Annie Johnson

This old-school Cascadian dark ale embraces piney Chinook hops in Sasquatchian proportions. Don’t worry about the IBUs—this should end up relatively balanced, with enough malt and hop flavors and aroma to provide depth for the bitterness.

• American Black Ale

Maybe that P in IPA can stand for “pitch-black.” Once again helping us to extract the most characterful beer from extract brewing, Annie Johnson has the details on Cascadian dark ale, aka American black ale or black IPA.

• IPA
• Extract
• Partial-Mash

From award-winning homebrewer and Craft Beer & Brewing contributor Annie Johnson, this elegant single-malt-single-hop beer can spotlight any hop you want—in this case, Zappa, which can boldly express tropical fruit, mint, spices, citrus, and pine.

• Beer Recipe
• IPA
• Session IPA

Besides a hearty embrace of spicy Saaz hops, this partial-mash recipe for a Czech-style pilsner includes a method for pressurized fermentation in a corny keg.

• Beer Recipe
• Pilsner
• Extract Recipe

Die-hards will say you need to go all-grain to brew a great pilsner. They’ll also say you need strict temperature control. That’s fine—we don’t have to share our beer or our tricks with them.

• Pilsner
• No Rests for the Wicked
• Lager

Saison may bring to mind thirsty farmers in amber waves of grain—or it may remind you of intricate, multistep mash regimes aimed at high attenuation. However, there’s no reason extract brewers can’t take a crack at it. Here’s a recipe.

• Beer Recipe
• Saison

With saison’s high attenuation, delicate body, fermentation-driven complexities, and lasting foam, it would be easy to assume that extract brewers are at a disadvantage. Not necessarily, as Annie Johnson explains.

• No Rests for the Wicked
• Extract
• Partial-Mash

When it comes to barleywine, the American way is to balance all that rich malt and alcoholic warmth with a bracing dose of hops. Here’s a partial-mash extract recipe for one you can drink fresh or lay down for months.

• Barleywine
• Beer Recipe

Here is Annie Johnson‘s partial-mash recipe for an English-style barleywine, getting classic depth from judicious caramel malts and east Kent Goldings hops.

• Barleywine
• Beer Recipe

Whether English or American or breaking new ground, barleywines are the Cadillacs of the ale world. Can you brew a great one with extracts? Of course you can. Annie Johnson breaks it down in our ongoing series on extract-brewing exceptional beers.

• Barleywine
• Extract Brewing
• Partial-Mash