Adjuncts

This truly indigenous, widely available American grain offers nutty, earthy flavors that would seem to be compatible with malt-forward beer. Yet relatively few breweries have tried it.

Horus Aged Ales founder Kyle Harrop doesn’t drink coffee, but he loves to add it as a flavor component in his big barrel-aged stouts. In this clip from his video course, he explains his “tea bag” method to dial in contact time to get the flavor he wants.

Among brewers who use it, coconut is notorious for soaking up liquid, destroying yield, and leaving behind an oily sheen... but people sure do seem to love the flavor. In this clip from his video course, Horus Aged Ales founder Kyle Harrop describes how he deploys this wonderfully flavorful but expensive and inefficient adjunct.

The realm of vanilla and its flavor potential extends far beyond Madagascar and Tahiti. In this clip from his video course, Horus Aged Ales founder Kyle Harrop talks about some of his favorite origin vanillas for barrel-aged beers—and about how the bean can overshadow the barrel.

American brewers have been producing an industrial riff on bock for more than 150 years—light in strength but dark in color, usually made with corn as well as dark syrups. How might craft brewers reinterpret this tradition, based on the ingredients they have today?

New research points toward much greater potential for rice malt in brewing—with varieties that provide color, character, and brewing specs that aren’t so different from barley.

Craft brewers have gone from shunning adjuncts to embracing them with alacrity amid our ongoing love affair with lager. Here, we put the American and international lager traditions into context—and then we ponder which adjuncts might be the next to conquer the world.

Since adjunct lagers are cool again, it may be time to give American malt liquor a fresh look. Lean and strong, this adjunct-laden product of the post-Prohibition era has the power to evoke simpler times.

Kevin Davey, co-owner of Heater Allen Brewing and Gold Dot Beer, explains why domestic two-row is the base malt of choice for cold IPA, combining with adjuncts such as rice or corn for lighter body and longer shelf life.

In this clip from his video course, Phase Three cofounder and head brewer Shaun Berns lays out how they use cinnamon in their big stouts and barrel-aged beers—including a very unscientific way to measure it.

Phase Three Brewing uses a special infusion tank to steep and recirculate beer through coconut, fruit, and various other adjuncts. In this clip from his video course, cofounder and head brewer Shaun Berns explains how it works.

In this clip from his video course, Phase Three cofounder and head brewer Shaun Berns talks cocoa nibs—what type they prefer, what flavors they bring, how much to use, the possible benefits of longer extraction times, and more.

In this clip from his video course, Phase Three cofounder and head brewer Shaun Berns goes into detail on types of coconut and what they bring to beer, mixing and matching those types, when and how much to add, and more.

From various fruits to coconut and cacao nibs, Phase Three in Lake Zurich, Illinois, takes a pragmatic approach to using a wide range of flavor adjuncts. Here, cofounder and head brewer Shaun Berns goes into deep detail on their philosophy and process, ingredient by ingredient.

Known as chicatanas, these crunchy leafcutter ants are a delicacy of regional Mexican cooking—and they have a flavor profile that may be oddly compatible with your darker, richer beers.

Live Oak founder Chip McElroy and head brewer Dusan Kwiatkowski walk us through the brewing of their Pre-War Pils, including a cereal mash with a substantial portion of corn grits and small percentage of barley malt.

There were Munich-style dark lagers, American bocks, and paler, pilsner-like beers. Adjuncts abounded. Here, historian Michael Stein of the research firm Lost Lagers digs into the recipes and methods of the time.

In this clip from his video course, Weathered Souls head brewer and cofounder Marcus Baskerville digs into adjunct techniques for Black Is Beautiful and other rich imperial stouts—including contact times for various ingredients.

Ohio’s Wolf’s Ridge Brewing took home GABF medals two years in a row, then its Double Chocolate Rum Barrel Dire Wolf made our Best 20 Beers in 2020. In this episode, head brewer Chris Davison digs into barrel-aging, unusual coffee beer, and much more.

The cofounder of Weathered Souls and creator of the Black is Beautiful initiative discusses his thoughtful approach to crafting stouts that both express his viewpoint and appeal to his own palate.