Rice

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.

It’s not always a simple process, but independent brewers in Ghana are favoring locally grown starches such as rice and cassava over imported malt, forging an identity for Ghanaian craft—oh, and they’re winning international medals for the beer.

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.

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.)

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.

Crack some grains and cook some rice if you want, but attacking cold IPA with the partial-mash method is simple. Let the pedants argue about whether it’s a style—we’re too busy brewing and drinking it.