Whitestone Brewery | Melted Snowman

Living in Texas, we never really have a traditional fall season, or a normal winter, with temperatures frequently fluctuating 20-30 degrees in a week. So I always mark the start of fall based on the release of the first Oktoberfest brews, and then I wait patiently for the winter warmers to appear to let me know that “winter” is on it’s way. Regardless of the temperatures, nothing says winter and Christmas like a well-spiced winter warmer.

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What We’re Drinking | December 7, 2018

Holiday party season is in full swing, and what goes better with the cooler weather than delicious full-flavored beers? Take a few tips from the PorchDrinking crew and bring one of these beauties to your holiday party. This is What We’re Drinking.

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TrimTab Brewing Co. | Mosaic Singularity IPA

After a short-lived, but spoiled, beer experience while living in Los Angeles for the past two years, I find myself back in the deep South for one simple thing: educational singularity. With this move came the heartbreak of broken connections and proximity to some of the best breweries the U.S. has to offer. However, every once in a while you find a diamond in the rough. Even with the slow start that Alabama had with developing reputable beer and breweries, I’ve really seen the state taking off in the right direction in the last couple of years.

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4th Tap Brewing Cooperative Brews Spooky Concept for Haunted House Entertainment Pioneer

Halloween is upon us and haunted house fans in Texas know the House of Torment in Austin, Texas is as good as it gets. Nationally recognized, this pioneer in haunted entertainment features three re-imagined immersive experiences and a new bar, Torment Tavern. Read More

Brewery Showcase | St. Elmo Brewing Company

I’m not sure what age I was when I started favoring breweries to bars. I distinctly remember frequenting the only brewery in my tiny college town more and more, while braving the sticky floors of the dive bars less and less. Not to say there isn’t a time and a place for a great dive bar; however, if you’re reading this it’s more likely that you’d rather drink something exciting, fresh and flavorful than pay for a bottom-shelf vodka soda. What hasn’t changed as I have gotten older is the desire to socialize over a drink.

Enter the neighborhood craft brewery. A far cry from the empty warehouses of my college days. Neighborhood breweries have become gathering places for the entire family, both two and four-legged, to come together to listen to music, play games and explore new styles of beer. However, occasionally these neighborhood breweries transcend beyond just a community hangout by producing extremely high-quality beers.

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From Beer to H2O | Breweries Lending a Can After Hurricane Michael

On Wednesday, October 10, Hurricane Michael slammed into the coast of Florida into a tiny town called Mexico Beach. On Monday, Oct. 8, the storm had been a Category 1 as it made its way to the Panhandle; by the time it hit, it was a Category 4. Though news reports, complete with eye-witness testimony and photos and videos released after the fact, try to illustrate the devastation that this storm wreaked, it’s hard to fathom. Even when you hear it from friends and family, it’s hard to take in.

My family was lucky. The trailer that my grandparents bought in 1985 is still standing, with only a few windows blown out. The house my parents’ built and have been living in full-time since 2008—my home for half the year—sports shattered windows like empty eye sockets, a hole in the roof and an exterior that looks as if it’s been skinned due to the siding being torn off, but it’s standing as well. We were lucky. But it’s going to take time to rebuild. In the meantime, many areas are still without power and running water.

In these times of disaster, when most of the luxuries that we take for granted are gone (electricity, internet, flushing toilets and potable water), all help is appreciated. But the necessities: a place to sleep, food and water to drink, are even more important. It’s times like these that breweries and beer companies step up.

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What We’re Drinking | October 12, 2018

Festival season is in full swing, and the PorchDrinking staff has been busy putting together a collection of the week’s finest brews. Festival season in fall can mean unpredictable weather, and in some parts of the country the unpredictable weather is serious; we don’t take that lightly. We hope everyone is staying as safe as possible with friends and family.

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Watch the Braves in the Playoffs with Terrapin Brewing CJ10

With the baseball playoffs at-hand, one can now toast both the Atlanta Braves’ division crown and newly inducted Hall of Fame Braves player Chipper Jones with CJ10, a beer conceived by the prolific switch hitter and the folks at Terrapin Beer Company.

CJ10, an easy-drinking Kölsch-style ale, emerged from Terrapin’s unique ATL Brew Lab found at SunTrust Park in Atlanta during the summer. And, what better way to honor a switch hitter than with a beer that’s made with ale yeast, but is fermented like a lager?

