Chicago Craft Brew Cruises | Brewers of the Western Suburbs

“The true history of the World is the history of great conversations in elegant rooms.” —Tyrion Lannister.

Similarly, the true history of craft beer is conversation, but in any room. Chicago Craft Beer week was a prime example, keeping me jabbing for 10 days straight. One stand-out event was the Brewers of the Western Suburbs Cruise hosted by BrewFest Partners, aboard the Mystic Blue.

It was a perfect spring day when we set sail from Navy Pier for a 3-hour long journey along beautiful Lake Michigan. With the renown Chicago skyline as our backdrop, we were catered delicious finger food, and served refreshing beer by Banging Gavel, Blue Nose, BuckleDown, Church Street, Exit Strategy, Flesk, Hopvine, Miskatonic, Nevins, Noon Whistle, Solemn Oath, and Spent Grain Society (homebrew club).
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Inside the Tank | WeldWerks Brewing Co.

Video Created by PorchDrinking.com Videographer Travis Weger

Voted Best New Brewery in America via a USA Today reader poll,  WeldWerks Brewing Company has quickly become one of the hottest new breweries not just … Read More

Brewery Preview | Dovetail Brewery

Days before the craziness of Chicago Craft Beer Week (CCBW), I was offered the opportunity to tour soon-to-open Dovetail Brewery, which is co-owned, operated and run by Bill Wesselink and Hagen Dost. What better way to begin the beer week, than with a preview of the next chapter of Chicago’s burgeoning beer scene.

Dovetail is a reference to the carpenter’s joint of interlocking boards, it is famed for its resistance to being pulled apart. As Bill so elegantly expressed, “It’s coming together to make a stronger brewery. A mix of old and new, American and European to create what we feel is our interpretation.”
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Ultimate 6er | Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend is synonymous for cookouts, pool parties, beach trips and it kicks off the beginning of summer. Plus, we get one extra day of fun in the sun (#MondayFunday anyone?) On the way to your Memorial Day parties, be sure to pick up one of these tasty brews that we think will go perfectly with all of this weekend’s shenanigans! Read More

Event Preview | Innovation in the Beer Industry Panel Discussion

Aside from mergers, buyouts, expansions, and satellite facilities, craft beer is also evolving naturally due to the growing influence of technology and innovation. As such we decided to host a … Read More

New Province Brewing Company | Philosopher IPA

I’m a very lucky man. There’s no doubt about that. So much so, that even though my wife doesn’t enjoy beer nearly as much as I do, she is always game to accompany me to whatever new brewery is opening. She’ll even suggest places for “date night”, dinners that she knows have an extensive craft beer menu so that I don’t just have to exercise my craft beer cravings with my equally as beer-geeky buds… I know right? I definitely came out on top in this arrangement. It’s because of my wonderful wife that I ended up at New Province Brewing Company.

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Chicago Craft Beer Week | Navy Pier Beer Cruise: Brewers of the Western Suburbs

Chicago and its suburbs have been turning out quality beers left and right, North and South, East and West. Now it’s your opportunity to experience what the best of the Western suburbs have to offer with this one of a kind beer cruise. Read More

Vernal Brewing Co. | Not Your Mama’s Milk

ABV 8.5%

The city of Vernal is located in northeast Utah and just a short 20 miles west of the Colorado border. Vernal Brewing Company is located comfortably in downtown Vernal. … Read More

4 Noses Brewing Co. | Bout Damn Time IPA

ABV: 7.1% | IBU: 65

If you’re like me, the very first thing that comes to mind with Bout Damn Time is, “Why the name?” So, I asked 4 Noses Brewing Co. this very question. And it turns out, the answer is pretty simple. Read More

Fizzics Brings Draft Beer to the Home

When friends get together at a bar and begin drinking beer there’s no telling where the conversation might go. From rehashing old stories, to a lively debate, to pondering even the toughest of life’s questions — anything goes when you’re drinking with friends.

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Chicago’s Atlas Brewing is now Burnt City Brewing

Macrobreweries are buying craft breweries. Breweries are fighting over names and labels. All this “business talk”  may shock, annoy, and upset craft-beer aficionados, but let us not forget, that beer … Read More

New Craft Beer Coalition Provides Legal Aid to Brewers

As the number of craft breweries in the United States rises, it is only logical that the number of service providers for the industry should grow as well. This includes services in regards to the legal side of owning a brewery. One specialized team has taken on this challenge.

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SweetWater 420 Fest | Mouthwatering Beer and Cheese Pairings

The 3-day long SweetWater 420 Festival in Atlanta has become a celebration of music, Mother Earth and Georgia’s largest brewery.

Tucked in between the two larger music stages, you’ll find the SweetWater Experience tent, where beer education — and special one-offs that you often won’t taste anywhere else – live. Home brew sessions, visits from hop farmers, and Q&As with SweetWater Co-Founder and Chairman Freddy Bensch are featured, but the most popular event each year is the beer and cheese pairing.

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North Carolina Breweries Respond to HB2

Unless you’ve been living under a beer can, you’ve heard that North Carolina is economically drowning in recently passed legislation known as House Bill 2.

HB 2, also known as the “bathroom bill,” requires multiple occupancy restrooms within the state to be used by members of the biological sex to which the bathroom is assigned. Opponents of the law argue that it discriminates against the LGBT community. Read More

Brewery Showcase | Keweenaw Brewing Company (Houghton, MI)

There must be a phrase (I’m assuming in German) for the relief felt when seeing the chaliced lines of a passing lane. This would be a feeling I don’t have often; driving … Read More

Abita Brewing Company | Wrought Iron IPA

New Orleans, Louisiana – a place for me that is synonymous with family vacations, troubling questions about how my mother has so many beads, outrageous food and of course, one of a kind beer. More specifically Abita Brewing. Nothing goes with silky, salty oysters, spicy, succulent crawfish and hearty jambalaya better than a nice cold Abita Amber or perhaps the better-known Purple Haze.

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Conquest Brewing Co. | Artemis Blonde

ABV: 4.2% | IBU: 25

I am home from work at 10:00pm tonight, a little late at night but that is the schedule I am on right now. I want to … Read More

Anderson Valley Brewing Co. | Briney Melon Gose

ABV: 4.2%

Last summer was my introduction to the gose style, and my first one was Anderson Valley’s Blood Orange Gose (also a beer I highly recommend). I immediately became a fan, and started seeking out others in the gose style. That soon led me to another from Anderson Valley, the Briney Melon Gose. At the time, it was only available in bombers, but this year they started distributing it in six-pack cans… and we’re all better off because of it. With a fun, easy-drinking summer beer like this, cans that you can throw in a cooler and take to a barbecue to share with friends are the only way to go.

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PorchDrinking Playlist | Deschutes Brewery

I built this little brewery in my garage and I just enjoyed brewing so much that I realized Sunday mornings, when I was out in the garage with music going … Read More

Red Brick Brewing | Laughing Skull Craft Lager

How do you reinvent a brand that has been a flagship of Atlanta’s oldest brewery? How do you make it different from the other beers that you have released over the past several … Read More