Brew Bites | Mexican Chocolate Stout Ice Cream

The Mexican Chocolate Stout by Copper Kettle Brewing Co. is a clever beer. The spicy notes from the chili peppers and the chocolate and cinnamon involvement awaken your taste buds from start to finish. This beer is constantly sparking new recipe ideas and this ice cream is one I have been wanting to try for a while!

Read More

Great River Brewery – Dirty Blonde

I went to the Burning Can Festival (not to be confused with Burning Man) in Lyons, Colorado last weekend. For those who aren’t familiar, this is a full-day event with a 5K run in the morning so you don’t feel guilty about developing a large beer belly by nighttime. The rest of the day is spent … you guessed it … consuming beer. The festival features beer tasters from more than 30 breweries all across the US.

Read More

Fat Head’s Oompa Loompa Chocolate Cream Stout

ABV: 6.5% | IBU: 33

Stout brewed with dark chocolate and vanilla beans added.

Fat Head’s story began in Pittsburgh, PA, circa 1992, with the founding of Fat Head’s Saloon. In 2009 Fat Head’s expanded to North Olmsted, Ohio, teaming up with Matt Cole (an award winning brewer) to open Fat Head’s Brewery & Saloon. Success came quickly, with the brewery producing over 5000 barrels over its first three years and Fat Head’s beers winning many awards. They expanded to a full-scale producing brewery in 2012, located in Middleburg Heights, Ohio.

Read More

Oskar Blues Brewery – Ten Fidy Imperial Stout

A spontaneous road trip from Denver to Estes Park may turn into a random brewery trip if you’re lucky. More than 15 breweries sit between the two and it’s always a good idea to take advantage of that. On Saturday, I stopped at Oskar Blues Brewery in Longmont. The colder weather out here in Colorado has opened up a lot of stout options over the last month. Hearing that Oskar Blue’s had one called Ten Fidy Imperial Stout left me intrigued. Read More

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!

Read More

Rogue Ales – Double Chocolate Stout

Rogue has always been one of my favorite breweries. Most people know them for their Dead Guy Ale, which in all rights is an amazing beer. However, their Double Chocolate Stout has now become my favorite Rogue brew and perhaps one of my favorite stouts. While it is available on draft, I have yet to see it in Colorado. It is also available in a bomber – it is one you can’t miss being in a bright fire engine red bottle.Turns out I am not the only one who loves this beer as it won a gold medal at the 2010 world beer championships.

Read More

Equinox Brewing – Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Stout

ABV: 5.5%
IBU: 28

I don’t know about you, but I like delicious things. I also like beer. So, when I heard that Equinox Brewing was taking their already tasty Mr. Delicious Oatmeal Stout and turning it into a limited edition 10 gallon batch to create a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Stout, I freaked, and for good reason. I made it down to the brewery just in time (by the time I finished my one and only pint, it was gone).

Read More

New Belgium Brewing- Imperial Coffee Chocolate Stout

Lost in the shuffle in the more recent trends of sours, black IPAs, saisons, and old world recipes has been the foregone marriage of chocolate and coffee. Sure a few classic coffee beers are still hanging around shelves, or pop up infrequently from start up microbreweries, such as Renegade’s Sunday Morning.  But it seems like those coffee flavored brews have lost some of the hype.  New Belgium’s Imperial Coffee Stout definitely restores that swag.

Read More

Arcadia Ales – Cocoa Loco

IBUs: 39

ABV: 7.0%

When I saw my next beer showcase was due the day after Thanksgiving, and I found out we were going to Battle Creek, Michigan for the holiday, I knew I had to do a review on a beverage from Arcadia Ales. I could’ve chosen Dark Horse or Bells, but I’ve been going to Arcadia since before I could legally drink because in addition to their great beers, they also have some awesome brick oven pizza. So, on our way out of town today, we stopped. I had the Loch Down Scotch Ale, and my brother had their IPA. We also ordered two pepperoni pies. But what I was looking most forward to was one of the beers I brought home, their Cocoa Loco. Read More

New Belgium Brewery- Cocoa Mole Ale

ABV: 9%

Mexican food is by far my favorite of the cuisine nationalities. You’ve got corn, beans, cheese, spices, chili peppers… oh god, the chili peppers. No meal is complete without some heat. Personally, I like my mouth to be in so much pain that I have to order more salsa just to try to cool it down. So to say that I’m a fan of chili beers is a bit of an understatement.

Read More

Cigar City Brewing Company- Marshal Zhukov

ABV: 9%

Cigar City Brewing serves up several brews that have garnered a cult follow, partially because they’re only available in Florida, partially because they are one of the only solid breweries at the moment to come out of Florida and mostly because they make fantastic, cult following worthy beers. One of those pedestal level rarities is Marshal Zhukov.

Read More

Vine Street Pub and Brewery- Denver, CO

OK, I’ll admit it, I’m not a Colorado native. I came up for school at Colorado State from New Mexico and only moved down to the capital a little over a year ago. That means, like so many other migrant Coloradans, I’m still discovering all that the Mile High City has to offer, and it’s a lot. So many pubs, clubs, breweries, hangouts, bars and so much more that this self-proclaimed beer snob is sure that funds will dry up well before my thirst for something new does.

Read More

PorchDrinking Fall Beer Preview 2012

One of the greatest things about fall along with football, leaf piles and apple cider is the stable of fall seasonal beers available. Honestly the multitude of pumpkin and spiced beers on the market can be a bit overwhelming so we tasked our writers with coming up with a fall beer preview. Here’s the variety of fall samplings they came up with. Read More

Hoppin’ Frog’s BORIS the Crusher, Russian Imperial Stout.

ABV: 9.4%

BORIS the Crusher, or Bodacious Oatmeal Russian Imperial Stout in long form is a multiple award winning brew from Hoppinfrog Brewery out of Akron, Ohio. It also happens to be extremely rare to find on tap, it just recently has been put into kegs and is crazy expensive in keg form. Nearly double the typical price of any normal craft beer pour.
Read More

Edmund Fitzgerald- Great Lakes Brewing Company

ABV: 5.8%

So, here I am, at the gas station, trying to pick out a new kind of beer that I haven’t previously sampled. It’s slim pickins at the local UDF tonight and now I’m kicking myself for procrastinating on this beer review (something that I put myself through daily, obviously). I’m realllly wishing I would have made it to the liquor store so I could have found something exotic, but right before I gave up, a stormy blue six-pack catches my eye. Edmund Fitzgerald? What a lovely, handsome name for a beer! Sold.

Read More

Two One Minute Beer Reviews

Mexican Chocolate Stout – Copper Kettle Brewing Company, Denver, CO

ABV: 7%

IBU: 50

I had been told numerous times over the past year that getting to Copper Kettle was … Read More

Rogue—Mocha Porter

Mocha Porter—Rogue Ales, Newport, OR

ABV: 5.3% IBU: 54

What goes better with moving than beer? Not much. I recently down-sized from a spacious 2-bedroom into a studio, so … Read More

Great Lakes Brewing – Edmund Fitzgerald Porter

Edmund Fitzgerald Porter – Great Lakes Brewing, Cleveland, OH

ABV: 5.8%

IBU: 37

Availability: Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington … Read More