2018 Great American Beer Fest: Standouts and Recap from Day One

The 37th Annual Great American Beer Festival has finally arrived and for longtime attendee’s this year’s fest likely has a different feel. Throughout the festival’s storied history and ascension to become the country’s largest beer festival, it has evolved and adapted the country’s changing landscape and this year was no different.

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Event Preview | Wynkoop Brewing 30th Anniversary Party

Don’t call it a comeback, they’ve been here for years. Wynkoop Brewing, the Denver’s OG craft brewery, will celebrate their 30th anniversary tomorrow with an 80’s throwback celebration.

Started in 1988 by now Governor, John Hickenlooper, along with Jerry Williams, Mark Shifler and Russell Scherer, Wynkoop Brewing was not only a pioneer for Denver’s beer industry, but it also helped kickstart the Lower Downtown neighborhood. Before the Rockies made LoDo their home, and before all of the high rises and businesses were drawn to the urban center, the neighborhood was much rougher around the edges. But it was that affordable real estate, and foresight that attracted the Wynkoop team to set up roots at the heart of Denver.

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2018 GABF Route Guide | Session Beers

For the past month and a half our staff has been reaching out to every brewery attending the Great American Beer Festival to try to preview what they’ll be bringing to the fest. As part of that research, we’ve sifted through that list of beers to bring you a series of themed routes to help you plan for your GABF based on various styles and flavors.

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2018 GABF Route Guide | Hoppy Beers Route

For the past month and a half our staff has been reaching out to every brewery attending the Great American Beer Festival to try to preview what they’ll be bringing to the fest. As part of that research, we’ve sifted through that list of beers to bring you a series of themed routes to help you plan for your GABF based on various styles and flavors.

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2018 GABF Route Guide | Funk, Sours & Wilds Route

For the past month and a half, our staff has been reaching out to every brewery attending the Great American Beer Festival to try to preview what they’ll be bringing to the fest. As part of that research, we’ve sifted through that list of beers to bring you a series of themed routes to help you plan for your GABF based on various styles and flavors.

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2018 GABF Route Preview | Big Beers Route

For the past month and a half our staff has been reaching out to every brewery attending the Great American Beer Festival to try to preview what they’ll be bringing to the fest. As part of that research, we’ve sifted through that list of beers to bring you a series of themed routes to help you plan for your GABF based on various styles and flavors.

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2018 Great American Beer Festival Pour List Preview

As the 2018 Great American Beer Festival approaches, I bet you’re wondering what kind of delights you can expect to sample on the festival. A hazy IPA from that Vermont brewery that doesn’t distribute in your state? A rare whale stout aged in the most fantastic of barrels? A wild, enamel-stripping sour ale full of hand-picked snozzberries? PorchDrinking has you covered!

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Guide to Out-of-State Breweries Available in Denver for GABF

As we’ve all come to know, the Great American Beer Festival has far greater implications for Colorado beer fans that extend beyond the four-day festival itself. One of those external benefits is the growing practice of out-of-state breweries utilizing the week to make a special limited drop of beers either as a means to test the market, or just to make a splash to help grow their brands. In previous years, breweries such as Fremont, Perennial and Burial have all used GABF week as a launch pad toward regular, or in some cases semi-regular distribution to Colorado. In other scenarios such the short-lived Bell’s Brewing’s drop a few years back, these brief market flirtations can help stoke the hype for breweries that may eye a future full-time distribution play, which in Bell’s case finally came to fruition this year.

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WeldWerks Announces GABF Releases to Exceed 100 New Beers in 2018

In today’s landscape of experimentation and variety, it’s not uncommon for a brewery to diversify their portfolio with an ever-rotating lineup of new beers. However for a brewery that’s less than four years old, to be able to pull off over 100 new beer releases in less than a year, is an almost unfathomable feat.

