The Beer Family Tree

Vienna lager's American descendant. Caramel and toasted malts give it the copper color and a bready, lightly sweet core; restrained hops keep the bitterness in check, and lager yeast finishes it clean. Usually 4.5–6% ABV. Yuengling Traditional Lager made it a bar-rail staple.

Very light body, high carbonation and little hop or malt character, straw to gold at 4.1–5.1% ABV and 5–15 IBU. Red Stripe's label calls it an American adjunct lager. Made for spicy food, light salads and seafood.

The American lager: very light body, high carbonation, little hop or malt character, straw to gold at 4.1–5.1% ABV. Budweiser and Seven Tribesmen's Crosstown Rivals print it by name. Pair with spicy food, salads and seafood.

Czech-style dark lager runs reddish brown to black at 4.4–5.8% ABV and 18–35 IBU in the style guide. Ours is Eredita Beer's Arcana at 5%, labelled Czech Style Dark Lager.

Dark lager without a regional label. The style guide's American version runs 4.1–5.6% ABV and 14–24 IBU, light brown to very dark; Europe and Mexico brew their own. Munich Dunkel, Schwarzbier and Czech dark lager each have an entry here.

Munich's dark side, gentler than you'd expect. Dunkels skip the roast character for smooth toasted bread, caramel, and a touch of chocolate. Medium body, low bitterness, all malt expression. Proof that "dark" doesn't have to mean "aggressive".

The style guide files Festbier with Oktoberfest: straw to gold, 5.1–6.1% ABV and 23–29 IBU, paler than the amber-to-copper Märzen. Ours is New England Brewing's Schnitzengiggles, at 5.6%.

Lager with fruit added to complement the base beer. The style guide's fruit beers run 2.5–12% ABV, coloured by the fruit. Ours include a yuzu lager and Corona Sunbrew Citrus, which labels itself a flavored lager. Pair to the fruit: citrus with seafood, berries with dessert.

Munich's answer to pilsner—brighter, maltier, less aggressive on the hops. Helles means "pale" in German, and that's exactly what you get: bread-crust malt, a whisper of Hallertau, and crushability turned up to eleven. The quiet legend of Bavarian beer gardens.

Peroni Nastro Azzurro prints this style on its label, at 5% ABV. The style guide has no Italian-style lager entry; its nearest is the Italian-style pilsener, straw to gold at 4.6–5.3% ABV and 25–50 IBU.

Unfiltered cellar lager.

The style its label prints: Malzbier. Ours is Cervejaria Petrópolis's Itaipava Malzbier, at 4.2% ABV.

Rich malt, a light touch of hop bitterness and an amber-to-copper glow at 5.1–6.0% ABV. The style guide spells it Maerzen; labels we've scanned also print Marzen and, phonetically, Martzen. Every spelling lands here. Made for German sausages and roast pork.

Vienna lager reimagined under the Mexican sun. Austrian brewers brought the style in the 1800s; local brewers adapted it into something lighter, crisper, and flat-out built for heat. Pair with lime and a beach.

Pale lager in the style guide comes in Czech and Mexican versions; the Mexican-style one runs pale to deep gold at 4.5–5.0% ABV and 15–22 IBU. Ours is Pacifico Clara, at 4.4%.

German for "black beer." Lives up to the name visually but drinks like a light-bodied lager with coffee-adjacent notes. Dark roast with none of stout's heaviness. Thuringia and Saxony's signature contribution to dark brewing.

The original amber lager, invented by Anton Dreher in 1841 using kilned malts that gave it a distinctive copper color. Toasted bread, a hint of caramel, clean lager finish. Mostly relocated to Mexico now, but the roots are Austrian.

American-style pilsner: straw to gold at 4.9–6.0% ABV and 25–40 IBU in the style guide, which also lists a contemporary version up to 50 IBU. Ours is Magnify Brewing's Refresh Pilsner, at 5%.

The original pilsner, from Plzeň in 1842. Pilsner Urquell's blueprint: soft Bohemian water, floor-malted Moravian barley, Saaz hops, long cold lagering. Golden, biscuity, spicy-hoppy, endlessly clean. Every other pilsner is a variation on this.

The style Carlsberg Pilsner prints on its label, at 5% ABV. The style guide has no Danish entry; its international-style pilsener runs straw to gold at 4.6–5.3% ABV and 17–40 IBU.

