After two days of judging for our Best 20 Beers in 2024, the team sat down to discuss their own most enjoyable beers and experiences of the past year—along the way identifying some trends that may offer hope for the next chapter of craft beer’s story.
Our contributing editor and one of the most accomplished chroniclers of the brewing industry shares her top beers and moments from the past year.
Whether through consolidation or layoffs, a brewery can lose its point of contact at a wholesaler. Here’s how to keep sales on track while strengthening your partnerships in the middle tier.
Brewers share strategies for reducing costs on craft beer’s most competitive style.
Now that hazy IPA is ubiquitous, brewers are working harder than ever to make novel examples that stand out in the crowd. From hopping to yeast selection, here’s how a few of the pros are leaving their unique thumbprints on the style.
Barleywines and wheatwines explore the boldest flavor frontiers of their respective grains. Now, daring brewers are applying that maximalist approach to wine-strength beers brewed with millet, rye-wheat hybrids, smoked malts, and more.
Whether they’re working in farmhouses or warehouses, today’s saison brewers are united in their pursuit of rustic character. While that goal is abstract, they achieve it via concrete choices about ingredients and process—and the ways to get there are as varied as the brewers and beers themselves.
Here are the high points of the year in beer from our contributing editor, one of the most prolific and astute journalists covering the industry today.
From our Love Handles files on the world’s great watering holes: Locals rule at this warm, comfortable, and family-friendly bar in Deer Lodge, Montana.
Hop-forward lagers are nothing new, but a new thread is emerging that more intentionally marries the great drinkability of a pilsner with the expressive hopping of a West Coast IPA. Could it be the best of both worlds?