Presidential Election Playlist

I typically reserve Amurrrcuhhh the Playlist for my favorite holiday, Amurrrcuhhh Day. Oh you don’t follow? July 4th. But only every four years do we have the right to elect our President of the United States, and what’s more Amurrrcan than that? Look I realize that many folks have become jaded by all of the ads, attacks, lines, and even politics of this and more recent elections. But lets remember that our founding fathers and mothers fought to bring us all equality in the right to vote. So I remind you to do your part, and exercise that right. Make history count, because your vote certainly does.

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Avery Brewing Company | Ale to the Chief

ABV: 8.1%

If there is one issue our nation can come together on, it might just be the right to drink great beer. Avery Brewing Company has resurrected their Presidential Pale Ale from 2008 to commemorate this year’s heated race. This drink pours a regal golden color and tasters are hit with that initial hop bite. But that bitterness quickly mellows to a sweeter malty light finish.
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Stone Brewing Collaboration- Mint Chocolate Imperial Stout

ABV:9.6%

IBU: 69

Distribution: Ariz., Calif., Colo., Fla., Ill., Mass., N.C., N.M., N. J., N.Y., Ohio, Ore., Pa., S.C., Texas, Va., Vt., and Wash.

I love girl scout cookie season more than a fat kid loves… well girl scout cookies.  Hmm I think I just had a harsh reality check right there.  Anyway what could possibly be better than my favorite GSC Thin Mints?  Yes thats right, liquified, beerified, Thin Mints.  Enter Stone Brewing’s Collaboration with home brewer, Ken Schmidt, and Iron Fist Brewing, Mint Chocolate Imperial Stout.

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Roundtable Discussion: Halloween Candy Edition

Lets be real, Halloween is all about the candy. All across the U.S. tonight, kids will dump out their bounty and trade for their favorite sweets and try to unload the lesser prizes.  So we tasked our PorchDrinking staff to recount what they loved getting in their Halloween escapades, as well as what they tried to unload on their gullible friends or parents.

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Tristan and Stu Brewing- Rapture IPA

Remember back when people were all up in arms about the Rapture?  That was about the time Stu Thomas and I decided to try brewing our own beer.  That is all fine and well except that our first brew attempt was for a double IPA.  Appropriately so, we decided to name our soon-to-be inaugural beer Rapture IPA.  Our reasoning was that if it rocked, the results would be heavenly.  And more likely if it flopped, we’d just say it all went to hell.  The finished product sadly sided with the later of the two.  While the pour looked decent, the taste could at most euphemistically be described as factory sewage.  The brew was under carbonated, too sweet initially and was followed quickly thereafter with a sharp metallic finish.

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Thoughts and Prayers Go Out to the Northeast

PorchDrinking.com would like to extend our thoughts and prayers to our family out on the east coast.  While many jokes have been made about Hurricane Sandy it is extremely dangerous … Read More

The Evolution of Beer Part II

The general consensus around the Porch is that for most of us, our first foray into drinking consisted of shitty watered down piss poor beers. In fact, I spent the first two decades of my life swearing up and down that I would never drink beer. This likely was a direct result of stealing sips from my father’s Milwaukee’s Best, or to the layman, BEAST, when I was just a little guy. Needless to say, most uninitiated drinkers have at one point or another served their time sloshing swill before arriving at the great awakening that is craft beer.

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Evolution of Beer Part I

The general consensus around the Porch is that for most of us, our first foray into drinking consisted of shitty watered down piss poor beers.  In fact, I spent the first two decades of my life swearing up and down that I would never drink beer.  This likely was a result of stealing sips from my father’s Milwaukee’s Best, or to the layman, BEAST, when I was just a little guy. Needless to say, most uninitiated drinkers have at one point or another served their time sloshing swill before arriving at the great awakening that is craft beer.

