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#Mikerphone Archives – PorchDrinking.com

Collaborating for a Cause | ALEX KIDD IS LIFE!

November 3, 2023 |

While Mikerphone Brewing out of Chicago is the latest brewery in this series, they were one of the first to take action in support of Alex Kidd and his family following the news of his cancer diagnosis. Just like what we saw most recently with Bob D’Angelo and Esker Hart Artisan Ales, Mikerphone Brewing was founded from a passion for homebrewing. Now, eight years since their first commercial beer, Mikerphone has become a Chicago beer staple and Owners Mike and Lisa Pallen have been fortunate enough to travel the world making and sharing beer. Upon hearing Alex’s devastating news, they knew they wanted to do what they could for him and his family during this unprecedented time. We were able to talk briefly with Mike and discuss a little more about the special single barrel English-style Barleywine released for the man behind the Barleywine is Life movement.

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Planning the Perfect Craft Beer Day Trip to the Chicago Suburbs

August 12, 2020 |

The sheer number of breweries within Chicago limits would lead you to believe you would never need to leave the city to get your craft beer fix. While this is technically true, there are many Chicagoland suburbs that have great breweries that, unless they distribute to the city, Chicagoans will miss out on. Read More

Ultimate 6er | Comfort Food Movies

July 29, 2020 |

If you like to cuddle up with some of your favorite movies to take a break from life’s woes, this is the Ultimate 6er for you! So grab your favorite comfort food dish and treat yourself to an easy day of relaxing. Who knows? You might find some new favorites to treat the senses!

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Women’s Brew Day at Mikerphone | Drippin’ So Much Sauce

February 17, 2020 |

The women of Mikerphone Brewing do not play the role of background singers at the musical-inspired brewery, but instead work harmoniously with the men; they are integral to the entire operation. And, on February 8, Mike Pallen and his skilled assistants handed over the brewhouse to the women of Mikerphone in order to brew Drippin’ So Much Sauce Double Dry-Hopped Double IPA. The beer will not only be tasty but also support The Wings Program, which aims to end the cycle of domestic violence and give aid to those who have suffered.

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PorchDrinking’s Weekly Denver Beer Beat | January 22, 2020

January 22, 2020 |

The Denver Beer Beat is a weekly roundup of brewery openings, special tappings, firkins and one-off batches, bottle releases, dinners, pairings, and more happening in the Front Range and beyond. Be sure to check in each Wednesday to discover anything and everything happening around Colorado’s beer scene. Now let’s get to this week’s can’t miss beer events. Read More

PorchDrinking’s Weekly Denver Beer Beat | January 8, 2020

January 8, 2020 |

The Denver Beer Beat is a weekly roundup of brewery openings, special tappings, firkins and one-off batches, bottle releases, dinners, pairings, and more happening in the Front Range and beyond. Be sure to check in each Wednesday to discover anything and everything happening around Colorado’s beer scene. Now let’s get to this week’s can’t miss beer events. Read More

Three Renowned Midwest IPA Makers Got Together and Made a Coffee Stout

November 5, 2019 | 1

Surly Brewing’s Furious IPA is one of the most well-known beers in Minnesota. The hazy IPAs, most notably Dreamyard IPA, coming from their Northeast neighbors, Modist Brewing, are some of the most popular in the state. Not to be out-done, Chicago’s Mikerphone Brewing’s musically-inspired IPA and stout releases frequently generate lines around the block. So, when Surly recently brought brewers from Modist and Mikerphone to their brewhouse to make a new collaboration beer, the result had to have been an IPA, right? Wrong. Instead, the latest, and perhaps most adventurous edition of Surly’s BC Small Batch series is Magic Formula for Peace, a coffee stout made with citrus. 

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Mikerphone Brewing | Ging and Juice

September 6, 2019 |

Over the past few years Mikerphone Brewing, out of Elk Grove Village, Illinois has become one of Chicagoland’s most popular and sought-after breweries. From their impressive list of hazy IPAs, to Stouts, to even beer slushies (yes, please!!), they have proven time and again that they can make any style.

