India pale ales (IPAs) are the first beer style most people associate with the craft beer movement that has swept through America and many other beer-loving countries around the world. But lagers have played an influential role, too, and are still popular even if they don’t attract the same attention. In particular, Brooklyn Brewery’s flagship…

As you head west out of Morioka, the capital of Iwate Prefecture, the city fades quickly into lush green rice fields followed soon by dense forest and the mountains that form the spine of the central Tohoku region. Riding the Tazawako Line, which connects Morioka to Akita, the wait between trains is, at minimum, close…

(photo: McKay and Murtaugh) Hardywood changed Richmond, Virginia. The brewery continues to be a welcome presence in the capital city, and also the state as a whole. Its identity is closely tied to Virginia, too. It’s a symbiotic relationship that perhaps all small breweries hope for. While many express terroir, few can project it nationally…

In the corporate world, at 27 most people are just getting their foot on the second rung of the ladder, struggling to move up. In the craft brewing industry, the climb to the top of the ladder might be a lot shorter, but advancement still usually requires some time. 27-year-old Shoma Hata already has his…

Tom Ainsworth is always smiling. It’s like he has constant mischief on his mind. Or that he was born with a surplus of friendliness. To many, it seems Australians have an abundance of that human quality. Or maybe he loves his job as brewer and part-owner at Kyoto Beer Lab that much. Either way, it’s…