Crisper, drier, and hoppier than its Czech cousin. German water runs harder, the hops more assertive, the finish more bitter. Northern breweries perfected it into something bracing. Bitburger, Jever, Warsteiner—pilsner turned up to a cold edge.

The newcomer. Birrificio Italiano's Tipopils from 1996 redefined pilsner—dry-hopped with Saaz and Spalter Select, softer and more aromatic than its forebears. A tradition-respecting innovation that's inspired a global substyle.

What happens when Californian brewers apply IPA philosophy to pilsner. Clean lager base, aggressive American hops—Mosaic, Citra, Amarillo. Crisp, dank, and bitter in ways a traditional brewer would find scandalous. And it works.

The benchmark. American IPA took the English original and pumped it full of citrus-forward New World hops—Cascade, Centennial, Chinook—creating something louder, brighter, and more bitter than its ancestors. What "IPA" means to most drinkers today.

Also called Cascadian Dark Ale. Combines IPA's hop intensity with stout's dark malt roast. Born in the Pacific Northwest in the 2000s. Niche, divisive, worth revisiting—the contrast of pine-citrus hops against chocolate-roast malt is unusually compelling.

IPA with the volume knob ripped off. 7.5%+ ABV, massive hop loads, malt backbone to match. Imperial IPAs exist to push every dimension further—more bitter, more alcohol, more aroma. Handle with respect.

The label's one-word style: golden. The style guide's golden ale is straw to gold with light malt and subtle hops at 4.1–5.1% ABV; the one on our shelves, Sierra Nevada Trail Pass Golden, is a 0.5% non-alcoholic take.

Hazy IPA at double strength: juicy, tropical and soft-bodied, straw to light amber at 7.6–10.6% ABV and 30–80 IBU. Labels also print Double Hazy IPA and Hazy Double India Pale Ale. Try it with ceviche or a fruit dessert.

Vermont's 2010s gift to beer. Heavy dry-hopping, oat and wheat additions, chloride-boosted water, deliberately unfiltered. Opaque, low-bitterness, juicy-tropical—hops in a smoothie. Polarizing, wildly popular, impossible to ignore.

An IPA brewed with milk sugar. Yeast can't ferment lactose, so it stays behind as sweetness and a fuller body, often joined by fruit and vanilla. The archives trace the style to a 2015 collaboration between Pennsylvania's Tired Hands and Sweden's Omnipollo. The style guide has yet to give it a page; its closest relative there is the juicy or hazy IPA.

Proof that you can have hops and still have a second beer. Usually 4-5% ABV, full hop aroma, reduced body. Founders All Day IPA showed the category could be commercially massive. A gateway for new hop drinkers.

The label says Triple IPA; the style guide has no entry by that name and tops out at imperial or double IPA, 7.6–10.6% ABV with intense hops and full body. Ours, Brix City's Brix Cubed, is 9.5%. Pair with bold cheeses and spicy food.

The anti-hazy. Crystal clear, aggressively bitter, dank-piney, and proud of its ruthless dryness. Pliny the Elder set the standard. After the hazy explosion, West Coast IPA became a loyal counter-movement for drinkers who want their hops to hurt a little.

APA: the friendlier cousin to American IPA. Late-80s Sierra Nevada invention with Cascade hops—citrus and pine on a sturdy malt base, 4.5-6% ABV, moderately bitter. The beer that taught Americans what hops were.

The gateway ale. Light golden, lightly hopped, mildly fruity, easily drinkable at any temperature. Blondes exist because not every new craft drinker is ready for IPA—and that's fine. Often a brewery's best-selling beer, even when it's not flashy.

The ancestor. Burton-on-Trent's hard water, Fuggle and East Kent Golding hops, biscuity English malt. Lower in bitterness, more subtle, served on cask at cellar temperature. Fuller's London Pride is the reference point.

Straw to gold, light malt and subtle hops at 4.1–5.1% ABV and 15–25 IBU. The style guide files golden and blonde as one North American ale. Easy company for salads, light fare and mild cheeses.

