GABF
Event Recap | Goose Island ‘Grit & Grain’ Premiere
September 28, 2015 | Brian Phipps
Thursday afternoon’s premiere of Grit & Grain at the Denver Film Society was a wonderful celebration of Goose Island’s legendary Bourbon County Stout. A great crowd from the craft beer industry came … Read More
How To Burn Off The Beer from GABF
September 28, 2015 | Brady Akers
With all the amazing beers you are able to try at Great American Beer Fest, the last thing on your mind is probably keeping off the excess pounds from the additional beers you drink. No one wants to imitate a hamster on the treadmill in your hotel. Steve Allen, the fitness consultant and president of Fitness Please!, gives some fun and very Denver ways to sweat off the suds.
“It doesn’t matter what you do to get moving, but you’ll be more effective if you are enjoying yourself.”
Steve Allen, Fitness Consultant & President of Fitness Please!
GABF Event Preview | NBB & Leopold Bros Whiskey Sour Barrel Hour
September 25, 2015 | Tristan Chan
When: Saturday, September 26 at 1pm
Where: Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox – 1215 20th Street, Denver, CO
Pat yourself on the back. You’ve survived most of GABF week and you’re still … Read More
2015 GABF Theme Route | Fruit Beers
September 25, 2015 | Brady Akers
If life gives you lemons, throw them in an awesome shandy or sour beer. You can find almost every fruit in the pour list for this year’s Great American Beer Festival. From strawberries to blueberries and even guava, the fruit added to beer gives it another level of complexity and often refreshment too. Fruit can be added to pretty much any beer style, which means this theme route can take you to a smorgasbord of flavors on your palette. Chris Day, Tristan Chan, and I looked through the list of GABF beers to help you hone in on fruit beers at the festival. Again, this list is not the end-all, be-all list of fruit beers, but it can help you jump start your adventure. Let us guide your way to the Fruit Beers at the 2015 Great American Beer Festival.
Other themed routes:
2015 GABF Theme Route | Unique Beers
September 25, 2015 | Brady Akers
Check out our other themed routes:
How to One Up that Pretzel Necklace
September 24, 2015 | Josh Ritenour 1
The age old debate on whether to wear a pretzel necklace to a beer festival dates back to Baron Marzen Dortmunder Zwickel Weizendoppelbock III’s attendance at the very first Oktoberfest in 1810, the tradition continued when Benjamin Franklin donned his own braided treat to Thomas Jefferson’s collaboration fest with fellow founding father Samuel Adams. And now we celebrate these pioneers by donning our own tasty carb-tastic accessories. However, as the times change and fashion evolves we’ve learned to upgrade our necklaces to hold much more than mere pretzels. While some have tricked out their gear with beef jerky, cookies, doughnuts and more, we thought we’d take it to the next level by asking Xzibit to… Read More
GABF Tour | Denver Breweries You Won’t Find on the Floor
September 24, 2015 | Chris Day
With all the focus on GABF this week, it’s easy to overlook the fact that more than a dozen Denver breweries won’t be pouring at the festival, including some of our favorites. When you have some downtime in between sessions, consider visiting one of these local breweries, especially if you’re an out-of-towner. Many are hosting special tappings and other events to celebrate the fest. Check our event calendar for more details. Read More
2015 GABF Theme Route | Rare Beers
September 24, 2015 | Brady Akers
Great American Beer Festival can be a great place to summon your inner-Indiana Jones and find a real treasure in the beer world. Breweries utilize GABF to show off some of their biggest and best beers, but if you play your cards right, you can also find some once-in-a-lifetime finds. Chris Day, Tristan Chan, and I searched high and low through brewery pour lists to find you your Holy Grail.
Let our list guide you and your travel companions on a journey to find some of the festival’s rarest beers. Keep in mind that there are many other gems to find on your own too!
Other themed routes:
2015 GABF Theme Route | Hoppy Beers
September 23, 2015 | Brady Akers
As you can tell from our Sours & Wilds Theme Route, we are trying to make your Great American Beer Festival as incredible and easy as possible. To help you make the most of your festival experience, Tristan Chan, Chris Day and I continue our tour guide services through Hoppy Beers. Coming soon, you’ll have a path through Rare Beers, Big Beers, and Unique Beers. You can check out our Sours and Wilds Route here. We’ll give you the breweries, beers and descriptions, then let you go from there.
Today’s theme route focuses on Hoppy Beers. There will be an incredible amount of hoppy beers at GABF, but we’ve looked at all the breweries pour lists to give you the cream of the crop. As we said with the sours, this list is by no means a complete list of all hoppy beers, but it is a great starting point. Take this list as a map to guide your way Hoppy Beers at the 2015 Great American Beer Festival.
