Recipe Development

Highly fermentable yet often quite flavorful, with many types available, honey is the queen bee of alternative sugars in the brewhouse. So, let’s ponder how it can shine in conjunction with a particular base style—in this case, an ESB.

The next popular tastes can be difficult to predict, but there are ideas out there aplenty—and, in choosing, it helps to understand the longer arc of craft beer and our wider cultural context.

Looking to brew a beer with haze that’s ready to commit to the long-term? We asked Zach Coleman, head brewer and co-owner at TRVE in Denver and Asheville, for some clarity on haze stability, and he turned to fellow pros for their best advice.

When it comes to building your malt bill, go smarter, not harder. Here are some key insights from two award-winning brewers on purposeful malt choices that can elevate beers, not muddle them.

Beachwood co-owner and brewmaster Julian Shrago explains why it’s so valuable to expand your sensory knowledge and vocabulary.

Julian Shrago, co-owner and brewmaster at Beachwood Brewing in Los Angeles, explains how he first thinks about the flavors he wants in a beer before he begins thinking about ingredients.

Beachwood Brewing in Long Beach, California, has mastered a wide range of beer styles over the years and has the medals to prove it. In this video course, join brewmaster Julian Shrago as he charts the path from choosing an unfamiliar style of beer to brewing an example that can please the crowd and wow the judges.

With Great Notion’s flavored stouts, it’s “go big, or go home.” Lead brewer Lara Hargrave explains their approach to building decadent, dessert-inspired recipes from base to adjuncts.

In these excerpts from one of our most popular podcast episodes, a few of the best IPA brewers in the business talk about adjusting the mash for dryness, evolving their recipes to keep drinkers (and themselves) happy, defeating the hop creep, maximizing aroma, and more.

When it comes to building a recipe—and then making adjustments to get exactly the flavors you want—there is no family of beers as complex and as rewarding as stouts. Here are the levers and dials you need to know.

Jim Crooks, master blender at Firestone Walker Barrelworks, describes the process of tinkering with elegant beer recipes to get the desired complexity and character after months or years of maturing with yeast and bacteria.

The co-owner and brewmaster of the Southern California brewery shares strong opinions on developing beers where nothing is added and everything—from hops to coffee and spices—is considered a recipe ingredient.

Few experiences in brewing are more rewarding—or make for better practice—than bringing some undersung, underloved, old-fashioned beer styles to life in your own brewhouse. Josh Weikert makes the case for learning, drinking, and brewing the canon.

When developing beers meant to evoke specific foods, balancing bitterness, acidity, and residual sweetness are key elements that can be adjusted. Aslin Beer cofounder Andrew Kelley explains.

Andrew Kelly, cofounder of Aslin Beer in Alexandria, Virginia, breaks down the elements of flavor and reminds us to think about what different brewing ingredients bring to the table when trying to mimic the flavors of favorite foods.

Brewing recipes often do not scale up or down in a linear fashion—especially when spices are involved. Stuart Keating of Earthbound Beer explains the pitfalls.

Consider that you might be better served and produce better beer by choosing from a curated selection of go-to yeasts. Josh Weikert explains the how and why.

Biotransformation is not just real, it’s measurable, says New Belgium's hops-focused innovation brewer in this deep dive into the mechanics of hops aroma and flavor.

Keith Villa, creator of Blue Moon had a vision for bringing his favorite Belgian beer style to America. It worked and here Villa walks us through typical Belgian recipe construction and how he tweaked tradition to amplify “first sip likeability.”

Juicy doesn’t have to mean hazy. It’s time to call a truce by ramping up the juiciness of the style without resorting to murk-inducing techniques designed to send a visual signal of “juicy.”