Josh Weikert

Want to brew an eisbock? The first times you try fractional freezing on a bock or other beer, you simply can’t know exactly what you’re going to get—but there are ways to maximize your chances of success.

• Eisbock
• Bock
• Fractional Freezing

Call it black IPA, Cascadian dark, or anything else—whatever you call it, this American black ale goes all-in on flavor with dark malts and robust hopping.

• Make Your Best
• Black IPA
• American Black Ale

This beer style works just fine on its own as a fall or winter party tap—but it also makes a great base for winter-themed fruited or spiced beers.

• Make Your Best
• Dark Lager
• International Dark Lager

This international-style dark lager works well on its own as an easy-drinking crowd-pleaser—but it also works well as a relatively base for fruit or other flavor additions.

• Beer Recipe
• International Dark Lager
• Dark Lager

Inspired by the festive, seasonal releases from Düsseldorf’s altbier breweries, this sticke recipe takes what’s great about altbier and kicks it up a notch for special occasions.

• Beer Recipe
• Altbier
• Sticke Altbier

Altbier is the perfect style, and you can’t improve upon it... but sometimes you need to push the envelope.

• Make Your Best
• Sticke Altbier
• Altbier

In recent years, the brewing world has learned a lot about terpenes, thiols, biotransformation, survivables, and more. Now, let’s zoom out to consider the essence of hop aroma—the oils that contain all those compounds—and make sense of them in a way that any brewer can use.

• Hop Oil
• Hops
• Dry Hops

An oft-overlooked branch on the farmhouse-inspired, mixed-culture family tree, bière de mars represents a chance to brew something tart, funky, and refreshing.

• Making Beer
• Farmhouse Ale
• Bière de Mars

Over the years, this recipe has gotten a bit darker and a bit lighter in body, but the goal is the same: to shape an IPA that is distinct from stylistic “neighbors” such as American brown ale.

• Beer Recipe
• American IPA
• Brown IPA

This hop-forward yet malt-backed niche IPA style has gone from rare to nearly extinct over the years—all the more reason to take a stab at its unusual balance while brewing something that the others aren’t.

• Make Your Best
• Brown IPA

Brewing a helles is a worthy challenge. If your process is consistent and your ingredients fresh, you can make this beer sing on command.

• Beer Recipe
• Helles
• Pale Lager

A great helles is simple in composition—but simple can be surprisingly hard to get right, especially when there’s nowhere for mistakes to hide. It's a worthy challenge, and the payoff is a beer that pretty much everyone is happy to drink.

• Make Your Best
• Helles
• Lager