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“We think pilsners can be as different from each other as the four or five IPAs we have on tap,” says Kurt Smith, cofounder and head brewer at Smith & Lentz Brewing in Nashville, Tennessee.

• Pilsner
• Brewer's Perspective
• Lager

Courtesy of Perennial Artisan Ales in St. Louis, Missouri, here is a homebrew-sized version of a big-bodied imperial stout that gets a pile of coconut for a decadent, chocolate-macaroon-like character.

• Beer Recipe
• Imperial Stout

Mead has enjoyed a meteoric rise over the past decade. Here, we ask five new-school meadmakers about the bottles that were formative experiences for them, or that stand out in recent memory.

• Mead
• Five on Five
• Melomel

Back in May, we polled readers via email to get a sense of how their beer buying and drinking was changing amid the pandemic. More than 4,200 people answered, and the results are charted below.

• Infographic
• Pandemic
• Beer Buying

When formulating complex grists for imperial stouts and other big beers, intentionality is the key—everything there should have a purpose, according to Phil Wymore, cofounder and brewmaster of Perennial Artisan Ales.

• Video
• Video Tip
• Stout

Kristen England is head brewer at Bent Brewstillery in Roseville, Minnesota—and a longtime homebrewer and BJCP Grand Master Beer Judge. Here is his recipe for a rich-but-quaffable Czech-style dark lager, including a straightforward single-decoction mash.

• Beer Recipe
• Czech-Style Dark Lager

This Portland, Oregon-area brewer has always brewed like he has something to prove, building a reputation for tightly expressive West Coast IPAs as well as thoughtfully constructed lagers.

• Podcast

As historical beers go, this is an odd one: an Austrian beer once described by Mozart (maybe), with a grist of 100 percent malted oats, and cream of tartar to lend a refreshing acidic touch.

• Beer Recipe
• Traditional Beer

Breweries tend to view selling beer as the primary source of revenue. However, putting all your pints in one basket is not a long-term strategy. One way to diversify revenue: Implement a comprehensive retail strategy.

• Sponsored

Fully fermenting high-gravity beers is a challenge for any brewer. Perennial's Phil Wymore explains how they oxygenate their yeast starters as well as their worts, giving their big-beer fermentations a healthy start.

• Video
• Video Tip
• Stout

Oof, what a year… but at least we had beer. There is still time to take our Best in Beer 2020 Reader Survey—and get $5 off your subscription.

• Best in Beer
• Best in Beer 2020
• Reader Survey

You, too, can brew a quaffable, enjoyable, malt-forward lager beer—in relatively short order.

• Helles
• Beer Recipe
• Lager