New Belgium Brewing + Teatulia Teas | Black Berry Black Tea Sour

New Belgium Brewing has long reigned as the sour beer monarch of Fort Collins, Colorado with their impressive lineup of Barrel-Aged Sours regularly releasing from their expansive foeder room. The pointedly named Black Berry Black Tea Sour, in collaboration with Teatulia Teas in Denver, is a Dark Sour Ale that shows that there are still a lot of flavor combinations to be found in the future of sour beer. Read More

Arbeiter Brewing Co. | Hoop Jump Cold IPA

Have you ever had a “Cold IPA?” No, we are not talking about the one that you just pulled from the refrigerator. The history of a Cold IPA is relatively new, but the development is credited to Wayfinder Beer out of Portland, Ore. Cold IPAs are a thing of beauty and smell the part too. On one side, you have that smell of the hoppiness from an IPA. On the other, you have that clean, crisp style of a lager. Do not mistake these as IPLs, which seems to be a common thread. Read More

Imperiale Beer Project | Masa Brentwood IPA

What started with a large genus of the American IPA further whittles down to your West Coast IPA and New England IPA, and even giving states their own with the Colorado IPA giving rise in the mid-2010s. But getting as niche as a city? Brentwood, California is a small city that sits on the fringes of the East Bay but can feel worlds away with its vast array of farmland that surrounds the adorable downtown. Mostly known for their cherry, peach, and corn production and a smattering of u-pick-it farms, this small community just got its first brewery. The newly minted Imperiale Beer Project wanted to pay homage to the agricultural background of the city they call home with their Masa Brentwood IPA.

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Foundation Brewing Co. | My Jam Sour Fruited Ales

As waves crash against the rocky coast and boisterous gulls soar over historic brick buildings and sidewalks, Portland, Maine slowly begins to see the hustle and bustle of summer tourists return. According to C+R Research, as of 2021, Portland has the highest number of breweries per capita nationwide with 18 per 50,000 people and no visit to Portland is complete without multiple brewery stops.

Although there are fourteen breweries or brewpubs alone to visit on Portland’s three-mile-long peninsula, it is well worth it to make the journey inland to Industrial Way, where five different breweries reside. Thirsty beer drinkers are known to stroll from one tasting room to another, enjoying a wide range of beer styles and food trucks. With Allagash Brewing Co. as the cornerstone of the neighborhood, the industrial buildings on this aptly named road quickly filled with brewery upstarts during the initial craft boom of the 2010s and thrives today as the home of Foundation Brewing Co.
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Sonder Brewing Releases Collaboration Beer With Kings Island Amusement Park

After an eight hour day of riding every roller coaster and ride possible at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio, there was nothing better than ending your day with the infamous blue ice cream while sitting under the Eiffel Tower look-alike overlooking the fountain. While attempting to not spill the blue ice cream on yourself, you realize how much your feet hurt and that you forgot to apply that second coat of sunscreen. At that point, nothing tasted better.

To take us back to those summer afternoons, Sonder Brewing has released Blue Ice Cream Ale, a collaboration beer with Kings Island Amusement Park.

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18th Street Brewery | Devil’s Cup Pale Ale

Just a stone’s throw from the saturated market that is Chicago, and in the large shadow that is cast by craft beer darlings, Three Floyds, sits 18th Street Brewery. Since opening their doors in 2013, 18th Street has kept their nose to the grindstone, cranking out some mighty fine beers for close to a decade.

Despite being just a neighborhood brewery in Indiana, 18th Street is no stranger to national acclaim. They’ve been invited to coveted beer fests such as Wake Fest, collaborated with cool-kid breweries like Mikkeller, and were voted top brewpub in the nation by USA Today in 2019. 18th Street may not have the mainstream popularity of their aforementioned neighbor yet, but the beer they produce continues to earn them industry cred and respect of their peers that hype can’t buy.

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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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Drowned Lands Brewery | Harvest Kill Sour IPA

Beers are getting stranger and stranger. While certainly with every candy bar stout and imminent explosion smoothie release a German purity law angel loses their wings, there is no denying that some of this experimentation has produced delectable results. Satiating the appetite of the voracious beer aficionado mandates that breweries put in enough ingredients to fuel a flux capacitor, but what about those of us who like to experiment, yet still want what we’re drinking to have at least a passing resemblance to the artist formerly known as “beer”? Well, let’s introduce you to The Drowned Lands and Harvest Kill, a Sour IPA that hits the balance just right. Read More

Urban South & Verdant Brewing (UK) | Hop The Pond IPA

In just five years, New Orleans’ Urban South Brewing has made a huge impact in the beer world and is currently one of the fastest-growing breweries in the U.S. With more than 200 beers released to date, multiple awards under their belt and newly expanded distribution across Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi, Urban South are riding high and celebrating their fifth anniversary in style with a 15-beer collaboration project that includes some of the biggest names in U.S. craft beer. Drekker, American Solera, Aslin and Pontoon are all involved in this highly ambitious project that includes beer styles ranging from mixed-fermentation Table Beer to Fruited Pastry Sour to TIPA.

