AboutMathew Powers, Author at PorchDrinking.com – Page 10 of 15
Mathew Powers
After spending most of my life chasing tornadoes, I decided to chase beer as a beer historian, beer writer, and beer drinker. I have a Master's in Written Communication and History. I'm thrilled to be a part of PorchDrinking. I've been published regularly on Chilled Magazine, Sommbeer.com, Chicagonow.com (Tribune Group), as well as Thrillist-Chicago, and a host of non-beer publications. Find me on any of my various social media platforms. Mostly, I'm just a regular guy that loves to live life to the fullest.Founders, New Belgium, Dogfish & Rogue Announce New Beer and Projects
July 25, 2017 | Mathew Powers
It’s that time again to check on the nation’s breweries and see what’s going on. Founders, Dogfish, New Belgium and Rogue have made announcements about new beer and brewing projects.
Illinois Brewers Guild President Discusses Welles Summer Fest and Illinois Craft Beer
July 24, 2017 | Mathew Powers
Once the Illinois Craft Beer Guild (ICBG) event that effectively served as the closing ceremonies to Chicago Craft Beer Week (CCBW), the festival held at Welles Park in Lincoln Square now enjoys the title of Summer Beer Fest. On August 5th, fans can drink beer, gaze upon the large gazebo, listen to live music and purchase food.
We chatted with Danielle D’Alessandro, president of the Guild, to talk Welles Fest, clean water and all things Illinois beer.
“Fuck Bad Beer” Sierra Nevada’s Brian Grossman is Bat Shit Passionate
July 17, 2017 | Mathew Powers
“We’re bat shit passionate. I mean, you talk about sustainability, you talk about our beer quality, you talk about our family history. It’s all of that. You can’t just sum it up in passion because that has, you know, 50 shades of gray type of a feel to it. But, if you say ‘We’re bat shit passionate,” it’s like, ‘Okay!’ That’s what it is,” said Brian Grossman of Sierra Nevada Brewing.
The maturation of the craft-beer industry includes a changing of the guard, but for Sierra Nevada that transition will remain in the family. Formed in 1979 by Ken Grossman, his son Brian now serves as co-owner and serves as the GM of the brewery’s Mills River, North Carolina, location. We sat down to talk to Brian and find out what makes Sierra Nevada tick.
Ultimate 6er | Chicago Summer Ale Varieties
July 12, 2017 | Mathew Powers
The dog days of summer are upon us. With every drop of sweat comes a need for refreshment, and what better way to achieve that relief than with a beer? The citrus-laden and coconut-flavored brews are just begging to be enjoyed under the summer sun. Here are six summer ale selections to help carry you through July and onto the season’s dog days.
Dovetail Brewery | Hefeweizen
July 12, 2017 | Mathew Powers 1
The Chicago metro area certainly has a multitude of beers available for consumption these days, given its now 175+ breweries in operation. But, every once in awhile, a beer comes along that inspires a beer writer such as me to, well, write about it. This time, the beer comes from the mad geniuses of Chicago’s Dovetail Brewery. The Dovetail motto, “We brew like monks (minus the vows),” notes its dedication to traditional, continental European-style brewing methods and that is why the Dovetail Hefeweizen is one of the best you’ll ever have.
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Chicago’s Headquarters Beercade and 3 Floyd’s Present Rick & Morty Beer Event
July 10, 2017 | Mathew Powers
For all Rick & Morty fans who have ever dreamed of visiting the Blips & Chitz arcade-themed building, the nostalgia-tinged craft beercade hosts an event inspired by the characters of Rick & Morty with beer pairings from 3 Floyd’s Brewing.
New Samuel Adams LongShot American Homebrew Contest will Award “Brewership” and Scholarship
July 6, 2017 | Mathew Powers
Is brewing beer your dream job? The new Samuel Adams LongShot American Homebrew Contest is helping homebrewers go pro. This contest will award “brewership” and a scholarship to a renowned brewing institute to help homebrewers pursue brewing professionally.
