Homebrew Beer Recipes

Looking for a beer recipe? Browse hundreds of tried-and-true mead, cider, clone and homebrew recipes from Homebrewers Association approved sources, including Zymurgy magazine, the National Homebrew Competition, Brewers Publications, Craft Breweries, books & more!

donut-pale-ale recipe
  • 5.5 US gal. (20.8 L)
  • OG: 1.045 (11.2°P)
  • FG: 1.008 (2.1°P)
  • ABV: 5% by volume
  • IBU: 23 IBU

Belgian Pale Ale

Stale Doughnut Belgian Pale Ale

Homebrewers Association
Homebrewers Association

This beer recipe is featured in the March/April 2020 issue of Zymurgy magazine. Join the American Homebrewers Association or start your 30-day free trial to access the Zymurgy online archive and other exclusive member benefits!

This unique recipe comes courtesy of Dan Heil. Sometimes finishing all the doughnuts can be difficult. Just as you shouldn't finish all your homebrew in one sitting, kicking a whole box of donuts is not generally recommended! If you find yourself in a predicament like Dan, this recipe can reduce food waste and yield a delicious doughnut Belgian-style pale ale in the process.

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Beer
sour-ale-recipe
  • 5.5 U.S. gallons (20.8 L)
  • OG: 1.059 (14.5° P)
  • FG: 1.010 (2.5° P)
  • ABV: 6.5% by volume
  • IBU: 20 IBU

Sour Ale

Kumquat Citra Sour

Homebrewers Association
Homebrewers Association

This beer recipe is featured in the March/April 2020 issue of Zymurgy magazine.

The follow homebrew recipe comes courtesy of Jared Hatch. Variations of this recipe have won the Korean National Homebrewing Championship twice.

The citrus flavors from the kumquats pair beautifully with the Citra hop character. Hatch likes to use Cryo Hops when dry hopping to reduce absorption losses. He does a clean primary fermentation before racking to secondary, where he adds the Roeselare culture. Once the gravity is stable and the beer has the desired Brett aromatics and sourness, the beer is racked onto the kumquats.

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Beer
american-wheat-ale
  • 5 U.S. gal. (18.9 L)
  • OG: 1.048 (12°P)
  • FG: 1.012 (3°P)
  • ABV: 4.8%
  • IBU: 15

American Wheat or Rye

Nilsson American Wheat Ale

Homebrewers Association
Homebrewers Association

American wheat beer is an obvious style that can be brewed exclusively from wheat malt extract, and it makes a great base for all kinds of fruit, spice, or veggie beers. Nilsson builds off this foundation, adding chunks of coconut after fermentation. Learn more about brewing great beer with extracts in Steve Ruch's article "Extract Exploration" in the July/August 2020 Zymurgy magazine. Read More

Beer
THC-Infused Caramel Amber Ale
  • 5 US gal (18.93 L)
  • OG: 1.055 (13.5°P)
  • FG: 1.014 (3.5°P)
  • ABV: 5.4% by volume
  • IBU: 46 IBU

Specialty Beer

THC-Infused Caramel Amber Ale

Homebrewers Association
Homebrewers Association

This beer recipe is featured in the March/April 2020 issue of Zymurgy magazine. Join the American Homebrewers Association or start your 30-day free trial to access the Zymurgy online archive and other exclusive member benefits!

This recipe comes courtesy of Mark Rocheleau and Andrew Orr. There are options in this caramel amber ale recipe for homebrewers who live in states where marijuana and/or industrial hemp is legal and want to combine their homebrew with marijuana or hemp for personal enjoyment.

THC-infused beer can—and very likely will—induce psychoactive effects, which can vary from person to person. Consume these beers responsibly and at your own risk. If you are unsure of what to expect, start with a very small sample and wait a few hours before consuming more.

Editor's Note: Despite legalization and/or decriminalization of cannabis and cannabis-derived products by many states and the District of Columbia, marijuana remains classified as a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 and, thus, federally illegal. The American Homebrewers Association neither endorses nor discourages brewing with cannabis-related products, however homebrewers who do so should remember that such beers are not permitted in the National Homebrew Competition. Most local and regional competitions also do not allow cannabis beers at this time.

