What We’re Drinking | November 4, 2016

Raise your hand if your’e still in complete and utter awe over Wednesday night’s victorious outcome for the Chicago Cubs? Not all of us at PorchDrinking are die-hard Cubbies fans, but we can all agree that Game 7 was one of the most epic sporting events in history. And if you’re still feeling the effects of the severe lack of sleep from several late night games this week, you’re just as happy as we are that it’s the weekend. Here’s What We’re Drinking.

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SweetWater Brewing Company | Squeeze Box IPA

Grapefruit Season!

As we prepare for turkey day, serious football, and the dreaded holiday shopping season winter warmer and Christmas beers are starting to appear on shelves. Not everyone is ready to slap on the sweaters and hunker down for the bitter cold. Some of us are looking for something different something counter to the spice and malt offerings of the season. Read More

Rankings for Goose Island’s 2016 Bourbon County Brand Stout

As the calendar gets ready to turn to November there probably isn’t anyone happier than Goose Island as they get ready to release 2016 Bourbon County Brand Stout. Following a tumultuous year that featured two separate refunds of four of the six variants of 2015 BCBS, the new lineup has been announced and craft beer fans around the country are getting ready for the Black Friday release.

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Renegade Brewing Company | Pancakes Maple Porter

ABV: 6%

Every year around mid-September the leaves start to change color, the air gets a crisp nip, and the shelves of your local liquor store turn bright orange with the annual onslaught of pumpkin beers. There’s nothing wrong with that; these beers have their place in my belly and my heart. But, there’s only so much gourd one man can consume. If only there were a pumpkin-free beer built for the fall. Enter: Renegade Brewing Company’s Pancakes Maple Porter.

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Mikerphone Brewing | Blue Hast Mich Batch #2

Right now there is no hotter brewery in the Chicagoland area than Mikerphone Brewing. Head brewer/founder Mike Pallen has created such a buzz with his craft beers inspired by music that many of the releases fly off the shelves within hours in the handful of stores that actually receive his beers.

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What We’re Drinking | October 21, 2016

We may be well into the fall season, but over at PorchDrinking, we tend to drink what we want. Sure, we have our seasonal favorites, but we really enjoy drinking what we want, when we want it. So grab your favorite brew, sit back, and check out What We’re Drinking.

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Ultimate 6er | Halloween Candy Pairings for Beer Lovers

To some people, the coming of October signifies fall and all of its glory: cooler temps, bonfires, and all things pumpkin. To others, October is a month long celebration of Halloween where we gorge ourselves on candy and dress up in crazy costumes. While too much candy can leave one feeling slightly hungover from the sugar crash, we think Halloween candy and beer make the perfect companions, in the right proportions of course. Curious what your favorite candy pairs with? Read on for our recommendation on all sorts of treats.

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Revolution Brewing Recalls 6 Beers Due to Off Flavors

Another major Chicago brewery is recalling beer due to yeast issues that are causing the beers to taste different than the brewers expected. On October 17th Revolution Brewing issued a product withdrawal of six of their beers because of an issue with the house yeast they used in the brewing process.

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Event Recap | Beers Made By Walking 2016

Beers Made By Walking’s sixth go-around did not disappoint attendees at the Denver Nature and Science museum this past Tuesday, Oct. 4. Attendees rolled in at 5:30 p.m. sharp to fill their tasting glasses alongside earthly relics like a sparkling gemstone exhibit and a huge whale skeleton suspended from the rafters. The setting was certainly fitting for the nature theme of the festival, and breweries displayed whimsical adjuncts like pine cones and berries on their respective tables. I felt a buzz just thinking about how the event’s proceeds would be directly benefitting this museum we were standing in.

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GABF 2016 | Our Favorite Beer Names

There were more than 3,500 beers being poured at GABF this past weekend. You probably did’t try them all. In fact you probably didn’t even stop to look at every single beer being poured at the festival. Well I definitely didn’t try all of the beers either, but I did do some extensive investigating of the beers at GABF and compiled a list of my favorite beer names.

