Josh Weikert

It’s a throwback, now, but we remain loyal, and we know they’re still out there. And brewing a great IPL is more about executing the “L” than anything else.

• Make Your Best
• IPL
• India Pale Lager

The finished beer should be light on the palate yet offer plenty of rich biscuit and toffee flavors with some herbal-earthy hops. This is an excellent beginner style, as simple to brew as it is enjoyable to drink.

• Beer Recipe
• Mild Ale
• Pale Mild

Hard to find and historically interesting? Easy to drink and straightforward to brew? Sounds like the perfect style to tackle at home—or a nice one to grab some interest in the taproom, with its quick turnaround and quantity appeal.

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• Beer Recipe
• Pale Mild

Josh Weikert prowled his local produce aisle following a simple principle: Buy what looks best, and go with the freshest fruit you can get. That led him to guava and passion fruit, a dynamic for this Brazilian-inspired tart fruit beer.

• Beer Recipe
• Fruit Beer
• Berliner Weisse

Brazil’s take on tart fruit beer—the Catharina sour—has its own name and moves, but brewers anywhere can follow the steps.

• Catharina Sour
• Fruit Beer
• Sour Beer

Big yet simple in its construction, this is a showcase of what clean ethanol flavors can add to a beer. Apple-like alcohols meld with the hop aroma and bready grist to yield a simple yet dangerous lager that’s anything but boring.

• Beer Recipe
• Maibock
• Heller Bock

When most people hear “bock,” they think malt—and there’s no question that maibock is a malt-forward style. However, you can lean into hops and other flavor elements to add interest, and—done well—the result is much more than a “strong helles.”

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• Maibock
• Bock

This bigger cousin of the dry stout gets a bump of strength and a deeper coffee-chocolate flavor profile, making it a great option for a seasonal treat.

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• Stout
• Irish Stout

Much like a great schwarzbier, the combination of color and drinkability makes this one as rewarding in winter as it is refreshing in summer.

• Beer Recipe
• Saison

Beer color can defy expectations while offering intrigue—such as this creative riff on the saison tradition.

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• Saison
• Dark Saison

One of the great things about this beer is its stability: The roast continues to shine even after a few months in the keg or bottle. Some sweetness can build over time—but by then, we may be deep into winter, and that sweetness may be just the thing.

• Beer Recipe
• Stout
• Foreign Extra Stout

Whether you’ve got hop fatigue or are hunting some crowd-pleasing flavors—for autumn weather, holiday fare, or any time of year—this dark wheat beer in the German style need not be challenging to brew.

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• Dunkelweizen
• Wheat Beer