LIVE DRAFT | 2017 GABF Fantasy Brewery Draft

We here at PorchDrinking believe beer should be fun. So four years ago we set out to add a different take on the Great American Beer Festival by inviting a mix of national and local writers to participate in our GABF Fantasy Brewery Draft. Each year we draft breweries based on how we believe they’ll finish during GABF awards ceremony and earn points based on those finishes.

Read More

PorchDrinking’s Weekly Denver Beer Beat | October 4, 2017

The Denver Beer Beat sheds light on news of brewery openings, special tappings, firkins and one-off batches, bottle releases, dinners, pairings, etc.
Read More

13 Must-Visit Denver Breweries You Won’t Find at GABF

The Great American Beer Festival is an amazing experience. With almost 800 breweries pouring 3,500 beers, the buzz and hype is understandable and justified. However, in all the excitement surrounding the fest, it’s easy to forget the breweries who aren’t attending, even ones a few miles from the convention center. Whether you’re a local or a visitor, you won’t get the whole GABF week experience without seeing what the rest of the Denver beer scene has to offer.

Read More

2017 GABF Route Guide | Hoppy Beers

For the past month and a half our staff has been reaching out to every brewery attending the Great American Beer Festival to try to preview what they’ll be bringing to the fest. As part of that research, we’ve sifted through that list of beers to bring you a series of themed routes to help you plan for your GABF based on various styles and flavors.
Read More

2017 GABF Route Guide | Funk, Sours & Wilds Route

For the past month and a half our staff has been reaching out to every brewery attending the Great American Beer Festival to try to preview what they’ll be bringing … Read More

2017 GABF Route Preview | Big Beers Route

For the past month and a half our staff has been reaching out to every brewery attending the Great American Beer Festival to try to preview what they’ll be bringing to the fest. As part of that research, we’ve sifted through that list of beers to bring you a series of themed routes to help you plan for your GABF based on various styles and flavors.

Read More

Can’t-Miss Colorado Events During GABF

For one week a year, Denver and the surrounding metro turn upside down for the Great American Beer Festival. While the festival floor is a great place to sample hundreds of beers from all over the globe, the city really lights up with so many other opportunities to support craft beer. There are a lot. Like hundreds. Events popping up at your local restaurant, at your local brewery, at your local craft beer bar. Separate festivals all together have broken off of GABF. So, to help provide some perspective and frothy guidance, we have made that navigation a bit easier with our calendar of events. Make sure you check that out here. Too much to sort through and choose? Don’t worry, chuggernaut, we got you covered.

(More: Insiders Guide to Special Beer Releases During GABF)

Here is our list of Can’t Miss GABF Events.

Something we missed? Is your brewery hosting a GABF event? Feel free to contact us and we’ll update this list.

Read More

PorchDrinking’s Weekly Denver Beer Beat | September 27, 2017

The Denver Beer Beat sheds light on news of brewery openings, special tappings, firkins and one-off batches, bottle releases, dinners, pairings, etc.
Read More

2017 GABF Pour List Preview

As the 2017 Great American Beer Festival approaches, I bet you’re wondering what kind of delights you can expect to sample on the festival. A hazy IPA from that Vermont brewery that doesn’t distribute in your state? A rare whale stout aged in the most fantastic of barrels? A wild, enamel-stripping sour ale full of hand-picked snozberries? PorchDrinking has you covered!

GABF Routes: Big Beers | Funk, Sours & Wilds | Hoppy Beers

(More: 38 Can’t-Miss Colorado Events During GABF)

Read More

Avery & Odell Effin’ Teamwork Stout Takes GABF Collaboration to the Next Level

To commemorate this year’s Great American Beer Festival, several breweries have already announced collaborative projects, however few tally as storied histories as Avery and Odell Brewing. Odell founded in 1989 and Avery, which launched in 1993, constitute two of the country’s earliest pioneers in the recent craft beer resurgence. Next week during craft beer’s largest stage, their mutual appreciation toward each other’s craft will manifest in the release of a collaboration beer unlike any other.