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Goose Island Beer Co. | Brewery Yard

When drinking your favorite craft beer, how often do you think about the history behind it? To be honest there isn’t a lot of history behind most craft beer. In an industry that isn’t very old and more typically focuses on the new and exciting release, history often doesn’t make its way into craft beer. But Goose Island’s Brewery Yard is one beer that features a unique and interesting historical tale.

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Goose Island Announces Variants, Changes for Bourbon County Stout

With the announcement of the 2016 Bourbon County Brand Stout line-up Goose Island is metaphorically closing the book on a rough 2015 for the iconic barrel-aged beer series.

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Ultimate 6er | Austin Breweries to Try at GABF

The problem with Austin beers is that most of them never make it out of the state, (unless you have a good beer mail connection), due to the sheer size of the state and the ravenous consumption here. Several Austin breweries will be pouring at GABF this year and many of them are pouring beers that you can rarely even get in Austin. So get your pencils ready and mark down these Austin staples on your list of must-try beers!

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Event Recap | Goose Island Clybourn’s Belgian Fest

Quality over quantity can be a beautiful thing for a beer festival. It seems that every festival nowadays boasts that they’ll the most breweries and the most beers. But at this past weekend’s Belgian Fest at Goose Island Clybourn, it wasn’t the number of breweries that people were talking about; it was the quality of the beer being poured.

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PorchDrinking Visits Iceland, the Land of Fire & Ice

This summer, I realized a decade-long dream: visiting Iceland. My wife and I spent two weeks exploring and experiencing waterfalls, glaciers, geysers, craters, lava fields, tiny towns with tiny restaurants, cracks in the earth, puffins, whales, lots and lots of blonde people, wide-open vistas, and, most importantly, Icelandic beer. (All of which has been chronicled here.) Read More

Trillium Brewing | Skimpy Sparrow

ABV: 5.4%

Two months ago, I had the pleasure of traveling to Boston with my wonderful girlfriend. It was our very first time going and we were able to stay with our amazing friend, Jackie. The great thing about Jackie, besides having two super adorable dogs and living in Salem, is the fact that she is a beer lover just like us. So we spent the better time of five days exploring the East Coast for craft beer and fresh lobsters; yum! Nothing pairs better on a hot day than fresh caught lobster and a cold beer. Throughout our mini vacation we were able to try numerous new breweries and even attended the Microbrewery Invitation. All brews considered, one brewery stood out to us above all others: Trillium Brewing (including its Skimpy Sparrow American Pale Ale, or APA).

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Old Irving Brewing Co. Opens in Chicago

The week has finally come for the much-anticipated opening of Old Irving Brewing Company. OIB is located in the sneakily densely populated Old Irving Park neighborhood of Chicago just off the Edens at 4419 W. Montrose. The brewery is also only a couple blocks from the Montrose Blue line stop, making it very commuter friendly. Right now only street parking is available, however, a parking lot is in negotiations. Read More

Ultimate 6er | Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

Chicago is well known for many things. Second City, The Great Chicago Fire, Italian beef sandwiches…

But perhaps the most famous item to come out of Chicago is deep dish pizza.  We came up with our Ultimate 6er of local Chicago beers that pair well with some of our favorite local Chicago pizza places.

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Chicago’s Goose Island Migration Week Comes to Logan Square

Chicago’s Goose Island Migration Week comes to Logan Square September 26th thru September 30th with a full week of craft beer inspired events at a variety of locations.

The brewery has been doing Migration Weeks throughout 2016 and have visited cities not only around the United States but all over the world. Goose Island Migration Weeks have been to the UK, China, South Korea and still have plans to go to Guadalajara later this year. Migration Week has been in Chicago once before, when in June the brewery was in Lincoln Park for a week.

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Chicago’s Best Craft Beer Bars to Watch the Bears

During this football season don’t be subjected to drinking subpar beer while watching the Chicago Bears. We have a continuously updated list of Chicago’s best craft beer bars to watch the Bears, which includes the surrounding suburbs. These game watch-spots serve top-notch craft offerings, while also turning up the audio during the games.

Want to add a brewery or craft beer bar to the list? Email us. We’ll update this list daily. Read More