List Of Beer StylesEdit
Beer styles form a catalog of flavors, colors, and brewing methods that have grown out of regional traditions and modern experimentation. From the pale, crisp lagers of Central Europe to the deeply roasted stouts and hop-forward pale ales popular in many parts of the world today, the world of beer offers a remarkable range. Style guides and competition judges—such as the Beer Judge Certification Program—provide frameworks for describing and evaluating these differences, while brewers continuously push boundaries through innovations in malt, hops, yeast, and aging. The following overview surveys the major families and many well-known sub-styles that bartenders, brewers, and beer lovers encounter in pubs and bottle shops around the globe.
Major style families
Lagers (bottom-fermenting beers)
Lagers are defined by fermentation with bottom-fermenting yeast at cooler temperatures, which typically results in cleaner, crisper beers with smooth drinkability. Notable examples include: - Pilsner – a pale, highly hopped lager with a bright, dry finish. - Helles – a Munich-origin pale lager that leans malt-forward with subtle bitterness. - Märzen – an amber-to-orange lager traditionally brewed for autumn festivals. - Vienna lager – a coppery malt-forward lager with balanced malt sweetness and hops. - Dortmunder Export – a pale amber lager with a clean profile and moderate hops. - Bock – a stronger, fuller-bodied lager with malty sweetness. - Schwarzbier – a dark lager with roasted malt flavors and surprisingly light body for its color. Lager styles are widely produced in many regions, and brewers may experiment with hybrid methods or adjuncts while staying within the lager family.
Ales (top-fermenting beers)
Ales use top-fermenting yeast at warmer temperatures, which often yields fruitier esters and a broader range of flavor profiles. Common examples include: - Pale ale – balanced in malt and hops, typically amber to light copper in color. - IPA (India Pale Ale) – hop-forward with a broad spectrum of sub-styles: - West Coast IPA – assertive bitterness and clear hop aroma. - New England IPA – hazy appearance with softer bitterness and juicy hop character. - Other variations include Double IPA and Session beer. - Porter – a dark, roasted-malt beer with chocolate or coffee-like notes; historically strong but today available in many strengths. - Stout – a roasted, often very dark beer; sub-styles include Dry stout, Oatmeal stout, and Imperial stout. - Brown ale – malt-forward with caramel and nutty notes. - Belgian Ale styles (see Belgian subsection) are often categorized separately, but many breweries group them with ales for practical purposes. - Saison – a farmhouse ale from Belgium with spicy, fruity, and sometimes peppery notes; traditionally fermented with variable yeast profiles.
Wheat and other light-style beers
These beers emphasize wheat or light grains and often feature refreshing, aromatic character: - Weissbier (often marketed as Hefeweizen in Germany) – pale, cloudy wheat beer with banana-clove flavors from yeast. - Kristallweizen – a filtered variant of wheat beer with a crisper mouthfeel. - Witbier – a Belgian-style pale wheat beer spiced with orange peel and coriander. - Gose – a sour, often saline wheat beer with a distinctive tart character.
Sours and wild ales
Sours and wild-fermented beers embrace lactic bacteria or naturally occurring yeasts to produce tart, fruity, and funky flavors: - Lambic – spontaneous fermentation from the Pajottenland region near Brussels; often aged in barrels. - Gueuze – a blend of young and old Lambics, creating a complex, sparkling sour. - Kriek – Lambic beer aged with sour cherries. - Framboise – Lambic beer aged with raspberries. - Berliner Weisse – a highly tart, pale wheat beer sometimes served with flavored syrups. - Flanders red ale – a sour, wood-aged beer with deep fruit and tannic notes. - Gose – also listed here for its sour profile and lactic acidity.
Strong and specialized styles
Certain styles are defined by higher alcohol content, more intense roasts, or unique aging regimes: - Barley wine – very high gravity, often 10–15% ABV, with rich malt complexity. - Imperial stout / Russian imperial stout – very strong, intensely roasted, with high hop presence in some versions. - Oud Bruin – a Dutch-style old brown ale, typically dark and barrel-like with sour notes. - Tripel and Dubbel (Belgian strong ales) – Belgian-inspired top-fermenting styles with distinctive yeast character and sweetness or dryness depending on the variant. - Quadrupel – a stronger Belgian strong ale, rich, dark, and complex.
Regional and historical styles
Styles also reflect regional traditions and historical developments in brewing: - British ales such as English Pale Ale, India Pale Ale (early origin in Britain), Bitter, and Mild showcase diverse flavor profiles from hop-forward to sessionable. - German and Austrian styles include many classic lagers and wheat beers, as well as festival-focused offerings like Oktoberfestbier (a Märzen-related lager). - Belgian beer culture features a rich tapestry of yeasty, fruity, spicy, and strong ales across Dubbel, Tripel, and Quadrupel lineages, among others. - American craft beer has popularized many modern styles and sub-styles, including a broad spectrum of IPA variants, American pale ale, and various barrel-aged and sour beer programs.
How styles are used in practice
Brewers and pubs often label beers by style to communicate expected flavor profiles and serving suggestions. Tasting notes frequently reference malt sweetness, hop bitterness and aroma, yeast-derived esters, mouthfeel, color, and fermentation character. While style guidelines—like those from the BJCP—provide useful benchmarks, many modern beers exist at the boundaries between styles or deliberately blend elements from multiple traditions. This cross-pollination is a hallmark of the contemporary beer landscape, with breweries exploring hybrid approaches such as California common (a hybrid lager-yeast approach) or fruit-forward Saison-inspired beers.
In addition to traditional categories, many breweries publish seasonal or experimental lines—often labeled by shorthand or marketing terms—that push beyond established styles. These releases may involve unusual ingredients, aging in different vessels, or modern interpretations of vintage forms.