Stout: More than Just Desserts (Oct-Nov 2020)

With this fresh recipe from his Make Your Best series, Josh Weikert goes for relatively restrained roast in this dark lager—and you can tinker with it from there.

This welcome respite from French Quarter debauchery boasts an impressive selection of beers and whiskeys.

From Kristen England, grand master BJCP judge and head brewer at Bent Brewstillery in Roseville, Minnesota, comes this recipe inspired by Jamaica’s Dragon and other tropical stouts.

It may be counterintuitive, but strong, sweet, dark beers endure in some of the world’s hottest climates. In Jamaica, a low-cost folk drink helped to popularize it. Martyn Cornell tells the story.

When following this recipe based on a kveik-fermented IPA from Chicago’s Burnt City Brewing, don’t leave out the most crucial step: the gjærkauk, i.e., screaming loudly while pitching the yeast, to scare the ghosts away.

Ben Saller, head brewer and cofounder of Burnt City Brewing in Chicago, has used kveik to ferment a range of styles. Here he explains its flexibility, while also keeping its traditional origins firmly in mind.

Here is an easy-to-brew, extract-based juicy IPA best consumed fresh.

In this edition of No Rests for the Wicked—where we aim to extract the most character from extract brewing—Jester Goldman turns his attention toward hazy IPAs as juicy as anything brewed all-grain.

This elegant but cozy neighborhood bar's star-studded beer selection has made it a destination for European geeks and wayfarers.

Here is a homebrew-scale recipe for Burning Beard’s spontaneously fermented lambic-style beer. Including a turbid mash schedule and long boil, it’s inspired by the traditional methods followed by Belgian lambic brewers.

Like the punk-rock pioneers who inspire them, Burning Beard rejects standard operating procedure and embraces a unique set of values that have helped to set them apart from the crowded San Diego beer scene.

The bright and lively nature of this hybrid style makes it the perfect choice as an American alternative to European lagers. While the name can be more sleight-of-hand than literal, that won’t stop us from recommending five we love.

Julian Shrago, cofounder and brewmaster of Beachwood BBQ & Brewing in Huntington Beach, California, shares this homebrew recipe for a hoppy dark IPA similar to their award-winning Beachwood Hoppa Emeritus.

Dark malts and ample hops intersect at a risky but rewarding flavor zone where few brewers dare to tread with regularity. Here we dig into recipe choices for distinctive, hop-forward black beers that avoid the pitfalls.

In a world where nearly everything seems to be a pale and/or juicy IPA, here is a welcome change of pace: a depth of fun malt and hop flavors, patently American without being one-note citrus-driven.

Stouts are intrinsically tied to craft’s beyond-the-mainstream appeal. From dry and sweet sessionable stouts to big barrel-aged ones and adjunct-laden “dessert” stouts, there’s something for every kind of drinker. But which do brewers themselves love?

This smooth-drinking, medium-duty stout takes advantage of the cold-brew method for using black and caramel malts.

This recipe is based on the strong heimabrygg—or boiled ale—homebrewed in the Dyrvedalen valley of Norway’s Voss region. It includes juniper branches, a long boil, and warm fermentation with the increasingly available Voss kveik.

The world’s brewers have had a few years now to play with the unusual, high-performing, previously little-known heirloom yeasts from Norway. So, what have we learned about what they can do?

This homebrew recipe is based on Perennial’s dessert-stout riff on a sweet-and-salty pretzel-stuffed chocolate bar.

As brewers pursue ever higher gravities for richer, stronger, thicker stouts, something immediately becomes clear: Most breweries weren’t made for this. Here’s a closer look at how breweries are adjusting for huge grists, long boils, and viscous beers.

You munch on a pretzel, you take a gulp. It’s obvious: Pretzels have always made beer taste better. So why not just add them directly?

Anchorage Brewing founder Gabe Fletcher has built a national cult following by brewing niche styles with studious attention to detail. In this edition of Pick 6, his selections reflect thoughtful approaches that have influenced his own.

We are visual creatures—but color is deceptive. Randy Mosher, author of Tasting Beer, shares insights to help us widen our stout vocabulary.

Inspired by tantalizing descriptions of cream ale from the early 20th century, this recipe combines ideas from both the pre- and post-Prohibition eras—including corn in the grist, dry hopping, and above-average strength.

In this edition of Style School, Jeff Alworth explains how an American heirloom style began as a marketing creation of the Industrial Age—and where today’s more playful breweries have run with it.

Belgian stout has its own special history and a distinctive strut. What sets it apart? Breandán Kearney, award-winning beer writer and a brewer at Siphon in West Flanders, reports from Belgium.

Here is Drew Beechum’s homebrewed take the legacy of the American stout—largely kept alive these days by our old-guard craft breweries.

American stout’s unlikely combination of roasted malt and American hops launched a movement and converted many a drinker. So, where the heck did it go? Drew Beechum isolates its elements and makes a plea.

Want a rinser to help ensure you have “beer clean” glassware at home? Here’s a reasonably priced option tested and appreciated by our editors.

The head brewer, cofounder, and “mad scientist” of Weathered Souls in San Antonio, Texas, shares this homebrew recipe that was an award-winner for him before he went pro.

At Weathered Souls Brewing, Marcus Baskerville is on a mission to earn San Antonio beer a national reputation—and to help change the industry’s relationship with Black brewers and drinkers.

From our Love Handles department featuring top beer bars around the world, here is an ambitious, atmospheric must-do for any beer enthusiast visiting the Atlanta area. (Speaking of ambitious—here’s to sketching out those post-pandemic travel plans.)

These craft maltsters from across the country work with online retailers, making it possible for homebrewers to have a wide variety of unique malts sent straight to their doorsteps.

At his Private Press blendery in Santa Cruz, California, Brad Clark specializes in barrel-aging high-gravity stouts and barleywines. Here is a homebrew-scale recipe for a big-bodied Private Press imperial stout meant for barrel-aging and blending.

Brad Clark, founder of Private Press Brewing in Santa Cruz, California, gained notoriety for his big stouts while head brewer at Jackie O’s in Ohio. Here, he discusses his approach to bodybuilding for those beefy black beers.

Cooking with the big, bold flavors of stouts requires a thoughtful approach, but the flavor potential is enormous. This recipe explores the savory and sweet potential of this favorite dark family of styles.

Cooking with the big, bold flavors of stouts requires a thoughtful approach, but the flavor potential is enormous. This recipe explores the savory and sweet potential of this favorite dark family of styles.

Despite historic levels of hop inventory, growers planted 5 percent more hops in 2020 than in the previous year, as locations and varieties continued to shift.

Need a last-minute idea for a veggie side-dish? This recipe explores the savory and sweet potential of an imperial stout.