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.

Read More

Craft Beer Highlights from Four Unique European Cities

I was lucky enough to attend Oktoberfest, but that’s only part of the 11-day beer journey I took across four cities in early October. Outside of the Bavarian beer fest, Munich has a bunch of awesome beer history, quaint beer gardens and famed beer destinations like Hofbrauhaus. Much like Munich, the Belgian capital of Brussels is steeped in brewing tradition thanks to its array of world-renowned trappist breweries and Belgian beer bars like the Delirium Cafe. These two beer-fused cities offer an embarrassment of riches to any beer lover, but it’s the beers and experiences I had in the other two cities I visited: Budapest and Amsterdam, that really opened my eyes to just how diverse and vibrant the beer scene is in Europe. From beer baths in Budapest to a craft brewery situated under a picturesque windmill in Amsterdam, my beer experience in Europe was amazing. Here are my main takeaways from the unique beer scenes in each city I visited.

Read More

3 Observations from Oktoberfest in Bavaria

Walking through the entry gates of Oktoberfest was like walking into a beer-soaked version of Valhalla. On a sparkling Saturday with warm weather and a faint breeze, I got to experience the best beer event in the world—lederhosen and all.

Read More

A Newbie Guide to Oktoberfest in Munich

America has a lot of beer festivals. I mean… a lot. I could practically book every weekend for the next few months with at least 2-3 Chicago beer festivals. The heightened popularity of these events resides on a foundational bedrock of human existence: people like drinking, and people like drinking together. And while things like the Great American Beer Festival draw massive crowds and a considerable amount of hype amongst USA-based beer drinkers, there’s typically one beer fest that appears on any beer fan’s bucket list across the globe: Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany.

Read More

A Brief History of Oktoberfest

Readers, please see the end of the article for PD’s sources on this rundown of an awesome, beloved tradition. 

Who doesn’t love a royal wedding? It wasn’t all that long ago that millions of people around the world tuned in to see William and Kate get hitched. The infatuation with royal nuptials goes back beyond recorded history, and the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, later to become King Ludwig I, to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen was no exception. From this wedding celebration grew an annual festival, which would evolve into the largest folk festival in the world: Oktoberfest.
Read More

Weekly Growler Fill | National Beer News Roundup

Mitch Steele announces plans for a new brewery, Snoop Dogg’s lawsuit against Pabst is headed to trial, and proposed legislation in Oklahoma would allow for the sale of full-strength beer in grocery stores. If these stories aren’t exciting enough, you can get pumped about the fact that we will not be reporting any AB InBev buyouts this week. Keep reading to catch all of the details in this edition of the Weekly Growler Fill.

Read More

Weekly Growler Fill | National Beer News Roundup

Old Style makes a new beer, Abita is sued over ‘Bootlegger’, and the biggest beer merger of all time has a set close date. These are the craft beer stories you can’t miss, so keep reading to catch all of the details in this edition of the Weekly Growler Fill.

Read More

Samuel Adams | Octoberfest

ABV: 5.3% | IBU: 16

Whether they were merely gateway beers or still remain part of regular rotation, Samuel Adams‘ seasonal beers have become staples. Offerings like Summer Ale and Winter Lager have ushered in the changing of the seasons for some time but none more iconic than their Octoberfest.
Read More

Roundtable Discussion | Relocating for the Beer

As extreme beer enthusiasts, our PorchDrinking team knows their beer and they also know where to find it and be completely content for the rest of their lives. In this week’s Roundtable Discussion, I asked the team where they would relocate if their only criteria was excellent beer. Many are already living in their beer heaven. Others knew exactly where they’d rather be if beer’s the sole decider.

If you find yourself getting the itch to try on a new hometown, you may want to take note of their answers.

Read More

Lowry Beer Garden

It’s Bavaria meets the Rocky Mountains. It’s Reinheitsgebot meets experimental Colorado brewing. It’s my southern German ancestry meets my central Colorado present. The Lowry Beer Garden is unlike … Read More