Seattle Cider Company | Golden Tonic Third Anniversary Cider

The craft cider revolution has claimed a permanent spot in the hearts and appetites of Seattleites, and no one is more responsible for cider’s huge boom in popularity than Seattle Cider Company. Hailing as Seattle’s first cidery since prohibition, Seattle Cider’s flagship Dry and Semi-Sweet ciders can be found in virtually every beer bar, cocktail bar and grocery store in the area. Their diverse array of ciders manages to showcase bold, refreshing flavors without tasting sugary or overly sweet.

Read More

Goose Island’s BCBS 2016 Announcement Greatly Exaggerated

For many beer enthusiasts, the release of Goose Island’s Bourbon County Brand Stout (BCBS) is akin to Christmas morning. The 2016 variants are beginning to leak through several sources, but according to Megan Lagesse, Communications Director at The High End beer division of Anheuser Busch (and whose office is situated at Goose Island), rumors of the BCBS release — regarding the exact variants — are untrue. She explained, “We have to submit many labels to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) prior to releasing the beer. We have to do that well in advance, but that doesn’t mean those are the actual, final versions. So, about those rumors. They are just not true.” Read More

Epic Brewing | Los Locos Mexican-Style Lager

ABV: 4.8%

From the first sip of a Los Locos, the Mexican-style Lager from Epic Brewing, you know you are in for something special.The all-too-familiar aroma of lime and salt is the first thing you notice. The tart lime flavor is definitely present, but never overwhelming, and the hint of sea salt seems to cut any lingering sweetness that may be present making Los Locos a crisp and refreshing beer. Read More

Brewery Showcase | Southbound Brewing Co.

Southbound Brewing Co. opened its brew kettle in May 2013 as the first production microbrewery in Savannah, Georgia. It is the brainchild of Smith Mathews and Carly Wiggins. But the story begins long before Southbound’s name was ever uttered.

Read More

Cherry Creek Winery | Dancing Elephants

ABV: 6%

I’m not normally a cider guy. I’m spoiled by good non-alcoholic cider in Michigan, and the different taste just confuses me. However, it’s the only type of craft beer that my boyfriend seems to actively enjoy (that’s in not small part to Vandermill of Grand Rapids coming to the Fall Detroit beer festival last year). Therefore, I ventured this summer in order to find something we can both enjoy. And the search came just in time. As The Rio Olympics pointed out in their bummer presentation, it’s historically hot and you gotta find a non-AC blasting way to keep cool on the strings of unbearably hot day. Delightfully, Cherry Creek Winery has decided to branch out from the grape game and created Dancing Elephants Hard Cherry Apple Cider.

Read More

What We’re Drinking | August 26th, 2016

Guess who’s back, back again? The PorchDrinking team has rejoined forces to bring back our weekly What We’re Drinking series. As the evenings grow shorter, the temperature begins to drop and we all know that summer is quickly coming to an end. Because of this, we are drinking whatever the hell we want. We love our seasonal brews but let’s be completely honest here. We love #allthebeers. So cheers to another awesome week and hoping we can stretch a little more out of this summer. Read More

Paradox Beer Company | No. 40 Pineapple Upside-Down Sour

ABV: 7.6%

It’s no secret that 2016 has been quite the year for sour and wild beers; some even argue it is THE style category of the year. You can’t turn your head in a decent bottle shop without spotting a new flavored Gose, Berliner or raspberry sour blend. It is the key for many breweries to stick out in this new wave of names and labels. Read More

#GoldStarToast Embodies Honor Brewing’s Mission

Nearly every brewery will say that their beer carries a story and that their mission is to do something more for their community. But Honor Brewing Company takes that rhetoric a … Read More

Brewery Showcase | Stickman Brews

American craft beer is like the history of the country itself. As a nation of immigrants, our brewers borrow their techniques from many different traditions, tweaking, combining and refining them into something uniquely american. Now, try imagining that we had a centuries old heritage of farmhouse brewing like Belgium. What impact would that have had on modern craft beer? Stickman Brews‘ mission is to find an answer that very question.
Read More

Wedtoberfest Combines Wedding Show with Beer Festival

Wedding shows – they’re typically geared towards the brides to come walk around and talk to different vendors to book for their big day. Usually you don’t see many guys at these shows… until now. Wedtoberfest takes place Sept. 22nd from 6-9pm at Artifacts Events in Chicago and combines a wedding show with a beer festival.

