Ultimate 6er | Beers to Numb the Surreal, Disconnected American Fauxscape

Last year the surgeon general issued a 60+ page report on the epidemic of loneliness that has been pervasive in the post-COVID world. Whatever you felt about the recent election, it had to at the very least remind you that we’re living in extraordinarily strange times. How do we find new and improved social connections amid the deepest national division in our collective lifetimes?

Beer, that’s how. Your local craft brewery has become the gold standard of post-pandemic community interaction. Beyond whatever product is delivered through the taps, craft breweries are every bit as important to the community as bars and saloons were in the Old West, or as taverns were in pretty much any other point in human history.  They are the hubs of social interaction — the great equalizer of humanity that transcends class, age, affiliation or taste.

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LUKI Brewing’s Niche Events Find Success in the ‘Burbs

As DJ Saddy Jeff sulked in the corner — spinning an Emo’s Greatest Hits set of tunes — a bigger-than-usual crowd of thirsty Thursday holiday refugees gathered to pair beers and treats, watch “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and bask in the warm radiation of songs from the ghosts of a vaguely-goth past.

In the (normally) quiet West Arvada suburbs of Denver, Colorado, LUKI Brewery has found a niche in its array of unique events. From the ever-popular Gilmore Girls Day, to Goat Yoga and a bunch of wacky stuff in between, founder Jeff Smith has created something special that (perhaps strangely, at times?) really unites the community.

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On Their 4th Anniversary Celebration, Over Yonder Continues to ‘Surrender to the Flow’

“We love craft beer, we love music, and we want to bring it all together for the world.”

On the surface, the words of Jessica Bilodeaux — co-owner of Over Yonder Brewing Co. in Golden, Colorado — seem obvious and simple. Make good beer. Celebrate good music. Why not? It’s a fairly popular dream in these United States.

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LUKI Brewery | Hop Juggling Hazy

There’s something about the experience of drinking at a local brewery before distribution enters into the equation. In the best way, it’s a lot like how TV used to be pre-DVR, pre-streaming. There’s a greater appreciation of the current tap list, knowing that you may not always get to enjoy one of your favorites year-round.

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Ultimate 6er | Beers to Make Up for the 6 Worst Xmas Gifts Ever

We all seem to have finally gotten on the same page about hating Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You”—and nothing has made me happier during these dismal days than a coordinated hatred of the most nauseating song ever written.

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Ultimate 6er | Beers to Drink on the Couch While the Rest of These Jerks Gawk at Leaves

It’s no longer fashionable to rip on pumpkin beers, cozy-sweater-cocoa zombies or Nickelback. It’s been done. It’s worn out. Pumpkin spice is far too ubiquitous to fight any longer. The war’s been fought and to the victor go the gourd-flavored spoils. We’ve lost.

As hot girl summer slowly morphs into beer belly autumn, there are few activities more confusing to the aliens documenting our earthling lives than leaf-peeping.

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Over Yonder Celebrates 3 Years with a 3-Day Run of Music Brews & Fun

For once, no one seems too bothered by the prospect of a late-spring May snowstorm. Amid this much-needed drop of moisture, Over Yonder Brewing Co. is cheerfully prepping for their 3rd anniversary party this weekend, which takes places Friday, Saturday and Sunday (May 20 – 22).

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What We’re Cooking | Smoked Over-the-Top Chili

Of all the hobbies we’ve collected as humans over the pandemic, learning how to cook with a smoker might be one of the best. It’s practical, can be used for the rest of your life, makes delicious food and walks that perfect line between obsession and enthusiasm without completely depleting your bank account.

If you are in the food-smoking world, you likely have already seen a few (or a ton of) social media posts for over-the-top chili. And even if you haven’t made it yourself (yet), it’s probably high on your list. For National Chili Day, we thought it would be a perfect time to highlight this versatile cold-weather dish. Most chili recipes call for water OR beer, so you can swap out the water in your chili base for any of your favorite beers (probably wouldn’t use a Sour obviously). For this recipe, the beer of choice was 95 Nightmares Before Christmas, a Dry-Hopped Munich Lager from Fiction Beer Co.

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Ultimate 6er | Six More Reasons to Hate the Holidays

Being a grinch has lost a little bit of its punch over the last couple of years. There’s so much to hate year-round that a good old-fashioned holiday hate-fest doesn’t seem super relevant. When you’ve got people screaming at flight attendants and beer workers, a representative government that doesn’t give a sh*t about the people it represents and the hottest new viral mutation running rampant, it seems trite to write a holiday hate piece.

And yet, here we are.

Here are six more reasons to absolutely hate the holidays this season, and six perfect beers to take the edge off while you find another stupid hiding spot for your Elf on a Shelf.

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What We’re Drinking | November 12, 2021

There’s something in the air today. Airborne disease? Probably. Pollution? Definitely — but there’s also something less tangible. Maybe it’s the godforsaken time change that turns early afternoon into pitch-black night for those of us living north of the 37th parallel.

Maybe it’s existential dread hanging over all of our heads like poorly (and prematurely) hung misletoe — inviting us in for a germ-filled kiss of death to kick off the holiday season. Or maybe it’s just a head cold.

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Ultimate 6er | The Abandoned German Beers of a Colorado Fall

There’s a lot to love about the changing of the seasons. But then again, is there? Oh you love fall colors? Come over and clean up my leaves in November. You love the little nip in the air, do ya? Well get ready for flu season. You just LOVE you some pumpkin spice? Tell that to the child laborers who sweat away in the pumpkin spice mines for pennies on the dollar.

