Section 4 – Recipes, Experimenting, and Troubleshooting
Chapter 20 - Some of My Favorite Recipes
Style Descriptions
There are so many styles of beer, it’s hard to know where to begin. There is a lot more to a style than just whether it’s light or dark. Each beer style has a characteristic taste, imparted by either the yeast, the malts, the hops, the water, or all four. A style is best defined by naming all the ingredients, and the fermentation particulars. Change any one item, and you have probably hopped into another style category (no pun intended). Each country, each geographic region, even each town can have its own style of beer. In fact, you may be starting to realize by now that many beer styles originate from local brewing conditions. Access to ingredients, the local water profile, the climate—all of these elements combine to dictate the character of the best beer that the brewer can produce. To a certain extent, your success and satisfaction as a homebrewer is going to depend on understanding what style(s) your local conditions will allow you to produce best.
The place to start when defining a style is the yeast. Is it an ale or a lager strain that is used? What is the temperature profile of the fermentation?
The next important aspect is the malt. Each of the malts and grains listed in Chapter 12 has a unique taste that it contributes to the beer. As an example, Irish-style stouts are defined in part by the flavor of roasted unmalted barley.
The hop variety plays a part, too. The difference between English pale ale and American pale ale is predominantly due to the differences in flavor between English and American hops. Even the same variety of hop grown in different regions will have a different character. Fuggles grown in the United States has an American character as compared to the original British variety.
Both ales and lagers are brewed in a wide variety of styles, from strong and rich (barley wine and doppelbock) to crisp and hoppy (India pale ale and Pilsener). The main difference between the two comes from the type of yeast used and the fermentation process. Ales are fermented at room temperature and typically have a noticeable amount of fruity-smelling esters due to this warm fermentation. The fruitiness can be subdued, as in a dry stout, or dominating, as in a barley wine.Lagers, on the other hand, lack any fruity character and may be crisp and hoppy, like a Pilsener, or sweet and malty, like a doppelbock. Both ales and lagers are malty, but this character can vary from a minimal light toast/biscuit note to a thick and chewy symphony. Figure 119 visually illustrates the similarities and differences between beer styles based on the ratio of the hop bitterness to the original gravity.
Coming up with a common set of descriptors for beer styles is more difficult than it sounds since there are so many styles to compare, each with a different character. One way to do it is to describe ranges for physical attributes like original and final gravity, IBUs, and color, but this is really only half the story. To try and give you the other half, I illustrate each description with a commercial example and a baseline recipe. In each recipe, I identify the appropriate malt extracts and specialty grains, hop varieties, yeast strain, and fermentation conditions. I have grouped the styles by ale and lager according to the yeast, and sorted them on the basis of color and body to progress from lighter beers to heavier.
For each of the styles presented, I have listed the style/substyle guidelines from the Beer Judge Certification Program, a national organization that seeks to advance the appreciation of beer through common standards of evaluation and the education of its member judges (www.bjcp.org). Included in these style guidelines is the color range for the beer in °SRM. The unit is taken from the acronym for the Standard Reference Method used by the American Society of Brewing Chemists (ASBC). SRM units are equivalent to the older Lovibond units when comparing beer color. A discussion of how to use color in recipe design and calculations for estimating beer color are in Appendix B.
The place to start when defining a style is the yeast. Is it an ale or a lager strain that is used? What is the temperature profile of the fermentation?
The next important aspect is the malt. Each of the malts and grains listed in Chapter 12 has a unique taste that it contributes to the beer. As an example, Irish-style stouts are defined in part by the flavor of roasted unmalted barley.
The hop variety plays a part, too. The difference between English pale ale and American pale ale is predominantly due to the differences in flavor between English and American hops. Even the same variety of hop grown in different regions will have a different character. Fuggles grown in the United States has an American character as compared to the original British variety.
Both ales and lagers are brewed in a wide variety of styles, from strong and rich (barley wine and doppelbock) to crisp and hoppy (India pale ale and Pilsener). The main difference between the two comes from the type of yeast used and the fermentation process. Ales are fermented at room temperature and typically have a noticeable amount of fruity-smelling esters due to this warm fermentation. The fruitiness can be subdued, as in a dry stout, or dominating, as in a barley wine.Lagers, on the other hand, lack any fruity character and may be crisp and hoppy, like a Pilsener, or sweet and malty, like a doppelbock. Both ales and lagers are malty, but this character can vary from a minimal light toast/biscuit note to a thick and chewy symphony. Figure 119 visually illustrates the similarities and differences between beer styles based on the ratio of the hop bitterness to the original gravity.
Coming up with a common set of descriptors for beer styles is more difficult than it sounds since there are so many styles to compare, each with a different character. One way to do it is to describe ranges for physical attributes like original and final gravity, IBUs, and color, but this is really only half the story. To try and give you the other half, I illustrate each description with a commercial example and a baseline recipe. In each recipe, I identify the appropriate malt extracts and specialty grains, hop varieties, yeast strain, and fermentation conditions. I have grouped the styles by ale and lager according to the yeast, and sorted them on the basis of color and body to progress from lighter beers to heavier.
For each of the styles presented, I have listed the style/substyle guidelines from the Beer Judge Certification Program, a national organization that seeks to advance the appreciation of beer through common standards of evaluation and the education of its member judges (www.bjcp.org). Included in these style guidelines is the color range for the beer in °SRM. The unit is taken from the acronym for the Standard Reference Method used by the American Society of Brewing Chemists (ASBC). SRM units are equivalent to the older Lovibond units when comparing beer color. A discussion of how to use color in recipe design and calculations for estimating beer color are in Appendix B.
Notes on Recipes
Author’s Note 2025: Wow. These recipes are more than 20 years old and were written before Jamil Zainasheff and I worked on Brewing Classic Styles, so I didn’t have the benefit of his input. I remember Randy Mosher commenting that they rely a little heavily on caramel malts, but that’s what I had at hand at the time. There are many, many more specialty malts available these days, and I would encourage you to pick up a copy of Brewing Classic Styles or some of the other fine recipe books out there. Please understand that there is no single perfect recipe for a style, each of us will have our own preference. Recipes are a dime a dozen or perhaps even a penny a dozen, but these were my recipes, and I liked them. And still do. But maybe with a half pound of added Munich malt for a little more character in some cases…
The recipes in this chapter are presented in two or three versions depending on the brewing method: extract, extract with steeped grain, and all-grain brewing. The character of each version of a recipe is intended to be same, or nearly the same, but sometimes the defining ingredients do not work in another brewing method. Nonenzymatic kilned malts really don’t work for steeping with extract; they require a mini-mash to convert their starches to fermentable sugars.