A German hybrid: clean, delicate and slightly fruity, straw to gold at 4.8–5.3% ABV and 22–30 IBU. The style guide spells it Koelsch. Ours include Kent Falls Brewing's Kölsch at 5.2% and Momentum's 0.5% non-alcoholic version. Pair with light fish, chicken or salads.

Roast, coffee and chocolate with a real hop presence, black at 5.7–8.0% ABV and 35–60 IBU. Ours is Foam Brewers' Heavy Water. Pair with grilled meats or chocolate desserts.

Stout aged in wood or barrels. The style guide files barrel-aged beers by the aging, with colour and strength following the base. Ours run from 10% (Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Toasted Stout) to 17.3% (Dogfish Head's Utopias Barrel-Aged World Wide Stout).

Stout with chocolate in its name. The style guide files chocolate and cocoa as additions to a base beer, and stouts carry chocolate notes from their own roast. Ours run from Samuel Smith's Organic Chocolate Stout at 5% to Brooklyn's Black Chocolate Stout at 10%.

Guinness's template. Dark, roasty, surprisingly low in ABV (~4%), creamy from nitro pour, with a dry coffee finish. Irish stouts prioritize drinkability over weight—sessionable despite the intimidating color.

The style guide's export-style stout is Irish in origin: black, 5.6–8.0% ABV and 30–60 IBU. Guinness Foreign Extra Stout files here at 7.5%, beside Lamplighter's Dubliners at 6.6%.

Stout with an added ingredient in the lead. The style guide treats coffee, chocolate or cocoa, and herbs and spices as additions that ride on the base beer. For the dessert-built, 7–13% ABV end, see Pastry Stout.

Stout with everything dialed up. Originally brewed in London for Catherine the Great's Russian court—hence Russian Imperial Stout. 8-12% ABV, massive roast, chocolate, coffee, sometimes barrel-aged. The Ferrari of dark beers.

Lactose is unfermentable by beer yeast, so it leaves residual sweetness and body. English milk stouts from the early 1900s used it for perceived nutritional value. Mackeson was the pioneer. Silky, sweet, chocolatey—perfect with dessert.

Oats add silkiness, body, and a subtle grain sweetness without overpowering the roasted malt. Revived in the 1980s by Samuel Smith's. Smoother than dry stout, less sweet than milk stout—the balanced middle ground.

Imperial stout loaded with adjuncts—vanilla, cocoa, marshmallow, maple, peanut butter. Polarizing, theatrical, Instagram-ready. When done well, it's genuinely decadent. When done poorly, it tastes like syrup. Handle with care.

English porter with American hop assertion. Same malt profile, but late-hopped with Cascade, Centennial, or Chinook. More bitter, more aromatic, still medium-bodied. Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald is the reference.

Porter that traveled east and became a lager. 7-9% ABV, cold-fermented with lager yeast, inky dark, smooth despite the strength. Influenced by the imperial stout trade route, adapted by Baltic and Polish brewers.

The original. 18th-century London's working-class beer, brewed from brown malt, blended across multiple vintages. Medium-bodied, chocolate-caramel, earthy English hops. Fuller's London Porter is the modern benchmark.

The heavier-bodied American interpretation. More roasted malt, more hops, fuller mouthfeel than the English original. The line between robust porter and stout is genuinely blurry—and brewers argue about it anyway.

Wheat beer without the Weihenstephaner yeast character. Neutral yeast, sometimes lightly hopped, often citrus-spiked. Bell's Oberon is the reference. Lighter and less expressive than its Bavarian cousin—and that's intentional.

Dark Bavarian wheat. Takes hefeweizen's banana-clove yeast character and adds Munich malt for bread crust, caramel, and darker color. Rarer than hefe in the US but worth seeking out. Weihenstephaner and Ayinger excel here.

Tart, slightly salty and spiced with coriander. The style guide files gose as a German-origin ale, straw to light amber at 4.4–5.4% ABV; contemporary versions take the colour of added fruit. Ours prints itself a wheat beer with sea salt and coriander. Pair with seafood, ceviche or sushi.

Bavarian wheat beer with the yeast suspended (hefe = yeast). Weihenstephaner yeast gives iconic banana-clove esters. Cloudy, carbonated, low-bitterness, served in a vase glass. The summer afternoon beer of record.

The style its label prints: Shandy. Ours is Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy, at 4.2% ABV.