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Event Preview | Scallywag! Craft Beer Meets Punk Rock

Craft Beer meets Punk Rock – that’s the focus of the Scallywag! festival headed to Austin, Texas on Sunday, September 23 at the Austin 360 Amphitheater. The punk rock extravaganza features over 100 craft beers pouring from some of the best national … Read More

Texas Craft Brewers Festival 2018 Beer List Announced

The Texas Craft Brewers Festival, featuring more than 75 craft breweries, returns September 29, 2018 to Fiesta Gardens in Austin, TX. The event, which is organized by the Texas Craft Brewers Guild and co-presented by Craft Pride and Paychex, is the state’s largest beer event focused exclusively on Texas-brewed craft beer.

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The OGs of Craft Beer | Saint Arnold Brewing Company – Amber Ale

In a world of hoppy beers, where even a beloved kolsch-style must now be dry hopped, it is nice to go back to one of the standard styles that helped set the stage for the craft beer movement – the Amber Ale. Today this style doesn’t receive all the notoriety of a West Coast IPA or the new hazy IPA styles; however, it was one of the original popular craft beer styles appearing in the 1990s that continues to be a staple among fans.

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More than a Name | How Service Brewing Lives its Mission

The goal of any brewery should be to produce great beer and positively impact their community. Many breweries have this similar mission, but few are as mission-driven as Savannah-based Service Brewing Co. Read More

Deep Ellum Brewing Sold to Oskar Blues’ Canarchy Collective

DALLAS, TX – Deep Ellum Brewing Company has confirmed that the brewery is joining Oskar Blues Brewing Company under the Fireman Capital-backed Canarchy Craft Brewery Collective.

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La Folie Returns to Cork & Cage for 20th Anniversary of New Belgium’s Wood-Aged Sour Program

How does one properly pay homage to the predecessor that launched an entire movement? By returning to the basics. La Folie, New Belgium Brewing’s Sour Brown blend, was the country’s first commercially produced sour developed by Peter Bouckaert in 1999, and still features the oldest continuous souring culture in America. It has since gone on to earn multiple awards at the Great American Beer Festival and more importantly, inspired thousands of American brewers and beer drinkers to embrace barrel-aged mixed culture sour beers.

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4th Tap Brewing Cooperative | Kung Fu Robot IPA

4th Tap Brewing Co-operative is one of the most interesting breweries in Texas because they are the only worker-owned cooperative brewery in the state. Founded in 2015, the brewery has taken an inspired, unique approach to their beers and just released their personal take on a new IPA, a Citra and Mosaic hop blend with a touch of flaked oats for a smooth mouthfeel. I caught up with co-founders Erin and John Stecker to find out more about Kung Fu Robot IPA.

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Flix Brewhouse | America’s Cinema Brewery is Expanding

Flix Brewhouse opened in Round Rock, Texas in 2011 with the unique concept of combining a state-of-the-art movie theater with a microbrewery. Today they operate four locations around the country with plans to more than double that over the next year. I caught up with Greg Johnson, Director of Sales and Marketing for Flix, to learn more about this ambitious expansion. Read More

SXSW | Best Unofficial Craft Beer Events

SXSW 2018 officially kicked off yesterday and the influx of people and events has begun.  Here are a few ways to avoid the crowds and track down some of the best craft beer in the city. All of these events … Read More

Pink Boots Collaboration Brew Day Celebrates International Women’s Day

Each year women from all over the world participate in Pink Boots Society’s annual Pink Boots Collaboration Brew Day in celebration of International Women’s Day. I sat down with President Laura Ulrich to learn more about this year’s event.

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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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Abita Brewing Company | Horchata Turbodog

The world of limited releases is vast, and usually you have a good reason to go after them. Maybe you’re so into the brewery that you post up 12 hours before opening in order to snag it on opening day. Maybe you’re attempting to try every rice beer made in the tri-state area and if you can’t get your hands on this you’ll never be complete. Sometimes, like my trial of Abita‘s Horchata Turbodog, there’s just a beer that looks like your pup at the Mexican grocery store you go to to stock up for a snowstorm. No matter what path you take to find Horchata Turbodog, there’s a cozy dark ale waiting for your taste buds to nestle into it.
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