Boil gravity. The recipes in this chapter are built around two brewing methods: a) malt extract-based or extract-assisted brewing using a 3-gallon boil in a 5-gallon pot, or b) all-grain brewing using a full wort boil in an 8-gallon pot.
Extract-based recipes. All extract-based recipe calculations for the OG and the gravity of the boil (BG) assume the use of a 3-gallon partial boil for a 5-gallon batch. The basic procedure is to boil the hop additions with about half of the malt extract to create a normal gravity (1.040 to 1.050), 3-gallon boil. The rest of the malt extract is added afterwards (at knockout) when the heat is turned off, and the wort is allowed to pasteurize for 10 minutes before cooling.
Extract and steeping grain. The majority of the recipes present the extract and specialty grain version first, because this method offers the most flexibility and provides the greatest insight into the beer style for the beginning brewer. Steep the specialty grain in the boiling pot first, and then add your first extract addition and boil your hops. See Chapter 13 for a full discussion of the procedure.
If you do not have access to a particular specialty grain, you may be able to substitute an equivalent amount of an extract that contains that grain, although the results will not be identical. For example: amber malt extract instead of pale extract with crystal 60 malt, or dark malt extract instead of pale extract with chocolate malt.
All-grain. All-grain versions for the recipes assume an extract efficiency of 75% (see Table 24 in Chapter 18) and 6 gallons of wort being collected and boiled to produce the same 5-gallon batch. Depending on your equipment and brewing efficiency, you may want to adjust the recipe amounts to compensate.
Hop schedules. The hop utilization factor is a function of the boil gravity. I have attempted to keep the hop schedules the same across each version of a recipe by manipulating the quantity and form of malt extract (dry/liquid) so that the gravity of the boil is the same (within a couple points) whether you are using the 3-gallon boil (extract-based) or the 6-gallon boil (all-grain). I wanted to avoid confusion over the hop quantities for each recipe. However, you may want to verify the gravity of your boil, depending on the specific size of your pot, and recalculate the hop utilization factor accordingly. See the IBU nomographs in Chapter 5 for help in recalculating your hop quantities.
Batch size. In addition, it would probably be more realistic to formulate the recipes for an actual batch size of 5.5 gallons to account for wort lost to the trub and hops. Plus, you may need to collect more wort (e.g., 7 gallons) in order to have 5 gallons of beer at bottling time, depending on your extract efficiency and the vigor of your boil, etc. But those considerations depend on your own methods and equipment, so I have chosen to teach you how to do these calculations yourself, and give you easy numbers to work with. Onward!
The recipes in this chapter are presented in two or three versions depending on the brewing method: extract, extract with steeped grain, and all-grain brewing. The character of each version of a recipe is intended to be same, or nearly the same, but sometimes the defining ingredients do not work in another brewing method. Nonenzymatic kilned malts really don’t work for steeping with extract; they require a mini-mash to convert their starches to fermentable sugars.
Boil gravity. The recipes in this chapter are built around two brewing methods: a) malt extract-based or extract-assisted brewing using a 3-gallon boil in a 5-gallon pot, or b) all-grain brewing using a full wort boil in an 8-gallon pot.
Extract-based recipes. All extract-based recipe calculations for the OG and the gravity of the boil (BG) assume the use of a 3-gallon partial boil for a 5-gallon batch. The basic procedure is to boil the hop additions with about half of the malt extract to create a normal gravity (1.040 to 1.050), 3-gallon boil. The rest of the malt extract is added afterwards (at knockout) when the heat is turned off, and the wort is allowed to pasteurize for 10 minutes before cooling.
Extract and steeping grain. The majority of the recipes present the extract and specialty grain version first, because this method offers the most flexibility and provides the greatest insight into the beer style for the beginning brewer. Steep the specialty grain in the boiling pot first, and then add your first extract addition and boil your hops. See Chapter 13 for a full discussion of the procedure.
If you do not have access to a particular specialty grain, you may be able to substitute an equivalent amount of an extract that contains that grain, although the results will not be identical. For example: amber malt extract instead of pale extract with crystal 60 malt, or dark malt extract instead of pale extract with chocolate malt.
All-grain. All-grain versions for the recipes assume an extract efficiency of 75% (see Table 24 in Chapter 18) and 6 gallons of wort being collected and boiled to produce the same 5-gallon batch. Depending on your equipment and brewing efficiency, you may want to adjust the recipe amounts to compensate.
Hop schedules. The hop utilization factor is a function of the boil gravity. I have attempted to keep the hop schedules the same across each version of a recipe by manipulating the quantity and form of malt extract (dry/liquid) so that the gravity of the boil is the same (within a couple points) whether you are using the 3-gallon boil (extract-based) or the 6-gallon boil (all-grain). I wanted to avoid confusion over the hop quantities for each recipe. However, you may want to verify the gravity of your boil, depending on the specific size of your pot, and recalculate the hop utilization factor accordingly. See the IBU nomographs in Chapter 5 for help in recalculating your hop quantities.
Batch size. In addition, it would probably be more realistic to formulate the recipes for an actual batch size of 5.5 gallons to account for wort lost to the trub and hops. Plus, you may need to collect more wort (e.g., 7 gallons) in order to have 5 gallons of beer at bottling time, depending on your extract efficiency and the vigor of your boil, etc. But those considerations depend on your own methods and equipment, so I have chosen to teach you how to do these calculations yourself, and give you easy numbers to work with. Onward!
The Ale Styles
Authors Note 2025: Beer styles and their definitions are not my first love. My first love is brewing chemistry and physics. That being said, I do appreciate the history of styles and always try to be accurate with everything I say, but several parts of what I have written describing styles here in this chapter reflects the popular lore of the early 2000’s and is not considered wholly accurate today. The same goes for lagers as well as ales. Mea Culpa.
The style descriptions are below on the left, and the actual recipes are along the right. If you are reading this on a tablet or your phone, then all of the recipe images will appear at the end and you will have to scroll a lot. I have included a link in each section which will download the recipe image file.
Wheat
You may not realize it, but wheat beer was one of the most popular styles in America a century ago. Wheat was abundant, and after a hot, hard day working in the fields, a light, tart wheat beer is very refreshing. The most popular style of wheat beer at the time was patterned after the acidic Berliner weisse beers of Germany. Berliner weisse is brewed using three parts wheat malt to one part barley malt and fermented with a combination of ale yeast and lactic acid bacteria. After fermentation, it is dosed with a substantial quantity of young, fermenting beer (kraeusened) and bottled. American weissbier used similar yeast cultures, but the common practice was to use unmalted wheat in the form of grits; and only about 30% of the grist was wheat. The excess of proteins in wheat causes most wheat beers to be hazy, if not downright cloudy. Hefeweizens go a step further, with the beer being cloudy with suspended yeast. The thought of drinking that much yeast is appalling in a pale ale, but it really works with hefeweizens; they are quite tasty. Hefeweizen is not tart like Berliner weisse, because it is not fermented with lactic acid cultures.
