Regions
Colorado Breweries Shine Bright at 2019 GABF Awards Ceremony
October 7, 2019 | Karen Mills
This has been another great year for the home state of the Great American Beer Festival. Colorado breweries took home a whopping 40 medals and two brewery/brewer of the year awards at this year’s GABF. Of the 40 medals, 13 of them were gold medals, 21 silver and six bronze. Without further ado, let’s deep dive into this some of this year’s winners.
New Trail Brewing Company | Pine Creek Pilsner
October 7, 2019 | Kurt Bevilacqua
It’s easy when you come across a brewery that has built a strong reputation for brewing a certain style of beer to continue trying their latest offerings. New Trail Brewing … Read More
Chicago takes hazy gold once again at GABF, 9 other medals
October 5, 2019 | Mike Zoller
Chicago is once again home to Great American Beer Festival’s gold medal-winning Hazy IPA after Old Irving Brewing Co. took home top honors for Beezer. Last year, the first year with the Hazy IPA category, Alarmist won the inaugural gold for Le Jus. (And, in 2017, Hailstorm won for its Prairie Madness IPA which was the most-entered category by breweries that year.)
2019 GABF Awards Results | Who Won Big at This Year’s Competition
October 5, 2019 | Tristan Chan
The 2019 Great American Beer Festival has crowned their newest batch of champions and standouts. This year, the competition portion of GABF saw 9,497 entries from 2,295 breweries across … Read More
The PorchCast Ep 63 | Ken Grossman – Sierra Nevada Brewing
October 4, 2019 | Tristan Chan
In episode 63 of the PorchCast, the whole squad sat down with Ken Grossman, founder of Sierra Nevada Brewing, at the dawn of the Great American Beer Festival to talk about their 40th Anniversary.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
Great Divide Brewing Company | Mexican Chocolate Yeti
October 4, 2019 | Seth Garland
Fans of Denver staple and craft beer OG Yeti from Great Divide already know the importance of starting with a quality base beer before throwing a bunch of variants out into the saturated market. With Yeti–one of the most recognizably branded beers in the country–there’s no shortage of variants, ranging from horchata and chai to the beloved barrel-aged chocolate and vanilla Stouts that have made their way onto store shelves at different points in time.
With so many solid variants available in stores, and even more available at Great Divide’s taphouse and RiNo Barrel Bar, how do you pick just one to review? And with so many other beers to choose from in the craft beer market at-large, how does a brewery stay relevant?
MadTree Brewing Co. | El Dorado High Imperial IPA
October 3, 2019 | Michelle Thomas
If you’re as much of a beer person as I am, you know that as soon as your friend mentions they’re going out of town, you’re asking them to bring you back some beer! That’s exactly what happened when I heard of an impending Ohio trip. I absolutely had to get my hands on some MadTree beer, and I was so pleased! You’re going to have to read below to learn more about El Dorado High.
PorchDrinking’s 2019 Great American Beer Festival Survival Guide
October 2, 2019 | Mathew Powers
The Great American Beer Festival began in 1982 with 24 breweries serving 47 beers to fans for a single, five-hour session. Today, the number of external events exceed the beers poured at that first fest, and the convention hall will allow patrons to select from more than 3,500 beers. What do you drink? Where do you go? How can one possibly navigate such a colossal beer experience? We at PorchDrinking.com have tried to make the process simpler, writing more than a dozen stories on the event. And, to further simplify it, we have now put all those stories in one location.
First a few important notes on this year’s festival:
- A few tickets still remain for Thursday Night and Saturday Night sessions. Tickets available here.
- This year’s festival format returns to booths being arranged alphabetically by region.
- Attendees of ALL sessions will receive glass cups instead of plastic.
- Thursday Night, Friday Night and Saturday Night Sessions begin at 5:30, Saturday’s Day Session begins at Noon. For first time attendees, we recommend arriving at least an hour and a half before your session to wait in line.
- Don’t forget to check out other sections for hidden gem beers. The Brewers Guild section has guild representatives from several states that bring beers from breweries that aren’t otherwise pouring on the festival floor.
- The Heavy Medal section has beers pouring from past GABF medal winners.
- There’s a Fresh Hop booth with all fresh/wet-hopped beers.
- Several breweries will have special timed releases that aren’t otherwise listed on the pour list. Modern Times Beer, for example, will have a different special release each day of the fest.
Enjoy GABF. Enjoy Beer. Enjoy Craft in all it glory. And here are more tools to help you enjoy the week.
Old Nation Brewing | Electron Brown
October 2, 2019 | Danny King
Last weekend, autumn finally arrived in Michigan in the form of perfect murder mystery type of weather. So, I spent the weekend at the lake calculating the final touches on my plan to do away with my meddling spouse while taking in the gentle stillness of nature. Uh, I mean, um, transitioning from summer to fall beers. Michigan has a glut of great beers and the authentic experience of all four seasons. Thus, we truly have great pairings for every season.
I first got into Old Nation Brewing Electron Brown Espresso Bean Double Brown Ale at a cheese & beer tasting at the incomparable Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor. While I couldn’t accurately describe the cheese, Old Nation’s double brown ale certainly made an impact. Enough so that I scrounged around for it the moment October hit.
Wiley Roots Brewing Company | Vanilla Anonym
October 1, 2019 | Karen Mills
Fall is upon us and the weather is cooling off. It’s the perfect time to crack open some stouts and embrace this cooler weather. A few weeks back, Greeley’s Wiley Roots Brewing Company released the long-anticipated Vanilla Anonym, amongst many other beers.
