Green Beer Day | Miami University

Every year on Miami University’s campus thousands of students voluntarily climb out of their slumber at approximately 4 or 5 a.m. for a pilgrimage up High Street. Their mecca lies Uptown where at 5:30 a.m. on the Thursday before spring break, every bar opens inordinately early to pour an Olympic pool’s amount of green colored beer. Today, March 16, is that day. A national holiday dubbed Green Beer Day (GBD).

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New Kids on the Block 80’s Party

We are extremely excited to announce a pair of radical parties coming up celebrating Colorado Craft Beer Week! The week of festivities put on by the Colorado Brewers Guild aims to celebrate Colorado breweries, their beer and the people who brew them.  CCBW will also feature special tappings, food and beer pairings, educational events and more including the Legends and Rarities event and the New Kids on the Block 80’s Party.

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Homebrewing 101 – Your First Brew & Ingredients

This is part 2 of an ongoing series on homebrewing. For part one on equipment & pre-brewing prep, please go here.

Now that you have the right equipment, you need some ingredients for your first batch. If you are reading this article, you most likely know the four main ingredients in beer: Grains, Hops, Water, & Yeast. Quite simple, but within each of these categories there are a lot of options. While you might be intimidated by all of the selections, your first batch should be a simple one. I know you are probably excited to make the most amazing vanilla caramel mocha latte milk stout, complete with all sorts of fancy spices and ingredients, but that is not the way to start. You can’t be a five star chef without learning the ropes along the way, and the same can be said about being a brewer.

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BrewRiver GastroPub

I recently went on a first date to BrewRiver GastroPub in Cincinnati. Although it’s been open since last July, I just hadn’t found the time or the right company to enjoy it with until now. BrewRiver—aptly named since it sits along the Ohio River—gets on board with the local trend for all the right reasons. Their site states, “Supporting ‘local’ isn’t just about local food and drink. It’s also about the idea that when we support one another fully, there are no boundaries to consider and no lines to cross.” When I read that, I had a feeling I was in for a good experience.

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More Lessons from Cincy Winter Beerfest 2013

I have now been to two beer festivals in the Queen City both planned by Cincy Beerfest, and they do a good job of putting on an event from the two most important aspects – social and  liquid.

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Beercade: Beer Dispensing Arcade Game

Yeah you read that right… it’s a beer dispensing arcade game.  Just when you thought the only people who played video games were World of Warcraft addicts who drank Bawls Sodas and wore adult diapers, McKinney ad agency created something that having you dusting off your joystick and adding gigs to your hard drive.

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Lessons Learned at Cincy Winter Beer Fest 2013

With the culmination of Cincinnati Beer Week, local beer aficionados headed to Duke Convention Center for the grande finale: Cincy Winter Beer Fest February 15-16. I went Friday night to snap some pictures knowing basically what was in store— a lot of beer, some new favorites, probably a little bit of hilarity— and when I left I had a night full of lessons captured on film. Here is a list of the top 5 things I learned at Cincy Winter Beer Fest, in photos.

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Chocolate Pretzel Beer Toffee

We would like to wish our staff writer Karen Lai a very special congratulations on her engagement last night.  Karen started with PorchDrinking when we first formed and is considered Tristan’s faux-sister.  Earlier this year she wrote about cooking Chocolate Pretzel Beer Toffee with Rivertown Brewing’s Hop Bomber Pale Ale.  Here’s that post and once again a very special congratulations to Karen and Sam!

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40 Days of Water

Before I embark on 40 Days of Water, tonight my church, House for All Sinners and Saints, will be congregating at the Denver Bicycle Café to celebrate Fat Tuesday with donuts and beer. Yes, beer. House for All Sinners and Saints (HFASS for short, and, yes, we do realize what that sounds like) loves beer. In the summers, we hold a “Blessing of the Bicycles” complete with a pizza party and a pony keg of Fat Tire. In the winters, we hold “Beer & Carols” at the Irish Snug, an event in which we turn every Christmas carol into the single greatest drinking song you have ever heard. And you know, that’s how we roll.
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Why I Don’t Drink “Shitty” Beer

The term “beer snob” is being thrown around these days to talk about a superiority complex around the beer one drinks. A beer snob might only drink craft beer and even be particular in the brewery or type of beer. I have recently decided that I will not spend my money on any beer but craft beer. I guess I’m a beer snob, but let me tell you my reasoning.