Wheat beer became extinct with Prohibition in the United States, and has only been revived in the last few decades. Today’s American wheat beer is loosely modeled after weizen but is made with malted wheat and a standard, flocculent ale yeast and not the specialized German weizenbier yeasts with their spicy, clove-like character. The noble-type hops are most appropriate for the light body and spicy character of wheats. Wheat beers are usually light, but dunkel (dark), bock (strong), and dunkel weizenbock are common variations. Spices are often used with wheat beers; Belgian-style wit uses coriander and dried Curaçao orange peel to produce a truly unique beer.
Wheat Beer BJCP Style GuidelinesSubstyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorAmerican Wheat 1.040-55 10-13.5 1.008-13 10-30 3-6Bavarian Weizen 1.044-52 11-13 1.010-14 8-15 2-8Bavarian Dunkelweizen 1.044-56 11-14 1.010-14 10-18 14-23Berliner Weisse 1.026-36 6.5-9 1.006-09 3-8 2-4Weizenbock 1.064-80+ 16-19+ 1.015-22 15-30 12-25Belgian Wit 1.044-52 11-13 1.008-12 10-20 2-4
Commercial ExamplesAmerican Wheat Sierra Nevada WheatBavarian Weizen Ayinger, ErdingerBerliner Weisse Schultheiss Berliner WeisseBelgian Wit Celis White Three Weiss Guys Recipe
Wheat beer became extinct with Prohibition in the United States, and has only been revived in the last few decades. Today’s American wheat beer is loosely modeled after weizen but is made with malted wheat and a standard, flocculent ale yeast and not the specialized German weizenbier yeasts with their spicy, clove-like character. The noble-type hops are most appropriate for the light body and spicy character of wheats. Wheat beers are usually light, but dunkel (dark), bock (strong), and dunkel weizenbock are common variations. Spices are often used with wheat beers; Belgian-style wit uses coriander and dried Curaçao orange peel to produce a truly unique beer.
Wheat Beer BJCP Style GuidelinesSubstyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorAmerican Wheat 1.040-55 10-13.5 1.008-13 10-30 3-6Bavarian Weizen 1.044-52 11-13 1.010-14 8-15 2-8Bavarian Dunkelweizen 1.044-56 11-14 1.010-14 10-18 14-23Berliner Weisse 1.026-36 6.5-9 1.006-09 3-8 2-4Weizenbock 1.064-80+ 16-19+ 1.015-22 15-30 12-25Belgian Wit 1.044-52 11-13 1.008-12 10-20 2-4
Commercial ExamplesAmerican Wheat Sierra Nevada WheatBavarian Weizen Ayinger, ErdingerBerliner Weisse Schultheiss Berliner WeisseBelgian Wit Celis White Three Weiss Guys Recipe
Pale Ales
There is a lot of variety in the pale ale family. Pale is a relative term and originally meant “pale as compared to stout.” Pale ales can range from golden to deep amber, depending on the amount of crystal malts used. Crystal malts are the defining ingredient in the malt character of a pale ale, giving it a honeylike or caramel-like sweetness. The top-fermenting ale yeast and warm fermentation temperature give pale ales a subtle fruitiness. Pale ales are best served cool, about 55° F, to allow the fruit and caramel notes to emerge.
There are several varieties of pale ale—nearly every country has their own version—which is more than I will attempt to cover here. I will provide a description and recipe for my three favorite types: English, India, and American.
There are several varieties of pale ale—nearly every country has their own version—which is more than I will attempt to cover here. I will provide a description and recipe for my three favorite types: English, India, and American.
English Special Bitter
There are several substyles of British pale ale. These include the bitter, special bitter, and India pale ale. These beers usually have what is considered a low level of carbonation. Megabrew drinkers in the United States would probably describe them as flat. The beer is brewed to a low final gravity, yielding a dry finish with only a low level of residual sweetness that does not mask the hop finish.
In particular, English special bitter is a marvelous beer. The soft English hops, like East Kent Goldings, don’t overpower the warm malt flavors and fruity overtones, but the hop bitterness is a distinguishing characteristic of the flavor and lingers in the finish. Bitters and special bitters often include corn (maize) to lighten the body and produce a more attenuable beer.
British Pale Ale BJCP Style GuidelinesSubstyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorOrdinary Bitter 1.032-40 8-10 1.007-11 25-35 4-14Special Bitter 1.040-48 10-12 1.008-12 20-40 5-16Burton Ale 1.048-60+ 12-15+ 1.010-16 30-50+ 6-18
Commercial ExamplesOrdinary Bitter Fuller’s Chiswick BitterSpecial Bitter Young’s Special BitterBurton Ale Bass Worthington White Shield Lord Crouchback Special Bitter Recipe
In particular, English special bitter is a marvelous beer. The soft English hops, like East Kent Goldings, don’t overpower the warm malt flavors and fruity overtones, but the hop bitterness is a distinguishing characteristic of the flavor and lingers in the finish. Bitters and special bitters often include corn (maize) to lighten the body and produce a more attenuable beer.
British Pale Ale BJCP Style GuidelinesSubstyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorOrdinary Bitter 1.032-40 8-10 1.007-11 25-35 4-14Special Bitter 1.040-48 10-12 1.008-12 20-40 5-16Burton Ale 1.048-60+ 12-15+ 1.010-16 30-50+ 6-18
Commercial ExamplesOrdinary Bitter Fuller’s Chiswick BitterSpecial Bitter Young’s Special BitterBurton Ale Bass Worthington White Shield Lord Crouchback Special Bitter Recipe
(English) India Pale Ale
This ale was originally just a stronger version of the Burton pale ale, which was a high-sulfate brewing water ESB. According to popular mythos, the IPA style arose from the months-long sea journey to India, during which the beer conditioned with hops in the barrel. Extra hops were added to help prevent spoilage during the long voyage. This conditioning time mellowed the hop bitterness to a degree and imparted a wealth of hop aroma to the beer. Homebrewed IPA should also be given a long conditioning time, either in the bottle or in a secondary fermentor. If a secondary fermentor is used, the beer should be dry-hopped with a half-ounce of British aroma hops like East Kent Goldings. Conditioning time should be 3 to 5 weeks, depending on OG and IBU levels (stronger = longer). It is also worth noting that there are English and American versions of IPA, dictated by the hop varieties you use. I prefer the softer English hop varieties for this amount of hoppiness.
