Dry beer is straw-colored, light-bodied, low in bitterness or malt flavors, with alcohol ranging from 3.5 to 4.5 percent. Ice beer is similarly restrained in aroma and flavor, with low but perceptible bitterness, potentially more mouthfeel, and slightly higher average alcohol content. The name “ice beer” refers to the practice of chilling the beer before filtration: ice crystals may or may not be removed. Ice beers are not related to the strong eisbock styles.
This is a sub-category of the bock style. Doppelbocks are extra strong, rich and weighty lagers characterized by an intense malty sweetness with a note of hop bitterness to balance the sweetness. Color can vary from full amber to dark brown and alcohol levels are potently high, typically 7-8 percent ABV. Doppelbocks were first brewed by the Paulaner monks in Munich. At the time, it was intended to be consumed as “liquid bread” during Lent. Most Bavarian examples end in the suffix “–ator”, in deference to the first commercial example, which was named Salvator (savior) by the Paulaner brewers.
These are the recently popular brews in a figure-conscious society. Essentially, these are pale lager styled beers with fewer calories. Like all other “diet products,” the objective is to maintain flavor while minimizing calories. This achieved quite successfully by some brands, despite the implausibility of the proposition.
Includes young lambics, gueuze lambic, fruit lambic, faro. Lambic beers are perhaps the most individualistic style of beer in the world. Lambics are produced in tiny quantities immediately south of the Belgian capital, Brussels. Lambic brewers use native wild yeasts in the open-air fermentation process to produce these specialties. This unusual fermentation, in conjunction with extended aging in oak barrels, imparts a unique vinous character with a refreshing sourness and astonishing complexity. Lambics labeled as gueuze are a blend of young and old beers. Such blending results in a sharp champagne-like effervescence and tart, toasty flavors. Those labeled as faro have had sugar, caramel or molasses added in order to impart a note of sweetness. Lambic beers, however, are more often seen in the United States when they have been flavored with fruits. Kriek (cherry) and framboise (raspberry) are the most popular and traditional fruits employed. Other exotic fruits are widely used in juice form in the more commercial examples of lambic beer, much to the consternation of purist connoisseurs.
These are lagers or ales to which fruits have been added in order to impart flavor or color. Depending on whether or not the seasonings have been used in the fermentation or as an addition of juice or extract, the beer will have more or less of the desired character. These beers are highly individualistic, and allow the brewers great creativity in their formulations. They will range from mild aromatic overtones to intense and pungently flavored concoctions.
The Barrel-Aged Beer category, which also has some crossover with the Specialty Beer, is at its basic definition beers that are aged in non-neutral wood. This can to produce an intentional wood-influenced flavor effect (vanillin, caramel, toast), or flavors derived from the alcohol previously aged in the wood if any (bourbon, scotch whisky, sherry), as well as the action of microorganisms living in the wood. A wide variety of base beer styles can benefit from barrel aging, although darker or more alcoholic styles have been popular choices.
The origins of rauchbier lie with breweries in the region of Franconia in northern Bavaria, which traditionally dried the barley over fires fueled by beech trees from local forests. The resulting pungent malt imparted an assertively smoky aroma and flavor to the beer from which it was made. These smoked lagers generally feature a very malty framework on which the intensely smoky character will not become overbearing. Rauchbiers are still brewed in the traditional manner by many of the breweries centered around the town of Bamberg, though enterprising brewers in other parts of the world have begun to make similarly styled beers.
The Flavored Beer category has some potential overlap with Specialty Beer, and the determination of category is the brewery’s decision. Entries in this category are beers flavored with either conventional (fruit, honey, chocolate) or sometimes unconventional ingredients (chilies, peanut butter). The base beer may be related to almost any classic beer style, and the union of the base beer’s character with the flavoring element is a critical aspect of the beer’s success.
This category is, practically speaking, a catchall tasting for beers that don't fit neatly in an existing category. However, if enthusiasm for a particular innovation grows, an emerging style may come to warrant its own, new category, as was the case for the Imperial IPA or Barrel-Aged categories. Simply put, Specialty Beers may be flavored with or affected by unusual ingredients (ginger, chipotle peppers) or fermentation agents (Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus), or brewed with unusual fermentables (buckwheat, sweet potatoes, maple syrup). In addition, the base beer may be related to almost any classic beer style. Given the variation possible in this category, there are no established standards for appearance, aroma or flavor. Instead, judges look for a pleasing combination of the beer’s elements, and overall drinkability.
Every year during the World Beer Championships, we dedicate one session to specialty styles of beer that includes fruit-flavored beers,
