For the director of brewing operations at California’s The Bruery, sensory evaluation is what drives decisions, and beers earn their shot at becoming bigger releases by working their way up the tiers.
While drinkability remains the supreme goal, the dark side of Planet Lager can offer richer delights than the brighter styles. Despite their more exotic look, they can also be surprisingly light and refreshing. Here are five top picks from the pros.
The days of waiting in line in the hopes of getting some KBS are long gone—it’s year-round and fireside-ready, with new varietals on the way.
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In this video course, Firestone Walker’s Eric Ponce shares advice and lays out the careful process behind the brewery’s barrel-aged and blended blockbusters such as Parabola and Anniversary Ale.
Floodland founder Adam Paysse shares his insights and perspective on collecting and nurturing mixed cultures for rustic, farmhouse-inspired beers.
At Seattle’s Floodland Brewing, Adam Paysse pursues a singular vision: to make beers that reflect his preferences and ideals. Turns out, a lot of other people dig them, too.
Levi Funk of Untitled Art and Funk Factory Geuzeria discusses the challenges smaller breweries and homebrewers face in packing real-fruit flavors—safely—into their hard seltzers and other beverages.
The co-owner and brewmaster of the Southern California brewery shares strong opinions on developing beers where nothing is added and everything—from hops to coffee and spices—is considered a recipe ingredient.
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Following the golden path of modern festbier, this homebrew-scale recipe is closely based on Counter Weight’s GABF gold medal winner.
Whatever its strength, whatever its story, and whatever its color—amber or gold?—festbier ought to be drinkable in quantity. Here we dissect the diverging styles to find out what makes a great (Oktober)festbier tick.
Time is a precious ingredient, even after packaging. Jester King founder Jeff Stuffings lays out some key considerations for bottling and conditioning your rustic, mixed-fermentation beers.
Firestone Walker’s Propagator brewhouse manager discusses the R&D process for popular beer families such as Luponic Distortion and Mind Haze, as they follow the path of subtle but continual evolution.
Josh Pfriem, brewmaster and cofounder of pFriem Family Brewers in Hood River, Oregon, breaks down their approach to Kölsch-Style Ale—an exercise in precision and a gold-medal winner at last year’s Great American Beer Festival.
Far from ordinary, the unassuming Kölsch is a unique beer with its own history and an identity firmly rooted in its city and rituals. Jeff Alworth has the story, with a fresh glass and a tick for your deckel.