India Pale Ale Style GuidelinesSubstyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorEnglish IPA 1.050-75 12.5-18 1.010-18 40-60 8-14American IPA 1.056-75 13.5-18 1.010-18 40-60+ 6-15Imperial IPA 1.075-90+ 18-22+ 1.012-18 60-100+ 8-15
Commercial ExamplesIndia Pale Ale Anchor Liberty Ale, Victory Hop Devil Victory and Chaos IPA Recipe
India Pale Ale Style GuidelinesSubstyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorEnglish IPA 1.050-75 12.5-18 1.010-18 40-60 8-14American IPA 1.056-75 13.5-18 1.010-18 40-60+ 6-15Imperial IPA 1.075-90+ 18-22+ 1.012-18 60-100+ 8-15
Commercial ExamplesIndia Pale Ale Anchor Liberty Ale, Victory Hop Devil Victory and Chaos IPA Recipe
American Pale Ale
American pale ale is an adaptation of classic British pale ale. The American ale yeast strain produces fewer esters than comparable British ale yeasts, thus, American pale ale has a less fruity taste than its British counterpart. American pale ales vary in color from gold to dark amber and typically have a hint of sweet caramel from the use of crystal malt that does not mask the crisp hop finish. With the resurgence of interest in ales in the United States, American pale ale evolved from a renewed interest in American hop varieties and a higher level of bitterness, as microbreweries experimented with traditional styles. The Cascade hop has become a staple of American microbrewing and is the signature hop for American pale ales. It has a distinctive citrusy aroma, as compared to European hops, and has enabled American pale ale to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other classic beer styles.
American Pale Ale BJCP Style GuidelinesStyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorAmerican Pale Ale 1.045-60 11-15 1.010-15 30-45+ 5-14
Commercial ExampleAmerican Pale Ale Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Lady Liberty Ale—American Pale Ale
American Pale Ale BJCP Style GuidelinesStyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorAmerican Pale Ale 1.045-60 11-15 1.010-15 30-45+ 5-14
Commercial ExampleAmerican Pale Ale Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Lady Liberty Ale—American Pale Ale
American Amber Ale
Part of the American ale style spectrum that proceeds from pale to amber to brown to porter, amber ales bridge pale and brown ales by adding body and sweetness, and shifting the beer’s balance away from the hops to the malt. Amber ales are sweeter than brown ales but will have more hop flavor and aroma dancing on top than a brown. Amber ales have become one of my favorite beers. I like the balance of these beers—they are very hearty and satisfying. This is my clone of Red Nectar Ale.
American Ale BJCP Style GuidelinesStyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorAmerican Amber Ale 1.045-60 11-15 1.010-15 25-40+ 10-17
Commercial ExamplesAmerican Amber Ale Nectar Ales Red Nectar, Anderson Valley Boont Amber
Big Basin Amber Ale—American Amber Ale
American Ale BJCP Style GuidelinesStyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorAmerican Amber Ale 1.045-60 11-15 1.010-15 25-40+ 10-17
Commercial ExamplesAmerican Amber Ale Nectar Ales Red Nectar, Anderson Valley Boont Amber
Big Basin Amber Ale—American Amber Ale
American Brown Ale
There are several kinds of brown ale—mild, sweet, nutty, and hoppy. Low-gravity, low-bitterness brown ales are called milds. The sweet Southern brown ales of England are made with a lot of crystal malt and a low hopping rate. The Northern brown ales, also of England, are made with toasted (amber) malts (e.g., biscuit or victory) plus a small percentage of crystal malt and a low hopping rate. The hoppy brown ales, which can be nutty also, arose from the U.S. homebrew scene when hop-crazy homebrewers decided that most brown ales were just too wimpy. But American brown ales should not be brown IPAs! They should be malt-dominated beers with a toasted malt character, and the hops should be riding the crest of the wave of the beer’s flavor. The hops should not be a tsunami.
Brown ales as a class have grown to bridge the gap between pale ales and porters. I will present a basic American brown ale and include a nutty option. Contrary to popular myth, there are no nuts or nut extracts in classic brown ales; toasted malts give the beer a nutlike flavor and nut brown color. You can add some home-toasted base malt, victory malt, or biscuit malt to the recipe to give the beer a more nutty character. For the best results, this malt addition should be mashed with at least an equal amount of base malt. See Chapter 21 for a description of how to make your own toasted malt at home.
Brown Ale BJCP Style GuidelinesSubstyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorMild 1.030-38 7.5-9.5 1.008-13 10-25 12-25Northern Brown Ale 1.040-52 10-13 1.008-13 20-30 12-22Southern Brown Ale 1.035-42 9-10.5 1.011-14 12-20 19-35American Brown Ale 1.045-60 11.5-15 1.010-16 20-40 18-35
Commercial ExamplesMild Highgate Mild (U.K.)Northern Brown Ale Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown AleSouthern Brown Ale Mann’s Brown AleAmerican Brown Ale Pete’s Wicked Ale, Lost Coast Downtown Brown
Oak Butt Brown Ale
Brown ales as a class have grown to bridge the gap between pale ales and porters. I will present a basic American brown ale and include a nutty option. Contrary to popular myth, there are no nuts or nut extracts in classic brown ales; toasted malts give the beer a nutlike flavor and nut brown color. You can add some home-toasted base malt, victory malt, or biscuit malt to the recipe to give the beer a more nutty character. For the best results, this malt addition should be mashed with at least an equal amount of base malt. See Chapter 21 for a description of how to make your own toasted malt at home.
Brown Ale BJCP Style GuidelinesSubstyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorMild 1.030-38 7.5-9.5 1.008-13 10-25 12-25Northern Brown Ale 1.040-52 10-13 1.008-13 20-30 12-22Southern Brown Ale 1.035-42 9-10.5 1.011-14 12-20 19-35American Brown Ale 1.045-60 11.5-15 1.010-16 20-40 18-35
Commercial ExamplesMild Highgate Mild (U.K.)Northern Brown Ale Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown AleSouthern Brown Ale Mann’s Brown AleAmerican Brown Ale Pete’s Wicked Ale, Lost Coast Downtown Brown
Oak Butt Brown Ale
Porter
Porter is a dark ale with a very malty flavor and a bit of a roasted finish. A porter differs from a brown ale by being darker, stronger, more full-bodied, and having a roastier malt finish than a brown but not as much as a stout. Porters should be fairly well attenuated (dry), although sweet (“brown”) porters are popular, too. Compared to stout, a porter should be lighter in both body and color. When held up to the light, a porter should have a deep ruby-red glow.
Historically, porters preceded stouts and had a much different character than they do today. At first, they were a blend of two or three other standard beers of the time. Eventually, someone hit on the idea of making porter (or “entire,” as it was called) specifically. The first industrial beer was mass produced in swimming pool-sized wooden vats that harbored a yeast called Brettanomyces, which imparted a secondary fermentation characteristic commonly described as “horse sweat,” barnyard, or leatherlike. The other dominant note was from the use of highly kilned brown malt, which was used as the base malt. The beer was then aged for about six months before serving. The aging time was necessary for the rough flavors of the brown malt to mellow. What starts out as harshly bitter malt beer turns into a sweeter, smooth elixir as the tannins settle out. Brown malt porter is a very good beer if you are careful not to oxidize it during brewing and let it age for several months before drinking.
