Uinta Brewing – Hop Notch IPA

ABV – 7.3%
IBU – 82

Let’s face it, it’s hard to find a microbrewed beer that isn’t just downright good. As a general rule, if it’s ONLY available in a six pack, you’re probably pretty safe when it comes to taste and quality. A unique or catchy name gets one bonus point. Make it come from somewhere else and BOOM, you have the perfect basic microbrew equation – the Uinta Hop Notch IPA, an equation used and perfected by many of the vastly growing microbreweries. Why then, even when absolutely enjoying the culmination of doing the math correctly, does a very small part of the back of my brain begin to utterly loathe it? What could have possibly gone awry?

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Stone Brewing Co. – Double Bastard Ale

11.2% ABV

The name of this beer says it all. Imagine if Snooki and Kanye had a child together (maybe the most terrifying thing I have ever conceived…) and then Kanye left during his/her/it’s youth. What would the product be? The most menacing and arrogant adolescent ever. Double your arrogant DNA, and you get double the devil child. Stone Brewing Co. doubles their Arrogant Bastard Ale and boggles the mind with their palate smashing Double Bastard. Read More

Arcadia Brewing Company – The Big Finish Ale

ABV: 5%

I was about to run to the store when there it was, The Big Finish Ale, staring me in the face. This gem has been hiding in my fridge since the day after Thanksgiving, when my boyfriend, brother and I stopped off at Arcadia Brewing Company on our drive home. There are several reasons why this beer is awesome:

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Kiuchi Brewery – Hitachino Nest Real Ginger Brew

Who said being a ginger was a bad thing? Well, it wasn’t me. Especially after experiencing the unique flavors of Hitachino Nest Real Ginger Brew from Kiuchi Brewery. A virgin to ginger beer, this brew definitely holds up to its name with strong notes of ginger roots in both the taste and the smell. It also has a great hoppy flavor for those who like IPA’s and light refreshing beer.

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Anchorage Brewing Co. – Whiteout WitBier

Whiteout WitBier – Anchorage Brewing Company

6.5% ABV

Even though a few days late for a New Year’s celebration, Anchorage Brewing Company‘s Whiteout WitBier is a bottle that is worthy of popping at any momentous occasion. This decidedly funky Witbier pairs perfectly with your most outRAGEous party. Put on your favorite party hat, crank up the jams and get after it! Read More

Great Divide- Orabelle

Generally speaking if you’re going to release a beer on New Year’s Eve, it better be pretty damn good. Great Divide’s Orabelle doesn’t disappoint. The spring seasonal Belgian Style Triple made it’s debut on New Years Eve in a tap room only release and for good reason.

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Odell Brewing Company- 5 Barrel Pale Ale

When I first moved to Colorado and discovered the wide world of craft beer, I fell into a dreamatorium universe of hops.  So it doesn’t come to any surprise that I wasn’t initially taken to Odell Brewing Company’s 5 Barrel Pale Ale, because simply put, I didn’t find it hoppy enough.   To be fair it is a Pale Ale, not an IPA and I was also comparing it to the likes of Odell’s IPA, New Belgium’s Ranger, and Ska’s Modus Hopperandi.  Apples to Oranges.

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Half Acre – Daisy Cutter Pale Ale

Half Acre Beer Company – 5.2% ABV

My Chicago friends and I try to occasionally exchange beer or meet-up to do an impromptu tasting. I make the trip back every couple months or so for work, and I always offer to bring some beer along with me. But here’s the thing – what’s available here is generally available on the east coast, with a few notable exceptions (Odell’s and some of the more recent craft brewery openings). Unfortunately, it’s not true the other way around. Despite living in a beer mecca, I find myself longing for the midwest beers I no longer have easy access to. My solution? I smuggle beer back in my luggage. The most frequent beer that I bring home with me? Daisy Cutter.

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Sierra Blanca Brewery- Roswell Alien Amber Ale

IBU – 15
ABV – 5.2%

Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve been duped. We’ve been had. Swindled. Swash-buckled. The wool has been pulled firmly over our eyes. It seems about every decade or so a new seemingly legitimate but later debunked “end of the world” scenario comes out and captures the nation, nay, the world. In 2012 it was the Mayan Apocalypse. In 1999, it was Y2K. Before that it was the threat of the Cold War, and even further back in history, the landing of aliens at Area 51 in Roswell, New Mexico. But one of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn’t belong; and I have the proof here in my hand in the form of Sierra Blanca Brewery’s Roswell Alien Amber Ale.

