs in Northern Colorado.

This three-day outdoor festival is sold-out and attendees can expect performances from Elephant Revival, Leftover Salmon, Greensky Bluegrass, Yonder Mountain String Band, Lil Smokies and many more bands and artists. There are 22 bands in total comprising this year’s Colorado lineup! Below is a run down of the event as well as a playlist for those heading up to Steamboat for some music and beer. Read More

Deschutes Brewery to Begin Canning

Founded in 1988, Oregon’s Deschutes Brewery has enjoyed over three decades of success by tapping into the craft beer furor of the Pacific Northwest through artfully-hopped beers. With years of experience behind them, Deschutes is acutely aware of the difference between a fleeting fad and a trend that is here to stay. And the rise of brewers moving to cans is no fad. To meet the growing demand among many craft beer drinkers for increased flexibility and accessibility from their beers, Deschutes is moving three of their flagships into 12oz cans this March.

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Couples of Craft | Rose Ann & Charles Finkel of The Pike Brewing Co.

Just like in any other city, Seattle has its fair share of beer celebrities. The electricity that craft pulses through this town, not to mention the quality of the drinks themselves, make it near impossible not to point and whisper when some of our favorite owners or brewers make cameos in their respective taprooms. So, when I sat down with Rose Ann and Charles Finkel, owners and founders of The Pike Brewing Company, and some of the original craft pioneers in Seattle, I couldn’t help but be just a bit starstruck.

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The Commons Brewery & Epic Brewing | Common Interests

Whether its music, art, film or food, we are fans of a good collaboration—with no exception when it comes to beer. With the steady rise in craft beer popularity, numerous collaborations between so many like-minded individuals in our community is inevitable. Particularly, The Commons Brewery from Portland and Denver’s Epic Brewing took on a collaboration in a fun and interesting way. While each brewery selected an adjunct ingredient native to their location, they created something unique and tasty. The Commons Brewery brought Oregon red winter wheat and Epic Brewing choose Colorado honeydew melon; together they created a sour ale called Common Interests.
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Stem Ciders Celebrates One Year in Chicago, Looks Ahead to 2018

At the 2017 Cider Summit in Chicago, Denver’s Stem Ciders was officially introduced into the Chicago market. One year later, they’ve carved out a nice foothold in the growing cider offerings throughout the city and have been able to stand out in a very crowded space.

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Streetside Brewery | #blessed NE IPA

When you think of Ohio craft beer, much of the time you might think of the brewers up north in Cleveland — where Great Lakes, Fat Head’s, Platform and Thirsty Dog have cemented strong regional footholds. As industry in Ohio has exploded over the last couple of years, it’s the cities a few hours south that are truly beginning to make a statement in the beer scene. Few have ascended quite as quickly as The Queen City of Cincinnati. While big-name Rhinegeist has risen to notoriety more recently, a new crop of up-and-comers are emerging with a variety of great offerings. No brewery has embodied this growth more than Streetside Brewery.
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Event Preview | 2018 Chicago Cider Summit

While we may enjoy a quality craft beer at PorchDrinking from time to time, we also appreciate a good cider, and the craft cider business is booming. If you’re a cider fan, beer fan or anything in between, I highly recommend you check out the ongoing Chicago Cider Week, which offers a week-long list of events and parties aimed at fostering new interest with the increasingly popular realm of artisanal cider. The big event of the week, the 2018 Chicago Cider Summit, takes place on Saturday February 17^th. Featuring over 150 different local, regional and international craft ciders from the likes of Colorado-favorite Stem Ciders to local upstart 2 Fools, this all-day cider fest is sure to please every taste bud. Here are the details you need to know.

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Stoup Brewing | Mother of Exiles IPA

It doesn’t take a lot for me to crave a beer. Has it been a good day? Let’s have a beer. A bad day? Let’s have a beer. It’s sunny out! Let’s have a beer. Oh no, raining again? Better have a beer. Needless to say, I’m easily convinced. But tell me that I’m drinking for a good cause? Well, then let’s have more than one, without a doubt. This is the case with Stoup Brewing’s recently released Mother of Exiles IPA, which benefits the Refugee Women’s Alliance as part of the Beer Trumps Hate campaign.