Belgian wheat beer spiced with coriander and orange peel. Resurrected by Pierre Celis and Hoegaarden in the 1960s after nearly dying out. Soft, citrusy, cloudy, refreshing. Blue Moon popularized it for American drinkers.

Sour ale brewed dark. The style guide's American-style sour ale runs from pale to black, tart and fruity by a range of methods; this is the black end. Ours is Anchorage Brewing's Anadromous, at 9.5%. Pair with goat cheese or fruit desserts.

Belgian red ale aged in oak foeders for 18-24 months with multiple yeast strains and bacteria. Rodenbach is the reference. Tart, fruity, balsamic-tinged, with a woody depth you can't fake. Sometimes called "Burgundy of Belgium".

Modern American sour loaded with fruit purée—often massive doses of raspberry, mango, passion fruit. Sometimes with vanilla and lactose for "smoothie" texture. Loud, sweet, Instagram-bait. Loved and hated in equal measure.

Tart, slightly salty and spiced with coriander. The style guide files gose as a German-origin ale, straw to light amber at 4.4–5.4% ABV; contemporary versions take the colour of added fruit. Pair with seafood, ceviche or sushi.

Modern shortcut to sour beer. Lactobacillus added to the boil kettle overnight, then brewed normally. Produces clean acidity in days rather than months. Gateway technique for breweries new to sour. Clean but less complex than wild fermentation.

Belgian spontaneous fermentation in the Pajottenland. Open cooling ships, wild yeasts, long barrel aging, sometimes fruit additions. Gueuze is blended lambic of different ages, bottle-conditioned. The deepest expression of natural brewing.

Named by the label itself: the container calls the beer an abbey ale. Some also carry the Erkend Belgisch Abdijbier mark of the Union of Belgian Brewers; others use the word alone. Ours run from Leffe Blonde at 6.6% to Brother Thelonious at 9.4% ABV.

French farmhouse keeping-beer.

Belgian-style blonde: light body, fruity yeast and a subtle spice, straw to light amber at 6.3–7.9% ABV and 15–40 IBU. The Pale Ale family keeps its own Blonde Ale for the American kind. Made for mussels, light pasta and chicken.

Belgian brown ale around 7% ABV. Westmalle Dubbel is the benchmark. Dark candi sugar gives raisin, fig, and caramel notes. Yeast-driven, malt-forward, less sweet than it sounds. The monastery staple beer.

Straw to gold, light malt and subtle hops at 4.1–5.1% ABV and 15–25 IBU. The style guide files golden and blonde as one North American ale. Easy company for salads, light fare and mild cheeses.

A brewer's name for Belgian ale at strong-ale strength. The nearest guide styles, Belgian strong blonde and strong dark, run 7.1–11.2% ABV: complex, fruity yeast on the pale side; dark fruit, spice and warmth on the dark.

The strongest Trappist category. 10-12% ABV, deep mahogany, massive malt character with dark fruits, alcohol warmth, and complexity that rewards slow drinking. Westvleteren 12 and Rochefort 10 are the grail.

Farmhouse ale from Wallonia, originally brewed for field workers. Dry, highly attenuated, spicy-peppery from Saison yeast, sometimes with grains like spelt. Dupont is the modern standard. Versatile enough for any meal.

Two sides of Belgian strong ale. Golden like Duvel—pale, deceptively strong, dangerously drinkable. Dark like Gulden Draak—mahogany, rich with dark fruits, warming. Both hit 8-10% ABV while feeling lighter than that.

Named by the container: the label calls the beer Trappist. The Authentic Trappist Product seal of the International Trappist Association is a separate mark, and a label can carry one without the other. Ours: Chimay Première at 7% and Grande Réserve at 9% ABV.

A tripel whose label calls it Trappist. Tripels run 7.1–10.1% ABV, pale to light amber: complex, spicy and fruity, and stronger than they drink. Pair with seafood, Thai food or strong cheeses.

Golden Belgian strong ale at ~9% ABV. Westmalle Tripel set the template in 1956. Pale malt, Belgian candi sugar, spicy yeast esters, surprisingly dry finish for the alcohol level. Deceptive—goes down like a 6%.

Brown ale with West Coast hop enthusiasm. More bitter, more aromatic hops, similar malt profile. Brooklyn Brown Ale and Dogfish Head Indian Brown show both the restrained and amped-up American takes.

