American beers with a pungent whiff of place

Hays County, Texas

IN a former machine shop here in the Texas Hill Country, Jeffrey Stuffings, a founder of Jester King Brewery, led a tour group up a narrow staircase, to a loft where dozens of oak barrels surrounded what looked like an enormous copper sheet pan. Stained-glass windows bathed the pan in a pink and orange glow.

"This vessel right here is called a coolship," Mr Stuffings said.

It's a specialised piece of equipment, he explained …