Beer Recipe

This recipe has been shaped by years of studying, drinking, thinking about, and brewing Kölsch-style beer. “This is as near to an authentic Kölsch recipe as you can get,” says brewer Corey Blodgett. “Unless you’re in Köln.”

From Lukáš Tomsa, head brewer at Dva Kohouti in Prague, comes this recipe for a Czech-style American pale ale—with a base of Czech pale ale malt, it gets a single decoction meant to promote body, foam, and attenuation.

This is a simple yet remarkably enjoyable style that novice brewers can get right the first time—yet experienced brewers can appreciate it the 100th time and beyond.

Southern Grist first brewed Insert Juicy Pun as a “jacked up” version of its Mixed Greens hazy IPA, “with an irresponsible amount of Galaxy, Mosaic, and Citra hops,” the brewery says. “We taste strong notes of orange pulp, papaya, pineapple, and peach.”

From Emancipation Brewing in Fairbury, Illinois, comes this recipe that local patrons have been enjoying in quantity at their occasional Kölsch Nights.

Ayla Kapahi, head brewer at Borderlands in Tucson, Arizona, shares this recipe for their easy-drinking wheat beer with German aroma hops, some light fruity esters, and a Southwestern twist: the addition of prickly pear.

“This refreshingly crisp cold IPA takes inspiration from our friend and former Firestone Walker brewer Kevin Davey,” Sam Tierney says. “It can be brewed two ways: one with rice adjunct to lighten the body, or another with a lower-FAN, extra-pale German pilsner malt for similar effect.”

This big and complex yet dangerously easy-to-drink ale is relatively easy to brew well—just watch that attenuation and focus on healthy fermentation for a drying finish.

First brewed for Notch’s 10th anniversary in 2020, this is a 10°P pale lager in the Czech tradition—low in strength yet full of flavor. The beer is triple-decocted, open-fermented, naturally carbonated, and “lagered forever.”

From the production team at Creature Comforts in Athens, Georgia, here’s a recipe for their clean, crisp, easy-drinking American lager that won gold at the 2022 Great American Beer Festival.