Ice Beer

Based on input from Nattachai “Ob” Ungsriwong of the Devanom Brewing Company in Nonthaburi, Thailand, here’s a recipe for making your own sato—inspired by traditional methods, but with a few optional twists.

Amid craft beer’s rise in Thailand, brewers there are taking a fresh look at what their uncles and grandmas concocted—a folk drink fermented from sticky rice, wild yeast, molds, and a seemingly random mix of botanicals. (They’re also figuring out how to make it better.)

Dry and spicy yet hop-forward, this lemongrass-laced saison from Oedipus in Amsterdam recently took home its third World Beer Cup medal.

Exotic but familiar, the tropical plant lemongrass is far from being one of the traditional beer ingredients … yet its flavor and aroma fit right in with the others.

Danyangju is a strong makgeolli made from a simple, single-step fermentation process—ideal for beginners to try at home.

Courtesy of Carol Pak at Sool, here is a homebrew version of their lighter makgeolli recipe using glutinous (sticky) rice.

In Korea, a new generation has revived a folk drink made from rice and mixed-culture fermentation. Now, two small-batch producers are making makgeolli on American shores, celebrating their heritage while introducing many more to its depth of flavors.

Courtesy of Luc Lafontaine of Godspeed in Toronto, this unusual IPA recipe represents a fusion of influences. (It also includes tips for extracting flavor and aroma from green tea without unwanted tannins.)

Knowing how to build a recipe for fractional distillation, how to use the process, and how to make a style into an “Ice Whatever” is a great tool to have in your bag.

Knowing how to build a recipe for fractional distillation (and, of course, how to use the process) and making a style an "Ice Whatever" is a great club to have in your bag.

Spice beers can be polarizing, but the intriguing flavors create exciting avenues of exploration for adventurous brewers. We asked a few of our favorite brewers to share some of their favorites.

So, how do you make a spiced beer? “Brew a beer and add spices.” If only it were that simple! Spice opens up an enormous range of flavors to us, and Josh Weikert shows you how to deploy various spices to get something you’re going to love drinking!

Spice in beer is nothing new, but as farmers create new peppers for market, brewers are busy trying to figure out how to incorporate them into lagers and ales. Matt Brophy talks about the spicy inspiration behind Flying Dog Brewery’s “The Heat” series.

Formulating, sampling, describing, reformulating, sampling again—the lessons Forbidden Root’s BJ Pichman learned perfecting first Forbidden Root and later Fernetic are equally useful when making a beer with just a few spices or, in fact, one with none.

Josh Weikert takes you on a rapid-fire journey through a range of spices and herbs that enhance, augment, imitate, and/or intensify both traditional beer flavors and beer-adjacent flavors that you might want to work into your recipes.