Don’t miss our New England Beer & Baseball adventure in 2026! Click here to register!
In the November-December 2025 issue, we share brewing advice and recipes from Weldwerks Brewing, reveal the winners of our 2025 Homebrew Label Contest, explain how to build body in your beer, and offer a novel approach to reuse spent fresh hops for a second brew. Plus: a hoppy tripel clone from The Brewing Lair, the latest troubleshooting advice from Mr. Wizard, brewing strong Scotch ale and other high-ABV beers, what to know about yeast nutrients, and more.
Hops added late in the boil, during whirlpool, or as dry hops retain a lot of their alpha acids when done being used for their initial purpose. After using fresh hops for their aroma and flavor contributions in a recipe, a homebrewer tested reusing them as bittering additions in a subsequent brew. Finding success, he’s since brought this technique to a commercial scale.
Founded in Greeley, Colorado, in 2015, Weldwerks has taken the craft beer world by storm over the past decade. From traditional styles first created as homebrews in a garage, to the famous Juicy Bits hazy
View the winners of our 30th annual Homebrew Label Contest, including our Grand, Gold, Silver, and Bronze medalists, the Reader’s Choice voted on by you, and a collection of honorable mentions — they’re all works of art worth admiring.
As an avowed fan of rich, dark beers like porters and stouts, a big body and mouthfeel is something I’ve focused quite a bit on in my 38 years as a homebrewer.
No brewery — no matter their size or marketing prowess — has the ability to experiment as much as a homebrewer. Whether it is brewing with ridiculously expensive ingredients sourced from the other side of the world, making up styles that have never been tried before, or playing with theories that may not work, the only question homebrewers need to ask is “what boundaries do I want to push next?”
Does your wort require yeast nutrients to help the yeast fully ferment it? Learn what factors impact wort nutrient levels, and what yeast nutrients bring to the fermenter.
Strong Scotch ale, or wee heavy, is a rich, warming beer with a full-bodied, chewy, sweet malt profile. There are many approaches homebrewers can take to create these characteristics, each of which will result in a memorable beer.
There is more to brewing a big beer than upping all of the ingredients. These beer styles test the limits of mash tank capacity, yeast health, and a brewer’s patience. But there are techniques to make it all easier, as long as you’re prepared for the unexpected.
The Brewing Lair in Blairsden, California, is tucked away on 30 acres in the Plumas National Forest. Visitors can connect with nature, play a round on their disc golf course, and then enjoy a BLT outside.
The Wizard explains the impact of lagering in a fermenter as opposed to a keg or bottles, as well as brewing non-alcoholic and low-alcohol beers. Plus, tips for storing kegs and how ascorbic acid may be used at packaging to scrub dissolved oxygen.
This extra special bitter blends the sweetness of buckwheat
honey with the bitterness of the hops. As a homebrewer, this prize was an amazing opportunity to learn from the experts. I hope you enjoy drinking this beer as much as I enjoyed making it!
This is a riff on Drew’s classic “Queen’s Diamonds” that’s slightly updated to modern ingredients and a change in history. Note that the efficiency when working with this much grain is lower than usual.
This wee heavy strikes a good compromise between strength and drinkability. It uses homebrew techniques like kettle caramelization, but otherwise is fairly true to commercial techniques Scottish brewers use.
A hoppy Belgian tripel brewed with Mosaic® hops added at the end of the boil and as dry hops.
This IPA is brewed using 100% spent fresh hops for a smooth bitterness.
Weld Pilsner is calculated to be 46 IBUs. This is a Czech premium pale lager, which the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) style guidelines state is between 30–45 IBUs. Being hop heads, of course Weldwerks went over the style guidelines, even if it is only by 1 IBU.
This imperial milk stout is loaded with toasted coconut and coffee aromas and flavors.
Like all of Weldwerks’ hazy IPAs, DDH Transmountain Diversion does not include any hops during the boil. The only hops added on the hot side is a minimal addition into the whirlpool. However, the hop load is more than made up for with significant double dry hopping.
Juicy Bits is an iconic hazy IPA and makes up more than 40% of Weldwerks’ production. The juicy aroma and flavor is attributed to equal additions of Citra®, El Dorado®, and Mosaic® hops added during the whirlpool and as dry hop additions.
Weldwerks’ Hefeweizen has a similar grist to traditional German wheats with a mix of Pilsner and wheat malt, but it differentiates from classic styles with a sizeable whirlpool hop addition of Hallertauer Mittelfrüh. A restrained spicy phenolic character from the yeast contributes complexity while keeping it approachable.
Ascorbic acid, also known as Vitamin C, is indeed an antioxidant often discussed in the context of beer stability because of its ability to scavenge oxygen in the headspace of packaged beer.
The body of knowledge related to non-alcoholic (NA) brewing is growing at a rapid pace. Mr. Wizard shares some DOs and DON’Ts.
How does lagering a beer in a carboy or barrel affect the beer differently than storing the same unfiltered beer in a bottle or keg at the same temperature for the same period of time?
Your example is an extreme case between sanitizing and use, but the broader question is one I’ve often heard craft brewers discuss when preparing equipment. My preferred method is to clean equipment immediately after use, then sanitize just before use.
