Bison Brewing | Organic Chocolate Stout

Bison Brewing’s Organic Chocolate is one of my favorite stouts, and has been for the last few years or so. It is rich in flavor without being heavy in the body, and low enough in alcohol to be sessionable. This is definitely NOT a sweet stout. (If sweet is your thing, check out Samuel Smith’s Organic Chocolate stout.) Brewed with Peruvian cocoa and roasted barley, this beer boasts big coffee and dark chocolate flavors.

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Bell’s Brewing | Oberon Ale

In Michigan, Bell’s Oberon Ale means summertime. All over the state, there are parties and midnight keg-tappings on Oberon’s early spring release date, which this year fell on March 24. In Bell’s Brewery’s hometown of Kalamazoo, Oberon Day is nothing short of a holiday.

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SweetWater Brewing – Happy Ending

As confusing as the weather is right now for us Ohioans, I felt this beer would be perfect to drink and talk about. SweetWater’s Happy Ending is an Imperial Stout that possesses a much different taste than most others of it’s kind. It is dark in body, has a creamy mocha head and a hoppy citrus nose with light coffee notes? What? That’s right, not only do you get the full body of a stout, but also the hoppy bitterness of an IPA. Now this is not crazy punch you in taste buds hops, but enough to make you do a double take on the beer you just drank.

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Lost Abbey | Deliverance

ABV: 12.5%

This week I woke up and it felt like somebody just emptied a fistful of quarters into a Magic Fingers bed. Only I’m at home in California, not in a South Dakota Super8 circa 1978, and that means… earthquake! I’d never felt a quake before, and really it was over as soon as it started. Nothing cracked or fell, and even my pictures stayed straight on the wall. So it was mostly an excuse for folks to go all Chicken Little all over Twitter, but it was a little unsettling to think about the ground opening up and swallowing us all. What better beer to mark a “near death experience” than Deliverance from Lost Abbey.

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Three Floyds Brewery | Alpha King Pale Ale

ABV 6.6%

IBU 68

One day, every Spring a vast percentage of my social networking feeds suddenly revolve around one topic: Dark Lord Day. Some will actually score tickets. Many will not. Either way, this “golden” ticket release day serves as a reminder to a couple very important things for me. 1. Spring is here. (DLD is always held the last Saturday of April.) 2. Beer Festival season is officially beginning. Just three short weeks after DLD, Chicago Craft Beer Week will begin… and it starts. 3. There will inevitably be a trip planned in the near future where Chicago pals will bicycle along the Lakefront path to the Three Floyds Brewery and enjoy the day. And lastly, 4. I remember why I love Three Floyds and that is, while they serve as a great beer year round, the majority of their portfolio is made up of great summer delights. Read More

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace

7.60% ABV

Ante up PorchDrinker, because today we have the Brooklyn Sorachi Ace on our table and it is…aces. Sorry, I had to. This delightful saison was intended for summers, but after its original warm-weathered debut, Brooklyn Brewery fans liked it so much, it worked its way off the seasonal list and onto the Brewmaster’s Reserve, offered year round. While I can see the summer appeal it is certainly a brew good for any season. However, The thing I like the most about this beer is that it has a little bit of everything, all rolled into one. (Yes, I did just accidentally slip into some Meredith Brooks lyrics there. I cringed for a second, but then I got over it. You will too.) This beer is somehow simultaneously crisp yet comforting, light but big, and strong but subtle. Basically, you’ve hit blackjack my friend. Read More

Evil Twin Brewing Freudian Slip

Evil Twin Brewing – Freudian Slip
ABV: 10.3%
IBU: ??? People still tabulate this bullshit?! Stop Analysing things, Sigmund!

A Freudian slip, also called parapraxis, is an error in speech, memory, or physical action that is interpreted as occurring due to the interference of an unconscious (“dynamically repressed”) subdued wish, conflict, or train of thought guided by the super-ego and the rules of correct behavior. They reveal a “source outside the speech”. The concept is thus part of classical psychoanalysis.

Blah, blah, blah . . . Outside of psychoanalysis, Freudian Slip, should only refer to a beer made with no mistake, no error, no subdued wishes, no conflicts, no trains of thought derailed . . . And if my super-ego wants to delve into a delicious American Barleywine like Freudian Slip, so be it!