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Mikerphone Brewing Opens Addition, Preps for Smells Like a Beer Fest

March 25, 2019 |

Two years to the day Mikerphone Brewing opened its taproom, the brewery officially opened its new addition, called the Mikerphone Blue Room. The expansion more than doubles the total square footage of the brewery, triples the seating capacity, and opens the door to a future that founder and owner Mike Pallen never could have imagined.

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PorchDrinking’s Weekly Denver Beer Beat | October 10, 2018

October 10, 2018 |

The Denver Beer Beat sheds light on news of brewery openings, special tappings, firkins and one-off batches, bottle releases, dinners, pairings, etc.
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Event Preview | Mikerphone Brewing Smells Like A Beer Fest

April 23, 2018 |

By the time you’re done reading this sentence, tickets for Mikerphone Brewing Smells Like A Beer Fest would have sold out. An exceptionally lucky 400 people obtained tickets to the inaugural event that will be held at the brewery on April 28 which features a star-studded lineup of breweries both local and from around the country.

The festival replaces Pale Pauper Day which had been held over the past few years as an alternative to the popular 3 Floyds Dark Lord Day. 

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Mikerphone Brewing, Toppling Goliath Talk Beer Releases

September 19, 2017 | 1

Beer releases are a tricky thing. As more and more people take an interest in craft beer, the next release of a hazy NE-IPA, mix culture barrel-aged wild/sour, or big barrel-aged stout are getting more hyped, more complex and trickier for the brewery to manage. There is no such thing as a perfect release, however, breweries today are doing their best to figure out how to get their beer out to their customers.

Whether it’s a smaller/newer brewery like Mikerphone Brewing, or a more established one like Toppling Goliath, the logistics behind releasing highly sought-after beer are nothing simple.

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Chicago Quick Sips | September 5th

September 5, 2017 |

Quick Sips is our way of highlighting beer events, tap takeovers and other notable beer news around the city of Chicago. If you’d like to submit something to be included in the next Quick Sips, please email us at [email protected].

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Event Recap | Beer Under Glass (BUG) – Chicago Craft Beer Week

May 22, 2017 |

* Featured photo taken by Eric Dirksen and was from the 2016 BUG event

For the second year in a row, Beer Under Glass — the official kickoff to Chicago’s Craft Beer Week — was the benefit of great weather on the evening of the event. Although the temperature dropped 30 degrees throughout the night, that pales in comparison to recent years plagued by rain and bitter cold, which turned the outdoor grounds of the Garfield Park Conservatory into a muddy disaster.

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What We’re Drinking | March 3, 2017

March 3, 2017 |

No matter what your views on climate change are, there is no denying that spring is arriving ridiculously early in many parts of the country. Perhaps it was brought on by the unseasonable warm weather, but the PorchDrinkers enjoyed quite a few IPAs this week. That wasn’t all we drank, though! There were sours for fun, flights for variety and a little something special at the end. If you spent your whole week at work (or laid up with back pain like me), prepare to live vicariously through us. This is What We’re Drinking.

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Mikerphone Brewing’s Upcoming Taproom

January 12, 2017 |

Featured image courtesy of Mikerphone Brewing

4,000 square feet, custom wooden table recently stained grey, black chairs, brown cardboard boxes and a small palate wrapped tight in shrink wrap – all carrying the recent additions to Mikerphone Brewing’s upcoming taproom.

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Mikerphone Brewing | Blue Hast Mich Batch #2

October 25, 2016 |

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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Mikerphone Brewing | One Man Wrecking Machine

February 16, 2016 |

ABV : 9.75%

Commuting to work is one of life’s pleasures that many people get to experience twice a day, everyday. Fighting traffic, navigating through throngs of people crossing the street, cramming into train car nooks, tapping impatiently while waiting for a bus to show up — chances are, your daily commute provides some nice slices of stress between which you sandwich your workday.

Oftentimes, the commute ends with a strained “I need a drink!” Well, if you’re lucky enough to take the Metra, you don’t have to wait until you get home. And if you’re even luckier, the local convenience store by your stop will carry some of Mikerphone Brewing’s Big Ass Cans for you to take with. And to really kickstart your workday decompression, it’s probably best to grab a One Man Wrecking Machine. Read More