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Green Flash Brewing Co. | Saturhaze IPA

Green Flash Brewing Co., since its founding in 2002, has endured crazy growth and national expansion, as well as financial troubles and company restructuring. So when they asked me to try Saturhaze, it intrigued me to see what they were up to. Read More

Botanical Beer Series | Anvil & Forge Brewing Wolf’s Bane Grey Tart

It’s natural to seek silver linings in bad situations, but when storm clouds hung above our collective heads during the COVID19, crisis, Anvil & Forge Brewing and Distilling provided Illinois beer drinkers with some helpful grey — Earl Grey Tea, to me more specific. Earlier this year, Illinois Beer drinkers partook in a March Madness bracket-style beer event — #BEERacket — that, yet again, served as a virtual replacement for the in-person festivals we once took for granted. But, amid that reminder of the trouble caused by the evil microbe came a host of good beers, including Springfield Illinois’ Anvil & Forge Wolf Bane Grey Tart, a sour ale with with lemon peel, dried wild bergamot flower and Earl Grey Tea. An exemplary botanical beer, Wolf’s Bane reminds beer drinkers that there are still brewers willing to producing flavorful beers outside the realm of “trendy styles.”

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Fire Maker | Chattahooch-Tea Southeastern IPA

Fire Maker Brewing Co. has been creating a spark in Atlanta, Georgia, over the past year. They opened their doors last year in the middle of the pandemic, but that didn’t stop them from lighting up the Georgia brewing scene. If they weren’t already on your radar, USA Today ranking them the #2 best new brewery in America should have tipped you off that things are heating up at Fire Maker Brewing Co. Thankfully their Head Brewer, Tyler Cox, created Chattahooch-Tea Southeastern IPA, a sweet tea-inspired Hazy IPA, to help cool you down.
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Pure Project | Lief Méthode Traditionnelle

San Diego-based Pure Project started its craft brewing journey in Costa Rica in 2014 but has been firmly ensconced on the west coast since 2016. However, the brewery still focuses on many of the elements that made its Costa Rican location and the initial brewery concept unique like using pure, unique and local ingredients whenever possible, giving back to environmental nonprofits and often starting with the ingredients before determining the style of beer they’ll create. Lief is one such beer.

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Zillicoah Beer Co. | Witbiere

Zillicoah Beer Co.’s latest Witbiere is a bit of mountain springtime in a glass. This 4.2% ABV barrel-aged wheat beer uses coriander, orange peel, chamomile and old-world fermentation techniques to make it interesting and add depth. The brew evokes the fresh scent in the air that appears after one of the short showers that define spring in the brewery’s hometown of Asheville, NC. 

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Suffolk Punch Brewing | New Sours

Suffolk Punch Brewing opened in 2017 and just released their first-ever “true” Sours. Woolverstone, Riverwilde and Lord Fogh were aged for three years in French wine barrels and released in April.

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Pherm Brewing Co. | Get On the Bus Hazy DIPA

Pherm Brewing, located in Gambrills, Maryland fills a giant geographic hole in the Maryland beer scene and is a welcome addition to an area that has lacked craft breweries since, well, ever. Pherm opened its doors mid-pandemic this January and is already pumping out very high-quality beers.

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New Braunfels Brewing Co. | Death for Breakfast

Once a phrase linked solely with Oatmeal Stouts, the term ‘breakfast beer’ is now applied to beers ranging from Milkshake and Smoothie Fruited Sours to Oat IPAs. Of course, what you may or may not consider to be a true ‘breakfast beer’ invariably depends on what you choose to have for breakfast, but the link between oat content and breakfastiness in a beer remains undisputed.

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Cinco de Mayo | A Collection of Mexican Lagers

Cinco de Mayo has come to mean less about its history and more about parties filled with fishbowl margaritas, music and taco platters, and maybe that’s not such a bad thing. The Mexican-American relationship has undoubtedly been a strained one over the centuries. Indeed, such events as endless immigration issues, the Bracero Program and the U.S.-Mexican War (and subsequent Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo where Mexico ceded 55 percent of its territory to the U.S. — present-day Arizona, California, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah) mark the struggles between two countries. So, sure, there are plenty of real-life, geopolitical issues that can be discussed. And, yes, some confuse Cinco de Mayo with Mexican Independence day, instead of its true meaning: the date of the Mexican army’s May 5, 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War (also known as Battle of Puebla Day). But, why not let it be a celebration of Mexican food and culture, even if it’s a bit cheesy (pun intended)? Maybe it’s good to forget the meaning and just have fun. At PorchDrinking.com, that means enjoying Mexican Lagers, demonstrated by the nine writers who recently showcased the style — enjoy!

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Ghost Town Brewing | Toonces Pale Ale

Label art can tell you a lot about a brewery. It’s a bonus in such a saturated market to not only have label recognition for your devotees but also grab the attention of the bottle shop browser. In Northern California you can spot the iconic Anchor Steam from across a liquor store, you know the pastel puns of Humble Sea will always be pleasing, and in the East Bay, the metal-inspired labels of Ghost Town Brewing are always eye-catching.

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Wallenpaupack Brewing Co. | Lake Haze #15: Morning Haze

Nestled in Hawley, PA, Wallenpaupack Brewing Co. consistently churns out award-winning and fan-favorite beers that celebrate a variety of different styles. Whether you’re looking for a Pilsner, Stout, IPA or even an English Pale Mild Ale, Wallenpaupack offers a variety of beer styles with an underlying consistency in quality. One of the beer series that consistently showcases Wallenpaupack’s creativity and brewing expertise is their award-winning Lake Haze IPA series which explores and celebrates a variety of different Double IPAs from West Coast to Imperial and even coffee. The latest edition, Lake Haze #15: Morning Haze DIPA is a creative and ambitious take on how coffee can add and augment the unique flavors in a Hazy IPA.

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