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!
This beer recipe is featured in the November/December 2019 issue of Zymurgy magazine. Join the American Homebrewers Association or start your 30-day free trial to access the Zymurgy digital archive and other exclusive member benefits!
Recipe courtesy Taopiphop Limjittrakorn
Future Forward Sour Saison is a mixed-fermentation fruit beer inspired by my political engagement to a local Sato brewer in northeastern part of Thailand. Sato is a traditional sticky rice beer using a local yeast ball called Look Pang, which contains mold, mysterious yeast strains, and Lactobacillus, all of which give a nice fruity sour character to the brew.
Due to the hot climate of Thailand, this brew is designed for a high fermentation temperature using mixed yeast strains, saison yeast, and a Sato yeast ball. I also used lychee fruit from the northern hill tribes of Thailand. This recipe embraces the lost art of traditional Thai brewing.
I consider brewing to be an ancient human right. People should be able to make their own beer and bring happiness to share with their community. I am working on the laws here and looking forward to a future in which craft beer can be brewed in Thailand and later exported to the world.
This beer recipe is featured in the November/December 2019 issue of Zymurgy magazine. Join the American Homebrewers Association or start your 30-day free trial to access the Zymurgy digital archive and other exclusive member benefits!
This cyser recipe won Best of Show for its creator Tom Mendick at the First Farmhand Brewing Company Homebrew Competition.
The simple ingredient list and brewing notes are no mistake; the watermelon honey and apple juice pair perfectly for this cyser without any added adjuncts, giving the English Cider Yeast everything it needs to prosper into delicious apple cyseryness. Brew it yourself and tell us how you like it!
This beer recipe is featured in the November/December 2019 issue of Zymurgy magazine. Join the American Homebrewers Association or start your 30-day free trial to access the Zymurgy digital archive and other exclusive member benefits!
Recipe courtesy of Mike Volpe
This porter is packed with peppermint, thanks to the use of peppermint tea bags. It's balanced with roasty chocolate malts, coffee beans and flaked oats that will ensure every porter lovers' satisfaction.
This beer recipe is featured in the November/December 2019 issue of Zymurgy magazine. Join the American Homebrewers Association or start your 30-day free trial to access the Zymurgy digital archive and other exclusive member benefits!
Recipe courtesy Scott Aufderheide.
This cyser scored a 45 at the 2019 Mazer Cup when it was 6 months old. My goal was to make a Chardonnay-style cyser. Chardonnays are often dry, oaky, and barrel fermented. You could attempt a malolactic fermentation step after the initial ferment, but that was beyond my scope this time, and I think the touch of lactic acid was good enough.
Since I didn’t have a barrel, I used a lot of oak cubes in primary. The difference between fermenting on oak and using oak later is that during fermentation, the yeast will eat all of the vanillin, leaving only tannic, spicy, and smoky contributions from the oak and less vanilla and sweetness.
This mead ends up being around 11.5% ABV. While this is immediately ready to consume at the 8-week mark and quite pleasant, I found that letting it age for 6 months from pitch brought back a lot of the honey and apple flavors, and it became much more complex.
Pectic enzyme and bentonite cannot be added together because bentonite denatures the enzyme, so wait a day between additions. Bentonite in primary is easily kept in suspension by the turbulence of fermentation, making it very effective. The combination yields a very clear mead almost immediately after fermentation ends. Fermaid O and GoFerm ensure a good, healthy fermentation with all the proper nutrients for the yeast. Sorbate and metabisulfite are stabilizers and an antioxidant to make sure fermentation doesn’t restart after back-sweetening.
This beer recipe is featured in the November/December 2019 issue of Zymurgy magazine. Join the American Homebrewers Association or start your 30-day free trial to access the Zymurgy digital archive and other exclusive member benefits!
Mike's Mild, courtesy of Mike Volpe, is a standard ale with a malty palate. The East Kent Golding additions add only the bare minimum bitterness needed to balance this malty ale out; roasty malt lovers are sure to be pleased if you stick to the recipe on this one.
This beer recipe is featured in the November/December 2019 issue of Zymurgy magazine. Join the American Homebrewers Association or start your 30-day free trial to access the Zymurgy digital archive and other exclusive member benefits!
Recipe courtesy Scott Aufderheide
Session-style meads are notoriously difficult because they often taste weak and watery. Blueberries are a great fruit for this style because they have good natural tannins and some acidity. If you taste this after it ferments to completion but before you back-sweeten, you might be surprised by the lack of blueberry flavor. That’s because some sugar needs to be present for the blueberry flavor to properly assert itself and be recognized.