For porters and stouts, British and Irish yeast strains are good choices for more of the tart character that is part of these styles. Any of the dry yeasts, like Nottingham or Safale US-05, would also be good. The Port ’O Palmer recipe uses American ale yeast, since it is intended to mimic Sierra Nevada Porter.
Porter Style GuidelinesSubstyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorBrown Porter 1.040-52 10-13 1.008-14 18-35 20-30Robust Porter 1.048-65 14-16 1.012-16 25-50+ 22-35+Baltic Porter 1.060-90 15-21.5 1.016-24 20-40 17-30
Commercial ExamplesBrown Porter Yuengling PorterRobust Porter Sierra Nevada Porter Port O’ Palmer—Porter
Historically, porters preceded stouts and had a much different character than they do today. At first, they were a blend of two or three other standard beers of the time. Eventually, someone hit on the idea of making porter (or “entire,” as it was called) specifically. The first industrial beer was mass produced in swimming pool-sized wooden vats that harbored a yeast called Brettanomyces, which imparted a secondary fermentation characteristic commonly described as “horse sweat,” barnyard, or leatherlike. The other dominant note was from the use of highly kilned brown malt, which was used as the base malt. The beer was then aged for about six months before serving. The aging time was necessary for the rough flavors of the brown malt to mellow. What starts out as harshly bitter malt beer turns into a sweeter, smooth elixir as the tannins settle out. Brown malt porter is a very good beer if you are careful not to oxidize it during brewing and let it age for several months before drinking.
For porters and stouts, British and Irish yeast strains are good choices for more of the tart character that is part of these styles. Any of the dry yeasts, like Nottingham or Safale US-05, would also be good. The Port ’O Palmer recipe uses American ale yeast, since it is intended to mimic Sierra Nevada Porter.
Porter Style GuidelinesSubstyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorBrown Porter 1.040-52 10-13 1.008-14 18-35 20-30Robust Porter 1.048-65 14-16 1.012-16 25-50+ 22-35+Baltic Porter 1.060-90 15-21.5 1.016-24 20-40 17-30
Commercial ExamplesBrown Porter Yuengling PorterRobust Porter Sierra Nevada Porter Port O’ Palmer—Porter
Stout
Arguably one of the most popular styles among homebrewers, stouts vary a lot in flavor, degree of roastiness, and body. There are dry stouts, sweet stouts, export stouts, oatmeal stouts, coffee stouts, and more besides. The one defining characteristic of a stout is the use of highly roasted malts and/or unmalted roasted barley. The most popular, Guinness Extra Stout, is the defining example of Irish dry stout and uses only pale malt, unmalted roasted barley, and flaked barley; no crystal malt is used. English stouts tend to be of the sweet stout style and will include chocolate and crystal malts. Some English stouts do not use any black malt or roasted barley at all, getting their color from amber malt, dark crystal, and chocolate malt. Export stouts are brewed to a very high gravity, 1.075 to 1.100, with a huge complexity of flavors: sweet and tarry, fruity, and quite bitter. Oatmeal stout is my favorite, being a sweet stout with the smooth silkiness of oatmeal added in. Coffee stouts are another homebrew favorite. The taste of coffee perfectly complements the roasted character of a stout.
Stout Style GuidelinesSubstyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorDry Stout 1.036-50 9-12.5 1.007-11 30-45 25-40+Sweet Stout 1.042-56 10.5-13.5 1.010-23 25-40 30-40+Oatmeal Stout 1.048-65 12-16 1.010-18 25-40 22-40+Foreign Extra Stout 1.056-75 13.5-18 1.010-18 30-70 30-40+American Stout 1.050-75 12.5-18 1.010-22 35-75 30-40+Russian Imperial Stout 1.075-95+ 18-23+ 1.018-30+ 50-90+ 20-40
Commercial ExamplesDry Stout Guinness DraughtSweet Stout Mackeson StoutOatmeal Stout Anderson Valley Oatmeal StoutForeign Extra Stout Guinness Foreign Extra StoutRussian Imperial Stout John Smith Imperial Russian Stout
Mill Run Stout
Stout Style GuidelinesSubstyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorDry Stout 1.036-50 9-12.5 1.007-11 30-45 25-40+Sweet Stout 1.042-56 10.5-13.5 1.010-23 25-40 30-40+Oatmeal Stout 1.048-65 12-16 1.010-18 25-40 22-40+Foreign Extra Stout 1.056-75 13.5-18 1.010-18 30-70 30-40+American Stout 1.050-75 12.5-18 1.010-22 35-75 30-40+Russian Imperial Stout 1.075-95+ 18-23+ 1.018-30+ 50-90+ 20-40
Commercial ExamplesDry Stout Guinness DraughtSweet Stout Mackeson StoutOatmeal Stout Anderson Valley Oatmeal StoutForeign Extra Stout Guinness Foreign Extra StoutRussian Imperial Stout John Smith Imperial Russian Stout
Mill Run Stout
Barleywine
Barley wine is the drink of the gods—the intellectual ones, anyway. Few beverages can equal the complexity of flavors that a properly aged barley wine has: malt, fruit, spice, and warmth from the high level of alcohol (9 to 14%). Barley wine as a style has been around for several hundred years, but the name was coined by Bass in 1903. It was known as strong ale in medieval times and was probably brewed long before the introduction of hops. Recipes for barley wines vary greatly, but can be loosely organized into three categories. There are strong barley wines with more emphasis on the malt and sweetness than on the hop character. There are more balanced strong barley wines, which strive to keep the hop bitterness and flavor on equal footing with malt. Finally, there are the lightweights of the barley wine world, often the ones that are most available commercially in England, that make use of various brewing sugars to lighten the body while keeping the alcohol content high. The hop levels are usually balanced in these lighter barley wines.
Barley wines tend to require the use of malt extracts to help achieve the high gravities that are their hallmark. Barley wines usually consist primarily of pale and crystal malts to avoid masking the flavor with roasted malts. The color of barley wine ranges from deep gold to ruby red. Wheat and rye malts can be used for “accent,” counterbalancing the heavy maltiness of the barley. A barley wine is meant to be sipped in front of the fire on a cold winter’s night, providing the fuel for philosophical thoughts on science and the wonders of metallurgy.
Barley wines are consumed in small amounts, so it is best to use 12-ounce or smaller bottles. The amount of priming sugar should be reduced to 0.5 cup per 5 gallons, because the beer will continue to ferment for months in the bottle. The normal amount of priming sugar, plus this residual fermentation, would cause the bottles to overcarbonate.
