Brew Your Own  is designed to meet the needs of the more than one million homebrewers in the U.S. Our mission is to provide practical information in an entertaining format. We try to capture the spirit and challenge of brewing while helping our readers brew the best beer they can. Brew Your Own is published bi-monthly from January to August and monthly from September through December.

Brew Your Own is for anyone who is interested in brewing beer, from beginners to advanced brewers. We seek articles that are straightforward and factual, not full of esoteric theories or complex calculations. Our readers tend to be intelligent, upscale and literate. They appreciate good writing and a sense of humor, but not to the detriment of content. Whether intended for the extract brewer or the all-grain brewer (or the many readers who use both methods), any article that appears in Brew Your Own should contain accurate information, useful tips and shortcuts, balanced evaluations, and an inviting approach.

Accuracy and consistency are extremely important in all of our articles. All articles are reviewed by our editorial board, made up of professional brewers and advanced homebrewers, and articles might be returned to the author for revisions. Length is generally 1,500 to 3,000 words.

Articles published in the magazine fall into the following categories:

Recipes

Each issue contains at least one feature that offers tips, techniques and recipes for brewing a particular style or category of beer. The recipes offer ingredients and instructions for all-extract, partial-mash and all-grain techniques.

Homebrewing Techniques

Each issue contains several how-to articles that focus on various brewing techniques and methods. We’ve also published shorter articles on such topics as dry-hopping, lautering, priming, bottle conditioning and yeast harvesting.

Brewing Science

We also run occasional articles on brewing science and related technical topics.

Brewing Equipment

Each issue contains at least one article on how to build or use a specific piece of brewing equipment. Some examples of articles have covered propane burners, brew-kettle spigots, counterflow wort chillers, lagering refrigerators and water-treatment systems.

General-Interest Features

We occasionally publish non-technical features about beer and brewing. These include interviews, historical pieces and articles about the latest brewing trends. Each general feature must have a homebrewing angle. Beer recipes should be included whenever appropriate. These features are meant both to inform and entertain, and writing style is especially important. Length is generally 1,000 to 2,500 words.

Regular Columns

The columns (Tips from the Pros, The Replicator, Style Calendar, Help Me Mr. Wizard, Projects and Techniques) are written by regular contributing columnists. However, we welcome any suggestions for topics or new columns.

Homebrew Nation

This is a section of short first-person brewing stories and photos of homemade equipment submitted by our readers. No fee is paid for these.

Last Call

The last page of the magazine serves as an open forum for our readers. We are especially interested in first-person stories about brewing. These articles should be 600 to 750 words. We pay $75 for a “Last Call” essay.

Manuscript preparation

We welcome queries. Indicate the subject of your proposed article, the angle you plan to use, whom you plan to interview (if applicable), and the reasons you think the article would be interesting to our readers. If you have been published before, send a few samples of your work along with the query letter. We also will review unsolicited manuscripts.

Articles are generally due two months prior to the publication date. We prefer to receive manuscripts as an e-mail attachment. Microsoft Word is preferred. Manuscripts also can be submitted on CD (Macintosh Word). A double-spaced hard copy of the article should accompany the disk. Please note on both the manuscript and disk the name and format of the file.

Any artwork (tables, figures, graphs) should be noted and captioned within the manuscript and sent with the hard copy of your article. Artwork may be either color or black and white. If you are submitting photos, please provide detailed caption information. All writers are expected to provide accurate, well-researched articles and to double-check the spelling of names and other proper nouns.

Compensation

Our pay scale ranges from $25 to $200 depending on the length and complexity of the article. We buy all rights and payment is made upon publication of the article.

Where to send it

Address queries and other submissions to:

Brew Your Own
Attn: Editor
5515 Main Street
Manchester Center, VT 05255
Phone: (802) 362-3981     
Fax: (802) 362-2377     
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it