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Beer
bitter-pale-beer-recipe
  • 5 U.S. gal. (18.9L)
  • OG: 1.040 (10°P)
  • FG: 1.012 (3°P)
  • ABV: 3.8%
  • IBU: 10

Special/Best/Premium Bitter

Simply Bone Idle

Homebrewers Association
Homebrewers Association

This beer recipe is featured in "Exploring Extract" by Steve Ruch (July/August 2020 Zymurgy magazine).

On his journey from all-grain brewing back to extract, Steve Ruch explores the different varieties of malt extract available to homebrewers. For this recipe, Steve uses Maris Otter liquid malt extract to create Simply Bone Idle, an English-style best bitter.

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Beer
thyme ipa recipe
  • 6 US gal. (22.7 L)
  • OG: 1.059 (14.6°P)
  • FG: 1.013 (3.3°P)
  • ABV: 6.3%
  • IBU: 34

American Amber Ale

West Seattle Amber Ale

Homebrewers Association
Homebrewers Association

This beer recipe is featured in "Homebrewing, One Spreadsheet at a Time" by J.B. Zorn (July/August 2020 Zymurgy magazine)

Recipe courtesy J.B. Zorn:

This recipe was inspired by visits to West Seattle years ago while my wife and I were still long-distance dating. In true Northwest fashion, it takes a classic style (American amber ale) and bumps up the hop flavor and bitterness. You’ll notice it hits or exceeds the upper limits for BJCP vital statistics for American Amber Ale, landing somewhere between Amber and Red IPA.

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Beer
Black is Beautiful Stout
Weathered Souls Brewing (San Antonio, TX)
  • 5.5 US gallons
  • OG: 1.081
  • FG: 1.016
  • ABV: 8.7%
  • IBU: 65

Imperial Stout

Black is Beautiful Homebrew Recipe

Homebrewers Association
Homebrewers Association

By the American Homebrewers Association Black Lives Matter. Black breweries and black beer lovers contribute so much to the craft brewing community and we are all better when all of us are valued, respected, and have equal access to opportunities. We all have much to do ahead to bring awareness to and eradicate systemic racism, but one small step we can all take right now, together, is to support the Black is Beautiful initiative. Imagined by Marcus Baskerville, founder and head brewer at Weathered Souls Brewing in San Antonio, Texas, the Black is Beautiful initiative is a collaborative effort amongst the brewing community and its customers, to bring awareness to the injustices that many people of color face daily. Its mission is to bridge the gap that has been around for ages and provide a platform to show that the brewing community is an inclusive place for everyone of any color. In just two short weeks, more than 700 breweries from 50 states and 13 countries have signed on to support the project and brew Black Is Beautiful, a moderately-high ABV stout. AHA Governing Committee member and past Homebrewer of the Year Annie Johnson worked with Baskerville to scale the recipe down to a volume suitable for homebrewers. Learn more at BlackisBeautiful.beer and if you brew the beer be sure to share your story using the official logo and #BlackIsBeautifulBeer hashtag. Read More

Beer
brown ale
  • 5 US gal. (18,9 L)
  • OG: 1.060 (14.7 P)
  • FG: 1.018 (4.6 P)
  • ABV: 5,5%
  • IBU: 35

Specialty Beer

Surly Coffee Bender

Homebrewers Association
Homebrewers Association

This beer recipe is featured in "Brew With Your Brew" by Brandon Whalen in the July/August 2020 issue of Zymurgy magazine.

Surly Brewing Co. (Minneapolis, MN) shared the recipe for their oatmeal brown ale infused with coffee. The commercial version uses coffee from Minneapolis's own Coffee and Tea Ltd, but Surly's brewers advise homebrewers to choose a fresh, locally-roasted coffee.

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Beer
beer recipe
  • 10 US gallons (37.9 L)
  • OG: 1.061 (15° P)
  • FG: 1.021 (5.4° P)
  • ABV: 6.1% by volume
  • IBU: 26

Saison

Avocado Saison

Homebrewers Association
Homebrewers Association

This beer recipe is featured in the article "Ferment on This: Amigo the Devil" by Kristen Kuchar in the July/August 2019 issue of Zymurgy magazine.

