Midwest
Elm Creek Brewing | 3rd Anniversary Brewery Spotlight
June 12, 2023 | Jack Bateman
As Elm Creek Brewing Company nears its 3rd anniversary, not only do they have a party and festivities to look forward to on June 23-25, but also the start of a whole new era for the brewery.
South Asian Brewers Team Up with Chicago’s Brewseum on Collaboration Beer
June 7, 2023 | Tristan Chan
One of the most compelling developments in craft beer over the last decade has been the shift in appreciation toward incorporating authentic techniques and ingredients in brewing native to cultures … Read More
Universal Studios Entertainment & 4 Hands Brewing Set to Release Voltron, Series One Beer
May 26, 2023 | Brian Margiotta
In an exciting development, St. Louis’ own 4 Hands Brewing Company has announced a collaborative endeavor with Universal Studios Entertainment, World Events Productions (WEP), LLC, and a selection of the country’s best breweries.
Voltron was a popular animated television series that originally aired in the mid-1980s. Produced by World Events Productions, the show centered around a team of young pilots controlling a group of robot lions that combine to form Voltron, a gigantic robot warrior. Voltron, often called the “Defender of the Universe,” battles evil forces to maintain peace across the galaxy.
Urban Chestnut releases new beer with Saint Louis Zoo
May 23, 2023 | Brian Margiotta
Urban Chestnut Brewing Company and the Saint Louis Zoo have again joined forces to raise awareness about animal welfare and conservation through a special brew. STL Zoo Bier Red Panda Light Lager, a clean and easy-drinking beer, pays tribute to the zoo’s red pandas, Pete and Winnie, featuring the adorable species on its can.
56 Brewing | ‘Ssippi Squeeze IPA
May 18, 2023 | Jack Bateman
With the warm summer months coming up, it’s time to take a closer look at a light, refreshing, citrusy IPA that is readily available in the Twin Cities for those long days on the lake. The IPA in question? ‘Ssippi Squeeze IPA from 56 Brewing.
Melvin Brewing’s St. Louis Location Changes Ownership & Launches Renaming Campaign
May 12, 2023 | Brian Margiotta
Since the Roadhouse Brewery Group completed its acquisition of Melvin Brewing Co. last December, the future of Melvin Brewing’s Eureka location in the St. Louis area has been uncertain. This week, both Melvin Brewing & the St. Louis Brewers Heritage Foundation revealed new details on the future of Melvin Brewing Eureka.
Ohio Breweries Continue Their Awards Success at WBC
May 11, 2023 | David Nilsen 1
Ohio craft breweries earned 10 medals at this week’s World Beer Cup (WBC) in Nashville, Tennessee. Continuing the Buckeye state’s run of success at the Brewers Association’s largest events — WBC and the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) — seven Ohio breweries earned medals, including six golds for beers deemed the best in their style against breweries around the world. 10,213 beers from 2,375 breweries in 51 countries competed for medals in 103 categories.
Three Chicago Breweries Launch the Brewer’s Triangle
May 9, 2023 | Emma Wargolet
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.
Forbidden Root | Peach Wit
April 14, 2023 | Rachel Morrison
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.
Lagunitas Reopens its Chicago Taproom
April 11, 2023 | Rachel Morrison
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.
AleBlazers Series | One Year Later with Funkytown Brewery
April 10, 2023 | Emma Wargolet
A brewery that has made a huge splash on the Chicago craft beer scene over the past year has been Funkytown Brewery, who brews at Pilot Project Brewing in both Chicago, IL and Milwaukee, WI. Owners Richard Bloomfield, Zachary Day and Gregory Williams chatted with PorchDrinking in February 2022 as a part of our AleBlazers series, so naturally we needed to catch up with them and see how the last year has been and where 2023 is taking them!
Flora Brewing Set to Make Commercial Debut at Pilot Project Brewing
April 3, 2023 | Emma Wargolet
Pilot Project Brewing, a brewery incubator based in Chicago, with a second location in Milwaukee, WI, is a collaborative space where multiple breweries are able to enter the market without certain barriers that traditionally plague startup breweries. Their newest addition is Flora Brewing, Sarah Flora’s brewery that started contract brewing recently, though many know her from her homebrewing videos over the past six years. Flora Brewing will be launching four beers, with the release event set for Saturday, April 29.
