Much like Venture Café, Portico Brewing Company sees itself as an accessible entryway into another world. For Portico, that world is craft beer. This Thursday, Alex Rabe, co-founder of Portico, will visit Venture Café to conduct guests through that delicious entryway.

Named for one of the most ubiquitous architectural structures in the world, Portico Brewing Company focuses on the unassuming nature of its beer and markets its product to the everyday consumer who is considering a taste of craft beer. Like their logo, the Portico beer tap handles – one of which we will display this Thursday – reflect an emphasis on minimalism, featuring the brewers’ favorite pieces of architecture with a black and white design.

Portico arose from a love of entrepreneurship and beer. It was founded in the summer of 2012 by three Babson MBA graduates: Alex Zielke, Alex Rabe, and Ian Chester. The team spent over a year home brewing, incorporating Zielke’s skills as a certified Berlin Brewmaster, and hosting tastings with their friends. After several strategy sessions to figure out how three Babson MBAs should go about founding a brewery, they began to brew “gypsy style” at Watch City Brewing Company just down the road in Waltham, Massachusetts.

To date, Portico has produced four beers: a Belgian inspired Kolsch called Fuzzy Logic, a summer sour named Rendition, a fall Farmhouse Ale dubbed Saison Charrette, and a winter Scotch Ale christened Sett Seven. We will be serving Fuzzy Logic, Portico’s flagship beer, in the Café on Thursday. Kolsch is a traditional German beer from Cologne, Germany, but Portico’s version combines North American barley and wheat with German hops. This combination results in a balance of citrus and sweet malty flavors, with only a slightly bitter hop profile. The brewers use Belgian yeast, which makes Fuzzy Logic “Belgiany,” creating a fruit and floral aroma. The result is a smooth, refreshing beer, tasty to the everyday consumer or the craft beer aficionado.

This Thursday, walk through the portals of Venture Café to taste Fuzzy Logic, and to meet one of its makers. You might just learn about two Venture Café favorites: entrepreneurship and craft beer.