The final episode of the year is our chance to look back on the year of brewing conversations and highlight those episodes that struck the biggest chords with you, our listeners. Joining Jamie in the co-host chair is Khris Johnson of Green Bench in St. Petersburg, Florida, and together they count down the ten most-listened-to episodes while sharing excerpts from each. The top ten include: Averie Swanson of Keeping Together on farmhouse ale Mattias Trum of Schlenkerla on the history of rauchbier in Bamberg Joran Van Ginderachter and Shawn Bainbridge of Halfway Crooks on German hops in lager brewing Joe Mohrfeld of Pinthouse, Steve Luke of Cloudburst, and Zach Turner of Single Hill on evolving products for fresh hop brewing Travis Fritts of Old Nation on the similarities and differences in lager and hazy IPA brewing Doug Velicky of Revolution on extending brands in a crowded craft beer marketplace Henry Nguyen of Monkish, J.C. Tetreault of Trillium, and Neil Fisher of Weldwerks on brewing hazy IPA Brian and Mary Rooney of BKS Artisan Ales on softening the edges of hazy IPA Justin Burdt of Ghost Town on selecting hops for pungency and, Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River, Evan Price of Green Cheek, and Kelsey McNair of North Park on brewing West Coast IPA Now! This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): For years G&D Chillers has chilled the beers you love, partnering with 3,000+ breweries across the country along the way. Reach out for a quote today at gdchillers.com or call to discuss your next project. BSG Craft Brewing (https://Bsgcraftbrewing.com/): Looking for a sustainable way to increase fermenter capacity? Try FermCap™ Eco from Kerry, a plant-based alternative to traditional silicon-based products. FermCap™ Eco increases fermenter capacity by reducing foam height to improve beer foam stability and enhance hop utilization. Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Old Orchard supplies flavored craft juice concentrate blends to beverage brands for the production of beer, cider, seltzer, wine, spirits, kombucha, and more. Flavor your lineup and streamline your sourcing by heading to oldorchard.com/brewer ProBrew (https://www.probrew.com) The ProFill series of rotary can fillers from ProBrew are accelerating plant production everywhere. For more information, visit www.probrew.com or email contactus@probrew.com. Omega Yeast (https://omegayeast.com): Thiolized yeast are a new tool for brewers to bring intense guava and passionfruit aromas out of your malt and hops. And wait, there’s more! Omega Yeast makes yeast-to-order with a consistent one week lead time ensuring peak freshness and reliability. California Craft Beer Summit (https://cacraftbeersummit.com). Everyone’s talking about 2024 California Craft Beer Summit, March 12-14 in Sacramento. Kicking off the Summit as the Keynote speaker is Rob Tod, the pioneer who built Allagash Brewing. Check out the full schedule at the website cacraftbeersummit.com. The American Homebrewers Association (https://HomebrewersAssociation.org/cbbpod): Join the American Homebrewers Association to unlock the 2023 National Homebrew Competition medal-winning recipes! Learn more at HomebrewersAssociation.org/cbbpod Lotus Beverage Alliance (https://lotusbevalliance.com): Building a brewery requires coordination: equipment, supplies, funding, and more. Lotus Beverage Alliance simplifies the process, offering all the elements for your business in one place. Their team of engineers, brewery consultants, and financial advisors are here to help. Support Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast

Evin O'Riordain, Founder of The Kernel brewery in London, discusses embracing hops, rekindling London's dark beer lineage, interpreting historical stout and porter recipes, using brown malt for London flavor, debunking the idea of British beers being less bitter, the history of East India porter, using whole-leaf hops for texture, and fermenting historical styles with London and California ale yeast strains.

Tom Beckmann, owner of Goldfinger Brewing in Illinois, discusses his family brewing history, designing a brewhouse for lagers, step-mashing strategies, blending domestic and imported malt, selecting hop varieties, and the future of Goldfinger Brewing.

Brewers discuss the evolution of cold IPA, experimenting with dry hopping techniques and hop options, selecting malt and using adjuncts in brewing, and the confusion surrounding India Blackdale. They also mention upcoming podcast episodes and sponsor breweries.

Challenges for breweries today, generational shift in drinkers, developing organic innovation, importance of execution in go-to-market strategies, key data points for decision-making in craft beer industry, using data to improve decision-making, labor costs and efficiency, prioritization and resource allocation

Chicago’s Dovetail Brewery discusses their modern approach to traditional methods. Topics include making slushies with aged spontaneous beer, defining parameters for lager brewing, the benefits of direct-fire decoction, coolshipping lagers with whole-cone hops, impacts of different mashing techniques, sulfur and malt character in helles, timing of Kölsch fermentation, and brewing rauchbier with smoked malt.

