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Beer 101 - Styles

According to the Beer Advocate magazine, a beer style is 'a label given to a beer that describes its overall character and oftentimes its origin. It's a name badge that has been achieved over many centuries of brewing, trial and error, marketing, and consumer acceptance." The Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) lists more than 25 official beer styles and dozens of additional sub-categories, but in the interest of brevity, we have included a list of some of today's most popular beer styles, as defined by the Brewers Association.

The Brewers Association was established in 2005 by a merger of the Association of Brewers and the Brewers' Association of America. Our goal is to unify the combined 88-year history of service and to promote and protect the U.S. craft brewing community's interests.

India Pale Ale

India Pale Ale is the prototypical hoppy beer style, and hops are considered the defining characteristic of this pale, golden ale. IPAs possess a flavor of hops that is quite high and bitterness assertive, and examples of the style tip the scales at six percent alcohol by volume. Typically, IPAs have citrusy and floral aromas and are viewed as an excellent accompaniment to bolder foods.

Some examples of IPA include: Anchor Liberty Ale, Avery India Pale Ale, Bell's Two Hearted Ale, Brooklyn East India Pale Ale, Dogfish Head 90-Minute IPA, Goose Island India Pale Ale, HopTown IPA, Harpoon I.P.A., Lagunitas IPA, Redhook IPA, Shipyard IPA, Stone India Pale Ale, and Victory HopDevil IPA.

Brown Ale

Before 1700, nearly all beers were considered brown ales, but "brown ale" as a specific beer style is a relatively modern invention. Today's versions are slightly sweet, have a nutty flavor and restrained bitterness, with an obvious malt character, balance, and smoothness. The three types of brown ales include: an English style that emphasizes malt with a "northern" type that is reddish brown and somewhat dry, and a "southern" type, which is somewhat darker and fruitier. Brown ales in the U.S. often feature hoppy and full-bodied versions that were created during the microbrewery revolution in the late 20th century.

Some craft-brewed examples of brown ale include: Avery Ellie's Brown Ale, Bell's Best Brown, Big Sky Moose Drool, Brooklyn Brown Ale, C.H. Evans Kick-Ass Brown, Dogfish Head Indian Brown, Goose Island Hex Nut, New Glarus Fat Squirrel, Nodding Head Grog, Red Hook Nut Brown, Shipyard Brown, Sierra Nevada Brown Ale, and Smuttynose Old Brown Dog Ale.

Pilsner

Pilsner is the classic lager style, emerging from the Czech Republic in 1841, which became the most common style of beer brewed around the world. Pale to golden in coloring, pilsners offer a crisp drinkability with two major variations. The popular pilsners from Coors, Budweiser and Miller include a modicum of corn or rice to produce a light body and delicate flavor, while smaller American brewers adhere to European traditions. These beers are all-malt pilsners featuring full-bodied flavor and generous helpings of hops. Pilsners are one of the most delicate types of beers, so freshness is critical to its quality.

Some craft-brewed examples of pilsners include: Samuel Adams Boston Lager, Brooklyn Lager, Stoudt's Pils, Dominion Lager, Tupper's Hop Pocket Pils, Capital Brewery Special Pilsner, Sprecher Pale Lager, Tabernash Pilsner, and Gordon Biersch Pilsner.

Amber Ale

American Amber Ale is a relative newcomer to the brewing world. Since 1980, American craft brewers have rescued many classic beer styles from oblivion, while also adapting selected styles an creating entirely new versions as well. The American Amber Ale is one of these fusion beers, combining old world tradition and newfangled American innovation. A typical example of this new brew offers more 'mouth-filling" body and tongue-pleasing malt flavor than what is found with a typical English or American pale ale. The outgrowth of this fusion combines the subtlety of British ales with the brashness of American craft brewing, as hops and malts mesh almost perfectly - both are evident, but neither dominates.

