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.
This colonial-era pale ale recipe—a collaboration with Mount Vernon to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence—takes a page right out of Martha Washington’s cookbook.
Bring a spicy dimension to summertime festivities with your favorite dogs fried golden-brown in a jalapeño-IPA batter.
Inspired by Belgian grisette, Creature Comforts in Athens, Georgia, labels this a “country wheat beer,” describing it as dry, grassy, herbal, and slightly fruity.
A bit of wheat is hard to beat—and it shows up in a bunch of today’s most popular beers and styles, even if most drinkers have no idea it’s there. Well beyond wheat beers and weizens, the golden grain has become one of the most useful ingredients in the modern craft brewery.
Let the neighbors grill their wieners. For a charcuterie board that can blow away your next festive gathering, get ready to make your own summer sausage, and prep this delicious and addictive cheese spread plus pickles and biscuit to go with it.
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.
It’s helpful to develop a common vocabulary to describe what we sense in our beer, but it’s even more helpful to understand the chemistry underlying those aromas and flavors. Here’s a primer.
From helpfully updated software to usefully colored malts, here are a few recent recs from our editorial team.
From New York Beer Project in Victor, New York, head brewer John Hyman shares this recipe for the experimental New England–style IPA that won back-to-back golds at the Great American Beer Festival. Besides hops selected for their bright, fruit-forward flavors, Hazy Crush features a cold-side addition of dried fruit and hibiscus flowers.
Winner of back-to-back gold medals for experimental IPA at the Great American Beer Festival, NYBP head brewer John Hyman lays out the makings of their super-tropical Hazy Crush.
From our Love Handles files on our favorite spots to enjoy beer: In Honolulu, look for this alleyway refuge among the tourist bustle.
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.
Mike Rybinski, brewmaster at ZwanzigZ Pizza in Columbus, Indiana, shares this recipe for the American imperial stout that won gold at the 2022 and 2025 World Beer Cups—plus, notes for the ghost pepper variation that also won gold at the Great American Beer Festival in 2017.
From ZwanzigZ Pizza & Brewing in Columbus, Indiana, the Fulcrum imperial stout twice won gold medals at the World Beer Cup, in 2022 and 2025. Here, brewmaster Mike Rybinski shares the beer’s inspirations and what makes it stand out from the modern crowd. As told to Ryan Pachmayer.
Cold showers are trendy, and cold plunges are so hot right now—but craft breweries were taking advantage of cold water before it was, well, cool. Here’s a closer look at one of the most undersung pieces of brewhouse equipment—the CLT—as well as other ways to knock out and chill.
How low can brewers go when selecting a base malt—and what impact does that have on flavor, performance, and overall beer quality?
You may not be able to ferment in a proper Burton Union—though we wouldn’t put it past some of you to build your own—but you can brew your own version of this beer that Thornbridge developed specifically for the country’s last working Union set.
Meant to represent the kind of pale lagers that were brewed by the likes of John Wagner, who brewed the first lager in the United States, this is kind of like German or Czech Pilsner but includes some local variability and flair.
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.
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