Craft brewers have gone from shunning adjuncts to embracing them with alacrity amid our ongoing love affair with lager. Here, we put the American and international lager traditions into context—and then we ponder which adjuncts might be the next to conquer the world.
By: Josh WeikertRELATED:
It’s the predominant style in American craft, and there are many great examples—it takes an exceptional one to impress fellow professional brewers. Here are five of their picks.
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With a name like Benchtop, you’d expect experimentation backed by quantitative evaluation, and that’s exactly how founder Eric Tennant approaches brewing passion projects such as foeder lager and barrel-aged barleywine.
By: Jamie BognerThis bright and bitter American IPA—still with a light touch of caramel malt—won gold medals at the 2023 World Beer Cup and Great American Beer Festival, then went on to become one of our Best 20 Beers in 2023.
By: Matt ColeRELATED:
From the weather at the farms that grow the ingredients to every aspect of brewing and on to the climate in which we enjoy it, temperature affects beer profoundly. So, whether you’re gulping an ice-cold one in the desert or sipping a snifter by the fireside, let’s ponder beer’s ethereal, delicate nature—whatever the season.
By: Randy MosherRELATED:
Brewers share strategies for reducing costs on craft beer’s most competitive style.
By: Kate BernotSponsored
Beer sales are down, but not out. Recent history indicates that reigniting consumer interest in craft beer usually involves catchy new hop flavors and beer styles that deliver them to a range of palates.
By: Indie Hops (Sponsored)A great one to enjoy by the autumn bonfire, this is a style that any smoked-beer enthusiast should know how to make—and it can be nearly as easy to brew as it is to drink.
By: Josh WeikertRELATED:
Billed as a “hop sandwich” by the St. Louis brewery, 2nd Shift’s Art of Neurosis is an evolving American IPA that features loads of Columbus and Simcoe with just a kiss of caramel malt.
By: Steve CriderRELATED:
From interviews recorded at 3 Sons Lumberjack Day in Dania Beach, Florida, these two brewers from different corners of Europe cover a range of topics, from using a mash press filter for imperial stouts to riffing on grodziskie with mixed cultures and fruit.
By: Jamie BognerSponsored
Introducing Firestone Walker’s 2025 Brewmaster’s Collective
By: Firestone Walker (Sponsored)RELATED:
Before there was hazy or even a defined West Coast style, there was an IPA that emerged as a brashly hopped counterpoint to British ale. It never went away—but it evolved. And today’s brewers are making it better than ever.
By: Joe StangeRELATED:
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BoxPop® designed and fabricated a mobile shipping container bar for Four Father’s Brewing Company out of Indiana. Learn more about how BoxPop® helped expand their business to increase their serving capacity and allowed them to support more events.
By: BoxPop (Sponsored)With thanks to Brian Grossman, Scott Jennings, and the production team at Sierra Nevada in Chico, California, and Mills River, North Carolina, here’s a homebrew-scale recipe for their fresh-hopped annual throwback.
By: Brian GrossmanRELATED:
Join Beachwood brewmaster Julian Shrago as he charts the path from choosing an unfamiliar style of beer to brewing an example that can please the crowd and wow the judges.
Steve Parker, cofounder and head brewer of Fidens in Albany, New York, details their approach to building the kind of soft, juicy, impactful hazy IPAs that keep you going back for more.
Josh Pfriem, cofounder and brewmaster of Oregon’s pFriem Family Brewers, details the thinking and process behind the brewery’s delicate, award-winning lagers inspired by traditions in Mexico, Japan, and beyond.