Beer Brewing

Gruit ale was the beer that predated hops — brewed across Europe for centuries using a blend of herbs called gruit as both bittering and preserving agents.

Rye IPA was the style that taught me how dramatically a single malt substitution changes a beer’s character.

Belgian Quadrupel is the pinnacle of what I think brewing can achieve: a beer that tastes like it shouldn’t exist, where 10–12% ABV is completely hidden behind layers of dark fruit, chocolate, plum, and complex spice.

Schwarzbier is the dark lager that surprises people most — it looks like a stout, pours almost black, but tastes nothing like one.

Scottish Ale is a style I return to every autumn without fail. There’s something about the deep amber color, the caramel and toffee malt sweetness, and the lack of hop assertiveness that fits the season — it’s a contemplative beer, …

Imperial IPA — Double IPA — was the style that convinced me I could brew commercially competitive beer at home.

The Hazy Pale Ale versus Hazy IPA distinction confuses a lot of homebrewers because the techniques overlap almost completely — both use oats and wheat for haze, both use whirlpool and dry hops heavily, both favor tropical hop varieties and …

English Porter has an interesting place in my brewing history — it was the second all-grain beer I brewed, chosen because I’d read that it was forgiving, and I found out that “forgiving” for a dark beer means you can …

Berliner Weisse is the fastest-turnaround sour beer I brew. From grain to glass in under two weeks, it’s the style I reach for when I want a refreshing sour wheat beer without the 12–18 month commitment of Flanders Red or …

California Common is one of the few truly American historical beer styles, and it’s one I have a personal connection to — I grew up in Northern California and Anchor Steam was the first beer I understood as having a …