Rhinegeist | Streaker Rye IPA

ABV: 6% | IBU: 60

Streaker Rye IPA from Cincinnati’s up-and-coming  Rhinegeist provides insight into why this Queen City brewery is enjoying such rapid success. Rhinegeist recently celebrated its third anniversary, only days after partying with friends from New Belgium Brewery to help kick off the release of the Fat Tire and Friends CollaBEERation 25th Anniversary project (as reported by PorchDrinking’s Jasmin Hudacsek). In a crowded world of craft brewing, Rhinegeist is making beer enthusiasts take notice. Read More

Yards Brewing Co. | Brawler Ale

Photo courtesy of cornerpubsports.com

ABV: 4.2% | IBU: 20

With the NBA finals and Stanley Cup playoffs owning serious air time this week, I’d like to introduce a companion craft beer to keep up your competitive spirit and take you through those clock-stopping, breathtaking moments.

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Tröegs Brewing Company | Mad Elf

 ABV: 11% | IBU: 15

The stockings are all gone and trees line the street, but vision of Mad Elf labels still dance through my mind, as I reminisce on the fun we had at Christmas time! If you had a holiday season packed like mine, with a craft beer line-up to accommodate every party, then we might be sharing the same buzz, well into the new year.

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Fat Head’s Brewery | Pimp My Sleigh

ABV: 10.5% | IBU: 30

We’re still getting into the holiday spirit; almost two weeks until the 25th arrives! Once again, I have a Belgian Ale for your enjoyment, this time from Fat Head’s Brewery brewed in the sunny Cleveland area. I’m not joking this time around; we’ve actually had a mild and somewhat sunny late fall with little snow. Hopefully that will change soon. As we wait for the wintry weather, I would advise you all to stock up on your heavy ales, and Fat Head Brewery’s Pimp My Sleigh is a perfect choice for your evenings around the Yule Log this holiday season.

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Funky Buddha Brewery | Sweet Potato Casserole Strong Ale

ABV: 7.9% | IBU: 30

I am so happy to bring to you a VERY seasonally appropriate beer showcase thanks, in no small part, to Funky Buddha Brewery out of Oakland Park, FL, but mostly to our very own Jess Baker who brought enough home to share! I introduce to you, Funky Buddha’s highly celebrated Sweet Potato Casserole Strong Ale. Read More

KelSo Beer Co. | Nut Brown Lager

ABV: 5.75% | IBU: 19

We already know KelSo Beer Co. as a do-good brewery in Brooklyn with an expert brewer backing the name. What hasn’t been vicariously delivered from my words to your tastebuds however, is the incredibly simple but flavor-packed lineup that KelSo has to offer year round. I’m coming back to this favorited brewery of my PorchDrinking’s past with another promising must-try recommendation: Nut Brown Lager.

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Terrapin Beer Co. | Moo-Hoo Chocolate Milk Stout

ABV 6% | IBU 30

In anticipation of Terrapin Beer Co.’s upcoming Hop Harvest Festival, today’s beer showcase will feature the seasonally appropriate Moo-Hoo Chocolate Milk Stout. Admittedly, that is partly because I already consumed my bottle of their newest release, The Walking Dead Blood Orange IPA, but Moo-Hoo is well deserving of a write up. To some, Moo-Hoo will be a welcomed relief from the surge of IPAs over the summer and the ongoing flood of pumpkin-themed brews. It is a chocolatey marvel that comes out but once a year. Read More

Ultimate 6er | Awesome Autumn Ales

For those who love a crisp, cold ale to accompany the newly arriving autumn weather, this six pack was built for you.

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Event Recap | Inaugural Chicago Ale Fest

In a summer that has been plagued by cold temperatures and constant rain, Saturday’s 80 degree and sunny day was perfect timing for the inaugural Chicago Ale Fest.

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High Hops Brewery | The Power of Zeus APA

High Hops Brewery | The Power of Zeus APA

ABV: 7%
IBUs: 69

High Hops use Zeus hops from their field to create this powerful pale ale. The hop is named after Zeus the Toad, who greeted the High Hops folks after they planted their very first Zeus plant! An American Pale Ale, the Power of Zeus is drinking so well right now on the proverbial porch. If you like dark caramel, grilled bread, pine and spruce resin, white flowers, big citrus peel flavors and a honeyed finish, then you need to get this pale ale in your face!

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Evil Twin/Other Half Brewing | Beat It, Nerd!

ABV: 6.66%

While I was taking on Shredder as Donatello, and then later waiting in line for a chance at the original Pac-Man, I found myself accurately dubbed both gaming AND beer nerd in the dark, cavernous room on 24th street known as Barcade. Although positioned as a provider of hard-to-find arcade treasures, its extensive and ever changing craft beer list also brings in the highly obsessed brewery-type-folk looking to get their local fix.

