In all respects, beer color is a slippery thing. Brewers quantify it with a single number and yet not all 10 SRM beers look the same. And just how do you get from malt color to beer color in some meaningful way? Our man of beer arts and sciences has the answers.

American craft beers often display a bit of haze and may look downright muddy. But as homebrewers, we want our friends and fellow brewers to be impressed with our beers, and a nasty haze can make a bad first impression. Here’s the lowdown on clarifying the situation.

Man, oh man, did we have fun. Read, check out the photos and mark your calendars for enxt year’s shindig.

From neighborhood punters to worldly beer judges, people drink with their eyes. A veteran judge and brewer examines the link between beer appearance and flavor with thoughts about what drinking eyes may perceive.

We had so many recipes from top brewers to cram into our July-August issue that we ran out of room. Here’s another dozen taste treats from that ruffian of the Pacific Northwest.

Back in January we asked you, our readers, to name your favorite beers. Now we’ve got the results. The top beers are no surprise (at least not to us!) but several little-known cult beers snuck into the top tiers of the list. This story lays out the list and an interesting analysis of the results paves the way for the boat-load of clone recipes that fill this issue.

Inspired by television’s “Iron Chef” cooking show, a Texas homebrew club developed the Iron Mash brew-in challenge. Brewers were given a kit of surprise ingredients and challenged to brew the best beer. Find out who won and how to brew their winning beer.

Just because he has to brew beers conforming to Utah’s 3.2 percent alcohol limit, that doesn’t mean Steve Kirkland doesn’t brew great beers. Find out how he produces satisfying brews under extreme restrictions and try your hand at his flagship beers.

Defining the flavor and aroma characteristics of select hops by brewing single-hop beers can be a real challenge. Members of the Oregon Brew Crew took on the task and learned a few things they might try differently next time.

Every homebrewer strives for a thick, long-lasting head of tiny bubles on his beer. But where does beer foam come from, and how can you maximize your chances for good head retention?