Ultimate 6er | Six Beers to Stock in Your Easter Basket

Easter will be different this year. While Easter mass, celebrations and social gatherings will all-but be cancelled due to current social distancing guidelines, this time of the year still gives you an opportunity to stock up on sugary sweets and decadent chocolate during your weekly grocery run. With that in mind, we thought it would be fun to pull together a list of six beers perfect for an Easter basket (or barrel) that works from sweet and tart to stout and savory. Instead of SweeTarts, Reese’s Eggs and Peep’s, you get milk stout, lambic-styles, chocolate porters and more. Here’s our Ultimate 6er of beers to stock in your Easter basket this year. 

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Embrace the Suck | Covid-19 Crisis Editorial

Embrace the Suck: verb, slang, military slang. “To consciously accept or appreciate something that is extremely unpleasant but unavoidable for forward progress.”

The Embrace the Suck mantra does not suggest that we should celebrate the suck, find joy in the suck nor pretend a situation isn’t as bad as it seems. Embrace the Suck requires one to accept fully that our present situation does indeed suck, and that we must willingly accept it. We must understand that it has to suck for a while and that only by enduring can we eventually arrive at a point where it no longer sucks.

And that is where we are in the world, which includes everything attached to craft beer.
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Left Hand Brewing | Galactic Cowboy

Traveling through the ever evolving galaxy that is craft brewing requires a delicate balance of knowing your roots, but willing to experiment. One of the pioneers of craft beer, Left Hand Brewing of Longmont, Colorado, is not one to rest of their laurels. With recent changes such as launching a CBD infused beverage called Present with WAAYB Organics, modifying the iconic red Left Hand logo and re-designing packaging to include the new logo, announcing a new Denver taproom location, and adding beers to both their regular and NITRO series of beers, you can clearly see that Left Hand is preparing for the next frontier.

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Five Chicagoland Patios for Craft Beer We Can’t Wait to Visit Again

Chicagoans cherish their patios as much as their tavern-style pizza or beef sandwiches. While we’re all staying inside to help flatten the curve and get through this pandemic as safely as possible, I couldn’t help but make a list of the patios I want to visit as soon as it’s safe to do so.

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Ultimate 6er | The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Are Drinking Craft Beer

During this medical pandemic, let’s have some childhood fun! Let’s think back to when we were growing up, before the time of hand sanitizers and coughing into your elbow like Count Dracula. What better way is there to bring history into the present situation than to consider the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who were named for Renaissance artists who were around when the first quarantine originated? What might these fun-loving mutants of the sewer choose to drink, pouring one to enjoy with their pizza? Let’s find out.

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Newgrass Brewing | Balloonhead Berliner Weisse

Newgrass Brewing opened its doors in July 2015 in the quaint town of Shelby, NC. They are located between Charlotte and Asheville, just off of Highway 74, making it a convenient stop when traveling between the two cities.

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Brewery Bracket Challenge | Which College Has the Best Brewery Scene?

Well, it certainly wasn’t the March Madness we’ve all come to anticipate. And while the Coronavirus may have put a damper on the actual tournament itself, the PorchDrinking team still … Read More

Dixie Beer to Become Hometown Saint’s NFL Draft Headquarters

For many sports fanatics, myself included, the one event we have to look forward to in the near future is the NFL Draft. The NFL canceled the event in Las Vegas but is still committed to doing the draft virtually. Each NFL team will operate digitally and adhere to the appropriate social distancing guidelines from their selected remote locations, as team facilities are closed as well. As teams work tirelessly on their draft boards, they now have to plan for an added variable: Where do we host our draft headquarters? Thankfully, the decision was easy for the New Orleans Saints, whose owner, Gayle Benson, also happens to own Dixie Beer. Putting the two together made sense. 

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Berkshire Brewing Company | Cabin Fever

New England winters can become notoriously harsh. Residents are no stranger to feet upon feet of snow throughout the season, which could start as early as October and end as late as April. Why you might ask, is winter still being discussed in the spring? We all know what happens when people can’t leave their houses and become restless. They get cabin fever, of course! You read that title and knew exactly where I was going with this, didn’t you?

