The Official PorchDrinking.com Presidential Debate Drinking Game

Tonight, the two men running for President will go head-to-head in Denver for a televised debate on domestic policy issues. According to the latest popular vote polling, it’s a dead heat (although according to the electoral vote, it’s already a landslide). While this campaign is not as exciting as the “Hope-And-Change,” “I-Can-See-Russia-From-My-House” quotes of 2008, the presidential debate tonight promises us a unique opportunity to see democracy in action and discern the ideological rifts between our candidates and our nation.
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Pacific Northwest GABF Regional Breakdown

Pacific Northwest (AK, OR, WA)

The Pacific Northwest – land of salmon, mass-consumer coffee, towering evergreens, and rocky, rainy coast lines. And, not surprisingly, a rich craft beer community. From the rugged mountains of Alaska, to the coastline communities of the Puget Sound to fixie riding hipsters of West Burnside, the Pacific Northwest offers up some of the Nation’s most recognized craft beer names with new breweries continuing to pop up in small towns and large cities alike. Here are our favorites that we’ll be attending at the Great American Beer Festival.
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Odell Brewing Company- Fort Collins, CO

One overcast September day, Odell Brewing harkened me to the Mecca of craft brewing, Fort Collins, for a few cozy tasters in their amazing taproom. As Lee Holliday and the Time Off crooned scintillating blues for the live music night, I admired the walls, embellished with huge rich oil paintings of their highly recognized and highly revered microbrews: Cut Throat Porter, Easy Street Wheat, Levity Amber, IPA, and of coarse 90 Shilling.
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Great Lakes Regional GABF Breakdown

Starting today we’ll be bringing you a regional break down of breweries you should definitely stop by during the festival.  In some cases we were also able to find out what specific beers they’ll be bringing.  Today we kick off our coverage on the Great Lakes region.  This includes breweries from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
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Strange Brewery – Denver, CO

I recently discovered that I’m kinda a weird dude. My friend Paula recently called me out for being an “Asian, hipster, frat boy from Kentucky who also listens to bluegrass/country music.” I guess she has a point. Perhaps that’s why I find Strange Brewery in Denver, CO so endearing.
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PorchDrinking GABF Coverage

Today marks the beginning of our two week long Great American Beer Festival coverage.  As such we’ll be mixing up our normal rotation a bit.  Each morning our writers will be previewing a local brewery for any local visitors who may be travelling to the area.  Moving into the late morning we’ll also be breaking down each of the regions with blurbs and in some cases beers to check out from those breweries.  We’ll still have our normal features in the afternoons such as the Ultimate 6ers, Week-in-Reviews, PorchDrinking Playlist, Fantasy Football and Storytime With Hank, as well as occasional festival related guides and features as well.
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Wynkoop Brewing Company- Denver, CO

This is where it all started, folks. Colorado’s esteemed governor, John Hickenlooper, helped plant the seed for what would eventually turn Denver into one of the top beer towns in the world at Wynkoop Brewing Company. Not only is Wynkoop celebrated as Denver’s first microbrewery/brewpub, it was also the first to utilize the long dormant factories peppering the city’s current downtown area. Before Coors Field and before LoDo turned into the weekend destination for locals, there was Wynkoop.
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Peach Porch Lounger – New Belgium Brewery

ABV: 9.4%
IBU: 0

It’s that time of year again, when Colorado (especially Palisade) peaches are ripe and ready to be turned into everything phenomenally peachy. And that’s exactly what New Belgium Brewery has done with its masterpiece of a beer Peach Porch Lounger.
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Tripel Horse Belgian-Style Tripel Ale

ABV – 10%
A Confession: As your faithful Northeast correspondent, my beer selection has been decidedly New York-centric.
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Ultimate 6er | Greatest Action Movie of All Time

One of my favorite conversations, and I think one of the most contested arguments throughout history, is that of the best action movie of all time. I have watched friendships end and new ones begin during the heated exchanges of Running Man versus Commando; Predator or Die Hard; Lion King or Aladdin?

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News: Great American Beer Fest Floor Plan Released!

The floor plan for this year’s Great American Beer Fest was released earlier this morning. Most notably this means that hardcore festival goers can begin plotting out their ultimate beer routes.  I’ve seen many approaches for GABF in the past. Here are a few to help you decide which route you might want to take first. We’ll be breaking down a few more routes in more detail in the coming weeks for our complete GABF Coverage:

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Schlafly Brand – Oatmeal Stout

ABV: 5.7%

Is it nerdy to love oatmeal? It’s kind of a weird food. If so, I’m a nerd—and that’s why Schlafly’s Oatmeal Stout hopped right off the shelf and into my hands. I think it goes along with the season, too.
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One Minute Beer Review: Southern Tier – Imperial Creme Brulee Stout

ABV: 9.6%

Take a moment and just take a big whiff of this beer before you actually drink this creme brulee stout. Goodness that’s heavenly. This brew treads that line … Read More

In Case of Emergency … Drink Beer

A recent NPR article explores a study conducted in 1957 titled Operation Teapot or “The Effect of Nuclear Explosions on Commercially Packaged Beverages.” The experiment examined the safety and drinkability of sodas and beers after placing cans and bottles of beverages next to an exploded atomic bomb. The verdict, bottoms up! Read more at NPR.
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Founders Brewing Co. – Double Trouble

ABV: 9.4%

IBU: 86

When choosing which beer to review this time around, I had one of two choices sitting in my fridge. Based on how the Bengals were playing in the first quarter against the Ravens, I opted to go with Founders Double Trouble IPA.
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Cincinnati Brew Fest Recap

As we often encourage, one of our PorchDrinking followers wanted to join us on the porch. So when Jason Behler requested to share his take on this year’s Cincinnati Brew Festival we were more than happy to give him the floor. Please welcome his contribution! Read More

PorchDrinking Fall Beer Preview 2012

One of the greatest things about fall along with football, leaf piles and apple cider is the stable of fall seasonal beers available. Honestly the multitude of pumpkin and spiced beers on the market can be a bit overwhelming so we tasked our writers with coming up with a fall beer preview. Here’s the variety of fall samplings they came up with. Read More

Ultimate 6er: Gettin’ Off Grid

Many of the writers here at PorchDrinking work hard and play harder in the beautiful state of Colorado which we call home. Somewhere in everyone’s soul is a need for exploration and discovery. I enjoy wandering the path less taken and it often takes me way off grid. In this ultimate 6er I exclusively review beers that are canned. Why you ask? Read More

Inaugural Boulder IPA Festival Part 2

Scott and I originally went into the inaugural Boulder IPA Festival believing that we would only receive 16 four oz. pours. So, when we arrived, we studied the list of 90 beers to star the must-drinks and quickly weeded out the beers we have had over and over again. However, once we checked in and dropped the completely badass “we’re on the guest list” line, we found out that we were VIPs.

Very. Important. Persons. Read More

Tommyknocker Brewery- Small Batch Harvest Pumpkin Ale

ABV: 5.0%

September weather calls for Pumpkin Ale

Fall is the time to be outdoors. Everyone, including myself, loves the summer weather, but there’s something very charming and complimentary about sipping on a nice brown pumpkin ale and not wasting headspace on whether I need sunscreen.
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