Event Recap | 2021 Great Taste of the Midwest

Since 1987, the Great Taste of the Midwest has been a chance for Midwest breweries and beer lovers to converge on Madison, Wisconsin to enjoy some of the region’s best beers. This past Saturday the tradition continued with some new safety precautions, but that didn’t impact the festival which once again brought the beer community together.

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Event Preview | Great Taste of the Midwest 2021

One of the most well-known and beloved beer festivals in the country returns! Great Taste of the Midwest will be happening on August 14, albeit at a much smaller capacity.

Everything will be at 50% capacity, from guest attendance to breweries, in order to make the event as safe as possible. 5,000 tickets were sold and 100 breweries were invited to pour and, even though that meant a lot more people had to be turned away and a lot more breweries were not able to participate, Chairman Jason Walters said that everyone has been very understanding with the limitations.

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4 Hands Brewing & Veteran’s Community Project Launch Collaboration to Support Vets

The rivalry between Missouri’s two biggest cities, Kansas City and St. Louis, is well-known and long-standing. From the Royals and the Cardinals to toasted ravioli and barbecue, ask any resident which city is the best, and you’ll be met with an impassioned and detailed defense of their hometown. You’re either a Kansas City person or a St. Louis person — never both. 

However, the rivalry is all in good fun — with the exception of the 1985 World Series — and while fierce, it’s not uncommon for the two cities to unite for a greater cause. Whether Team St. Louis or Team Kansas City, residents have a few things in common: they love beer, they love their city and they love their home state. 

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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

Wax Wings Brewing Company | V Double IPA

Wax Wings Brewing Company’s love for IPA runs deep. In this past year alone, their Into the Labyrinth series has received seventeen iterations, each batch allowing for dynamic experimentation in process and flavor. Like Daedelus from the titular Icarus myth, owner Rob Hopkins is driven by a desire to invent and innovate—to approach the sun without torching his wings. He could talk hops until he’s green in the face so when asked he happily divulged details on what some might consider their crowning achievement: V.  

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Wellbeing Brewing Company | Hellraiser NA Dark Amber

Dry January looked much different this year. Now, more than ever, local breweries need consumers’ support to survive. We continue to live through the pandemic and continuous major historical events. As a result, many have decided this isn’t the year to cut out drinking for a month (or at all).

However, for those who participated in alcohol abstinence, you didn’t have to sacrifice flavor. Recently, there has been a surge of non-alcoholic (NA) options in the market. Additionally, there are breweries solely dedicated to it. Meet Wellbeing Brewing Company, a Missouri-based craft brewery focused on non-alcoholic beers. They offer a range of NA styles, all consisting of 0% alcohol but thankfully–plenty of flavor. Read More

Speciation Artisan Ales | Magic Trait BBA Sour w/ Blackberry & Blackcurrant

As an organism’s genetic sequence twists and changes, sometimes happy accidents occur, forever altering the course of a species. Fish switched fins for feet, lizards grew wings and took to the sky and here we are with livers, fine-tuned for processing the world’s delicious beer. Read More

Indulgent Beer Series | Humble Forager Brewery – Voyager’s Getaway

It’s arguable there’s no better way to indulge yourself than by taking a getaway. To unplug, decompress and reset is truly a gift. However, our getaways look very different this year, if they’re happening at all. Luckily, Humble Forager Brewery, whose mission is to offer thoughtful, specialty beers wherever adventure takes you, is providing ways to indulge during this difficult time, including a new Pastry Porter

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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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Wolf’s Ridge Brewing Wins Big at GABF

Wolf’s Ridge Brewing head brewer Chris Davison found out his brewery had won two medals at the Great American Beer Festival in the most 2020 way possible: over Zoom while getting his daughter ready for bed. The Columbus, Ohio, brewery’s team had a company Zoom call going while the awards were announced virtually from Denver. Chris had bedtime duties, and parenting supersedes brewing.

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Ultimate 6er | Autumn Brews and Views in Wisconsin

There are only a few short weeks left until the beauty of the fall has faded away and the realization that a Midwest winter is on the horizon. While many states in the Midwest still struggle with high cases of COVID-19 outbreaks, that doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities to safely enjoy Wisconsin’s autumn brews and views before brisk fall weather and and its beauty gives way to winter’s chill.

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Brewer’s Kitchen | Courtesy of Copenhagen

Despite taprooms continuing to stay closed in light of COVID-19, there’s no shortage of local beer releases, especially as we approach the summer months. Although May hardly counts as a “summer month” here in Chicago, we’re staying optimistic for warmer days. Courtesy of Copenhagen is a recent pick-up that will bring you to that feeling of enjoying a sunny summer day.

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Northbound Smokehouse and Brewpub | Big Jim IPA

There’s a lot to love about Northbound Smokehouse and Brewpub. Their wings are voted one of the best in the Twin Cities, their fried chicken sandwich is Food Network famous and their patio is one of the best places to bring your four-legged friend in Minnesota’s treasured patio months.

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Twin Cities Craft To-Go | Part One

The fabric of our world is changing by the hour. As the structure around us shifts, one can sometimes feel helpless seeing friends, family and businesses that they love face significant uncertainty. While self-isolating and staying inside, one of the largest roles that many of us can help fill is supporting local business.

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City Built Brewing Company | 5 Hour Stout

As Michiganders acclimate to sheltering in place, it’s important we find the right beer to hibernate with. Something dark, something sweet, something boozy. Something to lend a reprieve from the newsfeed. Lo and behold, City Built Brewing Company’s 5 Hour Stout, a pastry stout brewed with obscene amounts of coconut and vanilla. It’s thick enough to put a bear to sleep so it should do the trick for those intent on napping away the next few weeks.

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Event Recap | 2020 Uppers and Downers

Probably one of the smallest venues for a beer festival out there, the intimacy of Thalia Hall creates part of the charm of Uppers and Downers, one of the top festivals showcasing the versatility of coffee. Moving to a Sunday for the first time since the inaugural event, the day change didn’t impact the crowd size as once again beer and coffee lovers alike packed the Pilsen music venue for two sessions of coffee beers, cocktails, and more.

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Rhinegeist Brewery | Calfé

This Calfé Milk Stout will lift your spirits and warm your bones. Brought to you by Rhinegeist Brewery, this brew is everything a milk stout should be: dark, roasty and creamy.

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Great Lakes Brewing Company Announces 2020 Release Lineup

Great Lakes Brewing Company (GLBC) recently announced their lineup for 2020. Some of the highlights from their announcement includes canning Dortmunder Gold Lager, Great Lakes IPA, and Mexican Lager with Lime, as well as two new Legendary Series offerings and a Limited Release bottle series.

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