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Roundtable Discussion: Halloween Costumes Edition

Halloween is just under a week away so we asked our writers what their favorite halloween memories were.  What resulted was an in depth trip down memory lane consisting of costumes and candy grabbing blunders.  What were your favorite Halloween costumes/memories growing up?  Comment below!

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Cigar City Brewing Company- Marshal Zhukov

ABV: 9%

Cigar City Brewing serves up several brews that have garnered a cult follow, partially because they’re only available in Florida, partially because they are one of the only solid breweries at the moment to come out of Florida and mostly because they make fantastic, cult following worthy beers. One of those pedestal level rarities is Marshal Zhukov.

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PorchDrinking Playlist: Tristan’s Top Picks

In honor of my forthcoming birthday this Thursday, I decided to hijack this week’s PorchDrinking Playlist to highlight some of my favorite jams. This mix of my top playlist picks includes a melange of favorites both old and new. It starts with my all time favorite, Paul Simon’s Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard, then transitions from slower mellower tunes to those that are a bit more upbeat.  Let me know if you like what you hear! Read More

Dream Team Breweries

I think it’s safe to say that the United States is in the midst of a gold age in craft beer.  As of July 1, 2012 the Brewer’s Association counted 2075 craft breweries in operation, and I’m guessing since then at least a hundred more have opened.  During the diminutive tenure of my craft beer journey, I have managed to make a small dent in that two thousand some brewery sample.

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Cigar City Brewing Company- Jai Alai

One of the coolest thing about visiting breweries when you kinda have an inside connection (and I use that term very loosely, as starting a beer blog hardly qualifies as having any clout in the beer industry), one of the coolest perks is snagging a beer fresh off the line.  Trust me, it makes a huge difference.

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D.G. Yuengling and Son- Yuengling American Lager

Yuengling isn’t particularly amazing, but it is.  It’s not particularly flavorful, but it is.  It’s not particularly easy to drink, but really it is.  You see, Yuengling is the beer of the midwest.  Anytime anyone from the region spies a can they’re sent to a place of nostalgia and awe.  It’s kinda like seeing your childhood stuffed animal or blankey for the first time in many years, but in alcoholic liquid form.

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GABF Finds and Must Tries!

One of the best things about attending GABF is the ability to try a ton of rare, completely off the wall or just hard to get beers. As such we’ve got some solid takeaways. If you happen to cross paths with these beers, you should probably jump at the chance to give them a taste. Read More

One Minute Beer Review: Ska Brewing Company’s Euphoria Pale Ale

It’s not often that a brewery’s winter seasonal is a pale ale. But, Ska gives zero cares about that. Their Euphoria Pale Ale not only works as a winter seasonal … Read More

Great American Beer Festival General Recap

The Great American Beer Festival is the closest thing to a real-life, adult version of that “kid in a candy shop” moment. Experiencing the full gambit of everything beer related that surrounds the festival culminated in one of the more amazing weeks I’ve ever experienced. Read More

PorchDrinking.com -New Belgium Brewing Company GABF Booth Set Up

Ever wonder what goes into setting up a major booth, or as the industry calls them, an endcap booth at the Great American Beer Festival?  New Belgium Brewery out of Fort Collins, Colorado was nice enough to allow us to shadow their Thursday morning set up. We condensed that approximately two hour process into one and a half minutes.  A big thanks to New Belgium Brewing!

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GABF First Night’s Recap

Admittedly I should be at a beer brunch right now.  Thats not happening.  Last night spiraled out of control real fast as most GABFs usually do.  Now I sit here … Read More

GABF Sour, Hoppy, and Rare Beer Routes

We are literally hours away from the opening bagpipes sounding at GABF so we decided to condense a brief round up of which Sour, Hoppy and Rare beers to look for at the event.  Also be sure to follow us on Twitter at @PorchDrinkingCO or check back at 6 Mountain, 8 Eastern for a live blog from the event!

Sours- You know that kid that always had a steady cache of Warheads back in the 90s?  This is exactly the kind of beers they’d be taking.  You ready to pucker up? Read More