Best in Beer 2019 (Dec-Jan)

In each issue, our Love Handles department visits three great beer bars. This tour from Issue 36 takes us from Rhode Island to Ukraine via Manhattan.

Don’t think of this as a clone of Dupont’s Avec Les Bons Voeux—think of this as a beer inspired by it. It’s the right blend of earthy, hoppy, fruity, spicy, and dry, and it makes for sweet dreams.

Many brewers are using in-line carbonation systems to inject CO2 into the beer as it moves from one vessel to another, thereby reducing the wait from crashed to canned (or kegged).

Supreme in flavor-hops intensity, these four are among the biggest and best we’ve tasted.

This homebrew-scale pils recipe is based on the world-class example developed by Eric Toft, brewmaster at Private Landbrauerei Schönram in Upper Bavaria.

In the foothills of the Alps, Schönramer Brewmaster Eric Toft is a tinkerer and fine-tuner of highly addictive lagers.

The goal isn't sweet and spicy, but rather dry, dark, and deceptively drinkable. Take a stab at this Belgian-style dubbel.

Rockwell’s best-selling beer is not one of its lagers or mixed-fermentation creations. It’s a Belgian-style witbier that gets a welcome twist from Michigan-grown Crystal hops in the whirlpool—adding earthy citrus notes that mingle with the spices.

Supremely laid-back and confidently different, the brewers at Rockwell Beer Co. in St. Louis have quickly built a strong following.

Get back to basics and focus on the starch-conversion mash step, to better understand which mashing regime best fits the beer you want to brew.

In the sweet spot (literally and figuratively) for hazy and juicy IPAs, these doubles are twice as nice.

Challenging to brew, maybe. Yet so easy to ensconce yourself and give in to dark, lush, warming liquid malt.

Who's ready for some decoction? Chicago's Dovetail brews this Bavarian-influenced Helles with the baseball season in mind... but it's easy to drink all year long.

Deploying coolships, open fermentors, turbid mashes, and decoctions, and specializing in lagers and spontaneous fermentation, the brewers at Dovetail in Chicago are among the new guard for the old ways.

This juicy double IPA recipe, courtesy of the Pinthouse Pizza brewpub in Austin, Texas, is loaded with hop-fueled flavors of pulpy tropical fruit and peeled citrus, while maintaining a clean, snappy finish.

Options abound these days for homebrewers with the means to upgrade their equipment. Here, our reviewers take Grainfather's glycol chller and conical out for a spin, as well as the Blichmann RipTide pump.

New to this style? Check your expectations at the door and prepare yourself for a sip of something entirely new.

This rich, malty, warming barleywine recipe is fit for special occasions and long aging.

For a rich and weighty Baltic porter the Polish way, try this moderately smoked, elaborately mashed version from Browar Widawa.

Baltic porter survived the 20th century in Poland, and it stayed strong. Now a new generation of Polish brewers is pushing the envelope.

Here is a Baltic porter recipe worthy of patient lagering and maturation.

Thick, rich, smooth Baltic porter is a comforting treat for the frigid months. If only it were easier to brew...

Game recognizes game. Here, we’ve asked five of the country's most accomplished brewers for their favorite beers of the past year.

Southern hip-hop group Nappy Roots—who named their last tour the Great American Beer Run—are also brewers and beer enthusiasts. Cofounder Skinny DeVille told us how it all happened and shared some of his favorite breweries.

This recipe courtesy of Brasserie Lupulus in the Ardennes offers a modern spin on the Wallonian strong brown ale.

Historical quirks, local preference, and individual creativity all have a say in the diversity of Belgium’s brown ales.

Belgian panache and historical tricks can liven up a slice of the color spectrum often seen as decidedly unsexy.

Every year brings a spate of new beer books, often released ahead of the holiday shopping season. From Issue 36 (Dec 2019–Jan 2020), here are a couple of recommendations.

Jack Hendler, cofounder of Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers, chooses a six-pack of beers that influenced his development as a brewer—including, of course, a healthy splash of lager.

Here is a homebrew-scale recipe for the beer that won a Specialty Beer gold medal at the 2017 Great American Beer Festival.

Had enough pumpkin beer? Embrace an American tuber so mighty that it doesn’t care whether you make it a side dish or a dessert. Or a beer. With whiskey.

Based on data from the beverage delivery app Drizly, here is a look at how and where people are choosing their beer and other alcoholic drinks.

We bring you the sordid tale of a love triangle: One brewer, two beers, and a lot of feelings. C’est la vie.

The cofounder and editorial director of Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine® has traveled the country from coast to coast, talking to brewers and tasting their beer. Here’s a selection of highlights of his past year of beer.

Again this year, we asked the blogger behind irreverent DontDrinkBeer.com (DDB) and the Malt Couture podcast to take a break from his typical satirical approach and share his thoughts on all that’s good in beer.

The reporter, certified beer judge, and former beer editor at DRAFT Magazine shares her highlights from the year spent tasting and covering the wide world of craft beer.

Author of several popular books about brewing and a leading authority on hops, Stan Hieronymus shares the best from his past year of talking to (and drinking with) brewers around the world.

Apologies in advance for some European bias. These picks span a year of travel and a trans-Atlantic move back to the States, where I now gawk like a yokel at the weird and wonderful American beer scene.

Our annual Best in Beer reader survey asked how you like to buy your beer, and what's your favored vessel for drinking it. Here's what you told us.

For our annual Best in Beer survey, we asked you to tell us what beers you haven’t had (yet) but are tops on your list to seek out. Here's what you told us.

For our annual Best in Beer survey, we asked thousands of you what brewing ingredients you prefer to use, and what types of beer you like to brew (and drink). Here's what you told us.

Where to drink? We asked, and you told us. Here are our readers' top destinations for enjoying great beer.

You voted, and we tallied. Here are your favorite breweries, broken down by barrels brewed.

For our Best in Beer 2019 issue, we asked you to tell us your favorite beers—that's it. No qualifications, no multiple choice. Here's how you voted.

For our annual Best in Beer survey, we asked you about your favorite homebrew equipment, brands, and stores. The results are in.

For our Best in Beer 2019 issue, we asked for your favorite brewers of eight different styles of beer. Here are the results.

Our editors, writers, and blind-review panelists have tasted thousands of beers sent to our office, passed over a bar at a brewery or pub, and poured at festivals around the world. Here is the culmination of the best of those experiences.