Tuesday Beer Trivia: Classic American Styles

The following explanations are taken from The BJCP 2015 Style Guidelines.

Question 1: The American IPA is a modern American craft beer interpretation of the historical English style, but is brewed using American ingredients. The American IPA serves as the basis for many modern variations of the style including the double IPA and other styles using other ingredients such as fruits and spices. This style has medium-light to medium body and medium to medium-high carbonation. IBUs typically fall somewhere between 40 and 70, which tends to result in a stronger, more highly hopped American Pale Ale.

Question 2: The American Porter is medium-brown to very dark brown in color with ruby or garnet highlights. The style is characterized by a medium to medium-full body with moderately low to moderately high carbonation.

Question 3: The American Lager typically has a medium to moderately high hop aroma, with ranges of character from rustic to floral to herbal and spicy. The style generally falls somewhere between 25 and 40 IBUs with a yellow to deep gold color.

Question 4: The American Pale Ale is the modern craft beer era adaptation of the English Pale Ale. The low to moderate malt character leaves room to support the hop aroma, but not overpower it. It is a style with medium-light to medium body and moderate to high carbonation. It is not uncommon for fruits, vegetables, and spices to be incorporated into this style to create a more diverse flavor profile.

Question 5: The American Brown Ale has a medium to moderately high malty-sweet flavor with a chocolate, caramel, nutty, or toasted complexity. Some versions of the style may feature a stronger hop aroma and/or fresh dry-hopped aroma.  The American Brown is typically light to very dark brown in color with a medium to medium-full body.