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Package Conditioning, the Old School Way

Conditioning in the container may be a path to longer shelf life, but it’s also a traditional way to prepare beer for the drinker—the beer is “alive” until it hits the glass. Here’s a technical look at two traditions that may provide inspiration for today’s brewers.

Video Tip: The Importance of Testing and Forecasting Wood-Aged Beers

New Belgium wood-cellar director Lauren Woods Limbach explains the methodical way they forecast maturation times in their foeders, using sampling plans, specific lab tests, and deploying contingency plans when things don’t go as expected.

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Packaging: The Return of Returnable Beer Bottles?

In Washington state, a new program is helping breweries and other beverage producers give reusable glass bottles a fresh look. Nationally, the cost and supply of new glass—and glaring weaknesses in recycling programs—could make such programs increasingly feasible.

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Brewer’s Perspective: More on Package Conditioning at Sierra Nevada

Scott Jennings, Sierra Nevada’s innovation brewmaster in Mills River, North Carolina, offers a closer look at the brewery’s dialed-in approach to bottle conditioning.

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Stop and Smell the Hops ... Before You Use Them

Having a sensory panel to regularly evaluate your beer is good practice—but what about one to evaluate your hops? Brewers and hop-sensory experts share their best tips on starting up a specialized panel—and careful hop evaluation is something that even the smallest breweries can do.

Case Study: Seattle’s Machine House Leans Into Cask Ale

As a small brewery devoted to cask-conditioned ale, Seattle’s Machine House is a rare bird in the United States—and it’s one that recently marked a decade of brewing, guided by the pragmatism of founder Bill Arnott and his “simple, primitive” approach to making their distinctive yet highly accessible beers

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What “Local” Means for Farm Breweries

Whether farm breweries are out in the country or right downtown, state licenses for them depend on flexible benchmarks for local ingredients. There are lessons to be learned for any state considering similar privileges for breweries that aim to buy local.

Video Tip: Brewing Wood-Aged Beers with Precision for Consistent Brands

In this clip from her video course, New Belgium wood-cellar director Lauren Woods Limbach explains how and why they brew their mixed-culture, wood-aged beers precisely to spec—starting with the beer that goes into the foeders.

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Package Conditioning for Beers that Live Longer

One of the most effective ways to increase shelf life is one of the oldest tricks in the book: package conditioning with a bit of fresh yeast. Yet there are pitfalls. Here’s how “the biggest natural-conditioning operation in the world” goes about it.

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Video Course: The Art, Science, and Business of Wood-Aged Beers with New Belgium’s Lauren Woods Limbach

New Belgium’s wood-cellar director and master blender Lauren Woods Limbach shares pragmatic advice based on years of experience developing and running a large-scale blending program