Bean to Barstool Podcast | Wolves, Sons & Ethereal Confections
March 29, 2023 | David Nilsen
In this episode we talk with Chris Davison of Wolf’s Ridge Brewing and Colin Vent of Seventh Son Brewing, both in Columbus, Ohio, who use quality cacao in a variety of their beers. Both brewers source their cacao from Ethereal Confections with Ethereal Confections in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, and we’ll also talk with Marisa Allen and Michael Ervin of Ethereal, who also provide cacao to a variety of other breweries.
BREAKING | Karben4 Set to Re-Release Ale Asylum Beers
March 16, 2023 | Emma Wargolet
For those across the Midwest, Ale Asylum Brewery in Madison, Wisconsin, was a staple of their beer fridge until they closed in July of 2022 after 16 years of operation. Less than a year later, however, their bold flavors are set to make a comeback under the Karben4 Brewing flag. Karben4 owners, brothers Ryan and Zak Koga, are excited to re-launch these staples of Madison craft beer in the same city that they operate their brewery.
Pathlight Brewing | No Touchy Barleywine
February 28, 2023 | Givon Blakney
Pathlight Brewing of Shawnee, Kansas, joined the ranks of events that nobody saw coming in February. Random flying objects drifting across the country. Rihanna revealing her pregnancy during the Super Bowl. And Pathlight Brewing rereleased its notorious No Touchy, a 14% ABV Barleywine that quickly became a legend in the Kansas City metro area in 2022. Read More
Yellow Springs & Urban Artifact Partner to Benefit Women’s Brewing Scholarship
February 24, 2023 | David Nilsen
Two southwest Ohio breweries are partnering for International Women’s Day to brew beers that will benefit a women’s scholarship to Cincinnati State’s Brewing Science program. Yellow Springs Brewery in Yellow Springs and Urban Artifact in Cincinnati will brew two beers to be released on March 4, with proceeds providing scholarship funds for a woman to attend the Brewing Science certificate or degree program and ideally enter the brewing industry. The collaboration is being organized by women at each brewery who credit the support and camaraderie of other women in helping them advance their careers.
BlackStack Brewing | Local 755 IPA
February 20, 2023 | Jack Bateman
In the Minnesota beer scene, it typically does not take long to find a really good Hazy IPA. With numerous breweries in the Twin Cities serving up solid Hazy styles year-round, there are plenty to try at any given time.
Off Color Brewing | Sī Fáng Pale Lager
February 9, 2023 | Rachel Morrison
Off Color Brewing of Chicago is known for its funky beers, an IPA-free menu and mice illustrations. More recently, the brewery is known for a sold-out beer and dumpling pairing event for the release of Sī Fáng Pale Lager, brewed in collaboration with QXY Dumplings. The collaboration between Off Color and QXY is unique from other collaborations. Typically, two breweries collaborate and leverage both of their respective audiences. For Sī Fáng, Off Color collaborated with Qing Xiang Yuan (QXY) to highlight an underrepresented neighborhood of Chicago, Chinatown. Unlike a regular beer release, the Off Color team worked with their friends at QXY to create not only an incredible beer but an exciting pairing experience.
Ultimate 6er | Road Trip Regional Edition: Midwest
January 26, 2023 | Jason Murphy
Join us as we road trip across the United States in what is to be a follow-up article to the Craft Beer Across America article. In that article, we explored a craft beer from every state (excluding districts and territories) to showcase some of the unknown, or lesser-known, craftier beers that the U.S. craft beer scene has to offer. While that article focused mainly on the beers, this article focuses on specific breweries from a region we think would be fun to visit. We’re going to sprinkle in a couple of bigger craft breweries in each six-brewery regional section just to help spread the word for some of the not-so-big breweries in the mix.
Inside Revolution Brewing’s Latest Deep Wood Release
January 18, 2023 | Mike Zoller
Capping off the 2022-23 Deep Wood lineup from Revolution Brewing are two of the most highly anticipated releases since the beers were announced over the summer. Later this week, several locations will host preview parties and pickups will begin.
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