Better Than Ever: IPA (August-September 2020)

Here are five flavor- and aroma-forward IPAs that scratch the hops itch without loading up on calories.

There are times when two of our favorite things in the world collide in a kind of delicious gestalt, greater than the sum of its parts—so it is with beer-washed cheeses. Here are three that we love.

Sam Calagione, founder of Dogfish Head, on the difficulty of nailing down a winning low-cal IPA.

Andy Farrell, brewing innovation manager at Bell’s Brewery, talks about the tinkering and process behind developing Light Hearted Ale, the company’s highest-profile new release in years.

You don’t have to be Irish to make a great Irish red. Here's Josh Weikert's recipe for an easy-drinking red ale.

Here are a few standouts from the rapidly evolving world of fruit-forward fermented beverages.

Here’s a basic recipe for homebrewed hard seltzer—a blank canvas for an infinite variety of flavorings.

Hard seltzer isn’t hard to make—unless you want to do it well. Like all the pro brewers across the country who went from turning up their noses at the stuff to embracing its popularity, you too can do the same crowd-pleasing 180° in your home brewery.

From 2nd Shift Brewing in St. Louis, this brightly flavored, easygoing hazy IPA—which crushed it in our blind panel reviews—gets its fruit character from citrus-forward hops and a hefty dose of tangerine peel.

Hops can smell like other foods because they share many of the same aroma compounds. Here is Randy Mosher on how to boost your IPAs with ingredients that have those sought-after traits.

This recipe is a great introduction to kettle sours. A mild, refreshing mint addition complements the fruit and acidity.

In further exploring how to squeeze the most character out of extract brewing, Jester Goldman turns his attention to kettle sours.

Courtesy of the Berlin-based BRLO brewery and Atlanta-based hip-hop group Run the Jewels, here is a homebrew-scale recipe for their unusual collab: a CBD-hemp-infused hoppy pilsner.

Commercial brewers are in the earliest days of figuring out how to legally get CBD into beer (and keep it there). For homebrewers, it presents an open—if legally vague—field of play and experimentation.

Based on discussions with Julian Shrago, co-owner and brewmaster of Beachwood Brewing in Long Beach, California, here’s a homebrew-scale recipe for something Amalgamator-like—snappy, brisk, and brimming with Mosaic hops.

More juice, but with more bite—East Coast and West Coast are synthesizing, again, right before our eyes. How did we get here? And what’s next? Drew Beechum walks us through IPA’s battles and evolutions.

Few styles have evolved faster than IPA. In this era of softness, haze, and rethought, fruit-forward West Coast iterations, what beers do brewers themselves like to drink? We asked five for their faves.

In this edition of Love Handles—where we put the spotlight on the world's great beer bars—we check out The Cask in Richmond, Virginia; the Ware Jacob in Antwerp, Belgium; and the Eastside Club Tavern in Olympia, Washington.

Adapted from Krennmair’s book on Vienna Lager, this recipe is based on historic specifications and brewing-process descriptions from the 1870s and 1880s. (Did somebody say decoction?)

For Ben Edmunds of Breakside Brewery in Portland, Oregon, those early beer infatuations were strong and malty. For his dream six-pack, Edmunds reaches back into fond memories to select the ones that broadened his idea of what beer could be.

Andreas Krennmair's new book takes a detailed look at the history, ingredients, and processes of Vienna lager. Here is some of what he’s learned.

Pull levers, turn knobs, spin wort—from whirlpools to “dip hopping,” here is a detailed look at some specific hot-side techniques and gear for dialing in substantial hop flavor and aroma.

Diamond Unicorn is one of Lone Pine's staple New England–style double IPAs. It’s brewed with extra oats for a silky mouthfeel and highlighted by Ella and Vic Secret hops.

In Portland, Maine, the brewers at Lone Pine find that tiny tweaks to their IPAs yield big-time payoffs.

Ready to inefficiently harness the energy of the sun? These three pairings of farmhouse ales and rustic cheeses capture the sepia-toned nostalgia of a country summer—with the power to warm up any winter occasion.

A great Vienna lager exhibits malt and hop character balanced by restraint and supreme drinkability. If lager is the ultimate “brewer’s beer,” is Vienna the ultimate brewer’s lager? Here are five that we love.

This elegant beer with Austrian roots hides in plain sight pretty much everywhere except Austria. In this edition of Style School, Jeff Alworth explains how Anton Dreher’s 19th century creation is poised for a restoration.

With the right ingredients, this recipe will re-create the kinds of flavors you’d find at pubs all over England on any given day—a showcase of English malt and hops, pouring a beautiful brilliant jewel-toned orange.

This homebrew-scale recipe is based on Reuben’s Brews’ popular triple IPA, which also scored a 96 with our blind panel. Emphasize yeast health with a big starter, dry hop generously, then give it enough time to cold-condition.

Lallemand's new found-in-nature yeast produces a gentle lactic acidity without Lactobacillus or other bacteria. We took it for a spin.

Here is Adam Robbings of Reuben’s Brews on the key elements of brewing great, high-gravity, hazy IPAs. Surprise: It doesn’t start with the hops.

Courtesy of Wayfinder Beer in Portland, Oregon, here is a recipe for their "cold IPA," which earned a spot among our Best 20 Beers of 2020.

Behind the alluring façade of what appears to be a pious cathedral of traditional lager, discover the dogma-busting heresies of Wayfinder Beer in Portland, Oregon.

Stan Hieronymus explains the creeping phenomenon of dry-hopped beers that seem to have minds of their own—and ways to keep them under control.

Our hop choices as brewers aren't limited to single varietals. Those who know hops best are mixing and matching them to make useful blends. Here are some options worth trying on brew day.

According to Connor Casey, cofounder of Cellarmaker, “This West Coast hazy IPA is brewed with the best hop varieties America has to offer... [It’s] supremely drinkable due to the slender body, semidry finish, and avoidance of sweet esters.”

Does the world really need another kind of IPA? What if it's already here? Connor Casey, cofounder of Cellarmaker Brewing in San Francisco, sketches out what may be the next inevitable evolution of the style.

Back in May, we polled readers via email to get a sense of how their beer buying and drinking was changing amid the pandemic. More than 4,200 people answered, and the results are charted below.