Beer Celebrities You May See at Great American Beer Fest 2015
September 23, 2015 | Brady Akers
Great American Beer Festival is a great opportunity for beer geeks, like yours truly, to rub elbows with the best in the craft beer industry. Last year, we introduced you to some of the most famous people in the beer world that you might run across at Great American Beer Festival. Out of that list of 25 celeBEERties, I was able to meet 10 of them, including Garrett Oliver, Dick Cantwell and my beer crush, Sam Calagione.
Most of last year’s class will likely attend GABF this year, but we have a new list of beer celebrities to keep your eye out for, including some of the world’s best brewers, actors/musicians that are trying their hand at brewing, and advocates for the industry. Read More
303 Magazine Presents | Where to Eat Near GABF
September 22, 2015 | Brittany Werges
Story by Brittany Werges, Food and Booze Editor for 303 Magazine. Check out 303 for more GABF coverage throughout the week!
Every year, during early fall, Denver turns into what … Read More
2015 GABF Theme Route | Big Beers
September 22, 2015 | Brady Akers
‘Go Big or Go Home’ is a motto used by brewers and attendees alike at GABF. Many breweries bring some of their heaviest beers to share during the GABF sessions. Tristan Chan, Chris Day, and I looked through each brewery’s pour list to create our list of the best beers above 9.5%. This route can be incredibly rewarding but please heed our warning.
Tread lightly with our Big Beers list, as the high ABV can easily sneak up on you with these delicious drinks. Big beers can easily lead to an early end to your night and a tough morning the next day. We didn’t just put any big beer on this list. There are a lot of other high-ABV ales for you to find on your own!
2015 GABF | Must Try GABF Events
September 21, 2015 | Cory Pelc
WELCOME TO GABF WEEK 2015! Lace those drinkin’ boots up, tighten up that lederhosen, and let’s get ready to drink our weights in delicious craft beer!!!!!
We have been updating our events calendar for the last few weeks and we realize that it is as heady as a freshly shaken Belgian beer . . . We are foaming at the brim with events. We have a lot going on but have highlighted some of our favorite events.
What events will you make it to this week?!
2015 GABF Theme Route | Sours & Wilds
September 21, 2015 | Brady Akers
Attending a session at Great American Beer Festival can be overwhelming, even for the most experienced beer fan. To help you make the most of your festival experience, Tristan Chan, Chris Day and I would like to be your tour guide through several distinct craft beer journeys including Sour & Wild Beers, Rare Beers, Big Beers, Fruit Beers, Hoppy Beers and Unique Beers. We’ll give you the breweries, beers and descriptions, then let you go from there.
Today’s theme route focuses on Sour & Wild Beers, which have gained incredible popularity over the last few years. If you are looking for beers that make your lips pucker and mouth water, you have chosen the right adventure today. This list is by no means a complete list of all sours, but it is a great starting point. Grab some Tums and join us on your journey through Sour Beers at the 2015 Great American Beer Festival.
2015 GABF Pour List Preview
September 17, 2015 | Chris Day 1
Updated September 23rd
Every year, beginning in July, we kick off a massive outreach to every brewery attending the Great American Beer Festival in an attempt to get a … Read More
GABF | 2015 Fantasy Brewery Draft Picks
September 16, 2015 | Tristan Chan 1
All graphics created by Erin Horn
We here at PorchDrinking believe beer should be fun. So two years ago we set out to add a different take on the Great … Read More
LIVE CHAT | 2015 Fantasy Brewery Draft
September 11, 2015 | Tristan Chan
We here at PorchDrinking believe beer should be fun. So two years ago we set out to add a different take on the Great American Beer Festival by inviting a mix of national and local writers to participate in our GABF Fantasy Brewery Draft. Each year we draft breweries based on how we believe they’ll finish during GABF awards ceremony and earn points based on those finishes.
During the inaugural year, PorchDrinking took home the gold, last year Brewtally Insane took first narrowly edging out Mike Snider of USA Today, who also did a wonderful write up of our draft. But this year the field is out for blood. We had a few of the previous year’s participants come and go, but we also added a new host of new talent to join our familiar friends. Here’s how the field shook out.
Read More
Hops & Pie Tease GABF Week Rare Beer Events
August 28, 2015 | Chris Day
Veterans of the Great American Beer Festival know the festivities that week aren’t limited to three days at the Colorado Convention Center. Exotic beers seem to magically appear in every nook and cranny of Denver and surrounding areas. After receiving a sneak peek at some of what Berkeley’s Hops & Pie has planned, we suggest making time in your schedule for a field trip.
BREAKING | Bell’s Brewery Beers Coming to Colorado for GABF
August 24, 2015 | Tristan Chan
That’s right midwesterners, your wet dream is finally coming true… at least for a few weeks beginning September 21. This morning Kalamazoo based, Bell’s Brewery announced that Crooked Stave Artisan Ales … Read More
GABF Beer Geek Callout
August 11, 2015 | Brady Akers
If you are the go-to guy or gal in your group of friends when there is any question about beer, brewing, or breweries, have we got the opportunity for … Read More
recent comments