Read More

Event Preview | Toppling Goliath GABF Tap Takeover at Tap and Handle

Toppling Goliath Brewing Company, a brewery that RateBeer has awarded several “best” categories including double IPA, strong stout and American amber or pale, will be making its Colorado debut during the week of the Great American Beer Festival. The esteemed Iowa brewery will have a special GABF tapping at Tap and Handle in Fort Collins, Colorado at 5 p.m. on Monday October 2 (the brewery will also make its way down to Denver on October 4 at LowDown Brewery). Read More

Insider’s Guide to Special Beer Releases During GABF

As we’ve all come to know, the Great American Beer Festival has far greater implications for Colorado beer fans that extend beyond the four day festival itself. One of those external benefits is the growing practice of out-of-state breweries utilizing the week to make a special limited drop of beers either as a means to test the market or just to make a splash to help grow their brands. In previous years, breweries such as Fremont, Perennial, and Burial have all used GABF week as a launch pad toward regular, or in some cases semi-regular distribution to Colorado. In other scenarios such as last year’s short-lived Bell’s Brewing drop, these brief market flirtations can help stoke the hype for breweries that may eye a longer term distribution expansion in the future.

Read More

Event Preview | 2017 Beers Made By Walking

Great American Beer Festival week events are already showing up on the books for 2017 here in Denver. Beers Made By Walking is one of those events that is not to miss each year! Do you love the great outdoors? Do you love foraging? Do you love beer? Of course you do! Or at least, you love the latter of those options. Beers Made By Walking is a unique beer festival that combines the three.
Read More

BREAKING | 2017 GABF’s New, Returning & Missing Breweries

Each year one of the most exciting aspects of the Great American Beer Festival is the ability to explore and sample some of the country’s best new breweries that have emerged on the scene. Additionally, it can be equally as rewarding to revisit some familiar faces you may only get to try once each year at the country’s largest beer showcase. However with the growing nature of the festival, and the Brewer’s Association’s move to a lottery system, we also tend to lose some familiar friends. As we’ve done each year, we’ve broken down the new / returning breweries as well as those who sadly aren’t coming back for this year’s Great American Beer Festival.

Read More

BREAKING | 2017 Great American Beer Festival List of Attending Breweries

Over 800 Breweries. 4 Sessions. 3 Days. Nearly 4000 beers. 60,000 attendees. This year’s Great American Beer Festival is back and primed for its 36th Anniversary. The field has finally been set, and we … Read More

The Weekly Buzz | July 28 – August 3

It’s been another long, hot week. Not only that, but it was a busy week in the world of craft beer. GABF tickets went on sale, we celebrated National IPA Day and one of this country’s oldest craft breweries was bought by Sapporo. As the weekend creeps towards us, we all need to sit back, take a deep breath and enjoy a delicious beer. While you do that, feel free to peruse this week’s edition of The Weekly Buzz.
Read More

The Complete Guide to Buying 2017 GABF Tickets

This year marks the 36th anniversary of the Great American Beer Festival, and it’s expected to draw a record approximation of nearly 900 breweries pouring at the fest. We’ve got everything you need to know to score tickets to the 2017 GABF during today’s general public sale.

Read More

Denver Rare Beer Tasting IX Lineup Once Again No Joke

Tickets for Pints for Prostates Awareness Event on Sale Father’s Day  

More than 60 of America’s leading craft breweries have committed to take part in the ninth annual Denver Rare Beer Tasting to raise funds for the Pints for Prostates campaign. The lineup, once again, is no joke!

The prostate cancer awareness event will be held on Oct. 6 in Colorado during the same weekend as the Great American Beer Festival. The Denver Rare Beer Tasting IX features the chance to sample rare, exotic and vintage beers from 68 craft breweries and the opportunity to meet the men and women who made them.

Read More

2017 GABF Ticket Sale Dates Announced

Featured image courtesy of greatamericanbeerfestival.com

Get ready! Tickets for the 2017 Great American Beer Festival will go on sale August 1 and 2. Last year, GABF sold out in 1 hour and 7 minutes so be sure to mark your calendars!

In 2016, GABF celebrated its 35th anniversary where 60,000 attendees brought down the house at the convention center. That means 3,800+ beers were poured and 780 breweries pouring those beers, all of which hit a new record. We can only expect more for 2017.

This year, the most anticipated beer event takes place October 5 – 7. Choose from four sessions over the span of three days and sample brews from more than 800 breweries. Read More

Event Recap | Epic Brewing’s 50 Firkin Fiasco

Another Great American Beer Festival has come and gone, and looking back at the festival, and the week of events that accompanied the festival it’s sad to think we have to wait a full year for it come around again. My week of beer-centric events started with Epic Brewing’s 4th annual 50 Firkin Fiasco.

Read More