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The PorchCast | Ep 48 Stout Month at Vine Street Pub

In Episode 48 of The PorchCast the entire gang of Tristan, Hunter, Sami and Sam paid a visit to Denver’s Vine Street Pub to speak with John Fiorilli, Director of Operations for the Mountain Sun Breweries and Pubs in celebration of the fan favorite, Stout Month.

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Ultimate 6er | The Six Best Ballard Beers That Are Not IPAs

Ballard, Seattle: home of canal locks, Golden Gardens, farmer’s markets, overpriced housing, beards, sandwich boards, and, oh yeah – a gaggle of breweries. But if you want to brew in Ballard, you gotta be handy with the hops, if you know what I mean. Earn your keep.

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Schlafly Beer | Pale Ale

It saddens me a bit that back in 1992 when I tried my first craft beer — a Schlafly Beer Pale Ale; I did not have the foresight to realize I was tipping back something special. I didn’t know that it would not only mean something to me 27 years later but inspire me to write about it.

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PorchDrinking’s Weekly Denver Beer Beat | February 14, 2018

The Denver Beer Beat sheds light on news of brewery openings, special tappings, firkins and one-off batches, bottle releases, dinners, pairings, etc.
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New Belgium’s Lost in the Woods: A Psychedelic Celebration of Sours

As someone based in Denver who makes a hobby out of beer writing, I have what can only be described as an embarrassing confession: I had never tasted New Belgium’s La Folie—or any other of its critically acclaimed sours—before last week.

The gravity of this oversight may be lost on the casual enthusiast, so allow me to explain. For 20 years, the Fort Collins-based brewery has been cranking out some of the country’s most complex wood-aged beers, starting with the first iteration of La Folie, its flagship Flanders-style Sour Brown Ale aged in massive oak barrels called foeders. New Belgium’s is now the largest wood cellar program in the U.S., with 64 French oak foeders and one American white oak foeder all imparting funky flavors to base beers as they mature.

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PorchDrinking’s Weekly Atlanta Beer Beat | February 14, 2018

The Atlanta Beer Beat sheds light on news of brewery openings, special tappings, firkins and one-off batches, bottle releases, dinners, pairings and more!

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Polish Hot Beer | Grzane Piwo

After a cold day of exploring the streets of Krakow in January, my friends and I stopped for lunch at a traditional Polish restaurant and the list of hot beverages caught my eye. “Hot beer?!” I exclaimed breathlessly, and immediately ordered myself a large mug. The menu warned that hot beer would take ten minutes to be prepared and heated, so I sat back and began to research this intriguing beverage. Read More

Event Preview | Scratch Brewing Company’s Fifth Anniversary Party

Over the past five years Scratch Brewing Company has done some remarkable things with not only beer, but food and botanicals as well. On March 3 and 4 the brewery will celebrate their fifth anniversary with a big celebration that will include a lot of Scratch beer, of course, but also food and local art as well.

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Inside The Tank | Pair O’ Dice Brewing Company

Pair O’ Dice Brewing Company quietly produces some of the best beer in Florida while managing to honor everything about the state it calls home. Florida boasts a variety of mainstay attractions and industries that are signature representations of the state. After all, it may be the Sunshine State, but it’s equally well-known for amusement parks, beaches and oranges! You can add Pair O’ Dice Brewing Company to that list as well. Just across the bay from the huge city of Tampa, Pair O’ Dice is taking a focused approach to beer.

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Wooden Bear Brewing | Barrel-Aged Midnight Mauler

One night shortly after my mother-in-law moved to the small town of Greenfield, Indiana, I found myself itching to explore the area. I wasn’t expecting a whole lot in the way of craft beer, but I was pleasantly surprised.

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Stone Brewing Sues MillerCoors Over Misuse of Stone Name

Never one to shy away from causing a commotion, Greg Koch, executive chairman and co-founder of Stone Brewing Company announced today that they have filed suit against MillerCoors over the improper use of the word Stone in recent rebranding and marketing efforts around the Keystone brand.

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