Expert interviews, brewing insights, and industry trends.
With back-to-back GABF gold medals in festbier—as well as a GABF silver and a CB&B 99 score for helles—this long-running brewpub has found ways to work past their technical limitations and build characterful precision in small-scale lagers.
Tonya Cornett and Ian Larkin have been brewing medal-winning beers together, apart, and together again through three different breweries, but they’re constantly reinventing their pathways to success, just as they’re consistently tweaking their medal-winning beers.
How do you take an existing yeast variety that has grown up in a particular environment for a century or more and make it better for styles brewers are brewing, the hops they’re brewing with, and the cellars they ferment in today? In this episode, Chris White of White Labs, Richard Preiss of Escarpment Labs, and Justin Clouthier of Willibald Brewing share the methods at play and the work behind developing then learning and optimizing the new Suava strain.
Headquartered just outside of Bend, Oregon, this production brewery and multi-location brewpub has quietly grown into a powerhouse in a region that’s full of them. And refinement is the name of their game, whether they’re brewing Alpha King–winning double IPA or rice lager with basil, cucumber, and yuzu.
Forget last year’s hot side versus cold side social media debate. The real issue, says Trap Door head brewer Jake Watt, is the seasonal creep that’s pushing out fresh-hopped beers before the most compelling hops are even ready to be harvested. But ask him which methods he uses to hop these beers dubbed “fresh,” and he’ll answer, “all of the above, and more.”
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.
Through a series of projects and papers, these two respected researchers are shedding new light on how hops age, how variety impacts that aging, how conditions such as temperature and oxygen affect hops, and more. An important takeaway: There’s more life in two-, three-, or four-year-old hop lots than we may have previously thought.
As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, nothing seems more fitting than to take a look back at the earliest days of American brewing in the revolutionary era, guided by two brewers who’ve done the historical work and found ways to make that history relevant in our modern beer context.
Delicious fried chicken and an artful take on comfort food may be the primary draws for this Colorado restaurant chain, but the award-winning beer is no afterthought. With six top-flight medals over the past six years, they’re proving that smaller beers designed to be enjoyed with food have an enduring place in craft brewing.
For this Bay Area California brewer, the keys to better helles and West Coast IPA unlocked as he stripped away burdensome processes and ingredients and simplified recipes and techniques to their core essentials.
The cofounders of this small central California brewery have intentionally limited their scope to lager—but that doesn’t mean they sacrifice breadth or experimentation, as they tinker with everything from traditional styles to hazy pale lager.
Harnessing data from disparate brewery systems is easier now than ever before, and predictive tools and AI-powered systems are within reach even for small breweries. In this episode, we explore how breweries can use this data effectively to avoid costly downtime.
While many brewers in North America have leaned into saisons with dialed-up flavors—with more acidity, plentiful phenolics, and big Brett—this small and focused brewery in Chicago’s Ravenswood neighborhood tones it down and shapes it up to make lighter, drier beers that drink full, glass after glass.
Chicago’s Half Acre has built a well-deserved reputation for expertly crafted beers, and its pale ale Daisy Cutter has found its way into the pantheon of craft classics. Now, co-owner Matt Gallagher has set his sights on something smaller: Suncatcher, a neighborhood-focused brewery where the beers support rather than drive the conversation.
Having a good idea of how a new ingredient is going to work in the brewhouse is crucial for brewers today who need to be more efficient than ever while pursuing their creative urges. In this conversation with Matt Gallagher of Suncatcher/Half Acre, Tom Beckmann of Goldfinger, and Laura Burns and Jonathan Moxey of Omega Yeast, we discuss the collaborative process, evolving knowledge around low-temperature lager fermentation, building flexible character in classic styles, and more.
The cofounder of the Chicago brewery shares their approach to building lagers not just as expressions of specific styles, but as beers designed for specific times and places.
As Firestone Walker celebrates their 30th anniversary this year, we’ve teamed up to share stories around a theme they’re incredibly passionate about and proud of—the deep relationships they’ve built with hop growers, hop brokers, and hop-industry organizations.
After scoring 98 with our Craft Beer & Brewing blind judges and being named one of our Best 20 Beers in 2025, AleSmith’s Handgeplukt Kriek recently took home gold at the World Beer Cup. Head brewer Anthony Chen walks us through the process of making this special beer.
How do you build compelling and attractive fruit and spice character in beer that carries through in flavor and aroma? In this panel discussion produced in partnership with Amoretti, brewers from Prairie, The Bruery, and more, share their approaches.
In this episode recorded at the Brewers Association headquarters in Boulder, Colorado, we dive into the data with the BA president and CEO, and we consider how the industry might be able to correct the prevailing narratives that have grabbed popular attention.
Some beers win so many medals that they become institutions—and with three World Beer Cup gold medals in five years, COVA’s Aloha State of Mind is making its claim. Brewmaster Matt Topping shares his secrets.
Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River, Kelsey McNair of North Park, Evan Price of Green Cheek, Ben Edmunds of Breakside, and brewing scientist Tom Shellhammer of Oregon State University discuss dry hops, sulfur, and thiols, plus they answer audience questions during this special episode recorded live at the Craft Brewers Conference.
Roughly 18 hours after winning gold for their helles—Wander Back Lager—cofounder and head brewer Brian Hink shares their keys to winning, from fresh and locally sourced craft malt to mash-out decoction and careful attention to pH throughout the process.
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.