Beer Brewing

The stout vs. porter question is one that brewing enthusiasts ask me regularly, and the honest answer is that the historical boundary between the two styles was never clearly defined and still isn’t — what I’ve found through brewing both …

Understanding the difference between lager and ale was one of the first brewing questions I tried to answer seriously, and the more I’ve brewed both styles the more I’ve come to appreciate that the distinction is more nuanced than “top-fermenting …

International Pale Lager is the style that represents 90% of the beer consumed in India and most of the world, and I’ve brewed it specifically to understand what a well-made version of the dominant global beer style actually tastes like …

Dark American Lager is a style I’ve brewed specifically to understand how the mainstream American brewing industry approaches dark colour — the combination of clean lager character, very light body, and minimal roast from small specialty malt additio

Schwarzbier is the style that consistently surprises non-craft-beer drinkers more than any other dark lager I share — the combination of near-black colour with light body, low alcohol, and subtle roast character is so different from expectations that

Märzen is the style I brew every year in late summer as a deliberate autumn ritual — the combination of medium amber colour, toasty Munich malt character, and clean lager fermentation produces a beer that feels specifically appropriate for autumn …

Vienna Lager is the historical style that most surprised me when I brewed it — I expected something between Helles and Märzen, but the specific toasty, biscuity Vienna malt character has its own distinctive quality that neither lighter nor darker …

Dortmunder Export is the style I find most useful for introducing beer enthusiasts to the idea that German lager extends beyond Munich Helles and Pilsner — the combination of full body, moderate bitterness, and that distinctive Dortmunder mineral cha

Munich Helles is the lager style that convinced me that subtlety in brewing is harder to achieve than assertiveness — making a beer where the primary impression is “soft, round, malt-forward” without anything dominant or distracting requires the kind

German Pilsner is the lager I return to as a process calibration tool — if my lager fermentation and lagering process is producing good German Pils, I know everything is working correctly, because the style’s demanding combination of soft water, …