Brewers Describe the Value of Brewing Independence
July 3, 2017 | Mathew Powers
The United States started as nothing more than an idea, a dream and a determination to overcome perceived empire-driven injustices. For the overwhelming majority of breweries, those values presented by our Founding Fathers echo the idea of independent brewing. Sure, there are brewing empires that could lure one to the economic promised land, but the pursuit of “hoppiness” for independent breweries is best served through self-determination rather than corporate funding. As the nation moves toward celebrating its independence, we at PorchDrinking.com wanted to discuss brewing independence with a few breweries who have thumbed their proverbial noses at the King Georges of the world and exercise their freedom to brew.
Event Preview | Chicago Square Roots Three-Day Beer and Music Festival
July 1, 2017 | Mathew Powers
The 6th Annual Square Roots craft beer and music experience in Chicago’s Lincoln Square (July 7 – 9) consists of 40 local craft brews (including special batch and limited release taps), a spectacular collection of food vendors, more than 60 acts on four stages, family activities and the chance to explore the Old Town School of Folk Music.
Craft beer is all about community, and this fest embodies that philosophy. Suggested donations of $10 for adults, $5 for kids/seniors, and $20 for families help fund Old Town School of Folk Music scholarship programs and the Lincoln Square Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce farmers markets and concerts, not to mention every local business attending the festival.
Burnt City Brewing & Art Institute of Chicago Launch Artist as Alchemist Golden Session IPA
June 22, 2017 | Mathew Powers
Artist as Alchemist Feature Image Source: Lakeshore Beverages.
The trend of breweries collaborating with entities outside the realm of brewing and bars continue, including partnering with zoos, arboretums, charitable organizations, … Read More
Anchor Brewing | Blood Orange Blonde Ale
June 14, 2017 | Mathew Powers
Image Source: Anchor Brewing
Anchor Brewing is a brewery for which most ardent craft beer fans pay reverence, for if not for Fritz Maytag betting a good portion of his inheritance and defying all logic in the late 1960s, well, who knows? Maytag had a vision, and that vision has manifested itself in a terrific brewery that was integral in awakening a nation from its brewing doldrums. In 2017, the brewery isn’t sitting around resting on its laurels, demonstrated by the new Anchor Brewing Blood Orange Blonde Ale. How can something be both blonde and blood orange? Leave it to Anchor Brewing to solve this colorful conundrum.
Event Recap | Two Brothers Brewing Summer Festival
June 13, 2017 | Mathew Powers
Two Brother’s Brewing Summer Festival speaks volumes about the brewery’s identity. The journey for the Ebel brothers started with a brewery that barely turned profits twenty years ago to owning five locations and adding coffee and spirits to its portfolio. But, what defines Two Brothers is not its products as much as the brewery’s propensity to host events and welcome fans into its many homes. From Scottsdale to Oak Park, Oktoberfest to Summerfest, nail-pulling parties to special releases, Two Brothers invites you inside and says, “Welcome to our house, beer’s in the fridge.”
Bike the World with Fat Tire: Lend a Hand and Win a Trip to Patagonia
June 6, 2017 | Mathew Powers
Feature image courtesy of New Belgium Brewing
“Most of our students come from so far, like 10 kilometers, so the time the girl is getting to school, already that girl is so tired,” explained Monica Mudonidongo, Vice Principal Bukhaywa Secondary School in Kenya. In the U.S., bikes are a luxury, but for many countries a bicycle is a necessary means with which to obtain life’s basic necessities.
World Bicycle Relief, a global non-profit that mobilizes people through the power of bicycles, is partnering with New Belgium Brewing. This summer, proceeds from specially marked Bike the World with Fat Tire 12 packs will go to World Bicycle Relief to help people in developing countries access education, healthcare and economic opportunities—and you might find the lucky 12 pack that sends you on a gorgeous trip through Patagonia.
Dear Chicagoans: Don’t Ignore the North Burbs Brewing Scene
June 5, 2017 | Mathew Powers 10
The breweries that lie north of Chicago’s Saison-Dixon line regularly play the role of the ugly red-headed stepchild. Granted, Mikerphone receives endless, well-deserved praise, but Mikerphone is a transplant that gained its fame prior to moving to Elk Grove Village. Meanwhile, breweries located in the North Burbs, such as Light the Lamp, Ten-Ninety, ZumBier, Chain O’Lakes, Side Lot, Tighthead, Only Child, Flesk — a brewery in the process of moving to Barrington, and countless others are oft-ignored among the pantheon of Chicago-area breweries.
