Kölsch vs. Altbier | A Tradition of Competition

It’s no secret that Germans are proud of their beer traditions, with residents of each region proclaiming that their brew is the best. This competitiveness is most clearly embodied in the industrial cities of Cologne (Köln) and Düsseldorf. Kölners proudly promote their Kölsch while Düsseldorfers claim that Altbier is the way to go. Read More

Beer Cocktails | Diesel Beer & Coke Taste Test

Now that Oktoberfest has ended, what do we do with all the leftover beers? Yes, you could easily drink them but if you’ve grown tired of steins and steins of German beer, then might PorchDrinking offer you a delicious, unique alternative! Presenting the Diesel, a 50/50 mix of Beer and Coca-Cola.

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Sonder Brewing | Voss Kölsch

There’s nothing quite like whiling away a hot summer day with a six-pack of a well-done Kölsch. Sonder Brewing, a Cincinnati-area craft brewery located in Mason, OH, has just the ticket for you.

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Live Oak Brewing Co. | Schwarzer Rauch

Austin, TX’s Live Oak Brewing Co. is known for its commitment to tradition in brewing European-style beers. Launched in 1997, they have been brewing old-world lagers and ales with more than just a nod to tradition for 25 years. Schwarzer Rauch (Black Smoke), a smoked black lager, is brewed in the tradition still carried on by breweries in Bamberg, Germany, who still smoke the malt for their beers.

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Tröegs Independent Brewing | Troegenator Double Bock

Described by Tröegs Independent Brewing as “malty and crisp” and “deliciously dark,” Tröegs’ Troegenator Doublebock is a hefty 8.2% ABV malty beast with a surprising subtleness.

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Ultimate 6er | The Abandoned German Beers of a Colorado Fall

There’s a lot to love about the changing of the seasons. But then again, is there? Oh you love fall colors? Come over and clean up my leaves in November. You love the little nip in the air, do ya? Well get ready for flu season. You just LOVE you some pumpkin spice? Tell that to the child laborers who sweat away in the pumpkin spice mines for pennies on the dollar.

Fall does bring about some tasty beers — or at least we associate certain tasty beers with fall. Wet Hop beers, Pumpkin (not that there’s anything wrong with that) beers and certain Stouts are only released in fall, so that makes sense.

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Griesedieck Brothers Brewing | Golden Pilsener

When I get a quality Pilsner, I forget all about the juicy Triple IPAs and overly fruited Sours that are often all the rage. There’s something timeless about a quality Pilsner that feels right, from the aroma to the light, crisp mouthfeel.

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Fusion Brewing | Stange Days Kolsch

“Fusing Fun, Life, Flavor, and Science into Great Craft Beer.”

This is the motto of Lexington, Kentucky’s Fusion Brewing and their Stange Days Czech-style Kolsch is a fine exemplar of this motto. Crisp, clean and light yet rich and malty, this fusion of Czech Pilsner and Czech Ale goes down easy any time of the year.

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Seedstock Brewery | Kölsch

Kölsch beer is typically known as a summer beer for its clean, refreshing character and easy drinkability. Seedstock Brewery’s German-style Kölsch hits all of those highlights. making it a great choice for a lazy afternoon sitting on the brewery’s spacious patio watching Denver’s West Colfax Avenue wildlife.

Of course, Kölsch’s true home is Cologne (Köln) Germany, where the brew is typically served in small 200-milliliter glasses — approximately 6 ¾ ounces. Various theories exist regarding the purpose of this. The most common is that as a summer beer, frequent cold fresh pours keep drinkers from consuming warm brew. Seedstock takes a more generous attitude, however, and offers the beer in full pint glasses Read More

German Beer Day | PorchDrinking Staff’s German Beer & Brewery Picks

Prost! For some parts of Europe, grape is king. But, in Germany, it is all about barley and hops. German Beer Day (Friday, April 23) celebrates that country’s rich brewing culture and history. So we wanted to briefly discuss German brewing and ask some of our team what German Breweries they’d like to visit and what German beer styles they genuinely love.

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Brewery Showcase | Rhinegeist Brewery

Cincinnati’s Rhinegeist Brewery was founded in 2013 as a step toward reclaiming the area’s German brewing heritage. Rhinegeist’s expansive 250,000 square foot brewery and taproom is housed in the former Christian Moerlein turn of the century packaging hall and over the years has grown into multiple floors throughout the building.