My recipe is atypical in its high usage of wheat, but I had the Rubicon’s Winter Wheat Warmer in Sacramento. And yes, I read the books as a seventh-grader, long before the movie came out, and developed this recipe and the name in 1994. It seemed like a draught for the toughest orcs.
Barley Wine Style GuidelinesSubstyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorEnglish Barley Wine 1.080-120+ 19-28+ 1.018-30+ 35-70 8-22American Barley Wine 1.080-120+ 19-28+ 1.016-30+ 50-120+ 10-19
Commercial ExamplesEnglish Barley Wine Young’s Old NickAmerican Barley Wine Anchor’s Old Foghorn
Fightin’ Urak-Hai Barley Wine
Barley wines tend to require the use of malt extracts to help achieve the high gravities that are their hallmark. Barley wines usually consist primarily of pale and crystal malts to avoid masking the flavor with roasted malts. The color of barley wine ranges from deep gold to ruby red. Wheat and rye malts can be used for “accent,” counterbalancing the heavy maltiness of the barley. A barley wine is meant to be sipped in front of the fire on a cold winter’s night, providing the fuel for philosophical thoughts on science and the wonders of metallurgy.
Barley wines are consumed in small amounts, so it is best to use 12-ounce or smaller bottles. The amount of priming sugar should be reduced to 0.5 cup per 5 gallons, because the beer will continue to ferment for months in the bottle. The normal amount of priming sugar, plus this residual fermentation, would cause the bottles to overcarbonate.
My recipe is atypical in its high usage of wheat, but I had the Rubicon’s Winter Wheat Warmer in Sacramento. And yes, I read the books as a seventh-grader, long before the movie came out, and developed this recipe and the name in 1994. It seemed like a draught for the toughest orcs.
Barley Wine Style GuidelinesSubstyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorEnglish Barley Wine 1.080-120+ 19-28+ 1.018-30+ 35-70 8-22American Barley Wine 1.080-120+ 19-28+ 1.016-30+ 50-120+ 10-19
Commercial ExamplesEnglish Barley Wine Young’s Old NickAmerican Barley Wine Anchor’s Old Foghorn
Fightin’ Urak-Hai Barley Wine
The Lager Styles
Pilsener
Beer as the world knew it changed dramatically in 1842, when the brewery in the town of Pilsen (today part of the Czech Republic) produced the first light golden lager. Until that time, beers had been rather dark, varying from amber (“pale”), to deep brown or black. Today Pilsner Urquell is that same beer, “the Original of Pilsen.” The original Pilsener beer is a hoppy, dry beer of 1.045 OG. The Pilsener style is imitated more than any other, and interpretations run from the light flowery lagers of Germany to the maltier, more herbal versions of the Netherlands, to the increasingly tasteless varieties of light and dry from the United States and Japan. Most of these are broadly in the Pilsener style but lack the assertive noble hop bitterness and flavor of the original. Brewing a true Pilsener can be fairly difficult, especially from an all-grain point of view. Pilsen has very soft water, the next closest thing to distilled water, and the malt flavors are very clean and fresh. There is no place for an off-flavor to hide. The sole usage of lightly kilned lager malt makes maintaining a proper mash pH difficult for brewers using moderately alkaline water, especially during lautering. Water that is high in carbonates has too much buffering capacity for the meager amount of acidity provided by the malt. When brewing an all-grain Pilsener, it is best to use a large proportion of distilled or de-ionized water to provide the right mash conditions and prevent tannin astringency.
Authors Note 2025: In 2014, I had the great fortune to meet Dr. Ludwig Narziss of the Technical University of Munich at the World Brewing Congress Conference in Chicago. And I asked him how the Pilsen brewers achieved good mash chemistry with only pale malts and such low mineral water. He replied, “Oh, they used salts. Burtonization of brewing water was high technology at the time.” So, brewing salt additions of 50-100 ppm of calcium from calcium chloride are appropriate to the style.
Pilsener Style GuidelinesSubstyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorNorthern German Pilsener 1.044-50 11-12.5 1.008-13 25-45 2-4Bohemian Pilsener 1.044-56 11-14 1.013-17 35-45 3-6
Commercial ExamplesNorthern German Pilsener Bitburger PilsBohemian Pilsener Pilsner Urquell
Plzenske Pivo—Pilsener Lager
Authors Note 2025: In 2014, I had the great fortune to meet Dr. Ludwig Narziss of the Technical University of Munich at the World Brewing Congress Conference in Chicago. And I asked him how the Pilsen brewers achieved good mash chemistry with only pale malts and such low mineral water. He replied, “Oh, they used salts. Burtonization of brewing water was high technology at the time.” So, brewing salt additions of 50-100 ppm of calcium from calcium chloride are appropriate to the style.
Pilsener Style GuidelinesSubstyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorNorthern German Pilsener 1.044-50 11-12.5 1.008-13 25-45 2-4Bohemian Pilsener 1.044-56 11-14 1.013-17 35-45 3-6
Commercial ExamplesNorthern German Pilsener Bitburger PilsBohemian Pilsener Pilsner Urquell
Plzenske Pivo—Pilsener Lager
Classic American Pilsner
Around the turn of the previous century in the United States (1890-1910), the Pilsener style was very popular, but with a typically American difference. That difference was corn (maize). It’s only natural that in the largest corn-growing region in the world some would wind up in beer as a fermentable. In addition, 6-row barley was the most common variety available, but its higher protein levels made it difficult to brew with. Adding corn (with almost no protein) to the mash helped dilute the total protein levels and added some flavor complexity as well. Unfortunately, Prohibition and higher brewing costs afterward helped to increase the use of corn and rice in American Pilsener-style beers to the point of blandness.
Author’s Note 2025: Actually, the United States took an idea and ran with it. The brewing of pale lagers using adjuncts like corn, rice, and potatoes had arrived to the US with the Germans in the mid 1800s. The technology was well known in Europe, but it was not popular there, perhaps due to the higher price of imported corn and rice. Here in the US, corn and rice were more available, and while still more expensive than malted barley, the bright clear adjunct lagers were more popular than the heavier all-malt styles, and by 1890, they dominated the US beer market. If you get a chance, look for a copy of Dr. Greg Casey's amazing The Inspiring History and Legacies of American Lager Beer, published by the Master Brewers Association. It's the most fascinating history you will ever read.
