Jamie Bogner

Amid the ups and downs and gradual, stutter-step return to social life, we experienced some transcendent beers—beers that shone, beers that enlightened, beers that made us stop and remember what it’s all about. Here are the pinnacles of the craft.

• Best Beers in 2021
• No Ads
• Best in Beer

In Longmont, Colorado, this small passion project devoted solely to spontaneously fermented beers trusts in data and science to better understand and guide their fermentation, aging, and blending.

• Podcast
• Spontaneous fermentation
• Sour beer

From the rolling hills of Kansas, Central Standard has embarked on an ambitious program to explore everything from mixed-culture grisette to Norwegian-inspired farmhouse ales, including a range of styles brewed with kveik.

• Podcast

This Northwest Arkansas brewery strives for a threefold balance, focusing on agreeable beer for those new to craft as well as distinct character and technical function.

• Podcast

Beale Street Brewing in Memphis has a focus on culinary- and cocktail-inspired beers that evoke poignant flavor memories while connecting with drinkers through the city’s rich musical and cultural history.

• Podcast

In rural southern Illinois, Scratch may be America’s most compelling example of farmhouse brewing. In this episode, the cofounders explain their methods for adding natural, foraged ingredients, as well as the work-intensive process of wood-fired brewing.

• Podcast
• Brewing
• Farmhouse ale

Simultaneously pursuing great lagers alongside a two-pronged approach to hazy IPA—with both sweeter and drier iterations—has established this Kansas City brewery as a creative force in the Midwest.

• Podcast

The cofounder and brewer for the suburban Chicago powerhouse of progressive styles makes coveted beers with a workmanlike, no-nonsense approach.

• Podcast
• Barrel-Aging
• Stout

For the director of brewing operations at California’s The Bruery, sensory evaluation is what drives decisions, and beers earn their shot at becoming bigger releases by working their way up the tiers.

• Podcast
• Sour beer
• Wine-beer hybrid

The co-owner and brewmaster of the Southern California brewery shares strong opinions on developing beers where nothing is added and everything—from hops to coffee and spices—is considered a recipe ingredient.

• Podcast
• Beachwood
• IPA

Firestone Walker’s Propagator brewhouse manager discusses the R&D process for popular beer families such as Luponic Distortion and Mind Haze, as they follow the path of subtle but continual evolution.

• Podcast
• Brewing
• IPA

Are you getting the most you can out of the hops you use? Could you get even more? Brandon Capps thinks so. He’s been exploring the limits and potential of brewing with extracted terpenes.

• Podcast
• IPA
• Hops