Danny Kiranos, aka Amigo the Devil, is a brewer by day and musician by night. From the Zymurgy magazine article:

Many of his homebrew creations, like the tobacco beer, are inspired by food and his culinary background. One of his all-time favorite homebrewers has been his Avacado Saison. "I was really worried about the oil content, and I thought it would completely mess with the residuals," he says. He opted to cube the avocado, which was not too ripe and still pretty solid, smashing it ever so slightly. "I figured that way the fat content wouldn't be so heavy," he explains. "It just ferments out, and it dries out the beer a lot," he says. The result is an earthy, dry saison he loves. Read the full article on Zymurgy Online. Read More

Beer
maple-stout-recipe-square
  • 11 US gallons (41.6 L)
  • OG: 1.072 (17.5°P)
  • FG: 1.025 (6.3°P)
  • ABV: 6.3% by volume
  • IBU: 21

Stout

Liquid Breakfast Maple Stout

Homebrewers Association
Homebrewers Association

maple stout recipe

This beer recipe is featured in "Homebrew News: Nothing But a Good Time at Brew For Good 2019" by Chip Walton in the September/October 2019 issue of Zymurgy magazine.

Homebrewer Shaun Bader, member of the Primary Fermenters homebrew club in Minnesota, has created breakfast in a glass, bringing together maple and coffee flavors in this stout recipe. The only thing missing is a side of pancakes!

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Beer
  • 1 gallon (3.8 L)
  • OG: 1.108 (25 Brix)

Mead

Mead Day 2020 Traditional Mead

Homebrewers Association
Homebrewers Association

The #MeadDay 2020 official recipe comes from American Homebrewers Association Governing Committee member Carvin Wilson. Mead Day 2020 is brought to you by the National Honey Board. The star in a traditional mead is always the honey, any honey is usable with local honey providing lots of options. The honey should be complex with some good choices being meadowfoam, orange blossom, tupelo, leatherwood, fireweed, coffee blossom, passion fruit, sage, buckwheat, complex local wildflower, or heather. For this mead, we are going to use DV10 yeast, a good neutral strain that does not add character and truly gets out of the way of the honey. It also has low nitrogen requirements and can ferment well at elevated temperatures. Read More

Beer
homebrew saison recipe
  • 6 US gallons (23.8 L)
  • OG: 1.046 (11.5º P)
  • FG: 1.002 (0.5º P)
  • ABV: 5.8% by volume
  • IBU: 30

Saison

Mad About Saison

Homebrewers Association
Homebrewers Association

This recipe appears in the article "World of a Thousand Saisons" by Mark Pasquinelli in the July/August 2018 Zymurgy magazine.

Explore 20 years of Zymurgy magazine archives and get instant access to new issues when you join the AHA for $3.99!

Mark Pasquinelli shares the following about his beer recipe Mad About Saison:

My first stop [on my saison journey] was the world of Funky Town. I killed two birds with one stone on this recipe, getting out of the same-old-yeast rut and brewing something more sessionable than my usual 7.5% ABV saisons. I used a yeast blend made by Michael Tonsmeire, aka the Mad Fermentationist, that's distributed through Bootleg Biology.

Tonsmeire mentioned that his yeast packs might swell during storage and not to be alarmed. His blend consists of saison yeast, wild Saccharomyces, Brettanomyces, and an opportunistic Lactobacillus culture. At low temperatures, his blend is clean, while traditional saison temperatures bring out flavors of citrus, pepper, and clove.

The blend's two pair well with fruity and tropical hops, so I did a hop stand and dry-hopped with Galaxy. As advertised, Galaxy's repertoire of citrus, passion fruit, and grass nicely complement Tonsmeire's yeast blend, mixing with its tart, crisp, citrus notes. The subsequent creation, Mad About Saison, was a big hit at two homebrew club meetings and became a personal after-dinner staple.

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Beer