Beer Styles


Know Your Beer Styles

There are many types of beer available in Britain. Here is a selection of the more common types to be found – and are well worth finding!  A new style has become popular in recent times due in part to the attempt to attract drinkers away from lager and into ales. This is to be found under “Golden Ales”

Ale: Simply a beer brewed with a non-lager yeast and was formerly the term for a beer without hops.

Mild: A lightly hopped beer (hops add bitterness), often dark and of low strength.

Bitter: A term encompassing all beers with a higher hop content than mild.

Old Ale: High gravity (strength), full-flavoured beer also known as Winter Ale.

Porter: A dark, sweetish and well hopped beer.

IPA: India Pale Ale. Formerly high strength for export. Now commonly a light bitter.

Pale Ale: Medium strength bottled beer.

Brown Ale: Lightly hopped, sweetish mild in bottle.

Heavy: Scottish term for medium strength beer.

Shilling Ale: Scots rating from 60/- mild to 90/- strong ale.

Stout: Very dark, heavy and quite bitter with a large creamy head. E.g. Guinness.

Wheat Beer: Bavarian Style (Weizen) with added wheat in the mashing. Often hazy.

Golden Ale: Distinctive lager-like in appearance but quite hoppy with a tart fruitiness.