When two old college friends get together for their annual brew day, they make it a family beer fest with games, grilling and big batches of beer brewed in cast iron kettles over an open fire.

In his latest book, Microbrewed Adventures, Charlie Papazian departs from the how-tos of brewing to take readers on a world tour of some of the people and places that have shaped the craft beer renaissance.

Just as you can’t cut a “normal” recipe in half and make a small beer, you can’t simply double or triple a recipe and make a big beer. Making wort for big beers requires focus.

Really big beers need two things: a lot of very healthy yeast and a high percentage of fermentable sugar. The founder of White Labs steers you in the right direction.

Just as with lighter beers, big beers require finesse and fine tuning to avoid unharmonious flavors and a harsh finish. We look at unique ways to use hops before and after the boil as well as some alternatives.

In this issue of thinking big about beer, barleywine gets a makeover with the nontraditional use of wheat, rye, and oats instead of malted barley.

An excerpt from the Dogfish Head Craft Brewery’s founder and president’s latest book, Extreme Brewing, explores one of the most recent trends in U.S. brewing.

A beer that gets to the top of the heap in a national competition such as the National Homebrew Competition is usually the result of part skill and part luck.

More than 650 homebrewers converged on Orlando in June for the National Homebrewers Conference, considered “the most fun you can have in homebrewing.”

What’s the biggest audience you’ve ever brewed for? Imagine turning a batch of beer for 300 or more beer enthusiasts! A look back at the commemorative AHA Conference beers.