List of beer styles


Beer style is a term used to differentiate and categorize beers by various factors, including appearance, flavour, ingredients, production method, history, or origin. The term beer style and the structuring of world beers into defined categories is largely based on work done by writer Michael James Jackson in his 1977 book The World Guide To Beer. Fred Eckhardt furthered Jackson's work, publishing The Essentials of Beer Style in 1989.
There is no universally agreed list of beer styles, as different countries and organisations have different sets of criteria. Organisers of beer competitions such as the Campaign for Real Ale's Champion Beer of Britain, the Beer Judge Certification Program local homebrewing competitions, the Brewers Association's World Beer Cup, and the Brewing Industry International Awards have categories in which beers are judged. The categories are varied and include processes or ingredients not usually regarded as defining beer styles in themselves, such as "Cask Conditioned Ale" for the Brewing Industry International Awards, "Gluten Free Beer" for the World Beer Cup, and "Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer" for the BJCP homebrewing competitions.
Beer terms such as ale or lager cover a wide variety of beer styles, and are better thought of as broad categories of beer styles. A number of ethnic beers, such as chhaang and cauim, are generally not included on beer style groupings.

Classic Styles

Hybrid and Specialty Styles

Types

An alternative approach is to categorize beers by the country or region from which they originated. Both the Brewers Association and the Beer Judge Certification Program group their beer styles in this way. Beers that originated in a particular country or region may now be produced in other countries, e.g. British style ales are now brewed in North America.
Country or RegionBrewers AssociationBJCP
Great BritainBritish Origin Ale StylesBritish Bitter
Brown British Beer
Scottish Ale
Dark British Beer
Strong British Ale
IrelandIrish Origin Ale StylesIrish Beer
North AmericaNorth American Origin Ale Styles
North American Origin Lager Styles		Standard American Beer
Pale American Ale
Amber and Brown American Ale
American Porter and Stout
Strong American Ale
American Wild Ale
BelgiumBelgian and French Origin Ale StylesBelgian Ale
Strong Belgian Ale
Czech RepublicCzech Lager
FranceBelgian and French Origin Ale Styles
GermanyGerman Origin Ale Styles
European-Germanic Origin Lager Styles		German Wheat Beer
EuropePale Malty European Lager
Pale Bitter European Lager
Amber Malty European Lager
Amber Bitter European Lager
Dark European Lager
Strong European Beer
European Sour Ale
OtherOther Origin Ale Styles
Other Origin Lager Styles		International Lager
Pale Commonwealth Beer

Other fermented drinks based on cereals

A number of ethnic beers or other fermented drinks based on cereals are generally not included on beer style groupings. They are included here for completeness.