Ultimate 6er | Refreshing Summer Sippers

There’s a lot going on this week friends. Of course, it’s Shark Week! Olympic trials in swimming, track and field and gymnastics have started. And my favorite holiday is less than a week away. That’s right, Independence Day is my favorite holiday! I look forward to it each and every year. To me, the Fourth of July signifies everything that makes summer amazing. Yes, it’s a day to celebrate our Independence and the birth of Democracy. But it’s also a day to soak up those special moments spent with friends and family into the wee hours of the evening, enjoying cold brew after cold brew as you kick back, relax and take in all that is summertime. (The Fourth of July also kicks off what I call my “birthday week” which culminates on 7-11. Gifts of craft beer are always appreciated! ) Read More

Ultimate 6er | Netflix Original Programming

Netflix is the little technology business that could, going from movies-through-the-mail to one of the largest streaming services in the world. Available on every smart device and video game console available, Netflix has a reported total of 81 million people – with 46 million being in the US alone. It’s replaced cable for most of us, opening up a treasure chest of hidden gems and old classics in the most digestible manner possible. Netflix is now a powerhouse in the audio/visual world after acquiring exclusivity rights with Disney, but also through releasing their own original content.

For this week’s Ultimate 6er, we’ll be looking at several of the heavy hitters in the Netflix Original Lineup. Don’t fret if you don’t see any of your favorites here, but these have some of the best beer combinations you could hope to ever watch with your favorite show. So let’s Netflix and Chill (more like cooler) for some summer streaming! Read More

Ultimate 6er | Welcome to My House

My husband and I recently moved from a tiny 2-bedroom basement apartment on Capitol Hill to a 4-bedroom, 3-bath home on a wooded lot in Virginia. It’s been a whirlwind of changes and we’re blissfully happy learning the nuances of a compost pile and how to repair a pool vacuum.

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Ultimate 6er | Parks & Recreation Part 2

NBC’s Parks & Recreation is one of my favorite TV shows. Like any devoted Parks & Rec fan, season seven was a dark time for me, as I knew it meant that this hilarious show was coming to its unimaginable end. However, once Hannah Carlson debuted her wildly-popular Parks & Rec Ultimate 6er article in April [Ludgate], I finally felt ready to move on from my despair and celebrate my love for this show. Since there are so many great characters, I decided to feature six additional Pawnee favorites, and have this Ultimate 6er post pick up right where Hannah left off. Read More

Ultimate 6er | The People v. O.J. Simpson

If you haven’t been watching the television remake of the 1995 O.J. Simpson murder trial, The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, get on it! This ten episode FX … Read More

Ultimate 6er | Social Media Networks

Are there two things bigger right now than social media and craft beer? Just about everyone is on social media in some way or another and the craft beer industry is seeing a new brewery open up seemingly every week. For this week’s Ultimate 6er I paired six of the most popular social media networks with a beer that I think it best represents.

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Ultimate 6er | Ale Industries

Tucked away in a historic part of Oakland, Ale Industries carefully crafts their wonderfully fun and inventive beers. The brewery, which happens to be the oldest and largest Oakland has to offer, has a taproom named: the Jingletown Jazz Room. If the Jazz Room had a day job, it would obviously be a brewery, but it does have another occupation. On the second Friday of every month, the Jingletown Jazz Room really lets its hair down and hosts local artists and musicians.

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Ultimate 6er | Craft Beer Infused Chocolate Truffles

Cover image courtesy of Piece, Love & Chocolate

February – the dark, short month filled with Groundhog’s Day, Mardi Gras, that much-needed President’s Day Weekend and every four trips around the sun, the elusive Leap Year. Wait, am I forgetting something? Oh right, VALENTINE’S DAY. To commemorate Valentine’s Day, the divisive love-it or loath-it Hallmark holiday, here are six beer-infused Colorado and Oregon chocolate creations that, like a special Valentine, will always be there when you need them. Read More

Ultimate 6er | Making A Murderer

Making A Murderer mania – it’s sweeping the nation. Despite being released almost two months ago, the American public is still clamoring for anything and everything regarding the case. My Facebook feed is filled with articles reviewing the facts, and two new specials, Dateline on NBC and Steven Avery: Innocent or Guilty on Investigation Discovery, aired this past weekend. So to add to the fervor, I bring you a Making A Murderer Ultimate 6er, filled with beers from The Badger State representing some of the biggest players in the series. Read More

Ultimate 6er | Virginia Brew Adventure

Among the pile of New Year’s resolutions from PorchDrinkers, I’m adding one of mine: Explore more Virginia beer. The state is chockablock with amazing, well-known breweries and new ones are expanding, popping up each month.