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Despite the Festival’s Cancellation, Collaboration Fest Beers Now Available to the Public

A few weeks ago, the Colorado Brewers Guild (CBG) had to make the difficult decision to cancel this year’s Collaboration Fest due to the developing COVID-19 pandemic and concerns over public health and safety. This would have been CBG’s seventh annual event and was originally created as an opportunity to bring together breweries and the collaborative spirit. It was a difficult decision for them because over the years, it became one of their largest fundraising efforts.

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What We’re Drinking | April 3, 2020

Hope everyone is hanging in there amidst this global pandemic —we really are in this together. With the growing number of people testing positive for the virus to the ever growing number of unemployed due to this pandemic it’s getting harder to find a bright spot. Our PorchDrinking team has been my bright spot, and many adorable animal Instagram accounts keep me laughing and smiling during this period. The PD crew has amazing knowledge of craft beer and  is always turning me on to new things! Crack a cold one and check out what our team has been quenching their thirst with the past few weeks! Stay safe out there, folks!

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Portland’s Cascade Brewing Announces Sale to Local Investors

A cornerstone of Portland and the Oregon craft beer scene, Cascade has been a pioneer in the Pacific Northwest for their innovative sour beers. It was announced yesterday that, after … Read More

Oskar Blues Brewery Announces New 2020 Barrel-Aged Series

Just when folks could likely use a bit of good news and good beer, Oskar Blues Brewery is doing their part to make the rest of 2020 look a little … Read More

Brewery Showcase | Energy City Brewing

During these uncertain times, it is comforting to know that many breweries are still working on new flavors and beers to be consumed in the safety of one’s home. Energy City Brewing, located in the Chicagoland suburb of Batavia, Illinois, is reliable in its innovation of beer recipes and desire to release new brews to the public regularly. Relatively new to the brewery game, they received their official license on St. Patrick’s Day 2017, and brewed their first stout that same day. The stout in question actually began as an award-winning homebrew of co-founder David Files, who began homebrewing in 2005. Read More

WeldWerks Brewing Co. | Juicy Bits New England-Style IPA

Juicy Bits: it’s the beer that placed Greeley, Colorado-based WeldWerks Brewing Co. on the map for craft beer lovers across the state and throughout the Mountain region. Popular among amateur beer lovers and industry insiders alike, this New England-style IPA is as refreshing and flavorful as its name claims. Since its conception in 2016, WeldWerks has refreshed the recipe and created a number of successful spin offs, but there’s something special about the original Juicy Bits recipe that keeps beer lovers coming back for more.

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Wiley Roots Brewing Co. | Next Day Vanilla

Although the weather may be warming up a bit here and there, it’s still nice to enjoy a good, dark beer every so often. Rich, sweet, and all around delicious, Next Day Vanilla from Wiley Roots Brewing Co. is one that you can’t go wrong with. This particular brew is one of six variants that has a special, interactive element that adds to the experience of enjoying this beer. Read More

Breaking Down America’s Top 50 Largest Breweries By Volume in 2019

Every year the Brewers Association releases their list of the top 50 breweries by volume based on overall craft beer sales for the previous year.

We took a quick look at last … Read More

Ultimate 6er | Dreams of Ontario

I know that we’re all trapped inside with a wicked case of cabin fever, but there’s no reason that we can’t start daydreaming about our next beer-cation. I highly suggest heading north of the border and exploring the Canadian province of Ontario. It’s more than just Toronto, and you’d better let that fact marinate! That’s why I’ve compiled this 6er of Ontarian brews to get the planning started. Whether the economy opens up on Easter or long after, you’ll be ready to hit the road.

Pitter patter! Let’s get at ‘er!

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Northbound Smokehouse and Brewpub | Big Jim IPA

There’s a lot to love about Northbound Smokehouse and Brewpub. Their wings are voted one of the best in the Twin Cities, their fried chicken sandwich is Food Network famous and their patio is one of the best places to bring your four-legged friend in Minnesota’s treasured patio months.

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Bold Republic Brewing | Jalapeño Cream Ale

Belton, TX is a small, quiet town about an hour north of Austin with some excellent food and beer offerings for visitors and residents. Until recently, though, it had no breweries. In 2018, that all changed. Bold Republic Brewing Company has been running strong and offering tasty craft beer ever since, even during these times of quarantines, lockdowns and social distancing.

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