Newcastle territory. Soft malt, nutty, mild hop bitterness, 4-5% ABV. Southern English browns are sweeter; Northern (Newcastle-style) are drier. Either way, a pub classic that deserves more respect in the American market.

Pumpkin isn't a family; it rides on the brewer's base, ale or lager, pale to nearly black, 2.5–12% ABV. Some brew with pumpkin or squash, some only with pie spices, many with both. Our shelves hold it in Amber, Brown Ale and Strong Ale. Built for turkey and pumpkin pie.

Germany's hybrid ale: balanced malt and hops, a clean finish, copper to dark brown at 4.6–5.6% ABV and 25–52 IBU. Alaskan Amber prints it on its label as an alt-style ale. Made for German sausages and roasted meats.

Broader category than it sounds. Caramel-forward malt, clean American hops, 5-6% ABV. Sessionable but flavorful. Fat Tire pioneered the style commercially—New Belgium's amber reshaped what American craft looked like.

Copper-red, lightly roasted, clean-drinking Irish ale. Smithwick's is the commercial template. Light caramel, a touch of roast, low hops. More subtle than its color suggests. Underappreciated in the craft scene outside of St. Patrick's Day.

Malt runs the show — caramel, a little toast, hops barely there. The faint smoky, peaty edge is the regional signature. Ranges 3-6.5% ABV, so the lighter end drinks like a session ale. Not to be confused with Scotch Ale, its much heavier cousin.

Ale built around added spice, which may complement the base beer or take it over. The style guide files herb and spice beers by the addition, so colour and strength follow the base. Samuel Adams Old Fezziwig prints it. Pair with dishes that use the same spices.

The Gotland island farmhouse tradition. Smoked juniper malts, farmhouse yeast, sometimes sweetened with syrup. More rustic than its Nordic cousins. Usually homemade; rare as a commercial product, precious when you find it.

Lithuanian farmhouse ales. Kaimiškas is the umbrella category; Keptinis specifies the method of baking the mash in an oven before lautering. Produces caramelized, bread-crust flavor unique in brewing. Dundulis and Jovarų are exporting examples.

Estonia's farmhouse survivor, especially from the island of Saaremaa. Juniper-smoked kilning, open fermentation with Kveik-adjacent local yeast. Earthy, subtly smoky, unlike any commercial beer. A window into what Northern European beer was before hops.

Finland's surviving ancient brew. Unboiled wort, juniper-branch lautering, long fermentation, baker's yeast. Rich, banana-clove, with a slight juniper resin note. Nearly died out in the 20th century, now protected by EU designation. Lammin Sahti is the canonical version.

Sorghum/millet beer.

Commercial opaque sorghum beer, pioneered in Zimbabwe by Heinrich Van Hulsteyn. Sold in waxed cartons, consumed while still actively fermenting—hence the "shake before drinking" ritual. Low ABV, yogurty, communal. Africa's biggest-volume beer style by far.

Sorghum communal beer.

Sorghum beer.

Ghanaian/Nigerian sorghum beer.

Village-level sorghum beer across Sub-Saharan Africa—umqombothi in South Africa, tchoukoutou in Togo, bjala in Benin. Homebrewed in calabashes, consumed young while fermenting, shared communally at ceremonies. The oldest continuous brewing tradition on the continent.

Ye't'era—the "clean" style. Ethiopian tella that has been strained to remove grain solids, producing a clearer drink with a deeper amber color. More refined than unfiltered, often preferred at formal occasions. Still gesho-bittered, still wild-fermented.

Traditional tella served with grain particles still suspended. Cloudy, thick, more rustic—and more common in everyday home brewing. The texture carries nutrition and character that filtering removes. Village weddings and coffee ceremonies lean unfiltered.

The Belgian-brewed take on African banana beer. Mongozo Banana is a commercial gluten-free beer brewed with Fair Trade bananas. Sweet, fruity, crisp—not strictly traditional, but it's the most widely-available banana beer in the Western world.

Urwagwa (Rwanda), mbege (Tanzania), lubisi (Uganda)—each village has its recipe. Ripe bananas fermented with sorghum or millet, often for just a few days, consumed while still actively working. Social glue in East African rural life.