Read More

Crystal Lake Brewing | Beach Blonde

ABV 5.3 % | IBU: 18

Summer isn’t over yet. There’s still time. There’s still time for cook-outs, boating the lake or river, bonfires, s’mores and a backyard game of bags. With my first child coming hard down the pike and store shelves already bloated with Oktoberfests and pumpkin beers, I keep telling myself there’s still time to tick-off the activities on my summer must-do list. So perhaps that’s in part why I’m completely enamored with an easy drinking, well-rounded, and totally crushable beer from Crystal Lake Brewing. Read More

Yolo Brewing Encourages Personalization, Experimentation

How many times have you been on a brewery tour and thought, “I wonder what it’s like to actually brew this beer?” Or maybe you’ve been working your way through a flight of beers and you became inspired. “How awesome would this beer be if it had ___ in it?” I can gladly say, I have found the spot for you: Yolo Brewing Co. Read More

Event Preview | ThirstyBear Organic Brewery Celebrates 20 Years

Surviving as a brewpub in San Francisco for 20 years is tough. Switching to an organic brewpub for the last 10 years is even more difficult. Both of these milestones are reason to celebrate, and that is exactly what ThirstyBear Organic Brewery is doing this weekend. Read More

PorchDrinking’s Weekly Denver Beer Beat | August 24th, 2016

The Denver Beer Beat sheds light on news of brewery openings, special tappings, firkins and one-off batches, bottle releases, dinners, pairings, etc. Check our events on the Denver Beer Beat … Read More

S.A. Damm | Estrella Damm

So far, this summer has been a scorcher and in times of extreme heat, sometimes water just doesn’t cut it. A nice, cold beer can help ease the heat, quench … Read More

Event Recap | Rocky Mountain Cigar Festival 2016

Cigar purists are just like craft beer purists. That’s not a defamatory statement. That’s a big compliment. They embrace and showcase the vibrancy of their industry, the love of the leaf and the camaraderie that goes hand in hand with their hobby. They fight against regulation and the proverbial ‘man’ that holds them down, that tries to snub them out. While we feel their pain with the latter and their ongoing trials and tribulations with smoking ban after smoking ban, we see the big brands buying up our favorite craft breweries and controlling their distribution.

Read More

Brewery Showcase | Around the Bend Beer Company

Around the Bend Beer Company isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel; the two-year-old brewery is on a mission to make the wheel faster, slicker, and cooler. When brewing a Kolsch-style beer (Ghost of ‘Lectricity), a first-wort brewing process is applied to extract more hops flavor, yet also smooth out its edges. When Around the Bend brews an American Pale Ale (Silk Road), galangal is blended into the recipe. And who else make the connection between orange marmalade and a Double/Imperial IPA? You find it in Mr. Marmalade.

Read More

Event Preview | Upslope x REEL ROCK Beer Release Party

Upslope Brewing Company in Boulder is teaming up with their friends at the REEL ROCK Film Tour yet again to blend their shared passion for both vertical adventure and tasty … Read More

Temperance Beer Co. | Greenwood Beach Blonde Ale

Are you still searching for that perfect summer beer that can quench your insatiable thirst created by a scorching mid-day sun? Then you may want to wander over to Temperance Beer Co. in Evanston, IL, for their Greenwood Beach Blonde Ale with Pineapple. It is only around for a few months out of the year and makes its appearance on the Chicago beer scene in early May. Being named after Greenwood Street beach in Evanston, it makes sense that this blonde ale is one that you can sip on all day and truly enjoy what Temperance Beer Co. has brewed for you. Now back to the day where I first discovered this amazing beer! Read More

Inside the Tank | Stickman Brews’ Ethan Buckman

How would craft beer have evolved in America if we had a centuries-old farmhouse brewing tradition like Belgium? Head brewer and co-founder of Stickman Brews, Ethan Buckman, focuses his creativity on creating beers that could have existed in this alternate brewing history. He brews hop-forward American-style ales, which he then ferments farmhouse-style with different strains of Brettanomyces and wild yeasts in open-top fermenters. The resulting beers blur style guidelines in exciting new ways. Ethan doesn’t like to assign styles to his brews because he doesn’t feel there are any regularly used styles that accurately describe what he is trying to create.

He is probably right.

Read More