BREAKING | 2023 World Beer Cup Results Announced

For the first time in its 14 competition history, the World Beer Cup has shifted from taking place every other year to becoming a yearly event.

This year’s World Beer … Read More

Colorado Breweries Win Big at 2023 World Beer Cup Awards

In the first year that the Brewers Association moved the 2023 World Beer Cup to a yearly event, Colorado breweries came out and had themselves a massive showing. Often referred … Read More

Three Chicago Breweries Launch the Brewer’s Triangle

Chicago is well-known for its multitude of breweries, and it can be overwhelming for a first-time visitor to try to decide which ones to go to. Certain Chicago neighborhoods have more breweries than some, such as Avondale and Logan Square. Three of the breweries in this area have combined forces to create the Brewer’s Triangle, a newly formed conglomerate of Maplewood Brewery & Distillery, Ravinia Brewing Co. and Metropolitan Brewing.

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West Sixth Brewing | Sun Shade Wheat

Kentucky’s West Sixth Brewing has announced its latest Seasonal Rotator series of beers. Sun Shade Wheat, a sessionable, low-ABV (5%)  American Wheat Ale, is perfect for enjoying in the summer sun.

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2023 Craft Brewers Conference External Events Guild

The Craft Brewers Conference returns to Nashville in 2023. This year in addition to dodging the onslaught of bachelor and bachelorette parties, you’ve also got to navigate throngs of Taylor Swift fanatics. Thankfully the one thing you won’t need to stress over is sifting through the multitude of external events surrounding the Craft Brewers Conference.

To help you break down everything happening outside of the festival, be sure to refer back to PorchDrinking’s roundup of 2023 Craft Brewers Conference External Events Guide.

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Urban South HTX Celebrates 3rd Anniversary With 8 Circus-Themed Collaboration Beers

While Urban South HTX just turned three (in “beer years”) they feel significantly older. They have successfully established themselves in the Houston beer scene, at the forefront of Houston’s ever-escalating fruited sour boom. Created as the R&D branch of NOLA’s largest brewery by volume, Urban South HTX arrived on the scene with more than a pinch of cheek and a strongly anti-establishment identity as part of craft beer’s new guard. Pushing the boundaries of the possible, Urban South HTX is known for their avant-garde flavors, from Strawberry Nesquik and Starburst Gummie to Cheeseburger and Detroit Style Mexican Pizza–yes, these are all real beer flavors.

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Event Preview | Free The Whales Beer Fest

Free The Whales Beer Fest will be held at Resident Culture Brewing Co. and HopFly Brewing Co. on Saturday, July 1. This festival is designed to highlight the industry’s most sought after and hard-to-find beers, also known as the whales! For its eighth year, Free The Whales is hitting the road and taking place in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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Together Is Not Always Better: How Consolidation In the Middle Tier Is Impacting The Future of Craft Beer Brands

For most craft breweries, the trajectory of brand growth follows a somewhat traditional path – starting with taproom sales, progressing to selling in the wholesale channel, and then alignment with a beer wholesaler to grow the distribution footprint. Sounds simple enough on paper, but if you drill down into the nuances of selling beer wholesale, things get complicated very quickly. The US is unlike any other country in the world when it comes to the three-tier alcohol distribution system. Some states do not allow suppliers to self-distribute (sell directly) their products to licensed retail accounts, yielding asinine practices like selling beer to yourself for your own taproom. Some states are also dubbed “franchise” law states where if your brand aligns with a distributor you must endure a contractual arrangement that makes changing distributor partners harder than selling beachfront property in Arizona. And we haven’t even begun to address the large big beer elephant in the room and how many large beer distribution houses are aligned with one of two big players in the US beer market. For many craft brands that are just getting started or fall into the category of small to medium-sized producers, strategizing how to enter the wholesale channel is a formidable challenge, including contending with a host of other legislative, litigious, and anti-competitive issues in the middle tier that have surfaced over the past few decades. As if growing craft beer producers didn’t have enough to contend with these days in the form of rising costs of goods, labor shortages, inflation, and the squeeze from alternative beverage choices in the marketplace, woes like wholesaler consolidation, unfair trade practices, and antiquated beverage alcohol regulations are making the middle tier the next big battleground for craft beer brands. 

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Colorado’s Best Light Mexican Lagers Blind Tasting Presented by On Tap Credit Union

Back with the first of four scheduled Blind Tastings for 2023, the starting style on this year’s slate is Light Mexican Lagers. The goal is to find some of the best Light Mexican Lagers around Colorado. For this Blind Tasting, a group of eight judges evaluated 35 Light Mexican Lagers. Beers were submitted from breweries of all different sizes from all across Colorado.

PorchDrinking’s Blind Tasting Series is presented by On Tap Credit Union.

