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.

Read More

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?

Read More

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.

Read More

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.”

Read More

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.
Read More

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.

Read More

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. 

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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!

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

Pint Glass History | Athentic Brewing Co. Horton House Pilsner

The American craft beer industry is still a relatively young movement — it started in the 1970s. The youth of our industry really shows when compared to the longevity of beer globally. Sure, the craft beer industry turns 70 this year, but prohibition is still in recent memory. Early pioneers of our craft moved mountains and steam-forged a path that led to Boston having its very own Lager and spectacular views from the coast of Maine. Read More

Policy Kings Brewery | Love Black IPA, Hate Hazy IPA

Policy Kings Brewery made history when it opened in late 2018, becoming Utah’s first Black-owned brewery. In 2021, the Cedar City-based nanobrewery released a pair of canned beers to “pay homage to Black culture,” said owners Deandre (Dre) and Sara Ridgel. The resulting Love/Hate Series features Love Black IPA and Hate Hazy IPA. Initially, two of each were sold together in 16-ounce four packs only at the brewery.

Read More

Hi Sign Brewing | El Berto the Mexican Lager

Craft beer is about people. For most, it’s about the people you enjoy the beer with. For breweries, it’s about people that enjoy your beer. For Hi Sign Brewing’s El Berto, it’s about the person that inspired a beer.
Read More

Ska Brewing | Mexican Logger

What started as a way to quench their thirst ended up blowing up for Ska Brewing and became one of the most widely recognized “OG” craft Mexican-style Lagers in Colorado and the United States. Light, crisp, and refreshing to enjoy, Mexican Logger is perfect to have in hand to welcome the warmer weather in Colorado after the winter months.

Read More

Austin Beerworks | La Verdad Mexican Lager

Austin Beerworks La Verdad is undoubtedly a champion of Texan Mexican Lagers. Its annual release heralds both Cinco de Mayo and the arrival of our sweaty summer season when lying by the pool or floating lazily down the Guadalupe is as much exertion as the weather allows any time after midday here in Central Texas. Now in its fifth year, the La Verdad was last year’s lockdown savior and kept us from parching even when we weren’t allowed in the water.

Read More