Filtered, clarified top portion of the makgeolli mash. A refined version—cleaner, more delicate, closer to sake in presentation. Often confused with sake by Westerners, but the rice-nuruk fermentation is Korean through and through.

Sweet, lower-alcohol makgeolli (dan = sweet). Shorter fermentation, more residual sugar, approachable for first-timers. Often fruit-infused in modern craft versions. Korea's gateway into the makgeolli family.

Makgeolli with small rice grains still floating on top (dongdong = floating). Less filtered, slightly sweeter, often homemade. The visible rice is the marker. Served at traditional Korean restaurants in wide bowls for sharing.

Peruvian Arequipa specialty using purple corn (guiñapo). Same spontaneous fermentation technique, different corn variety producing distinct color and a more fruity-tart profile. Served in picantería restaurants across southern Peru.

The yellow-corn original. Sprouted maize (jora) boiled with water and spontaneously fermented over days. Andean highland tradition dating back millennia. Tart, slightly funky, opaque. Offered to Pachamama before drinking.

Chicha de jora infused with wild strawberries. Bolivian and Peruvian Andean tradition, often associated with ceremonies and festivals. Tart, sweet, deep ruby-pink. One of the most instantly charming expressions of chicha brewing.

The corn and wheat variant. Thicker, sweeter, sometimes with added sugar. Rarer commercially but holds strong in home production. The westernmost surviving branch of the Ottoman boza tree.

Wheat and rye base instead of millet. Sweeter than the Turkish version, slightly lighter body, sold in cartons at grocery stores nationwide. Boza Radomir is the major commercial producer. A standard breakfast companion in Bulgaria.

Traditional millet or oat base. Sold by vendors and at markets. Preserves the Ottoman-era recipe more faithfully than many Turkish commercial versions. Often sweeter and richer. A taste of the old empire.

Istanbul's millet-based winter brew. Vefa Bozacısı has been serving it since 1876—thick, creamy, slightly sour, topped with roasted chickpeas and cinnamon. Low ABV, near-opaque, served warm in the colder months. A street food tradition in liquid form.

8-12%+ ABV and unapologetic — bold American hops stacked on heavy malt. Bitterness runs 60-100 IBU, well past its English cousin. Ages well; pour it in a snifter and take your time.

Barleywine without a side chosen: the style guide's American and British versions both run 8.5–12.2% ABV, warming and complex, with the American hoppier (60–100 IBU against 40–65). Ours reach 13.4%. Pair with strong cheeses or rich desserts.

The older, maltier reading of barleywine. Rich toffee and dried fruit with restrained hops (40-65 IBU) at 8-12% ABV. Built for cellaring and after-dinner sipping.

6-9% ABV, malty and complex with dried fruit and a nutty edge. Traditionally aged and sometimes blended. Sits between brown ale and barleywine in weight.

Pumpkin isn't a family; it rides on the brewer's base, ale or lager, pale to nearly black, 2.5–12% ABV. Some brew with pumpkin or squash, some only with pie spices, many with both. Our shelves hold it in Amber, Brown Ale and Strong Ale. Built for turkey and pumpkin pie.

Rich caramel malt at 6.6-8.5% ABV, carrying the same faint smoke as its lighter Scottish Ale sibling — just far more of everything. Snifter recommended; fireplace optional.

Low-ABV oak-smoked wheat ale; light-bodied, dry, highly carbonated, pronounced smoke. Poland's historic national style.

Beechwood-smoked Märzen lager; savory, bacon-like smoke over a malty amber base. Bamberg's signature style.

Stone beer: superheated stones dropped into the wort caramelize its sugars for a smoky-toffee character.

Very rich malt, bread and toast, and dried fruit, copper to dark brown at 6.6–7.9% ABV and 17–27 IBU. Ours is Tröegs' Troegenator Double Bock, at 8.2%. Pair with rich desserts, aged cheeses or hearty stews.

Freeze-concentrated bock: ice is drawn off to intensify the strength and rich malt depth.

Pale, strong spring bock; malty but balanced, with more hop presence than its darker siblings.

Strong, smooth lager; rich malt with minimal hops. The original bock — brewing sustenance with monastery roots.

Strong wheat bock; banana, clove, and dark fruit — weizen character at bock strength.