American IPAs
Characterized by floral, fruity, citrus-like, piney or resinous American-variety hop character, the IPA beer style is all about hop flavor, aroma and bitterness. This has been the most-entered category at the Great American Beer Festival for more than a decade.
Belgian Beers
Belgian brewers often supplement the balance of malt sweetness and hop bitterness you find in every beer with fruity, spicy, floral and herbal aromas. Some Belgian beers are like running through a hayfield at harvest and others explode with a whole orchard of fruit flavours.
Blond Ales
One of the most approachable styles, a golden or blonde ale is an easy-drinking beer that is visually appealing and has no particularly dominating malt or hop characteristics. ... Sometimes referred to as “golden ale.”
Session Ales
Session beer is not defined by flavors or aromas, which can place it in almost any style category. Instead, what makes a session beer is primarily refreshment and drinkability. Any style of beer can be made lower in strength than described in the classic style guidelines.
New England IPA
Emphasizing hop aroma and flavor without bracing bitterness, the New England IPA leans heavily on late and dry hopping techniques to deliver a bursting juicy, tropical hop experience. The skillful balance of technique and ingredient selection, often including the addition of wheat or oats, lends an alluring haze to this popular take on the American IPA.
Stouts
Stout is a dark, top-fermented beer with a number of variations, including dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout, and imperial stout. The first known use of the word stout for beer, in a document dated 1677 found in the Egerton Manuscripts, referred to its strength. The name porter was first used in 1721 to describe a dark brown beer that had been made with roasted malts.
Rye IPA
In darker versions, malt flavor can optionally include low roasted malt characters (evident as cocoa/chocolate or caramel) and/or aromatic toffeelike, caramel, or biscuit-like characters. Low-level roasted malt astringency is acceptable when balanced with low to medium malt sweetness. Hop flavor is low to medium-high. Hop bitterness is low to medium.
Lagers
Lager is beer which has been brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely
consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "lager" comes from the German for "storage", as the beer was stored before drinking -
traditionally in cool caves.
Pilsners
Pilsner is a pale lager with a crisp, refreshing taste that's lightly hopped. It was originally brewed in the town of Pilsen (Plzeň) in what is now the Czech Republic. The brewery that would become known as Pilsner Urquell created the beer in 1842, and it was an immediate success. It did not take long for brewers throughout Bohemia to adopt the style. Today, the bottom-fermented beer with lightly kilned malted barley and moderate alcohol is easily the most popular style of beer in the world.
Wheat Beer
Wheat beer is a category of beer originating in Bavaria. It is typically a top-fermented ale, uses at least 30 percent wheat in the brewing process, and comes in a variety of styles. The most widely known wheat beer is hefeweizen, a refreshing style from Germany that's popular around the world. Wheat beers are typically light in color, low to medium in alcohol content, and can be cloudy or clear in appearance. They may be brewed with or without hops, depending on the variety, and tend to lack bitterness.
Sours
Low in alcohol, refreshingly tart, and often served with a flavored syrup like Woodruff or raspberry. These beers are very pale in color, and may be cloudy as they are often unfiltered. Hops are not a feature of this style, but these beers often do showcase esters. Bitterness, alcohol and residual sugar are very low, allowing the beer’s acidity, white bread and graham cracker malt flavors to shine. Carbonation is very high, adding to the refreshment factor this style delivers.