Fall does bring about some tasty beers — or at least we associate certain tasty beers with fall. Wet Hop beers, Pumpkin (not that there’s anything wrong with that) beers and certain Stouts are only released in fall, so that makes sense.

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What We’re Drinking | September 17, 2021

Have you ever been on a diet, but all of your friends are like master chefs or legitimate barebecue pitmasters? That’s kind of what it’s like working for PorchDrinking while you’re taking a brief break from beer. Trying to rest your weary liver while looking at what this crew’s been drinking over the past week is no easy feat.

So join me this week as we drink vicariously through the PorchDrinking team in this week’s What We’re Drinking.

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Over Yonder Brewing Co. | D6 IPA

Over Yonder Brewing Co. in Golden, CO recently celebrated their first and second anniversary this year. The brewery had one big, mega-bash to make up for lost time over the lockdown in 2020. As a brewery that feeds off music and crowd energy almost as much as they do creating new beers, it’s been an exciting 2021.

Part of their efforts to welcome back music includes live streaming Phish shows on the big screen with Paige McConnell banging away on the D6 clavinet during some of the slinkier Phish grooves (e.g. Sand, Moma Dance, etc.). This is where Over Yonder came up with the name of their fan (and brewer) favorite beer, D6 IPA.

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What We’re Drinking | September 3, 2021

It’s September. Instead of posting “Wake Me Up When September Ends” memes, fans have taken to the internet to remind people that the song is no laughing matter, and therefore, unmemeable. It’s about Billie Joe Armstrong’s father dying of cancer when he was 10. Sad. Because sadness is most of what the internet is used for these days.

What an age we live in where armchair social media dentists, pet experts, virologists, doctors, child psychologists and parenting experts can get together and combine their collective powers to suck the last remaining joy out of posts with dogs, babies, dogs and babies, or basically anything involving… anything <breathes in, breathes out>. It’s noon somewhere, as they say, and I clearly need to have a beer and chill. Here are some of the excellent beers the PorchDrinking crew’s been gettin’ at this week.

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Ultimate 6er | Boredom-Killing Websites to Drink to (from Super Cool to Utterly Pointless)

Did your favorite beer festival get f**king cancelled again this year? If things don’t turn around quickly, we’re looking at another winter with a lot of time on our hands inside. But let’s look on the bright side of life *whistles Monty Pythonically* — there’s more time to get really intimate with a new six-pack and find a new favorite beer.

Hopefully we don’t need it, but just in case we do, here’s a list of six fairly underrated websites to help kill boredom, and six awesome beers to pair with them.

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What We’re Drinking | August 20, 2021

I wish every time I sat down to write one of these, the world wasn’t literally and figuratively on fire. But here we are. The smoke from the fires in the Northwest are finally leaving Colorado, taking Denver off of the “world’s most polluted cities” list finally. And best of all, football season is back.

Sure it’s predicted to be a harsh, cold winter. Sure, the delta variant is about to wreck everyone’s plans for fall. Tropical storms, tornados, fires, earthquakes — you name it, earth’s got it. So if you need an excuse to drink a beer before noon on a Friday, you’re not really paying attention. Whatever time it is where you are, crack open a beer with us and see what the PorchDrinking team’s been sipping on to make it through the end of summer.

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What We’re Drinking | July 9, 2021

Half the country’s flooding, the other half’s either melting into the ocean or on fire. Not a day goes by when I don’t hear about some jackass delaying a flight or getting kicked off a plane. Condos are collapsing on one coast, record heat waves are draining the other. If I didn’t live through the summer of 2020, I might put this summer high in the running for shittiest summer ever.

But since we have the perspective to be able to say “hey at least it’s not 2020,” let’s go ahead and crack open a beer, take a deep breath and see what the PorchDrinking team’s getting into in this week’s What We’re Drinking. 

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What We’re Drinking | June 11, 2021

Halfway through the year already, folks. Get ready for three months of crazy tourist traffic as you try to casually get a table at your favorite local restaurant, brewery or bar. The beercation is making a comeback as people are thirsty to make up for lost time! But it’s okay if you still prefer to drink in the comfort of your home/sweatpants.

Here are some tasty brews to consider while you adjust to life on the outside again; this is What We’re Drinking. 

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Ultimate 6er | The Forgotten Ones

With the deadline for this article looming and no fresh beer in the fridge, it seemed to be a good chance to round up some of the forgotten-about beers lying around the house and give them a new chance at life. We all have them: beers we got as gifts that aren’t our usual style; leftovers from a party ca. 2019; a few dusties that got buried in the garage fridge; treasures that grew legs and hid themselves out of sight.

Wherever they come from, and for whatever reasons they remain shelved, it’s time to give some love to the forgotten fridge beers as we clear out some space for summer sippin’.

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LUKI Brewery | Rocinante Mexican Lager

LUKI Brewery in Arvada, Colo. has been open just a bit over 10 months now. In terms of our current relationship with time/space, that’s more or less an eternity. As Jefferson County gave its businesses the “all clear,” LUKI and owner/head brewer Jeff Smith now have their first opportunity to pack the big top to capacity.

What better way to kick pandemic restrictions to the curb and start summer off than with a crisp, subtly sweet, lime-tinged Mexican Lager?

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