The Route to Stout (October-November 2021)

Partly inspired by Flying Dog’s Numero Uno, this lager has a bready, tortilla-like backbone with some lime-like Motueka hops for a refreshing edge.

From our Love Handles files on beer bars we love: This is one of Belgium’s longest-running beer cafés, with a deep selection and plenty of bric-a-brac to admire over an ale and a snack.

From our Love Handles files on beer bars we love: In Bozeman, Montana, Shine is your one-stop shop for draft beer, to-go bottles, food, and plenty of patio.

The labs have been busy developing new critters for us to corral. Here are few recent releases worth trying at home.

The arts of brewing, cellaring, and serving cask ales can elevate subtle, elegant recipes into brilliant showcases of great character and drinkability. Here, five pros share their top picks.

This recipe is based on Burley Oak’s series of dessert-like beers that combine lactic acidification, milk sugar, and copious fruit—or, if you prefer, a certain orange vegetable.

Mildly sweet, vibrantly colored, inexpensive, and good for you—until you make delicious carrot cake out of them. Or carrot-cake beer. Why aren’t we brewing with carrots, again? Let’s get to the root of it.

From our Love Handles files on beer bars we love: This unfussy dive helped San Diego develop a palate for craft, and it remains one of the city’s must-visits.

This recipe has some built-in guardrails, but even if you blow past them and get a brightly acidic beer with lots of oak and a dry finish despite lots of malt flavor, you’ll still have a beer that’s fun to serve and drink and talk about.

Courtesy of Ozark Beer cofounders Andy Coates and Lacie Bray, here is a homebrew-scale recipe for their BDCS—a bourbon barrel–aged double cream stout meant for months of wood-aging to balance and soften its profile.

Lacie Bray and Andy Coates, cofounders of Ozark Beer in northwest Arkansas, explain the stressful process and habitual leap of faith behind their cult-favorite beer, BDCS.

Here is Annie Johnson’s recipe for a rich, complex, adjunct-free imperial stout that mellows and improves with some time in the cellar.

You don’t need a truckload of grain and a giant mash tun to brew a big, rich imperial stout perfect for laying down for months—this one is right in the extract brewer’s wheelhouse.

Why yes, we do fire up the grill in mid-winter. Here, brown ale adds layers of Maillard comfort to braised onions and a from-scratch (but simple to make) bratwurst burger.

Courtesy of Mike Messenie at cask-centric Dutchess Ales in Wassaic, New York, this homebrew-scale recipe is a pleasantly lush and nuanced take on their original Best Bitter, meant for natural cask-conditioning in a 5.4-gallon (20-liter) “pin.”

No, it’s not boring—it’s sublime. Yes, it should be somewhat bitter—but balanced. Randy Mosher breaks down one of the beer world’s great classics and the context that makes sense of it. Ready for a session?

Courtesy of Firestone Walker Brewmaster Matt Brynildson, this is a homebrew-scale recipe for a rich but highly drinkable milk stout with complex malt character. The recipe is also versatile—a great base for adding coffee or flavored adjuncts.

Here are two books we can recommend to any brewer or beer enthusiast.

Over the years at Firestone Walker, Matt Brynildson has brewed several heralded stouts—including Nitro Merlin, named one of our Best 20 Beers in 2020. Here, he walks us down that path of iterations, from gateway beers to what’s around the next corner.

From cask-centric Machine House in Seattle, here is a homebrew-scale recipe for their Dark Mild—a rich, session-strength ale ideal for cask-conditioning yet sturdy enough for kegging or bottling.

Does slow, subtle cask ale still have a place in today’s variety-driven, can-cluttered American scene? Along with a primer on the gear and vocabulary, here’s why this is an endangered tradition this side of the Atlantic—and why it refuses to die.

Whether clean and malty or dry and spicy, the beers that claim this category cover a wide range.

Courtesy of Tania Hewett-Mader and Nick Mader of Kansas City’s Alma Mader Brewing, this locally popular pilsner embraces Bohemian malt and Noble hops, including an aromatic burst of spicy Saaz in the whirlpool.

Whether it’s pinpoint pilsners, lush, juicy IPAs, or big, balanced stouts, the upstarts at family-run Alma Mader in Kansas City have something that just about any kind of drinker can love.

For Chris Lohring, founder of Notch Brewing in Massachusetts, there is real beauty to be found in beers that follow known traditions while offering character that makes them uniquely loveable.

From deceptively easy-drinking to weighty and ponderous, the comforts of these dark delights run the gamut. Here, five pro brewers share their favorites.

Courtesy of Joe Bowden, head brewer at Munkle Brewing in Charleston, South Carolina, here is a homebrew-scale recipe for the beer that won GABF gold in 2018 in the category Belgian-Style and French-Style Ales.

As a niche style, bière de garde doesn’t always medal at the Great American Beer Festival—but Munkle’s 5 Branches took home gold in 2018, then Echo’s Junebug did it again in 2019. Here, the head brewers from both breweries sketch out the blueprints.

John Mallett of Bell’s concocted this recipe at the Craft Beer & Brewing Brewers Retreat a few years ago. It’s different from Bell’s Cherry Stout, but he says it shares many of the same themes—including a rich, varied malt profile.

Here, two brewmasters who know their way around a dark grist—T.L. Adkisson of Foothills in North Carolina, and John Mallett of Bell’s in Michigan—share advice on balancing juicy fruit with a rich, roasty profile.

Overshadowed by Belgian saison and French wine, the “keeping beers” of northernmost France are a product of local ingredients, unique history, and a taste for polite, approachable beers.

Courtesy of Michael Kane, founder of Kane Brewing in Ocean, New Jersey, this imperial stout recipe meant for aging in a spirits barrel is based on their award-winning A Night to End All Dawns.

Michael Kane, founder of Kane Brewing, explains their patient and intentional approach to barrel-aging imperial stouts, including the award-winning A Night to End All Dawns—from selecting barrels to tasting and finishing.

This recipe from South Carolina’s Birds Fly South—where rumors of saison’s death have been greatly exaggerated—borrows a couple of tricks from IPA for a hop-forward yet grounded saison.

South Carolina’s Birds Fly South is introducing new, more approachable beers while going from strength to strength on their mixed-fermentation and farmhouse-inspired ales. As it turns out, IPA and saison have a lot to learn from each other.

This English-style bitter recipe is quick to produce, tasty, and ideal for trying out cask ale at home.

You don’t need tall tales or fancy firkins to brew, serve, and enjoy great cask ale at home. Josh Weikert lays out some simple, low-cost methods involving gear you probably already have.

Equally fit for a long winter or backyard barbecues, this recipe balances mellow cherrywood-smoked malt with a robust porter foundation.

The primal pleasure of smoke can add comforting depth to our stouts, porters, and other dark beers. Drew Beechum is here with the fireside story and practical tips.

With winter nearly upon us, short ribs braised in dry stout add a warm and comforting twist to macaroni and cheese.

Which states have won the most medals in the Great American Beer Festival relative to the total breweries in the state?

Need a surprising dessert for the holiday table? Here, rich imperial stout deepens a simple and palate-refreshing ice cream preparation.