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Portside Distillery and Brewery | 216

ABV: 5.7%

For many readers and imbibers, Cleveland may not be the city that first pops up in a conversation about craft beer. Granted, it is not of Denver’s or Portland’s magnitude when it comes to the industry. Despite that, Cleveland and its surrounding environs have blossomed over the past decade when it comes to the quantity and quality of the beer the region produces. You have Great Lakes Brewing Company in greater Cleveland, Thirsty Dog in Akron, and I have also name-dropped a few other places on this wonderful website. Today, I shall provide you with another more recent addition to the beer scene in this fair city: Portside Distillery and Brewery. Their main beer is aptly labeled 216, after the area code familiar to those living in Cleveland.

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Sixpoint for Bill’s Burger | Bill’s Brew ESB

When it comes to ingestion, there are no two substances I love more together than craft beer and red meat. This is the sole reason I am known by the servers at Bill’s Burger in the Meatpacking District on a first name basis. Whenever I am within walking distance of the joint, my feet involuntarily turn and pace straight towards the front door, stopping only by the contentment of being seated at a high top table, adorned with it’s infamous red and white checked table cloth atop.

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Wells and Young’s Brewery | McEwan’s Scotch Ale

Photo credit: McEwan’s.

ABV: 8.0%

IBU: Unknown

If I had to give you the pivotal year that launched my love of beer, it would have to be 2007. Despite my initial enjoyment of cask ales and the Guinnesses I had had in England a few years before that, I had not yet expanded my beer repertoire back in the United States. This beer expansion seven years ago had a lot to do with what I had found at a local bar here in Ohio, which had (and still has) a World Beer Tour with rotating beers from the United States and also across the world. That is where I found McEwan’s Scotch Ale, and that is when I knew that I had found one of my favorite beers and beer styles out there. With its import hiatus to the United States from approximately 2009 to 2013, I did not have the privilege of enjoying occasional pints of what I considered to be the nectar of the gods. However, after stumbling across a discussion board post online last year, I found out that Wells and Young’s had bought the McEwan’s label and decided to begin distributing this particular scotch ale across our great nation once more.  Read More

Greenport Harbor Brewing | Leaf Pile Ale

ABV: 5.2%

If there is one thing I absolutely need so that I cheerfully adjust to the seasonal transition of Fall, it would have to be pumpkin. Nothing says comfort like an over-sized sweater, multicolored horizon, warm fireplace, and a tall pint.  Read More

Two Roads Brewing Co. | Worker’s Comp Saison

ABV: 4.8%

The beauty of living on a landmass between the Hudson River, Long Island Sound, and Lower Bay, is that on the other side of those bodies of … Read More

Great Lakes Brewing | Spacewalker American Belgo

ABV: 8.2%

IBU: 65

If you explore the brief description on Spacewalker’s carrier, it reads:

“Perhaps one of space’s great mysteries is why so many of its explorers hail from Ohio. In honor of the 25 courageous astronauts who have called Ohio their terrestrial home, and the nine Ohio men and women who’ve logged hours walking in space, we present this adventurous brew.”  Read More

Blood & Honey American Ale – Revolver Brewing

ABV: 7.0%
IBU: 20

Flown in the checked baggage compartment and somehow managing to not shatter into a million pieces, I was gifted a bottle of this gem from a friend deep in the heart of Texas. He knows I’m a fan of beers from far and wide, and thought to bring one of his hometown favorites to grace my taste buds. And let me be the first to tell you, it did not disappoint in the slightest.

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Zipline Brewing: Jack’s Pale

5.2% ABV
30 IBU

If you ever happen to find yourself in Lincoln, Nebraska, make your way to Zipline Brewing. Better yet, make your way to Bread & Cup or Jack & June’s. Not only are these delicious restaurants in a city that isn’t particularly drowned in options, but these are the only two places in town with Zipline’s Jack’s Pale on draft. In fact, besides the brewery itself, these are the only two places you can even get the beer—it’s a Zipline/Bread & Cup/Jack & June’s exclusive. And it’s delicious. Read More

Blue Moon Brewing Co. – Mountain Abbey Ale

ABV: 5.6%

This year we went to Carrollton, Kentucky for Thanksgiving. My brother Kyle lives in Cincinnati, so we stopped at his place on our way down. I know you all don’t know my family, but let me just say, we love our alcohol. I mean we had to bring the alcohol to dinner because there wasn’t going to be any there otherwise. So then it’s no surprise my dad had a beer quick before we got back on the road. (For the record, my brother took over driving from there on out.) Blue Moon Mountain Abbey Ale was what was in the fridge, and I heard from my dad that it tasted pretty good. Same thing came from my mom when we stopped on the way back. So again, no surprise, it ended up in our fridge at home, and yet, I still hadn’t tried it. Read More