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Centennial IPA – Founder’s Brewing Co.

ABV: 7.2%

IBUs: 65

My latest trip home was dominated by delicious drinks. Is that enough alliteration for ya? But, seriously, I had some ridiculously good stuff while I was back in Louisville, KY for the holidays. One of my first beers of the trip was the Centennial IPA from Founder’s Brewing Co. Read More

Mountain Standard Double Black IPA – Odell Brewing Company

ABV: 9.5%

IBU: 60

 If there’s one thing about my palette when it comes to beer, it’s that hops and I are not friends. And usually when given the choice between a Bud Light Lime or a hand-crafted India Pale Ale, I’m going with the former. And this is why Odell’s Mountain Standard is an oddity to me. Not only is it an IPA, but it’s a double (also known as ‘Imperial’), brewed with double the hops and malt. That means it’s going to pack a punch on both your tongue and liver, clocking it at just under 10% alcohol. So imagine my surprise when I drink this fearsome brew with the olfactory anticipation of licking a pinecone, only to discover than HOT DAMN THIS BEER IS AMAZING.

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Southern Tier Brewing Company- Old Man Winter Ale

It’s my brother-in-law’s 30th birthday and I need to get him a gift. First, I need to decide what to get him. Beer. OK, that didn’t take long. But now that hard part, which one?

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Rogue Ales – Double Chocolate Stout

Rogue has always been one of my favorite breweries. Most people know them for their Dead Guy Ale, which in all rights is an amazing beer. However, their Double Chocolate Stout has now become my favorite Rogue brew and perhaps one of my favorite stouts. While it is available on draft, I have yet to see it in Colorado. It is also available in a bomber – it is one you can’t miss being in a bright fire engine red bottle.Turns out I am not the only one who loves this beer as it won a gold medal at the 2010 world beer championships.

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Merry Christmas from PorchDrinking!

We here at PorchDrinking would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!  Thank you for being part of our family over the past 6 months and we hope that you are getting to spend time with your own!  Here’s a recap of our 12 Beers of Christmas.  May this next year be filled with great cheer and even better beer!

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12 Beers of Christmas | Day 9- Mikkeller’s From To

8.0% ABV

Holy holiday cheer this beer is outstanding. Malty + sprucey + notes of a subtle mint chocolate. The balanced mouthfeel embodies a depth of both flavor and complexity, … Read More

12 Beers of Christmas | Day 8- Shiner Cheer

When you’re from Texas, you’re not just from Texas. Being from Texas is more like a lifestyle than a classification. We almost all get the state outline tattooed somewhere on … Read More

12 Beers of Christmas: Day 5 | New Belgium’s Snow Day

Growing up in Wisconsin, I am familiar with snow days. The anticipation as I went to bed wondering if it would be my alarm to wake me up or my mom coming in to unplug my clock and tell me school was cancelled. Putting on layers of waterproof clothes that would be enough to keep me warm as I played in the yard with my siblings for as many hours as my body could handle. Snow days have a special place in my heart, and as I open this cold bottle, warm memories come back to me. Read More

12 Beers of Christmas | Day 4- Southern Tier’s 2XMAS

“…with visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads…” If by sugar, he means malt, and by plumbs, he meant prunes. If he means stomach instead of head and drunken stupor instead of visions, then he must have bellied up at The Beer Trappe on Saturday night as Southern Tier’s 2XMAS joined the tap rotation. By the way, what the crap is a sugarplum?

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12 Beers of Christmas | Day 3-Sierra Nevada Brewing Company’s Celebration Ale

Style: American Style IPA
ABV: 6.8%
IBU: 65

Celebrate good times, come on!
It’s a celebration
Celebrate good times, come on!
Let’s celebrate… Read More

#9 | Magic Hat Brewing Co.

OMGeeeeeee! After a long awaited arrival, Magic Hat #9 is finally here! The first time I saw it sitting quietly in a liquor store cooler, I shrieked like a 10-year old school girl. Those of you from the East Coast have been able to get your hands on it for a while, and have tortured us less fortunate Coloradans with your tales of taste and complexity. But no more!

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