A restrained touch of caramel, firm bitterness, citrus-forward hops, and a pitch of thiol-promoting yeast all come together for a new spin on the classic American IPA.
By applying what we know now—using a grain bill that goes easy on the crystal/caramel malts and new yeast strains that overlay fresher, brighter aromas—we can achieve an updated throwback that lets us enjoy the best of both worlds.
These cool customers have co-evolved with us as brewers and drinkers, traveling and prospering while producing some of the world’s most popular beers. Behind these yeast strains and their important differences, there is a unique genetic story.
Human civilization has evolved alongside wheat, whose properties create a wide swath of beer’s diversity of flavor and texture—from quenching weissbier to soft, hazy IPA. Randy Mosher digs into its history and chemistry.
The diversity and creativity of the beers that come out of this small country are justifiably famous, yet often it’s the wilder side that draws all the attention. Let’s renew our friendship with the foundational ales that first put Belgium on the beer map.
By taking a step back to think more deeply about why we love fruit—and why some fruit beers really shine—we can better plan a truly great one. Randy Mosher peels back the layers and gets to the core of it.
No, it’s not boring—it’s sublime. Yes, it should be somewhat bitter—but balanced. Randy Mosher breaks down one of the beer world’s great classics and the context that makes sense of it. Ready for a session?
Now, here’s a different sort of winter warmer. The fruits and spices are up to you (every abuela has her own ponche recipe). Warm it up, mix with nog, stick a red-hot poker in it … or just enjoy in a snifter by the fireside. ¡Feliz Navidad!
Randy Mosher dissects the intricate workings of IPAs—from the malt to the hop compounds that make them special and compelling—so we can approach our brews and our sensory vocabulary with deeper thought.
Lager is made at the cellular level—and at the cultural one. How far can you push lager—with different ingredients, fermentations, sensory profiles—until it becomes something else? Randy Mosher ponders the science, the traditions, and the pragmatism.