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Southampton Publick House – Imperial Porter

With Spring Forward a very big part of our lives this past weekend, you would almost think it was time for this writer to find a new style of beer … Read More

Spoetzl Brewery – Shiner Bock

ABV: 4.4%

Bitterness: 13 IBU

Shiner Bock. I couldn’t tell you the first time I tried it, but my most recent love affair with the Texas brew began shortly after Christmas. My friends Christine, Samantha and I went to see Dallas Buyers Club, and at the end of the film Jennifer Garner and Matthew McConaughey are splitting none other than (you guessed it!) a bottle of Shiner Bock. Up until this point, I had kind of forgotten about it, which isn’t fair to such a stellar beer, but it just got lost in the fray. Read More

Infinite Monkey Theorem | Barrel Aged Citra Dry Hopped Pear Cider

There are moments in your life that become firmly imprinted for the rest of your existence. The first time you ride a bike, the first time you see your team … Read More

Against the Grain Rico Sauvin

Against the Grain Rico Sauvin

ABV: 7.6%

I passed a lone bottle of Against the Grain’s Rico Sauvin IPA at Party Mart in Louisville, Ky. And then I stopped. And then I picked up the bottle. The gentleman on the wrapper peered suggestively at me. I registered vague surprise that the bottle wasn’t sticky.

I mean… look at that dude. He is so skanky. The pimply nose… the hop cone mustache… the tickled nipple. He stares into the skanky part of your soul. Then again, I think he reflects the beer-drinking facet that I love the most: skanky soul-searching. Preferably at 1AM+. I carried the bottle to the counter.

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Atwater Brewery | Vanilla Java Porter

ABV 5.50%

IBU 12

You can’t drink all day without starting in the morning. On a cold Michigan morning like this, Atwater Brewery’s Vanilla Java Porter ain’t a bad place to start. Read More

Petrus Oud Bruin

Photo provided by www.betterbeerblog.com

ABV 5.5%

A day off generally revolves around weighing being productive or the more common form of procrastination. Luckily on my day off I was able … Read More

Stochasticity Project | Grapefruit Slam IPA

ABV: 8.2%

IBU: 95

I was recently asked someone in passing what their favorite citrus fruit was. Is that an odd question? I guess that’s the kind of question you ask and can expect an honest-to-god answer. Why would anyone taradiddle on tangerines? I think you can tell a lot about a person by their taste in citrus fruit – I’d venture that a majority of replies will be “ummm, oranges?”. That’s fine, oranges are good, but in all honesty, they’re the Bud Light of the citrus world. I don’t have anything against oranges or the good people who grow them (I have a glass of OJ every morning when I wake up) but this answer is all too milquetoast. There are so many varieties of citrus fruit; it’s damn hard to get anything but excited about them. The lowly citron, the mandarin orange, the lemon, the Kumquat!, the possibilities are endless. Read More

Green Flash Brewing | Hop Odyssey Black IPA

ABV: 7.2%
IBU: 85

As spring approaches and Colorado’s notoriously schizophrenic weather becomes even more erratic, I find myself having an increasingly hard time deciding between a soothing, satisfying stout or a creature with sharper, hop-stained teeth. In these moments of seasonal indecision, my favor often falls on Black IPAs, especially ones crafted by West Coast breweries.
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Harpoon The Long Thaw

ABV: 6.2%

IBU: 45

Harpoon Brewery

Since starting PorchDrinking people have on numerous occasions asked me what my favorite beer was. Like most people who have had their share of … Read More

Prairie Artisan Ales- Eliza5beth

This was my first foray into the world of beers from Prairie Artisan Ales out of Krebs, Oklahoma, and I have heard nothing but excellent opinions of their creations. So when I was able to snag a bottle of their Eliza5beth Farmhouse Ale when I was back in Colorado, I was both excited and curious. It’s not that I am new to farmhouse ales by any stretch of the imagination; I have just found it extremely hard to find their beers. My only regret was that I didn’t buy more…

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Mosaic Black Bitter — La Brasserie du Mont Salève

La Brasserie du Mont Salève wears its name well: nestled at the foot of Mont Salève near the Swiss border, this French brewery has been turning out some of France’s most interesting beers since 2010. Head brewer Mickaël Novo likes to experiment with strong flavors, but don’t assume that means strong beers. The Mosaic Black Bitter is an intensely hoppy beer that surprises at a mere 3.5% ABV.

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Odell Brewing | Lugene Chocolate Milk Stout

ABV: 8.5%

I am not sure which is more exciting, Odell Brewing Company‘s chocolate milk stout known as Lugene or the story behind its name. It is no secret that Fort Collins produces a lot of spent grain in order to make beer, and it all has to go somewhere. For the past decade, the spent grain from Odell’s has been picked up by local farmer, Lugene Sas to feed his dairy cows at Taft Hill Dairy. That’s an entire two truckloads a day! The staff at Odell even made a fun photo editorial of the process to show how it is used.  Read More

Perennial Artisan Ales and Penrose Brewing | Hereafter

ABV – 9.30%

Perennial Artisan Ales

Oh fruit beers. Whether it be over sweetened shandys or adding an orange Blue Moon, for a while fruit and beer combos got a … Read More