Gnarly Barley Brewing | FestBier

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No, we are not talking about Christmas yet, but simply referring to the release of Oktoberfest style offerings from all around the country. Every year it seems as though the releases start earlier and earlier in August, yes August! An Oktoberfest style lager can be enjoyed year-round, but there’s something about sipping on these seasonal offerings when the air turns a bit crispy!

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Amalgam Brewing | Bloom Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout

It has been said for many years that humans have five basic senses. Those senses being Sight, Sound, Touch, Smell and Taste. Some scientists believe that we have even more than the five basic senses that we have been taught. We’re not confirming or denying that there could be more than the basic senses, but we can confirm that we were given Smell and Taste as a gift for the beer we’re going to be talking about today!

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Burns Family Artisan Ales Opening Second Location in Former Dos Luces Brewery

As several small-to-mid-sized breweries across the country have begun to feel the pinch of a more competitive craft beer landscape, many of those breweries have had to make difficult decisions on whether to invest heavily in growth or call it quits. And while a greater volume of recent headlines has trended toward the latter of the two fates, including the recent closure of Denver’s Dos Luces Brewery, Burns Family Artisan Ales (Burns) is seizing the opportunity to bet big on itself by taking over Dos Luces’ space to open a second location.

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Guinness Open Gate Brewery Now Open in Chicago

While Guinness originally hoped to open its Chicago taproom in time for Saint Patrick’s Day, it experienced some delays, which moved its official opening date to Sept. 28. Immediately stepping foot into the new Chicago location, it’s easy to see that the wait was worth it.

The Guinness Open Gate Brewery is now open in Chicago. This marks the second U.S. location for Guinness. The other U.S. location is in Baltimore, Maryland.

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New Terrain Brewing Co. | Mirage Sour IPA

A mirage is an optical effect that is sometimes seen at sea, in the desert, or over a hot pavement, that may have the appearance of a pool of water or a mirror in which distant objects are seen inverted, and that is caused by the bending of reflection of rays of light by a layer of heated air of varying density. That’s the literal definition of a mirage from Merriam-Webster. We will be talking about a mirage today as well, just not the literal kind.

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Event Preview | Snallygaster Beer Festival 2023

A mythical creature stalks the nation’s capital, flashing its fearsome teeth and terrifying those who dare catch a glimpse of the beast. One would be wise not to – hold on, that’s not the snallygaster we’re speaking of. Snallygaster, the Washington, D.C. beer festival, is decidedly more inviting and less likely to swoop down from the sky and carry you away to your quick demise. The 11th installment of this epic festival will feature 170 beverage producers bringing 400+ beers and ciders to Downtown D.C. on October 14, 2023.

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Pulpit Rock Brewing | EIGHT Imperial Stout

Some may find it hard to believe that eight years have already come and gone for Pulpit Rock Brewing. Having recently showcased their high-gravity program in the Barrel Room Spotlight, it’s no secret that they’ve really honed in on mastering all things big and malty. Pulpit’s 8th Anniversary was celebrated on August 19th and featured live music, food vendors, and eight brand new craft beverages to honor the special occasion. For this showcase, we take a look at their headliner EIGHT, Pulpit Rock’s first Barrel-Aged release of 2023 and one that not only pushed the boundaries of their program, but also looked to support a local Iowa organization. Read More

Firestone Walker Announces 2024 Brewmaster’s Collective

Beginning today, Firestone Walker has opened up membership to its 2024 Brewmaster’s Collective, an exclusive beer club that allows members to dive deep into the minds of the brewers and experience the barrel-aging mastery that Firestone Walker has obtained. “If you’re into barrel-aged beers, you’re going to love what we have in store for you,” says Matt Brynildson, Brewmaster at Firestone Walker. 

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Seedstock Brewery | Marzen

Coming off a gold medal at the Great American Beer Fest (GABF), Seedstock Brewery’s Marzen epitomizes the clean yet robust character of this malty style. The win also feels particularly sweet for the McIlvenna family, which purchased the brewery just two years ago. Read More

Prison City Brewing | DDH Riot In Vermont New England IPA

Auburn is a small city of 30,000 year-round residents located in the heart of the Finger Lakes Region of New York. It also happens to the home of the state’s longest running prison facility. While other big cities were dubbed “Salt City,” “Flour City,” “Nickel City,” and so on, Auburn has long carried the moniker of “Prison City.”

With the brewery’s original location a mere two blocks from the prison, the name just fit for one of the first local breweries to open within the city in nearly a century.

