Barrel-aging is nothing new for Firestone Walker’s Matt Brynildson. He got his first exposure to the process while working for barrel-aging pioneer Goose Island in Chicago, and for the better part of two decades has been exploring the impact of wood, aging, and blending in the development of beer flavor at Firestone Walker. A post-pandemic initiati…

The Best in Beer theme continues this week, as contributing editor Kate Bernot and hops insider Stan Hieronymus sit down with executive editor Joe Stange and cofounder and editorial director Jamie Bogner. Together, they discuss their personal favorites from the past year in beer, round-robin style, recorded live at Craft Beer & Brewing office in Fo…

Our annual issue on the very Best in Beer today hits subscribers alongside this special, once-per-year episode of the Craft Beer & Brewing podcast. Hosts Jamie Bogner and Joe Stange reveal results from our annual Readers’ Choice survey—including your favorite breweries, beers, bars, and destination cities—as well as our Best 20 Beers in 2024, decid…

At the recent Brewer’s Retreat at Dogfish Head in Milton, Delaware, Steve Parker of Fidens (Albany, New York), Scott Janish of Sapwood Cellars (Columbia, Maryland), and Kelsey McNair of North Park (San Diego) answer questions about brewing hazy or New England–style IPA. In this episode, they discuss: points of difference in West and East Coast hazy…

In this special episode recorded at the recent Craft Beer & Brewing Brewer’s Retreat at Dogfish Head in Milton, Delaware, Khris Johnson of Green Bench (St. Petersburg, Florida), Doug Reiser of Burial (Asheville, North Carolina), and Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River (Windsor, California) share their answers to attendees’ questions about brewing IPA—f…

As a trained food scientist with 20 years of experience in the field, Eric Tennant entered the brewing world with a bit more background than most. And that background has served him well, as he considers both ingredients and processes required to achieve the beer flavors he envisions. Over the past few years, he’s focused Benchtop around foeder-age…

This second of two episodes recorded live at 3 Sons Lumberjack Day in September includes two separate interviews. First up is Alex Lawes, cofounder of Dublin, Ireland’s Whiplash—a modern brewery known for progressive styles, but also one that focuses on making those styles in low-ABV form for repeat drinkability. Next up is Grzegorz Ziemian, cofoun…

In Oakland Park, Florida, Brewlihan meadery sits in rarified air atop Untappd's list of top breweries in the world. Their rabid fan base has propelled them to No. 5—as of this recording—a ranking that founder John Hoolihan doesn't take for granted, as he continually applies science and chemistry to balance flavor, acidity, gravity, and tannin. In t…

As Andrew Foss of Human Robot says in this episode, “Perfection is pretty easy. To make something interesting is hard.” Those are easy words to say and harder words to brew by, but the Philadelphia brewer strives for character over lager “cleanliness,” eschewing the “crispy” moniker while searching for something more substantial. To accomplish that…

While Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery and Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River need little introduction, the grain they’ve grown fond of brewing with—an African millet known as fonio—may be unfamiliar to many brewers. In this episode, these two brewing legends discuss the grain’s background, as well as how and why they’ve used it in a series of new b…

Paul Schneider of Cinderlands is an optimist and a realist—but first and foremost he’s an analyst, studying the evolution of consumer trends and working tirelessly in the brewhouse to find creative and process solutions. He’s not afraid to use all the tools at his disposal—pulling solutions from food science, where necessary—while testing, honestly…

Great Lakes in Cleveland is an American craft beer institution—a brewery that got its start in the late ’80s, when the concept of smaller breweries still seemed foreign to most drinkers. Now, 36 years later, the scale is much larger than it was in those early days on the seven-barrel pub system—yet some of those early brands persevere. While those …

After an early stint at Cleveland staple Fat Head’s, and a brief foray into brewery operation with the now-defunct Platform, Shaun Yasaki set out in 2016 to create a brewpub that reflected his interests as a brewer—well-made beers that don’t chase trends but earn repeat business for both flavor and drinkability. To achieve that goal, he designed a …

Over the past 15 years of Fat Head’s existence, they’ve won 27 GABF medals (14 gold) and a dozen World Beer Cup medals (seven gold), but brewmaster Matt Cole takes it all in stride with typically Midwestern humility. They love to win, but they do it for the sake of making great beer. There’s a modern sensibility to their flagship American IPA, Head…

Murphy Johnson of BlackStack in St. Paul, Minnesota, is an enthusiastic brewer with a big personality. Despite many brewers’ strong opinions on hazy IPA, he’s not afraid to go against the grain and embrace the murky style in all its fruit-forward hop glory. In this almost entirely haze-focused episode, Johnson discusses how they continue to learn w…

Fair State Brewing Collective head brewer Joe Wells has a deep love of tradition but no fear of the future, and the brewer’s multiple focuses on everything from pale lager and modern IPA to sparking hemp-derived THC beverages is evidence of such. The point is matching flavor and experience to occasion, and Wells thinks about the entirety of that en…

Lager yeast and the evolution of expression is the subject of this spotlight podcast, brought to you interruption-free by Fermentis, the experts in fermentation for more than 160 years. Brewers everywhere depend on Fermentis for yeast that’s consistent, controllable, and high quality—whether you’re brewing an ester-forward Belgian-style beer, your …