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Ultimate 6er | Virginia’s Novemberfest

It’s fitting that a beer event called Novemberfest would fall on rainy, chilly and damp day. But Rustico‘s event did not disappoint, with generous pours, ponchos and umbrellas, plus massive, … Read More

The Ultimate 6er | Trick R Treat!

Halloween is my favorite holiday. Something about the crisp fall air and the leaves changing colors has always pulled at my heart strings. Growing up in Colorado, we would always wait for the 31st of October and crossing our fingers that it wouldn’t snow so you didn’t have to wear a coat under your costume. Fast-forward a bunch of years and the holiday still has me twisted. I look forward to picking out my costume, planning on which parties I can attend and planning my must-try beers to go along with my favorite Halloween movies. My favorite Halloween movie is without a doubt, Trick R Treat. The one from 2007 and not the 80’s one. Sure, the 80’s film is great for all of its metal mischief but it can’t hold a candle-in-a-jack-o-lantern to the Samhain anthology of stories that intertwine and enthrall you into following all of the Halloween rules!

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Ultimate 6er | Reliving Utah’s Past GABF Success

At the time you are reading this, we are either recovering from a week long hangover or dead! GABF would be the way to die. Hundreds of breweries bringing the best beers in the world. There is nothing greater than walking shoulder to shoulder with tens of thousands of like-minded people. Everywhere you turn is a new friend and a beer. Yep, pretty sure we died. Seems like the pearly gates are drenched in golden suds.

We live in Utah and dream of Denver, Bend, San Diego and Asheville. But wait a minute… if you believe in the alcohol lockdown in the Wasatch Mountains, we surely live in beer hell. We are here to say, this is absolutely not true. We present six GABF medal winning beers from the last several years. So when the Zion curtain locks us in, we will be okay, because Utah brewers make some sweet brews. Read More

Ultimate 6er | Beoir: Ireland’s Growing Craft Scene

This week marks the halfway point to St. Patrick’s Day. And since a typical St. Paddy’s Day celebration couldn’t get farther from anything actually Irish, being furthest away from that day is a good time to explore some authentic Irish beer!

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Ultimate 6er | Harry Potter

In case you muggles missed it, September 1 was a very eventful day.

While you all were going about your typical Tuesdays – going to work, catching the bus, buying your groceries, whathaveyou, James Sirius Potter was starting his first day at Hogwarts.

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Ultimate 6er | The 6 Stages of Cleveland Browns Fandom

As summer comes to a close and we make our way into fall, one thing becomes more imminent than anything: FOOTBALL. And what better way to celebrate the advent of a new season than with some brews? As a native Clevelander and lifelong Browns fan, I know the football season brings with it a roller coaster of experiences spanning across a wide spectrum. So, in anticipation of another grueling season, I present to you the 6 Stages of Cleveland Browns Fandom, as described by beer.
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Ultimate 6er | DC Swamp 6-Pack

The DC crew of PorchDrinking.com actually doesn’t get together terribly often; you all know that we’re important young professionals who wine and dine on K Street each evening. When we do get together, notably to welcome a new writer (hi, Emily Gallt!), we sip and taste beers, both old and new favorites.

Featured image is the Southwest Waterfront in DC on a muggy, sticky summer night. All other images courtesy of corresponding breweries. 

We recently met at Penn Commons, a great restaurant and bar in Chinatown that boasts a solid beer list. It was a sweltering day, so we were aching for anything to cool us down. Here’s our picks. Read More

Ultimate 6er | The Literary Beer Collection

Brewers get their inspiration from a great deal of sources. It is by no surprise that we see beers giving the proverbial nod to great literary works and writers. Both are art forms in their own right that tend to fuel our imaginations. In my opinion, our respect for the literary imagination rivals that of any other creative art. Second only to really good beer, of course! Read More

Ultimate 6er | Summer Seasonal Beers

I was brutally reminded yesterday that it’s almost August. Not only did that mean rent was due, but summer is flying by fast. If you live in the Midwest, you know that means you are soon going to be slapped in the face with 4-8 months of winter, depression and an overall desperation for spring to arrive to save you from the depths of Hell.

Instead of focusing on all that nonsense, I will try to embrace the rest of the summer, and take advantage of all the great seasonal summer beers, some you can still buy all year round, and some you can’t. Either way, any of these beers will add a little sparkle to the remaining summer.

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Ultimate 6er | Obama’s Big Week

Given the increasingly gridlocked landscape of American politics it’s kind of astounding that anything ever happens in Washington. But amazingly, President Obama’s administration strung together a big week of victories. Here are six brews I hope he’s sipping while celebrating the outcomes.
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