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Drinking Beer For A Great Cause & F*ck Cancer

Think about your life, family, friends and colleagues. Everyone reading this will have some connection to a person whose life has been impacted by cancer. It doesn’t really matter what type of cancer it is, I think we can all agree, Fuck Cancer. Read More

Weathered Souls | 2023 Whale Rider Set

Weathered Souls Brewing has been around since 2016, and since then has made waves throughout the industry. Most notably in 2020, co-owner and Head Brewer Marcus Baskerville started the Black is Beautiful initiative, a movement with the mission to bring awareness to the injustices that many people of color face daily. This open-ended collaboration has inspired the support of hundreds of breweries across the country, and this year even saw the launch of Volume 2.0 of the Black is Beautiful initiative in honor of the opening of the National Black Brewers Association (NB2A) back in May. Marcus and Weathered Souls also had another exciting ‘first’ in 2023 with their highly sought-after Whale Rider Imperial Stout. July 29th marked the date of the inaugural Whale Rider Day.

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2023 Firkenstiein, The Latest Incarnation of FirkFest Beer Festival

What type of beer festival do you get if you cross Oktoberfest and Halloween and some of the best California breweries? Firkenstein! Read More

First-Timers & Familiar Names Pace Ohio’s Record-Setting Day at GABF

Ohio craft breweries earned 19 medals and one Brewery of the Year award at the 2023 Great American Beer Festival, a new record for the state. The list of Ohio GABF winners included stalwarts like Fat Head’s, Hoppin’ Frog and Brink, as well as newcomers like Narrow Path, Eudora and Seventh Son.

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Colorado Beer Beat | Bi-Weekly Beer Release Guide 9/28

Welcome to the Colorado Beer Beat, a bi-weekly roundup of all of the new can releases around the state. From Denver to Grand Junction and everywhere in between, we have you covered. Be sure to check back on Thursdays (usually!) to find out what’s new in the Colorado beer scene.

Well, GABF is officially over, but that doesn’t mean the celebration of craft beer is ending here in the State of Craft Beer! With 40 different individual medals coming home to Colorado breweries, there’s undoubtedly a winner that you’ll need to go find this weekend. Take a look down below as some of the newest releases in the Colorado beer scene, who knows one of them may be a medalist at GABF 2024.

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Finding Passion Again: Ohio’s Third Eye Brewing Returns to Beer’s Biggest Stage

Third Eye Brewing was the second name called during the 2023 Great American Beer Festival awards ceremony, signaling the start of a momentous day for the small brewery from Sharonville, a northern suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio. Their beer Mounds of Importance—brewed in collaboration with nearby Narrow Path Brewing—took home silver in the Collaboration Competition, the first category awarded. After brewmaster Kelly Montgomery and his wife Maureen, along with brewers Andrew Moore and Tom Argo, accepted the medal with their friends from Narrow Path on beer’s biggest stage, they barely had time to return to their seats before hearing their names again.

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Collaborating for a Cause | Bear: Stay Strong Alex

The Stay Strong Alex initiative continues this week with a special iteration of Esker Hart Artisan Ale’s Bear series. With his first full-production location slated to open in early 2024, Bob D’Angelo started his brewing journey nine years ago. Early support from Alex served as a huge kick start to what has now become Esker Hart, and in the wake of his unanticipated cancer diagnosis, Bob knew that he wanted to honor and dedicate this second Blend of Bear to him in support of the long road ahead. We had a chance to talk with Bob and learn more about his history with Alex as well as the beer itself and the special raffle that was set up to help raise money for the Kidd family.
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Kettlehead Brewing Co. | Duck Traffic New England IPA

Sometimes you have to just stop and smell the roses, as the age-old saying goes. Or perhaps you have to stop and let the ducks go by. That’s what happened to Sam Morrissette, co-owner and co-founder of Kettlehead Brewing Company.

What happened to Sam to give him the idea to name a beer after passing ducks? Let’s find out!

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Precarious Beer Project | Bronze Thunder Twins IPA Collab

Baseball, at its core, is a wonderful game that generations of kids have played in the backyard or in dirt parking lots. For as many Hollywood stories and movies that have helped in the romanticizing of baseball, it certainly gets a lot of hate in sports conversation due to its “lack of excitement” and length of play among other reasons. Hey – there’s a pitch clock now! The love of baseball runs deep for some, though, and the experience of going to a ballgame makes for good plans damn near any night of the week during the season. Read More

Colorado Breweries Who Won Big at the 2023 GABF Competition

For the second consecutive year, the state of Colorado improved on its total medal count at the Great American Beer Festival and this year took a massive jump. This year, … Read More