You may think 20 lb. of blueberries is a lot, but 3 lb. per gallon is actually the standard. I went with 4 lb. per gallon for added flavor and presence. The measured original gravity may be much lower than the true original gravity since the sugar in the berries takes time to release.
A 6.5% ABV mead might not seem very sessionable. But again, because it’s hard to get good flavor in a session mead, enough honey needs to be added to make a good impression. Oak adds structure and flavor and rounds out the edges quickly after fermentation.
Back-sweetening gives general body and added flavor. The target sweetness of 1.015 is a good medium point—it isn’t overly sweet thanks to the balancing effects of berry and oak tannins and carbonation. All the components of this recipe have been targeted and used to make a nicely balanced and flavorful session mead that’s hard to put down (hence “vice” in the name). Make tweaks at your own risk, or at least consider their effect on balance.
Pectic enzyme and bentonite cannot be added together because bentonite denatures the enzyme, so wait a day between additions. Bentonite in primary is easily kept in suspension by the turbulence of fermentation, making it very effective. The combination yields a very clear mead almost immediately after fermentation ends. Fermaid O and GoFerm ensure a good, healthy fermentation with all the proper nutrients for the yeast. Sorbate and metabisulfite are stabilizers and an antioxidant to make sure fermentation doesn’t restart after back-sweetening.
This beer recipe is featured in the November/December 2019 issue of Zymurgy magazine. Join the American Homebrewers Association or start your 30-day free trial to access the Zymurgy digital archive and other exclusive member benefits!
Courtesy of Denny Conn, this rye IPA recipe is sure to end your search for an earthy rye incredibly balanced mouth feel that also boasts strong hop flavor. The spicy rye creates a beautiful color and compliments the bittering hops perfectly.
This beer recipe is featured in the November/December 2019 issue of Zymurgy magazine. Join the American Homebrewers Association or start your 30-day free trial to access the Zymurgy digital archive and other exclusive member benefits!
Recipe courtesy Four Fathers Brewing Co., Valparaiso, Ind.
This beer-mead hybrid combines the wort from a fairly typical brew session with a honey must that has been caramelized using hot rocks. For more information on working with hot rocks, including safety guidelines, see “Fahrenheit 951” in the Jul/Aug 2019 issue of Zymurgy.
This beer recipe is featured in the November/December 2019 issue of Zymurgy magazine. Join the American Homebrewers Association or start your 30-day free trial to access the Zymurgy digital archive and other exclusive member benefits!
This mead-beer hybrid is the strongest beverage produced at Crestone Brewing Co. Dosed with local honey throughout the brewing and fermenting process, it’s got great floral honey character, a dry finish, and a delicious, boozy character. Deceptively drinkable—be careful with this one!
This beer recipe is featured in the November/December 2019 issue of Zymurgy magazine. Join the American Homebrewers Association or start your 30-day free trial to access the Zymurgy digital archive and other exclusive member benefits!
In May 2007, Art Oestrike’s brother Brian Oestrike summited Mount Everest to raise money for the LUNGevity Foundation, a lung cancer-focused nonprofit. Art and Brian’s mother, Jackie, had passed away from lung cancer on June 14, 2006. As Newcastle Brown Ale was a favorite of Jackie’s (who was born in England), then-brewer Brad Clark created the recipe for Chomolungma as an American interpretation of the British classic. The beer was named for the word Tibetans use for Mount Everest, which means “Goddess Mother of the Earth.” When it came time to choose the core lineup of beers to be released in cans from our production brewery in 2012–2013, this meant-to-be-one-off beer had become the third-best seller at our brewpub. It was first packaged in cans in May 2013 and has been a favorite of customers and staff alike ever since.
This beer recipe is featured in the November/December 2019 issue of Zymurgy magazine. Join the American Homebrewers Association or start your 30-day free trial to access the Zymurgy digital archive and other exclusive member benefits!
This recipe is courtesy of Fretboard Brewing Co., Cincinnati, Ohio.
Jim Klosterman is “Lead Guitar” at Fretboard Brewing Co. His last name is attached to this beer thanks to Fretboard’s collaboration with Klosterman Baking Co., a Cincinnati bakery that supplies bread and buns across the United States. Fretboard collaborates on two styles with Klosterman, a Rye Lager with caraway seed and the Honey Wheat Lager below.
This beer recipe is featured in the November/December 2019 issue of Zymurgy magazine. Join the American Homebrewers Association or start your 30-day free trial to access the Zymurgy digital archive and other exclusive member benefits!
Tepache is a historically delicious fermented beverage made with pineapple, brown sugar and water. The brewing process is relatively simple and open to your own creative desires. This small batch recipe is courtesy of Amahl Turczyn, who crafts fantastic recipes for award winning beer as well as concotions very different from the hop, malt and barley standard!