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Cincinnati’s German Brewing Heritage

It’s Oktoberfest time! For beer lovers in and around Cincinnati, Ohio, this season is pretty much made for them — the Queen City throws the second largest Oktoberfest celebration outside of Munich, and the world’s largest chicken dance.

Sadly, COVID-19 will put a major damper on how Oktoberfest social events are handled this year. However, one of the great things about the season is the glut of Oktoberfest, Märzenbier and Festbier releases. (Check out this primer on what exactly it is we’re drinking when we have an Oktoberfest beer.) While it’s great enjoying these styles at a Cincinnati Oktoberfest celebration with an oompah band playing in the background, they’re also plenty enjoyable to relax with on a patio or porch as the summer heat wanes into crisp autumn evenings.

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Oktoberfest Beer Showcase | Hacker Pschorr Münchner Gold

With a rich history going back 600 years, Hacker Pschorr is truly one of the OGs of German beer. These guys were doing Reinheitsgebot almost 100 years before there WAS a Reinheitsgebot. This Munich-based brewery produces several dozen different beers, only a handful of which—including Münchner Gold—are distributed in the US.

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Oktoberfest Beer Showcase | Paulaner Oktoberfest Lager

The global pandemic has put a damper on our oom-pah-pahs and Zicke, zacke, hoi, hois. Indeed, Oktoberfest 2020 — whether it be in Munich or anywhere else — is not quite the same. Nevertheless, the six official Oktoberfest breweries in Munich have not ceased in creating their beers. The youngest of the six, Paulaner, offers not one, but two versions: the historic Märzen that’s available year-round and the Oktoberfest Lager served in Munich during the festivities. For extra fun, search for the special one-liter can and glass mug set.

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2020 Guide to Colorado’s Oktoberfest Beer Releases

It’s clear by now that the year 2020 has no chill, and rather than ease into a gradual shift of in temperature, us Coloradoans have already begun experiencing some seasonal … Read More

Celebrate German Beer Day with America’s Best German-Style Breweries

German Beer Day, April 23, celebrates the enacting of the Bavarian Beer Purity Order, or Reinheitsgebot, which officially restricted beer ingredients to water, hops, and malt (the existence of yeast was not understood in 1516 but was later added). While it is impossible to say where German beer would be today without the Reinheitsgebot, it has helped make German beer synonymous with high quality and consistency across the five centuries since it was signed.

In honor of German Beer Day, we’ve put together a roundup of some of America’s best German-style breweries, who focus primarily on producing and preserving these historic German-styles. Read More

Brewery Showcase | Private Landbrauerei Schönram

With the inferior American adjunct Lager varieties produced by the industrial brewers and the explosion of craft brewing, lager-style beers have largely fallen out of fashion in the United States. Yet, while IPAs may be all the rage in the U.S., in Germany, Lagers still reign supreme and no one is producing better examples of these beers there than Private Landbrauerei Schönram.

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Ultimate 6er | 6 Beers Worth Traveling Internationally

Want to travel? “Traveling more” is a resolution for 25% of Americans for 2020. It’s not surprising, as travel is generally very fun and occasionally life-changing. Now is the time to look past some of your other, less-worthy resolutions (see you in 2021 eating healthy and saving money!) and commit to being Dora the Beer Explorer in 2020.

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New Glarus Brewing | Dancing Man Wheat

As summer comes to an end, I would like to look back on some of the fond memories of 2019. While the birth of my son, Alexander, has to rank as one of the top moments of my summer, a close second has to be my discovery of my new summer beer, Dancing Man Wheat–a Hefeweizen from New Glarus Brewery out of New Glarus, Wisconsin.

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Märzen vs. Festbier? Paulaner Explains It All

This post was sponsored and supported by Paulaner USA. 

Steins. Pretzels. Dirndls. Lederhosen. Sausages. More Steins. Tents. Singing. Chances are, I just summed up your Oktoberfest experiences. But other than hearing about that time your friend studied abroad in Germany, what do you really know about Oktoberfest and the beers served there?

Märzen, Helles and Festbier aren’t usually what you brandish at your bottle share, but the craft that goes into producing these styles is immense. Munich breweries are very proud of their beer traditions—none more than Paulaner, Oktoberfest’s #1 provider of stein-filled happiness. We asked the masters for a little more background behind the magic that goes into each glass, which in turn fuels all the good times and pretzel consumption.

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