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Mountain Sun Brewing’s Stout Month

Mountain Sun Brewing’s Stout Month is coming. And as the immortal Samuel L. Jackson once said, “Hold on to your butts.” Every year, amidst the cold bitter winter months shines a beacon of hope and happiness. This year marks the 20th anniversary of Stout Month for the Mountain Sun family and it promises to be bigger, bolder and more stout than ever (see what I did there?)

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Porch Sessions: Meet Your Brewer John Fiorilli Vine Street Pub and Brewery

Porch Sessions are meant to take you behind the scenes of your favorite breweries to meet the people who make your beer possible. This week we were lucky enough to hang with John Fiorilli the head brewer of Vine Street Pub and Brewery.

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Vail Big Beers Belgians and Barleywines Festival Photo Gallery

As we mentioned on Monday the Vail Big Beers Belgians and Barleywines Festival was Legend… wait for it… dary it was LEGENDARY!  So we thought we’d share with you a few pictures that really helps to tell the full tale of exactly just how awesome it was.  These brilliant shots were taken by Erin Horn. Enjoy!

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Homebrew 101 – Equipment and Prepping to Brew

Most people know how to cook. In fact a lot of people excel at this skill, but if asked if they could make a drink from scratch using raw ingredients, most would pass. Well never fear fellow beer lovers, beer is no harder to make at home than Ramen. With some basic equipment, patience, and curiosity, you can make some amazing beers at home. First up in the series: Equipment & Sanitation

In order to make beer, there are some items that are must haves, and quite a few items that are optional but will make life easier if you have them, most of which come in handy during fermentation and bottling. Once you have the basics down, you can then explore into some equipment for more advanced brewing, but we will cover those when we reach that part of the series.

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Awesomesauce- BadLipReading

Move over Gossip Girl, there’s a new queen bee in town.

While Gossip Girl can be cutting, BadLipReading never fails to elicit a laugh.  The YouTube account’s owner has released a series of videos that embarrass politicians, musicians, and the occasional movie star in equal measure.  The anonymous creator takes video clips from the internet, television, and movies and overdubs the dialogue or lyrics to comic effect. Read More

New Beers Resolutions

Drink more craft beer!

So much amazing beer… so little time.

Don’t become a snob.

Yes we love to promote Craft, but really it all starts with beer to begin with. When talking to our friend in Kentucky they mentioned that right now it’s all about getting people to enjoy beer first, then expanding their horizons. So drink beer. Whether it’s Coors or Westy 12.

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Crafting a Nation Kickstarter

Recently we had the chance to sit down with Thomas Kolicko, the Director and one of the Producers of the upcoming documentary, Crafting a Nation.   This is the story of the recent boom of the craft beer industry throughout the United States.  Thomas’s mission much like ours here at PorchDrinking.com is to build a better beer community and he’s done so through this project.

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PorchDrinking and Country Boy Brewing God’s Pantry Food Bank Event

We are extremely excited to announce our first of many future benefit events.  Join us THIS Thursday, December 20, 2012 at Country Boy Brewing in Lexington, Kentucky for a night of special tappings with 10 percent of proceeds benefiting God’s Pantry Food Bank.

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Denver Bicycle Cafe- Beer and Bikes

Writer’s block.

I’m supposed to put together an article and my mind races for something to write about. A beer I’ve tried recently? Rantings from a brewery taproom? Perhaps a well put-together article about beer laws around the country and how the affect the beer-culture in those states. None of the above really gets me going and I continue to search for a topic until I realize what I really feel like writing about: beer and bikes.

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14th Annual Ohio Pawpaw Festival

Two months ago, back when it was still 70 degrees and absolutely gorgeous outside, I went back to good ol’ Athens, Ohio, home of Ohio Brew Week, to check out the beers on tap at the 14^th Annual Ohio Pawpaw Festival. For those of you who don’t know, the pawpaw is North America’s largest native tree fruit, and Southern Ohio is home to some of the largest and best tasting on the planet. I picked up my parents ’95 Jaguar and my good friend Bruce, and we headed out to Lake Snowden in Albany. Bruce was the optimal choice for a companion, as he was voted Athens 2^nd Best Bartender by The Athens News. Despite my parents having lived in Athens for the last 13 years, I had actually never been to the Pawpaw Festival before, and I was surprised by how many people were there. Read More