Expert interviews, brewing insights, and industry trends.
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.
From cereal-mashed rice and Riwaka in “Southern pilsner” to barrel-aged stout that’s a dead-ringer for a well-known cola, Tennessee’s Soul & Spirits takes a methodical approach to even the most outlandish ideas.
Despite the challenging headwinds in the beer market, Minnesota and Wisconsin's Indeed Brewing has found ways to grow distribution sales by using data to make better decisions. This conversation, produced in partnership with Encompass, looks at the systems and processes they've put in place over the past few years to fuel that growth.
Colorado’s Prost is no stranger to medal-winning lager. Despite that success, the team went back to the drawing board six months ago, rebuilding its pale lagers with Augustiner yeast and a totally different approach to fermentation.
Gene Wagoner of ISM and Nick Walker of Ology join Tim Sciascia and Nick Harris of Berkeley Yeast for this special episode that explores new research and evolving techniques for creating the right balance of thiols in hoppy beers.
This Nashville brewery’s Barrel-Aged Dyson Sphere stout earned a top score in our malt-focused Spring issue—evidence of the team’s nuanced approach to blending, using a variety of whiskey barrels and with numerous complex recipes designed for specific casks.
Since 2022, Nebraska’s Corn Coast has earned three GABF medals in hotly contested hazy IPA categories that span the strength spectrum—meanwhile landing a Craft Beer & Brewing Best in Beer trophy for its West Coast pils, Share the Stoke. In this episode, cofounder Will Walter shares their approach.
Over the past eight years, Nebraska’s Kros Strain has won three Craft Beer & Brewing Best in Beer trophies for three diverse styles: hazy IPA, mixed-culture saison, and barrel-aged barleywine. But cofounder Bobby Kros would rather use flavor than words to tell you why.
Brewers may speak wistfully about rubbing hops at selection—but for Dan Brouillette at Omaha’s Lumen, what stands out in the rub isn’t always the best hop for the beer.