Almost six months ago, Southwest Airlines gave New Yorkers an outright gift: the Southwest Porch, a relaxing, open-air venue in the middle of the city at Bryant Park. During the day, workers from offices in Midtown would sit in the adirondack chairs and on the cushioned lounges to eat their packed lunches, and at night, they can return for a drink and snacks when the bar opens.

The Porch is a pleasant surprise for its lack of pretension and excess of good food choices (being from Top Chef Tom Colicchio' s 'wichcraft chain). We expected it to close down for the winter when the leaves began to fall, but instead the Porch has re-inaugurated itself via a winter menu and introduction of fire pits and slankets, the slankets in celebration of Southwest's recent SkyMall cover. ]]> JetSetCD 2009-11-20T16:04:30-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/11/13/739/90187

Technically it’s still fall, but we got one of those overpriced red cup beverages at Starbucks yesterday, so we say it’s time to talk about the winter. The Winter Beer Festival is coming to Seattle in just a few weeks on December 4 and 5. The beer may be cold, but after a few samples, you’ll be feeling nice and toasty.

Things will take place at Hale’s Palladium within Hale’s Ales Brewery, and the tasting is open on Friday evening from 5 to 10pm and on Saturday afternoon from 1 to 10pm. Tickets are $25—save $2 for getting them in advance—and they’ll get you a tasting glass along with six 5.5 ounce samples. That’s a lot more than the usual beer festival offering, so be sure to pace yourself and savor the flavors. ]]> kjb 2009-11-13T11:24:26-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/11/10/142957/80

Beeeeer. While it's the drinking hour already here on the east coast, over in Los Angeles and Long Beach, they've still got a few more hours before it's socially acceptable to pop the top on a cold bottle of Hangar 24 Craft Beer. We were originally turned on to the unique Hangar 24 Brewery in Redlands, CA by the Lomography website, after someone used their fancy, artsy camera to capture the place's brewing magic and its hangar location.

Hanger 24 is relatively new to the microbrewery scene, having only opened in 2008, but the dream began in the skies:

Hangar 24 Craft Brewery began with a true passion for good beer, the absolute love of flying and the pure enjoyment of being around great friends. Founder and Master Brewer Ben Cook and his buddies used to meet at hangar 24 after an afternoon of flying to trade stories, talk aviation, play music and share a few cold ones that Ben just finished brewing at home.

]]> JetSetCD 2009-11-10T14:51:24-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/11/3/52134/1133

Aussies are definitely not impervious to the charms of a cold can of Fosters; after all, they do have record-breaking pub crawls and boats made of beer cans. But if you're flying on a domestic Qantas flight Down Under, there are a few less beers going round these days.

Citing unruly behavior, mostly from drunken mine workers heading home after a couple of weeks working in the desert, Qantas has banned full strength beer and spirits on all flights within Western Australia. This follows existing bans on sales of spirits on intrastate flights in other parts of Australia.]]> amandak 2009-11-04T09:14:21-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/20/11657/935

When you think of the U.S.'s best beer cities, places like New York, Portland and Philly always pop into mind. But according to Men's Journal, if you want to guzzle the nation's best brew, you have to head to San Diego. There's no better time to sample some of the city's suds than San Diego Beer Week from November 6 to 15.

San Diego County boasts 33 breweries, and the first-time Beer Week will showcase the local craft beers in more than 100 events, including beer tastings, beer dinners and home-brewing demonstrations. And it isn't just bars that will take part. Restaurants want to tap into Beer Week's potential. "We are encouraging breweries to push the envelope and create events with places not typically associated with craft beer. We know we’ll have support from beer enthusiasts, but we want to reach people who might not know about San Diego’s craft beer scene,” says Colby Chandler, president of the San Diego Brewers Guild, the event's sponsor. ]]> Jennifer Kester 2009-10-20T13:26:12-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/5/8182/61673

Pumpkin season is upon us. Most places are now filled with orange displays, the convenience store is pushing their pumpkin cappuccino things, and of course there’s plenty of candy. We’re all about celebrating Halloween even if it is still an entire month until the big day, especially if it involves some special holiday beverages. One brewery in Seattle knows that there’s only one way to truly get the season underway, and that is with a pumpkin beer festival.

The Elysian Brewing Company is putting the final preparations in place for The Great Pumpkin Beer Festival. Things will be taking place this weekend, October 10 and 11, at the brewery’s Capitol Hill location. There will be plenty of pumpkin beers to help lager lovers get their fix and celebrate the season. The brewery will be honoring nine of their own beers, including The Great Pumpkin Imperial Pumpkin Ale, Hansel and Gretel Ginger Pumpkin Pilsner, and Night Owl. There will be concoctions from other breweries as well including Southern Tier, Rock Bottom, and Dogfish Head. ]]> kjb 2009-10-05T14:43:54-05:00 47.6140330 -122.31571 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/9/18/133231/363

· Munich:
Everybody say it with us now: "Ein Prosit!" That means "a toast" in German, and you'll be saying it about every five minutes at Munich's famous Oktoberfest, which begins tomorrow and runs sixteen days until October 4. There will be beer tents, heart-shaped cookies, lederhosen, and preztels all up and down the Theresienwiese fairgrounds, and you can trust us to give you all the tips you need to have a great Oktoberfest 2009. ]]> JetSetCD 2009-09-18T17:08:55-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/