Craft-brewed American Amber Ales include: Avery Redpoint Ale, Bell's Amber, Carolina Copperline Amber Ale, Deschutes Cinder Cone Red Ale, Full Sail Amber Ale, HopTown Paint the Town Red, McNeill's Firehouse Amber Ale, Mendocino Red Tail Ale, New Belgium Fat Tire Amber Ale, North Coast Red Seal Ale, Rogue American Amber, and Shipyard Winter Ale.

American Pale Ale

Pale ale is the prototypical English beer style and one that that almost completely disappeared from the United States in the 20th century. In the 1980s, craft brewers embraced pale ales from the start, and in addition to re-creating English versions, they also combined distinctive North American ingredients to create a new, distinctly American variant of the style. Compared to its old world relative, American pale ale has a more pronounced hop character atop a solid bitterness. The typical new world pale ale has a decidedly bolder hop flavor and aroma. American Pale Ale (APA), which has become a brewpub and microbrewery staple, has an amber hue, medium body, firm bitterness, all-malt complexity, and floral aroma.

Craft-brewed examples include: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Firestone Pale Ale, Goose Island Honker's Ale, Great Lakes Burning River Pale Ale, Left Hand Jackman's Pale Ale, Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale, Pyramid Pale Ale, Mendocino Blue Heron Pale Ale, Harpoon Ale, and Stone Pale Ale.

Wheat Beer

America's 1,400 small brewers have revived the ages-old practice of making beers that include wheat as well as barley. The brews, containing two-thirds wheat malt and one-third barley malt, are typically cloudy or pale in color and feature fruity and sometimes spicy flavors. Some wheat beers display unique flavors because of special yeast used in fermentation, called "weizen" yeasts, which accentuate clove and fruity flavors. The American wheat ale displays a low level of fruitiness and lacks the clove and spicy flavors produced by the weizen yeast.

Examples of wheat beers produced year-round include: Widmer Hefeweizen, Sierra Nevada Wheat, Boulevard Brewing's Unfiltered Wheat, Odell's Easy Street Wheat, Two Brothers Ebelweiss, Pyramid Hefeweizen, Brooklyn Brewing's Brooklyner Weisse, Summit Hefeweizen, Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat, and Pyramid Apricot Ale.

Bock, Maibock, Doppelbock and Eisbock

Bock is a strong lager with more than six percent alcohol content by volume that is usually medium to dark brown in color. The presence of hops is usually only enough to balance the malt, and some varieties include wheat malt as well as barley malt. Bocks are often heavy and full bodied, but include a noticeable malty sweetness. There are a number of varieties, including Maibock, which is usually paler and less full-bodied with slightly more hop bitterness. Hellesbock, "light bock," is similar in style, while a Doppelbock ("double bock") at 6.9 percent alcohol features a deeper, maltier flavor. Eisbock ("ice bock") is created by freezing Doppelbock and removing the ice crystals. The result is an even stronger drink, as the alcohol freezes at a lower temperature and remains in the beer at a higher concentration. Weizenbocks are a stronger version of a wheat beer.

Examples of Bock brews include: Capital Blonde Doppelbock, Aass Bock, Morretti La Rossa, Ayinger Celebrator, Spaten Optimator, and Eggenberger Urbock 23.

American Stout

The American Stout has a strong aroma of roasted malts, often having a roasted coffee or dark chocolate quality, with a medium to very low aroma of hops, and often contains a citrusy or resiny character. These brews are very dark in color, ranging from dark brown to jet black, and feature moderate to high roasted malt flavors. In fact, many Stouts often possess flavors like coffee, roasted coffee beans, or dark or bittersweet chocolate.

Examples of American Stouts include: Sierra Nevada Stout, North Coast Old No. 38, Avery Out of Bounds Stout, Three Floyds Black Sun Stout, Mad River Steelhead Extra Stout, Rogue Shakespeare Stout, Bell's Kalamazoo Stout, Deschutes Obsidian Stout, Mendocino Black Hawk Stout

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