Vanilla Anonym is part of Wiley Roots’ barrel-aging program and has been aged in bourbon barrels for the last 18 months. Those barrels were chosen specifically because they hoped the imparted bourbon and wood notes from the barrels would complement the beer nicely. Mission accomplished.
NoDa Brewing Company | Gordgeous
September 30, 2019 | Hannah Carlson
For some, the arrival of autumn means football. For others, perhaps the ripening of the leaves on the trees—as their colors erupt in flaming reds, oranges and yellows. Others may slave over their Halloween costumes as soon as summer draws to an end. In the beer world, fall is synonymous with the most hotly contested debate in all of craft. Love it or hate it, the pumpkin beer season has arrived. Not surprisingly, breweries aren’t shy of taking a side in this contentious argument, with many taking a stance in the former camp. One of these establishments is NoDa Brewing Company, as it proudly releases its pumpkin Ale, Gordgeous onto its taps.
GABF Spotlight | The Best Pacific Northwest Beers
September 27, 2019 | Karl Kalinkewicz
Going to the Great American Beer Festival, or GABF, is like going to another giant establishment with four letters: IKEA. If you don’t have a plan, things are going to turn out ugly. You end up with a shopping cart/stomach full of things you didn’t need, and because of your inability to resist the siren’s call you’re going to cover your home with all sorts of terrible colors.
Here at PorchDrinking.com we’re playing the Jedi to your beer Padawan, guiding you through the overwhelming forest of malts to beer nirvana. Our experts have selected a few noteworthy beers from their region that you need to seek out. So make a list, stick to the plan and do not be distracted by the beautiful celebrities. Here are seven great beers to try, all hailing from the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
Fulton Beer | Specter
September 27, 2019 | Max Sundermeyer
“It’s there and then it’s not.”
Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). An alarming public health crisis, the death-by-suicide rate for Americans has grown 30 percent in the last two decades. In 2017 alone, more than 47,000 Americans died by suicide. The tragedy of the suicide epidemic in the last 20 years seems to have touched all of our lives at some point. Three years ago, it touched the family of Minneapolis’ Fulton Beer.
Detailed Pour List | What’s Pouring at the 2019 Great American Beer Festival
September 26, 2019 | Tristan Chan 1
This was made possible by Molly’s Spirits, your go-to stop for some of the best local and national beer drops throughout GABF week and beyond!
While the initial pour list for the 2019 Great American Beer Festival was first announced two months ago, we’ve gone through the list and updated each beer with detailed style descriptions (as best as available) to help you plan for your festival tasting experience.
GABF Spotlight | The Best Chicagoland Beers
September 26, 2019 | Mike Zoller
There will be more than 4,000 beers poured at this year’s Great American Beer Festival. It is impossible to try every beer there, it would even be a feat if you tried 3% of all the beers being poured at the event.
I went through the pour list of every Illinois brewery pouring at GABF this year and picked out a handful of beers that if you’re not from the state, should be on your list to try. Keep in mind that pour lists do change and so I’m going off of what is available on the festival’s website. I’ll also give you an honorable mention beer from each brewery that may not be the most hyped up beer they have, but it’s still worth trying.
Also, know that a lot of breweries submit beer for judging but don’t make the trip out to Denver to pour their beer. So if you saw that your favorite brewery sent beer to GABF, it doesn’t mean that they are actually going to be there for you to try. Read More
Ultimate 6er | Partners in Craft
September 26, 2019 | Pam Catoe
The opening night event for the Texas Craft Brewers Festival on September 28, Partners in Craft, is in its third year and has quickly become a favorite among festival-goers. This unique event focuses on the spirit of collaboration among Texas breweries and their community in an intimate setting featuring an equally unique line up of beers, food, live music, specialty vendors curated by the Austin Flea, and a glimpse into beer history courtesy of the popular Beer Museum pop-up. Tickets for this event are almost sold out, so get yours today. Read More
Event Preview | The 9th Annual BeerHoptacular
September 26, 2019 | Mike Zoller
Billed as Chicago’s original craft beer festival, the BeerHoptacular returns once again to the Vertiport hangar on September 28 with over 100 beers being poured.
Saint Arnold Brewing Company | Art Car IPA
September 26, 2019 | Dustin Wenger
The phenomenon of the art car has intrigued me for some time. Have you ever seen these things? Cars covered from bumper to bumper with colorful paint jobs and anything from mosaic tile to plastic figurines. Sure, some look like a hoarder hoarked on a hooptie, but there are certainly some examples that truly are mobile art. The layers of detail and creativity are impressive, and it’s that creative spirit that inspired Saint Arnold’s Art Car IPA.
PorchDrinking’s Weekly Denver Beer Beat | September 24, 2019
September 25, 2019 | Jeremiah Cornelius
The Denver Beer Beat is a weekly roundup of brewery openings, special tappings, firkins and one-off batches, bottle releases, dinners, pairings, and more happening in the Front Range and beyond. Be sure to check in each Wednesday to discover anything and everything happening around Colorado’s beer scene. Now let’s get to this week’s can’t miss beer events. Read More
Chicago Quick Sips | September 25 Chicago Beer News & Events
September 25, 2019 | Taylor Laabs
Quick Sips is our way of highlighting beer events, tap takeovers and other notable beer news around the city of Chicago. If you’d like to submit something to be included in the next Quick Sips, please email us at [email protected].
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