Cinder Block Brewery | Cinderveza Mexican Style Lager

Few things are more satisfying than a well-crafted lager on a warm day. Crisp, clean and cold… it’s better than water. Add a lime, and it’s borderline euphoria.

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Arbeiter Brewing Co. | Hoop Jump Cold IPA

Have you ever had a “Cold IPA?” No, we are not talking about the one that you just pulled from the refrigerator. The history of a Cold IPA is relatively new, but the development is credited to Wayfinder Beer out of Portland, Ore. Cold IPAs are a thing of beauty and smell the part too. On one side, you have that smell of the hoppiness from an IPA. On the other, you have that clean, crisp style of a lager. Do not mistake these as IPLs, which seems to be a common thread. Read More

Back Channel Brewing Co. | Titles (New England IPA)

The folks of the North start to rejoice this time of year because it means warmer days ahead and the start of the baseball season. It also means we’ve made it out of the brutal winter and into beers of the warmer seasons. The thick and dark beers are still around. But, we are starting to see a seasonal change to juicer beers that one can enjoy on patios or sitting in the stadium of your favorite baseball team — Back Channel Brewing Titles is the ideal beer for that. Read More

Central State Brewing | Table Rustic Blonde Ale

January 2021 is here. Finally.

A time-honored tradition among many craft-beer drinkers every January is Dryanuary or, a month without alcohol. But this January, craft breweries need our help more than ever. And, let’s face it, we all need a beer more than ever. So what’s a good compromise between cutting out drinking altogether for a month and giving craft breweries our support? Let’s go with drinking more low-ABV beers. If you indulged in a lot of high-ABV beers over the holidays like we did, it’s time to cleanse the palate anyway.

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Ravinia Brewing Company | Wizard Van Apricot Sour IPA

It’s that time of year in Chicago where none of us are quite sure what season it is. Our 8 A.M. outfit is often inappropriate by noon. ‘BYOB’ now means ‘bring your own blanket’. Our Instagram feeds are either flooded with complaints about snow or praise for a random stint of sunshine. Should you still grasp onto the very few remaining Oktoberfest beers floating around the city, the often-polarizing pumpkin offerings, or go full-on stout season? There’s no wrong answer. However, may I offer a recommendation? Apricot Sour IPA.

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Blackstack Brewing | Patent Pending

Innovation is all around us, and there is so much innovation that goes into making great craft beer. Innovation can be the equipment at each brewery, or the hand-selected ingredients by the brewers, or those trendy new labels on each can. You find yourself wondering, how the heck did they do that, or what made them think of that? Doing a Google search for “beer patents” returns 603 patents just in the brewing process alone. If you keep digging down that rabbit hole, you will start to find other patents related to craft beer, items as genius as the Beerbrella. The beauty of craft beer, it will always innovate.

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Brewery Showcase | Rhinegeist Brewery

Cincinnati’s Rhinegeist Brewery was founded in 2013 as a step toward reclaiming the area’s German brewing heritage. Rhinegeist’s expansive 250,000 square foot brewery and taproom is housed in the former Christian Moerlein turn of the century packaging hall and over the years has grown into multiple floors throughout the building.

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Metropolitan Brewing Celebrates 10 Years of Business in the Increasingly Competitive Chicago Market

Chicago and the surrounding area are currently home to the most breweries in the nation. It’s an especially impressive stat when you realize that the market hasn’t really been around for that long. Being able to create a successful brewery during the early growth period of the Chicago market and then stay equally successful amongst growing competition across every neighborhood in the city is an impressive feat that deserves a bit of praise. It’s not easy, but Metropolitan Brewing has managed to do it, which is why their upcoming 10 Year Anniversary celebration this Saturday is so exciting.

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Schlafly Beer Releases Flagship Beer in Cans | Pale Ale

Have you heard? Schlafly Beer will be releasing their flagship beer, Pale Ale, in 12 packs of 16 oz. cans! This is a big move from the largest, locally owned St. Louis brewery, that introduced the Midwest to craft beer in 1991. This announcement comes just ahead of Can Appreciation Day, which is coming up on January 24. Since their flagship beer has stood well over the test of time, Schlafly made the move to distribute in cans so that it’d be even more accessible to current and future craft beer lovers.

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Ultimate 6er | Six Perfect Beers for Camping In The Midwest

When summer hits, people find just about any reason to spend time outdoors. For many that means camping. While camping can mean something different for each person, I think we can all agree that craft beer is a perfect companion for spending time in the great outdoors. Canned craft beer is especially ideal because it is lighter, easier to recycle and doesn’t break like glass bottles.

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NCAA Tournament Midwest Region

The NCAA Tournament Midwest Region starts off Thursday with a sight sure to make every Kentucky fan sick: The University of Louisville Cardinals will open play as the tournament’s overall number one team on Kentucky’s home floor. This feeling is only worsened by Kentucky’s loss to Robert Morris in the first round of the NIT (short for “Not In Tournament”). Just how many UK fans show up to root against the Cardinals isn’t the only storyline in a region chocked full of contenders. Here’s a breakdown of the Midwest Region, just in time to fill out your bracket (and promptly throw it away when Duke loses to a 15-seed. Again).

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