Don’t do it. Don’t rob yourself of that joy. Refuse to ignore northern-suburban breweries. The brewing scene of the North Burbs is too good to miss!
Jake Melnick’s Corner Tap – Two Brothers CCBW Collaboration: Decades in the Making
June 1, 2017 | Mathew Powers
Sometimes, a beer event comes along that encapsulates the enormous impact the craft beer industry has had on modern imbibe culture. For example, the pairing between suburban-Chicago’s Two Brothers Brewing and Chicago’s Jake Melnick’s Corner Tap during the last day of Chicago Craft Beer Week seemed ordinary on the surface, but a deeper meaning lied underneath. Yes, the two craft-beer-focused operations collaborated on a beer — an American Wheat Beer with melon, but the beer did not take a few weeks to make; it took 30 years.
Beer Showcase | Stiegl Lemon Zitrone Radler
May 26, 2017 | Mathew Powers
“In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue,” but a few months before Columbus landed in the Caribbean, an Austrian brewery that came to be known as Stiegl arose in the town of Salzburg. Five and a quarter centuries later, the world has dramatically changed, but Stiegl is still there and still delivering beer in its hometown by horse and carriage. The one thing that is new is the Stiegl Zitrone Lemon Radler, its newest summer-friendly, highly sessionable U.S. import.
PorchDrinking Playlist | Windows Down, Volume Up
May 23, 2017 | Mathew Powers
The transcendental experience provided by the combination of a sweet summer, sun-kissed breeze and the right song is surreal. It calms. It centers. It also energizes and inspires. In a month dominated by big beer buyouts, political turmoil and the sad, unexpected death of Chris Cornell; it’s easy to get lost in all of life’s difficulties. Well, forget all that for a bit. Get in the car, find an open road, don some shades, feel the breeze and listen to some road tunes picked by a few PorchDrinking.com writers and editors.
AleSmith and Around the Bend Collaboration, Chicago Craft Beer Week
May 18, 2017 | Mathew Powers
The annual Beer Under Glass (B.U.G.) at Garfield Park Conservatory serves as the formal opening to Chicago Craft Beer Week (#CCBW), and brewers are more than happy to provide special offerings for the unique event. One such brew exemplifies the true meaning of craft beer — industry first, beer first, a collaboration between two “competing” breweries, Alesmith Brewing Company and Chicago’s Around the Bend Beer Co. This special brew will enjoy its first pouring at B.U.G, and then during select events (and sold in stores) thereafter.
Event Recap | Chicago Beer Classic at Soldier Field
May 17, 2017 | Mathew Powers
Although the last vestiges of winter traversed Lake Michigan and infiltrated the Chicago Beer Classic on May 6, glorious blue skies and both golden sunshine and beer screamed, “spring.” Besides, a little cool breeze couldn’t ruin an experience provided by 100+ brewers pouring beer at a venue that provided plenty of proverbial “wow factor.” Produced by Red Frog Events, few venues exceed the uniqueness offered by a chance to sip a beer while standing on the Chicago Bears logo at the 50-yard line. Go Bears, or go beers — both applied. The additional component of the stadium’s role in paying homage to America’s soldiers only added to the fest’s positives.
Brewery Showcase | Only Child Brewing
May 8, 2017 | Mathew Powers
The Only Child Brewing story involves several unique chapters. Some sections are straightforward, yet compelling, such as mentioning the brewery’s ultra-hip, slick taproom or the brewery’s personable, enthusiastic staff. Of course, one can also talk about its beer that exemplifies the term, “artisanship.” However, other portions of the Only Child Brewing story are far more complex, including the nearly simultaneous, and tumultuous, birth of both the brewery and its owners’ newborn twins. The story may not be a fairy tale, but all signs point towards a happy ending.
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