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Urban Roots Brewing | Pile of Kittens Hazy IPA

It’s not every day you get to order a Pile of Kittens. Finally, a beer that’s just as fun to order as it is to drink. Read More

WeldWerks Invitational Paused, Medianoche Market Introduced

Colorado craft beer fans will have one less major beer festival on the calendar for 2023. WeldWerks recently announced they are hitting pause on hosting the WeldWerks Invitational as they focus time and energy on their largest brewhouse expansion to date. “This is a good year to pause and reevaluate what the experience of the Invitational is and what we want it to be and how we want to keep progressing it,” says Kristin Popcheff, director of events & experience at WeldWerks.

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Colorado Beer Beat | Bi-Weekly Beer Release Guide 4/20

Welcome to the Colorado Beer Beat, a bi-weekly roundup of all of the new can releases around the state. From Denver to Grand Junction and everywhere in between, we have you covered. Be sure to check back on Thursdays (usually!) to find out what’s new in the Colorado beer scene.

If you’ve got a hankering for some of the best gluten-free beer in the state or want to see all there is to see in the Colorado gluten-free food industry, look no further! Holidaily is bringing back its Gluten-Free Foodie Fest on May 6. The Gluten-Free Foodie Festival will take place at the Holidaily Golden taproom, including four food trucks, five food pop-ups, and 10+ Holidaily taps flowing that are 100% gluten-free.

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Fiction Beer Co. Opening Second Brewery & Taproom Location in Parker

Denver’s Fiction Beer Company (Fiction) is ready to write its next chapter by opening a second brewery and taproom location in Parker, CO.

The iconic book-themed brewery, which has gained notoriety over recent years for its proficiency in brewing Hazy IPAs, Lagers, and specialty barrel-aged beers, slush-styles, and seltzers, is primed to extend its reach by opening a second location at 19523 Hess Rd, Parker, CO. Fiction Beer Company’s Parker location, which is slated to open in May 2023, will once again feature the brand’s iconic signature book bar, a spacious taproom, and will eventually add an outdoor patio space as well.

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Event Recap | Dry Dock Brewing Can Bash

The crack of exploding cans and an intermittent mist of beer announced the return of Dry Dock Brewing Can Bash to its North Dock location last Saturday. Participants received cases of expired beer, golf clubs and permission to tee off, with messy results. Read More

The PorchCast Ep 104 | Sam Tierney & Brad Miles: Firestone Walker Innovation Team

In episode 104 of The PorchCast, our team had the chance to sit down with Sam Tierney, Propogator Brewery Manager, and Brad Miles, Innovations Manager for Firestone Walker Brewing. This dynamic duo heads up research and development for Firestone Walker and the two been essential in the creation of iconic brands like Mind Haze, Hopnosis, and the recently released Double Hopnosis West Coast Imperial IPA featuring Cryo Hops just to name a few.

We had the opportunity to catch up with Miles and Tierney to find out a bit more about how R&D works at Firestone Walker, how their small-batch collaborations come about, and what other exciting products they’ve been working on as well as so much more.

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Yazoo Brewing Co. | Sue Imperial Smoked Porter

Nashville’s Yazoo Brewing Company has a reputation for unique versions of classic styles. Its Imperial Smoked Porter, Sue, is no exception.

With a 2010 Great American Beer Festival silver medal and a description from BeerAdvocate of “Epic,” you should already want to give Sue a try, but let’s give you some more reasons.

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2023 Brewers Association Industry Award Winners

Yesterday, the Brewers Association announced its Industry Award recipients for 2023. The five recipients are Ret. Representative Peter DeFazio, Ben Edmunds, Jessica and Richard Fierro, and Julie Rhodes. All will be officially honored at a ceremony on May 8, 2023, at the Craft Brewers Conference. Starting in 1987, the Brewers Association presents the Industry Awards to individuals that “inspire, defend, and innovate within the craft brewing industry.”

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Forbidden Root | Peach Wit

There’s a new beer in Forbidden Root’s core lineup. Forbidden Root Peach Wit is a Wheat beer brewed with peach, rose, chamomile, jasmine, mahleb, arris root, osmanthus flowers, and sour orange. Along with this new introduction, all Forbidden Root beers will now be offered in sixteen-ounce cans. Trust me, you’ll want the extra ounces of this one. Peach Wit joins Strawberry Basil Hefeweizen in Forbidden Root’s core beer lineup, giving distribution partners some variety.

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Meet Me In California | 2023 California Craft Beer Summit Recap

The 2023 California Craft Beer Summit highlighted the industry’s achievements and current challenges. The Summit has changed some of its focus from past years. The educational sessions were geared 100% toward the industry. They had no general “beer lover” element, which meant no beer and donut pairings for the beer geeks. This year’s event also did not culminate with a beer festival.

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Lagunitas Reopens its Chicago Taproom

This week, Lagunitas reopens its Chicago taproom in Douglass Park. Before you keep reading, open Spotify, search “Pure Imagination” and press play. Ready? OK. The Lagunitas Taproom reopens to the public on Thursday, April 13. You’re immediately transported back in time when you open the doors of the 30,000-square-foot brewing facility. Right away, guests are greeted with the nostalgic tune from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Both Lagunitas and the filmare set in a vast and imaginative space. The same 32 taps line the bar in the upstairs taproom, and the kitchen is serving bar bites, sandwiches, mussels and more.

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