The beer of our grandfathers was a delicious, malty, sweet beer with a balanced hoppiness. The brewing water should be low in sulfates. Today, there are only a few commercially produced examples today that adequately represent this beer that started the lager revolution in the United States. The strength of this beer was typically between 1.045 and 1.050 with a hopping of 25 to 40 IBUs. The style had become lighter by the time of Prohibition and afterwards tended to have an average gravity in the low 40s with a correspondingly lower hopping rate of 20 to 30 IBUs. This beer is best brewed with a mash using flaked maize or using the cereal mash method in Chapter 16 with corn grits. I have also successfully brewed this style using pale malt extract and brewer’s corn syrup, which has a high percentage of maltose (about 50%) and more closely mimics the sugar profile of barley wort. High- fructose corn syrup and refined corn sugar just don’t have the same corn character. Corn grits are not hominy grits like you see in the grocery store. Brewers’ corn grits most closely resembles cornmeal, although grocery store cornmeal is often vitamin- and mineral-fortified. Flaked corn (maize) and flaked rice in the mash are your best option for brewing this style.
Classic American Pilsener Style GuidelinesStyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorClassic American Pilsener 1.044-60 11-14.5 1.010-15 25-40 3-6
Your Father’s Mustache—Classic American Pilsener
Author’s Note 2025: Actually, the United States took an idea and ran with it. The brewing of pale lagers using adjuncts like corn, rice, and potatoes had arrived to the US with the Germans in the mid 1800s. The technology was well known in Europe, but it was not popular there, perhaps due to the higher price of imported corn and rice. Here in the US, corn and rice were more available, and while still more expensive than malted barley, the bright clear adjunct lagers were more popular than the heavier all-malt styles, and by 1890, they dominated the US beer market. If you get a chance, look for a copy of Dr. Greg Casey's amazing The Inspiring History and Legacies of American Lager Beer, published by the Master Brewers Association. It's the most fascinating history you will ever read.
The beer of our grandfathers was a delicious, malty, sweet beer with a balanced hoppiness. The brewing water should be low in sulfates. Today, there are only a few commercially produced examples today that adequately represent this beer that started the lager revolution in the United States. The strength of this beer was typically between 1.045 and 1.050 with a hopping of 25 to 40 IBUs. The style had become lighter by the time of Prohibition and afterwards tended to have an average gravity in the low 40s with a correspondingly lower hopping rate of 20 to 30 IBUs. This beer is best brewed with a mash using flaked maize or using the cereal mash method in Chapter 16 with corn grits. I have also successfully brewed this style using pale malt extract and brewer’s corn syrup, which has a high percentage of maltose (about 50%) and more closely mimics the sugar profile of barley wort. High- fructose corn syrup and refined corn sugar just don’t have the same corn character. Corn grits are not hominy grits like you see in the grocery store. Brewers’ corn grits most closely resembles cornmeal, although grocery store cornmeal is often vitamin- and mineral-fortified. Flaked corn (maize) and flaked rice in the mash are your best option for brewing this style.
Classic American Pilsener Style GuidelinesStyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorClassic American Pilsener 1.044-60 11-14.5 1.010-15 25-40 3-6
Your Father’s Mustache—Classic American Pilsener
California Common (Steam-type)
This is the most well-known historic American beer style; it was developed in the San Francisco Bay area in the mid-1800s. The “steam” name most likely refers to the high degree of carbonation that the beers were reportedly served with, as well as its then-high-tech sound. San Francisco has a moderate climate year-round, typically cool, cloudy, and about 60° F in the winter months. The new bottom-cropping (lager) yeasts did not behave like the ale yeasts brewers were used to working with. So, they hit on using wide, shallow vessels, normally used for cooling after boiling for fermentation, which allowed the wort to stay cooler during fermentation and provided for faster settling of the yeast after fermentation. Using lager yeast at these relatively high temperatures caused the beer to develop some of the fruity notes of ales while retaining the clean, crisp taste of lager beers.
American-grown hops, like Cluster, were used to the tune of 20 to 40 IBUs. The hop profile of steam-type beer is predominantly from higher alpha acid hops with a more herbal character. The present-day incarnation of California common beer, Anchor Steam, uses American-grown Northern Brewer exclusively. The beer should be highly carbonated with a medium body and a light caramel color.
California Common Beer Style GuidelinesStyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorCalifornia Common 1.048-54 12-13 1.011-14 30-45 10-14
Commercial Example California Common Anchor Steam
[The name of this recipe comes from a Shay Steam Locomotive (Engine No. 4) that I tended one summer at Cass Scenic Railroad in Cass, West Virginia.]
No. 4 Shay Steam—California Common Beer
American-grown hops, like Cluster, were used to the tune of 20 to 40 IBUs. The hop profile of steam-type beer is predominantly from higher alpha acid hops with a more herbal character. The present-day incarnation of California common beer, Anchor Steam, uses American-grown Northern Brewer exclusively. The beer should be highly carbonated with a medium body and a light caramel color.
California Common Beer Style GuidelinesStyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorCalifornia Common 1.048-54 12-13 1.011-14 30-45 10-14
Commercial Example California Common Anchor Steam
[The name of this recipe comes from a Shay Steam Locomotive (Engine No. 4) that I tended one summer at Cass Scenic Railroad in Cass, West Virginia.]
No. 4 Shay Steam—California Common Beer
Bock
Bock beer is an old style, most likely introduced in Munich about 1638. The style grew out of the then-world-famous beer of Einbeck. It was a strong beer brewed from one-third wheat and two-thirds barley with a pale color, crisp taste, and a hint of acidity. (The acidity was a carryover from the sour wheat beers of the day.) It was brewed as an ale but was stored cold for extended periods. Einbecker beer was widely exported and was the envy of the region.
For years, the nobles of Munich tried to imitate the strong northern beer in their breweries, with limited success. Finally in 1612, the brewmaster of Einbeck was persuaded to go south and work on producing a strong beer for Munich. The beer was released in 1638, a strong beer interpretation of the Munich braunbier, a rich malty brown ale. The classic Munich bock beer is a lager with an assertive malt character, a warmth from the higher alcohol level, and only enough hop bitterness to balance the sweetness of the malt. Bock and its big monastic brother, doppelbock, should not have any fusel alcohol character nor any of the fruitiness of ales.
Doppelbock is a descendent of the heavy, rich beers of the Paulaner monks, who brewed this beer as liquid bread for their fasts at Lent and Advent. They named their beer “Salvator,” and many breweries brewing in this style have appended -ator to their beer’s names. Doppelbock will look darker but doesn’t use roasted malts. It has more Maillard reaction products, yielding hints of chocolate or vanilla.