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Freshcraft’s GABF Week Schedule of Events

This is a sponsored post from Freshcraft

Over the past eight years, Freshcraft has emerged as one of the premiere craft beer-focused bars/restaurants in the city of Denver. Located just … Read More

The PorchCast | Ep 53 – Charlie Papazian Interview on Final GABF

In episode 53 of the PorchCast we had a chance to sit down with the Godfather of craft beer, the man who literally wrote the book on home brewing in The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, the founder of the American Homebrewers Association, founder of what is now the Brewers Association, founder of the Great American Beer Festival, the man who brought fist bumping back, Charlie Papazian.

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Stem Ciders and The Motet Collaborate on Boysenberry Lavender Cider

Colorado’s alcoholic beverage industry is no stranger to musical collaborations. As great music is typically best accompanied by great drinks, those same drinks can often inspire the creation of great … Read More

2019 Big Beers Belgians and Barleywines Tickets Go On Sale Today

While many uninitiated may have blinders on for GABF season, the true professionals know that the beginning of September requires the attention of a festival of a whole other caliber. … Read More

The Complete 2018 GABF Week Events Guide

For one week a year, Denver and the surrounding metro area turn upside down for the Great American Beer Festival. While the festival floor is a great place to sample thousands of beers from all across, the events happening outside of the festival have become equally as impressive and formidable. From tap take-overs to beer dinners, special release to actual full-blown separate beer festivals all together have broken off of GABF. So, to help provide some perspective and frothy guidance, we have made that navigation a bit easier with a 2018 GABF Week Events Guide. Too much to sort through and choose? Don’t worry, chuggernaut, we got you covered.

2018 GABF Week Events Guide

Something we missed? Is your brewery hosting a GABF event? Feel free to contact us and we’ll update this list.

Jump to date:Select a dateSeptember 14September 15September 16September 17September 18September 19September 20September 21September 22September 23

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BREAKING | Founders Brewing is Finally Coming to Colorado

Well folks, the wait is finally over. After much speculation, Founders Brewing has shared news with PorchDrinking, that they will begin full distribution throughout the state of Colorado beginning mid-to-late October 2018.

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Brewers Association Launches National Independence Ad Spot Campaign

You know those incessantly repetitive ads that play before your favorite binge watched Hulu show? Well, repetition does tend to work, which is probably why I still can’t get Buick’s roof … Read More

2018 Beer Lover’s Guide to Colorado’s Oktoberfest Celebrations

Believe it or not, summer is once again drawing to a close, but before we dive into pumpkin spice bombs and fresh hop season, let us raise a liter to German-style beers with a round-up of Colorado’s craft beer-centric Oktoberfest celebrations. So lace up those dirndls and strap on the lederhosen it’s time for the beautifully crisp, easy-drinking, toasted malt forward profile of Oktoberfest Märzen lagers. Check out our craft beer guide to Colorado’s Oktoberfest celebrations. Keep in mind, we’ll keep adding Oktoberfest beers from Colorado’s craft breweries as they’re released, as well as Oktoberfest celebration events as they’re announced.

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Westbound & Down Membership Program Opens for Next Level Beer Geeks

In any casual beer consumer’s journey, there are many inevitable “firsts” that can occur before finally culminating with unbridled beer obsession. From the first time one crosses into the refreshing bitter blast of a hop-forward IPA, to the first time you become infatuated with beautiful rich boozy bourbon barrel-aged stouts; the first time one travels to a destination beer fest, to pulling the trigger on a first successful beer trade, these milestones mark one step deeper into true beer geekdom.

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Surly Brewing Announces 2018 Darkness Variants & Revamped Darkness Day

Rewind the cold beer time machine just five years and you’ll discover only a handful of iconic beer events that have withstood the test of time. Even still, these OGs of craft beer events probably look a little different than they did back when they first started gaining popularity, because as tastes evolve, so do the greats.

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Brewery Resources | Join Tomorrow’s Free Webinar on Brand & Label Registrations

Running a brewery is difficult. Aside from just producing great beer, once you decide to take the leap and begin packaging that beer, navigating the path toward getting your brand and packaging ready, can be even more daunting.

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