Annie Johnson

Annie Johnson is an experienced R&D brewer, IT specialist, and national beer judge. Her awards include 2013 American Homebrewer of the Year honors.


Recipe: Annie’s Coconut-Lime Kölsch

So, you put the lime in the coconut—or, better yet, add them both to secondary. Then you drink it all up.

No Rests for the Wicked: Warm It Up with Winter Fruit

Extract brewing provides a more-than-capable canvas for getting creative with the unusual fruits that arrive this time of year. Annie Johnson breaks it down.

Recipe: Old Nehampkin Imperial Stout

Here is Annie Johnson’s recipe for a rich, complex, adjunct-free imperial stout that mellows and improves with some time in the cellar.

No Rests for the Wicked: Imperial Stout, Extracted

You don’t need a truckload of grain and a giant mash tun to brew a big, rich imperial stout perfect for laying down for months—this one is right in the extract brewer’s wheelhouse.

Recipe: To Cascadia! American Black Ale

This old-school Cascadian dark ale embraces piney Chinook hops in Sasquatchian proportions. Don’t worry about the IBUs—this should end up relatively balanced, with enough malt and hop flavors and aroma to provide depth for the bitterness.

No Rests for the Wicked: American Black Ale, Extracted

Maybe that P in IPA can stand for “pitch-black.” Once again helping us to extract the most characterful beer from extract brewing, Annie Johnson has the details on Cascadian dark ale, aka American black ale or black IPA.

Recipe: Zappa SMaSH Session IPA

From award-winning homebrewer and Craft Beer & Brewing contributor Annie Johnson, this elegant single-malt-single-hop beer can spotlight any hop you want—in this case, Zappa, which can boldly express tropical fruit, mint, spices, citrus, and pine.

Recipe: Czech Plz!

Besides a hearty embrace of spicy Saaz hops, this partial-mash recipe for a Czech-style pilsner includes a method for pressurized fermentation in a corny keg.

No Rests for the Wicked: Extracting the Elegance of No-Pressure Pilsner

Die-hards will say you need to go all-grain to brew a great pilsner. They’ll also say you need strict temperature control. That’s fine—we don’t have to share our beer or our tricks with them.

Recipe: Annie’s French Farmhouse Ale

Saison may bring to mind thirsty farmers in amber waves of grain—or it may remind you of intricate, multistep mash regimes aimed at high attenuation. However, there’s no reason extract brewers can’t take a crack at it. Here’s a recipe.