Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer

Here’s a fairly classic take on an American seasonal tradition: a solid amber-brown ale that includes both the real (pumpkin) and the evocative (pie spice).

Summer ends too soon, vacations are over too soon, fall seasonals hit the shelves too soon—all reminders that while it may feel too soon to drink a pumpkin beer, it’s just the right time to brew one.

Mike Rybinski, brewmaster at ZwanzigZ Pizza in Columbus, Indiana, shares this recipe for the American imperial stout that won gold at the 2022 and 2025 World Beer Cups—plus, notes for the ghost pepper variation that also won gold at the Great American Beer Festival in 2017.

With conjecture based on archaeological findings, here’s a recipe for a mixed grog—in this case, an ale that includes herbs, honey, and fruit—of the sort that well-to-do, Bronze Age Danes might have enjoyed on special occasions and then (literally) taken to their graves.

From Chicago’s Burning Bush Brewery, this amber ale includes two types of basil grown right there on their patio next to the Chicago River.

Beer and pizza are fast friends, as everyone knows. But how well do “pizza leaves” work in beer? Let’s find out.

From Scratch in Ava, Illinois, this saison recipe features 131 ingredients, all told—their use informed by deep expertise in what to forage, what to grow, and how the different components can safely be used to contribute worthwhile flavors to beer.

This rich amber ale, featuring layers of roasted orange spice mingling with hops, is a vamp on the English winter warmers that are stronger, darker, and toastier than pale ales or bitters.

Featuring dried shrimp, salted crabs, fish sauce, fresh lime juice, tamarind paste, tomatoes, peanuts, and bird’s eye chiles, this one’s not for vegetarians... or anyone with a peanut allergy... or a shellfish allergy... or anyone who doesn’t like “spicy.” But that’s Thai food for you.

From owner and head brewer Rich Nuñez at Radicle Effect Brewerks in Rock Island, Illinois, here’s a homebrew-scale recipe for the local cult favorite they release only twice per year—four kegs, and it’s done.

This plant from the ginger family can add subtle spice to your beer—or turn it so gold that it could have been brewed at Springfield Nuclear Power Plant.

Gorilla Brewing in Busan, South Korea, shares this recipe for a tart and spicy celebration of a cherished local staple.

It can be a polarizing dish for those who didn’t grow up with it, but there are some affinities between certain styles of beer and this fermented Korean favorite. Can you brew with it? Of course you can.

The beers of Wunderkammer get their own rustic character via locally foraged ingredients, mixed cultures that include Brett, and a stripped-down, old-fashioned process featuring direct-fired kettles and fermentation without strict temperature control.

From de Garde Brewing in Tillamook, Oregon, head brewer Trevor Rogers shares this recipe for a spontaneously fermented beer flavored with foraged spruce tips—though the process is easily adapted for mixed-culture pitches or clean, single-strain fermentations.