Botanicals Blur the Line Between Brewing and Cooking

Turmeric. Wormwood. Sassafras. They sound like ingredients more likely to go in a witch’s brew than a beer, but a growing cadre of microbrewers are raiding kitchen, forest and field for roots, herbs, flowers and spices that they’re working into botanical brews with a decidedly culinary feel. It’s a creative and even iconoclastic approach to brewing, prioritizing ingredient expression over style. And it’s ushering in a new level of refinement for beer, boosting its...