Pyramid Breweries | Apricot Ale

ABV: 5.1%

IBU: 11

Since I couldn’t attend GABF this year, I decided to do the second-best thing and write about it. Today I’d like to introduce you to Pyramid Breweries’ Apricot Ale, the 2014 GABF Gold Medal Winner in the Fruit Wheat Beer category. Read More

2014 GABF Events Guide | UPDATED 10/4

For a little over a week each year, beer fanatics from across the globe descend on Denver, CO, in honor of the Great American Beer Festival.  Denver’s events outside of the beerhall are sometimes better than the festival itself. We’ve compiled the complete GABF Events Guide surrounding this year’s Great American Beer Festival.

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GABF Daytrip | Denver Brewery Tour

With almost 700 breweries from all over the country pouring at the Great American Beer Festival this year, it’s easy to overlook how many great ones we have right here in Denver. How many? I count 37 breweries and cideries with taprooms in a roughly five-mile radius of the Colorado Convention Center where the festival will be held, and I’m guessing a handful more opened while I was typing this post. Many of them will not be at GABF, and most do not distribute their products outside of Colorado. We know craft beer drinkers to be an adventurous sort, so why not do a little exploring before or after the fest? In that spirit, I’ve compiled a list of destinations nearby that are easily accessible by foot, bike, or a short ride with your favorite car service. Dear readers, please stow your pretzel necklaces and hop cone hats for a moment – we’re going on an insider’s Denver brewery tour.

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Weekly Growler Fill | National Beer News Roundup

I know the Great American Beer Festival week just started, but some of you may need a break from all the mayhem of the best beer festival in the country. Expand your mind by getting up to date on all the latest beer news: Crooked Stave ends it’s cellar reserve membership, Upland announces another sour lottery, and Rogue Ales puts on a contest for a good cause. Find out about all of this and more in this edition of the Weekly Growler Fill.

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Roundtable Discussion |GABF Game Plan

Great American Beer Festival takes place Oct. 2-4 at the Colorado Convention Center. Since that’s right around the corner, we asked our staff if they had a GABF game plan and what it was. Are they looking forward to sours, pumpkin, big beers or hoppy beers?

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GABF | DMV Takeaways

This post was written in conjunction with Erin Russell (Petrey).

The DMV should be proud of its representation at the Great American Beer Festival this year. There will be 27 … Read More

2014 GABF Breweries in Attendance and Missing

692 Breweries. 4 Sessions. 3 Days. Over 3,000 beers. Denver, CO. And so the stage has been set. Earlier this week, The Brewers Association released the lineup of breweries who … Read More

2014 Great American Beer Festival Tickets on Sale Tuesday

Header image created by: Erin Horn

It is upon us. Take shelter. Boost your internet bandwidth. Update your ticketmaster information. Begin training your livers. 2014 Great American Beer Festival tickets go on pre-sale to AHA members at 10 a.m. MDT Tuesday, July 29.

General Public tickets are available to the general public on Wednesday morning, July 30 at 10 a.m. MDT. through Ticketmaster.

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PorchDrinking Does Craft Brewers Conference 2014

Well, folks, Denver is the lucky city this year to host the Craft Brewers Conference for 2014. Denver is already equipped for the influx of beer heads because of the annual Great American Beer Festival that occurs every October in our fine city of suds. This year, though, we are also host city for the Craft Brewers Conference AND the World Beer Cup. And all in the same week. I don’t know how more stoked I can be than I am right now to announce that PorchDrinking.com will be there to provide coverage. Pre-and-post event coverage, live tweeting and, as always, a terrific banter to accompany the beerversation. Why? Because in the end, #itsjustbeer, right?!?

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Ultimate 6er | Backcountry Skiers and Snowboarders

It is well documented that Coloradans have an intense passion for the outdoors. I’m talking fire in the circus and somehow the flaps are locked kind of intense. So it’s no surprise that after years on the slopes, many Colorado residents feel the need to up the ante when it comes to winter sports. Enter backcountry skiing and snowboarding. Backcountry skiers and snowboarders can be seen stranded intermittently, dotting the sides of the winding mountain roads adjacent to ski resorts with constant patience in wait for a ride back to the top of the hill, usually with a tasty brew. While packs and equipment are not only common, but necessary, a reserved spot for a churchkey in said packs and equipment, is not. Not to worry, here is your ultimate 6er of beers while waiting for your buddy and Truck (Truck is the name of his Prius) accompanied by unique ways to open bottled beers with limited equipment. Read More

Three memories from GABF

Now that I am finally back in the friendly confines of Boston and away from people graciously shoving beer into my face, I’ve had the chance to detox a little bit, and I’ve been able to gather some quick memories from a wonderful visit to the Great American Beer Festival. This won’t be some cohesive, extensive recap, but rather the random memories of GABF that I’ll look back on for years and years to come.

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Beerstagrams 10/4- 10/11

COME ONE, COME ALL! GABF IS HERE AND IN FULL SWING! Yes, it deserves all caps.  We kicked things off Wednesday night with Beyond The Beer 2013 panel discussion and … Read More

2013 GABF Must Try Beer List

From our extensive pour list, a few of our resident beer geeks have put their heads together to compile a list of “must-try” beers at GABF. These are beers that we have either tried ourselves and give the highest praise or are from breweries that we have come to know and love who’s beer intrigues us enough to hype it up! So here we go, make sure you taste your way through some of these beers at GABF, and if you manage to catch one of our staff at the same booth, be sure to throw up a high-five! Read More

PorchDrinking.com 2013 GABF Events Guide

For a little over a week each year, beer fanatics from across the globe descend on Denver, CO in honor of the Great American Beer Festival.  They say the week’s … Read More

GABF App: There’s an app for that

Finding your way around the festival will be a breeze

With 600 breweries and 3,000 beers at GABF (Great American Beer Festival for all of those folks that aren’t privy to the acronym lingo of the Brewer’s Association), it can be a little daunting to find what you’re looking for, or even decide where to begin. Who would have thought that sampling beer would be so difficult! No worries good friend, there is a delightful little app that will help you. And you can do it all with one hand!

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2013 Great American Beer Festival Breweries Breakdown

After several weeks of sifting through duplicate entries and moving breweries off the waiting list, the Brewers Association announced last night their full list of 2013 Great American Beer Festival breweries who will be attending the festival.

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River Runners Pale Ale

Eddyline Brewery and Restaurant – River Runners Pale Ale

ABV: 6%

IBU: 50

Eddyline Brewery and Restaurant’s River Runners Pale Ale is yet another example of the  awesomesauce that can come out of both 16-ounce cans and the frequently neglected beer region of Southern Colorado. Read More

Backcountry Brewery – Frisco, CO

I stumbled across Backcountry Brewery when I was at Great American Beer Festival (GABF) a few weeks back. Their range of annual and seasonal beers combined has won six gold, silver and bronze medals at GABF from 1998-2011. But, what really put Backcountry on the map? In 2011, they submitted six beers for competition at the Colorado State Fair and all six received medals. Pretty impressive, if you ask me.

The 1996-year-old brewery and restaurant is located in Summit County on Main Street. If you’re like me and on your way to a ski resort out west, you are easily passing this place without knowing it.

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Great American Beer Festival General Recap

The Great American Beer Festival is the closest thing to a real-life, adult version of that “kid in a candy shop” moment. Experiencing the full gambit of everything beer related that surrounds the festival culminated in one of the more amazing weeks I’ve ever experienced. 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.

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