Joe Stange

Through dire decades for traditional lambic, this multigenerational Brussels brewery kept the flame lit long enough to witness the current renaissance. Yet Cantillon continues to explore methods for using fruit while staying true to the family’s vision.

• Podcast
• Lambic
• Belgium

The labs have been busy developing new critters for us to corral. Here are few recent releases worth trying at home.

• Yeast
• Saison
• Farmhouse

Werner Van Obberghen and Lukas Van den Abeele discuss extending the tradition and digging deeper into lambic history with the next phase of the historic blendery and brewery.

• Podcast

Mildly sweet, vibrantly colored, inexpensive, and good for you—until you make delicious carrot cake out of them. Or carrot-cake beer. Why aren’t we brewing with carrots, again? Let’s get to the root of it.

• Carrots
• Field Beer

Lacie Bray and Andy Coates, cofounders of Ozark Beer in northwest Arkansas, explain the stressful process and habitual leap of faith behind their cult-favorite beer, BDCS.

• Barrel-Aging
• Imperial Stout
• Arkansas

Inspired by Saison Cazeau, here is a recipe for a light, dry, farmhouse-style ale that gets a sweet-smelling lift from fresh fleurs de sureau.

• Beer Recipe
• Saison

Floral, fruity, and unique, fresh elderflowers smell like the finest hops you’ve never smelled—because those hops don’t exist yet.

• Elderflower
• Saison

Here are two books we can recommend to any brewer or beer enthusiast.

• Beer Books

In rural Flemish Brabant, Antidoot Wilde Fermenten’s house mixed culture includes various wild yeasts they have captured over the years. Here, Tom Jacobs offers tips for success in wrangling your own local strains.

• Brewer's Perspective
• Wild yeast
• Yeast Wrangling

Whether it’s pinpoint pilsners, lush, juicy IPAs, or big, balanced stouts, the upstarts at family-run Alma Mader in Kansas City have something that just about any kind of drinker can love.

• Breakout Brewer
• Kansas City

As a niche style, bière de garde doesn’t always medal at the Great American Beer Festival—but Munkle’s 5 Branches took home gold in 2018, then Echo’s Junebug did it again in 2019. Here, the head brewers from both breweries sketch out the blueprints.

• Bière de Garde
• Farmhouse Ale
• French-Belgian Ale

Here, two brewmasters who know their way around a dark grist—T.L. Adkisson of Foothills in North Carolina, and John Mallett of Bell’s in Michigan—share advice on balancing juicy fruit with a rich, roasty profile.

• Fruit Stout
• Fruit Beer
• Berries