Joe Stange

In Sonoma County, California, Fogbelt Brewing is refreshing and reviving an American classic—Mendocino’s Red Tail Ale—and finding a receptive audience.

• Amber Ale
• American Amber Ale
• Red Ale

Easily found in the springtime, this bitter flowering herb can contribute a unique depth to your beer—and a taste of ancient history.

• Yarrow
• Special Ingredient
• Foraging

American amber ales aren’t fossils—they’re more like liquid signals sent through time and space from an earlier generation. And today’s brewers continue to refine and polish them to an appealing ruby hue, while the opportunities for flavor and quality are greater than ever.

• Amber Ale
• American Amber Ale
• Red Ale

Most professional craft brewers get their start as homebrewers, often with simple extract-based kits. Pinter’s mission to make that process easier—and the beer better—is helping a new generation of future brewers connect with the art and craft of making.

• Podcast
• Homebrewing
• Extract Brewing

From our Love Handles files on our favorite spots around the world to enjoy a great beer: This characterful bar off an alleyway in New Zealand’s capital city offers a friendly welcome, local craft, tasty pizza, and a galaxy of Star Wars bric-a-brac.

• Love Handles
• New Zealand
• Wellington

This truly indigenous, widely available American grain offers nutty, earthy flavors that would seem to be compatible with malt-forward beer. Yet relatively few breweries have tried it.

• Wild Rice
• Rice
• Special Ingredient

From our Love Handles files on our favorite places in the world to drink great beer: In lager-loving Bamberg, this atmospheric pub stays up late to pour some of the best from the city and the region.

• Love Handles
• Bamberg
• Germany

In this sneak peek at our upcoming, hop-saturated Summer 2026 issue, we join executive editor Joe Stange for a trans-Pacific dive into XPA with Scotty Hargrave, the style’s progenitor, and student-turned-master Blake Masoner of Craft Coast Beer and Tacos.

• Podcast

Beer and pizza are fast friends, as everyone knows. But how well do “pizza leaves” work in beer? Let’s find out.

• Special Ingredient
• Basil
• Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer

“There is no recipe for the real zoigl,” says brewer Reinhard Fütterer of the Schafferhof-Zoigl pub in Neuhaus. “Everyone has their own—that’s one of the things that make it so special.”

• Beer Recipe
• Kellerbier
• Märzen

In our annual Best in Beer 2025 critics’ roundtable episode, our editorial team goes beyond the unabashed popularity contest and thorough blind-judging process to share their own personal favorites of the year, connecting the dots to suss out the contours of craft beer’s today and possible tomorrows.

• Podcast

Our executive editor shares his favorite beers and beery moments from the past year.

• Best in Beer 2025
• Critic’s List
• Bob Seger