Bock BJCP Style GuidelinesSubstyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorMaibock/Helles Bock 1.064-72 16-17.5 1.011-18 23-35 6-11Traditional Bock 1.064-72 16-17.5 1.013-20 20-27 14-22Doppelbock 1.072-96+ 17.5-23 1.016-24+ 16-26+ 6-25Eisbock 1.078-120+ 19-28+ 1.020-35+ 25-35+ 18-30+
Commercial ExamplesTraditional Bock Einbecker Mai Ur-BockDoppelbock Paulaner Salvator
Copper Country Bock—Bock
For years, the nobles of Munich tried to imitate the strong northern beer in their breweries, with limited success. Finally in 1612, the brewmaster of Einbeck was persuaded to go south and work on producing a strong beer for Munich. The beer was released in 1638, a strong beer interpretation of the Munich braunbier, a rich malty brown ale. The classic Munich bock beer is a lager with an assertive malt character, a warmth from the higher alcohol level, and only enough hop bitterness to balance the sweetness of the malt. Bock and its big monastic brother, doppelbock, should not have any fusel alcohol character nor any of the fruitiness of ales.
Doppelbock is a descendent of the heavy, rich beers of the Paulaner monks, who brewed this beer as liquid bread for their fasts at Lent and Advent. They named their beer “Salvator,” and many breweries brewing in this style have appended -ator to their beer’s names. Doppelbock will look darker but doesn’t use roasted malts. It has more Maillard reaction products, yielding hints of chocolate or vanilla.
Bock BJCP Style GuidelinesSubstyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorMaibock/Helles Bock 1.064-72 16-17.5 1.011-18 23-35 6-11Traditional Bock 1.064-72 16-17.5 1.013-20 20-27 14-22Doppelbock 1.072-96+ 17.5-23 1.016-24+ 16-26+ 6-25Eisbock 1.078-120+ 19-28+ 1.020-35+ 25-35+ 18-30+
Commercial ExamplesTraditional Bock Einbecker Mai Ur-BockDoppelbock Paulaner Salvator
Copper Country Bock—Bock
Vienna Lager
Author’s Note 2025: Logically, Vienna Lager should be brewed with 100% Vienna malt. But twenty-some years ago, Vienna malt was rather rare in my local home brew supply shop, so I brewed by using US base malt and caramel malts, with a bit of roast malt to balance the alkaline water of my region – just like the Graf-style Vienna. This recipe remains one of my favorites.
The Vienna style of lager was developed in the mid-1800s in the city of Vienna, Austria. It grew from the Märzen/Oktoberfest styles of Bavaria but was influenced by the rise of the Pilsener style of Bohemia, its political ally. Attempts to imitate the Pilsen style had resulted in harsh beers, due to the differences in brewing water between the two regions. The local water was higher in carbonates than that of Bohemia (Czech Republic). As discussed in Chapter 15, the use of pale malts in alkaline water results in too high a mash pH, which extracts tannins from the grain husks. Of course, they didn’t know this back then. They did know that they could brew darker beers that didn’t have the astringency problems. The sweet amber lager now known as Vienna was the result of their efforts to produce a lighter beer. It became immensely popular and was copied in other brewing countries.
There was a lot of immigration from Central Europe to Texas and Mexico at that time, and of course, the people brought their beer and brewing techniques with them. The hot climate was abysmal for lager brewing, however, and commercial offerings were poorly regarded. Fortunately, by the late 1800s, refrigeration became commercially viable, and variations of Old World-style lagers became very popular. The principal variation of the Vienna style in the New World is the Graf-style Vienna, named after the Mexican brewer (Santiago Graf) who developed it. It incorporated a small percentage of heavily roasted malt to compensate for the more alkaline water of the region, giving it a deep amber color with hints of red.
Vienna Style GuidelinesStyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorVienna 1.046-52 11.5-13 1.010-14 18-30 8-12
Commercial Examples Vienna Ambier, Negro Modelo
Cold But Not Baroque—Vienna Lager
The Vienna style of lager was developed in the mid-1800s in the city of Vienna, Austria. It grew from the Märzen/Oktoberfest styles of Bavaria but was influenced by the rise of the Pilsener style of Bohemia, its political ally. Attempts to imitate the Pilsen style had resulted in harsh beers, due to the differences in brewing water between the two regions. The local water was higher in carbonates than that of Bohemia (Czech Republic). As discussed in Chapter 15, the use of pale malts in alkaline water results in too high a mash pH, which extracts tannins from the grain husks. Of course, they didn’t know this back then. They did know that they could brew darker beers that didn’t have the astringency problems. The sweet amber lager now known as Vienna was the result of their efforts to produce a lighter beer. It became immensely popular and was copied in other brewing countries.
There was a lot of immigration from Central Europe to Texas and Mexico at that time, and of course, the people brought their beer and brewing techniques with them. The hot climate was abysmal for lager brewing, however, and commercial offerings were poorly regarded. Fortunately, by the late 1800s, refrigeration became commercially viable, and variations of Old World-style lagers became very popular. The principal variation of the Vienna style in the New World is the Graf-style Vienna, named after the Mexican brewer (Santiago Graf) who developed it. It incorporated a small percentage of heavily roasted malt to compensate for the more alkaline water of the region, giving it a deep amber color with hints of red.
Vienna Style GuidelinesStyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorVienna 1.046-52 11.5-13 1.010-14 18-30 8-12
Commercial Examples Vienna Ambier, Negro Modelo
Cold But Not Baroque—Vienna Lager
Oktoberfest Lager
The Märzen and festival beers were part of the basis of the Vienna style. Whereas the Vienna was intended to be the everyday premium drinking beer, the Oktoberfest was made for festivals. The original festival was a royal wedding sometime around 1800, and they have been celebrating ever since. (Some beers are worth it.) This rich amber style incorporates quite a bit of variation, from being soft and malty, malty and dry, to malty and balanced, and malty/bitter. Be that as it may, the hallmark of the Oktoberfest/Märzen style is the maltiness and a drier finish to make it less filling. If you plan to polka for twelve hours straight, then this is your beer.
Oktoberfest Style GuidelinesStyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorOktoberfest/Märzen 1.050-56 12.5-14 1.012-16 20-28 7-14
Commercial Example Oktoberfest/Märzen Spaten Ur-Maerzen Denkenfreudenburgerbrau—Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest Style GuidelinesStyle OG °P FG IBUs ColorOktoberfest/Märzen 1.050-56 12.5-14 1.012-16 20-28 7-14
Commercial Example Oktoberfest/Märzen Spaten Ur-Maerzen Denkenfreudenburgerbrau—Oktoberfest
Figure 119—Gravity vs Bitterness of Beer Styles. This chart shows the mean OG versus the mean IBUs for several different styles, according to the 2004 BJCP style guidelines. A lot of styles are not shown on this chart, because so many of the styles overlap in the 20 to 40 IBU and 1.040 to 1.055 OG region. This chart can give you an idea of other beer styles to taste and brew for yourself. This chart helps you understand the concept of balance, the sweetness of the malt and beer versus the balancing bitterness and flavor of the hops. Unsurprisingly, most beer styles are in the 2:1 area, where the OG of the beer is twice the bitterness.
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