Jacob Sembrano, passionate brewer at Cruz Blanca, discusses crafting technically challenging beers with beautiful ingredients and stories. Topics include pushing fermentation temperatures, brewing a red corn lager, using black and heavily roasted malts in stouts, building body without excessive sweetness, and growing the brand through partnerships. Listen to hear about brewing a 100% corn grisette, challenges of specific beer styles, and the unique and acidic gurzette beer. Challenges and opportunities in the industry are also explored.

As always, our annual Best in Beer issue includes different perspectives. Our subscribers and listeners—that’s you!—have spoken, and we’ve compiled your votes for the Reader’s Choice lists, including your Top 25 Beers. Plus, our Craft Beer & Brewing Best 20 Beers in 2023 are the culmination of a year of blind tasting by our review panel and then by our editors, achieving an internal consensus on beers of the greatest character and technical excellence. However, this issue also is a chance for some of our writers and editors to sound off a bit, as we share our favorite beers and highlights of the past year. No blind tasting here—for these hedonistic picks, we fully embrace the contexts in which we enjoyed these beers. That’s the idea behind our Best in Beer Critic’s Lists, and those are what we explore in this special, once-per-year episode. Featuring thoughtful (and at times heartfelt) takes from Alex Kidd, Kate Bernot, Stan Hieronymus, Courtney Iseman, and Joe Stange—for Jamie’s, be sure to read the print edition—these lists give us the chance to spotlight many more of the most enjoyable beers and drinking experiences of 2023, as well as some thoughts on the state of the brewing industry and beer culture today. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): For years G&D Chillers has chilled the beers you love, partnering with 3,000+ breweries across the country along the way. Reach out for a quote today at gdchillers.com or call to discuss your next project. BSG Craft Brewing (https://Bsgcraftbrewing.com/): BSG and HVG bring you Amira. With its classic hoppy, slightly herbal, and zesty lemon aromas it’s the ideal hop for those looking to capture the traditional flavor of a classic German lager. Visit BSGCraftbrewing.com to learn more. Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): Old Orchard's new brewing customers often mention discovering Old Orchard through the word-of-mouth recommendation of another brewer. To join the core of Old Orchard's brewing community, learn more at oldorchard.com/brewer ProBrew (https://www.probrew.com) The ProFill series of rotary can fillers from ProBrew are accelerating plant production everywhere. For more information, visit www.probrew.com or email contactus@probrew.com. Omega Yeast (https://omegayeast.com): Thiolized yeast are a new tool for brewers to bring intense guava and passionfruit aromas out of your malt and hops. And wait, there’s more! Omega Yeast makes yeast-to-order with a consistent one week lead time ensuring peak freshness and reliability. Colorado Craft Beer Summit (https://cacraftbeersummit.com). Join the craft beer community in Sacramento March 12-14 for the California Craft Beer Summit. Bring your entire team from production to marketing to hospitality–there’s something for everyone. Early bird registration on sale now through Dec 22 at cacraftbeersummit.com The Perfect Purée (https://perfectpuree.com/beer): The Perfect Purée is offering a free sample box of their frozen fruit purees, concentrates and blends to professional brewers. Choose from 40 plus flavors and build a free sample box at perfectpuree.com/beer. Complimentary to professionals only. Yakima Chief Hops (https://www.yakimachief.com/pink-boots-blend): The 7th Annual Pink Boots Blend is now available for pre-order! $3 of every pound of the Pink Boots Blend purchased will be donated to the Pink Boots Society, a nonprofit organization that support women and non-binary individuals in the fermented and alcoholic industry through education. Learn more at www.yakimachief.com/pink-boots-blendSupport Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast

Jamie Bogner and Joe Stange discuss the best beers in 2023, including reader's choice and editor's picks. They explore the process of selecting the best beers, reveal top beer cities in the US and internationally, and highlight the rise of tap rooms and top beer bars. The hosts also delve into specific beers, like a gold medal-winning 'Fatheads Headhunter' and a bourbon barrel-aged barley wine. They celebrate the creativity of brands and encourage craft brewers.

Art History Brewing focuses on brewing traditional styles well and making them relevant. They discuss achieving decoction flavor results through other brewing means, building color in Czech-style pale lager, using the Hochkurz mash, and choosing yeasts for regionally-inspired English-style ales. They also explore their passion for brewing, experiences tasting beer in the Czech Republic, and the use of English ingredients in their beers.