Beer Styles Explained: Ales, Lagers and the Big Style Families
Ales, Lagers and the Big Style Families
Nearly every beer in the world is either an ale or a lager, and the difference comes down to the yeast and how it is fermented. Everything after that (IPA, stout, kölsch, hefeweizen) is a style: a shared set of expectations for color, strength, bitterness, aroma and history that lets a drinker know roughly what is in the glass before tasting it.
Styles are not laws of nature. They are descriptions, written down after brewers had already been making the beer for years or centuries. The two references most people in the industry use are the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) guidelines, last fully revised in 2021, and the Brewers Association (BA) guidelines, updated every year for competitions like the Great American Beer Festival. They do not always agree on the numbers, which is a useful reminder that style is a range, not a recipe.
Quick facts
- Two families: ales (top-fermenting yeast, warmer fermentation) and lagers (bottom-fermenting yeast, cooler and longer fermentation).
- Main references: BJCP 2021 Style Guidelines and the annual Brewers Association Beer Style Guidelines (2026 edition is current).
- Key numbers per style: ABV (alcohol by volume), IBU (bitterness units) and SRM (color). See ABV and IBU explained.
- Hybrids exist: some beers, like kölsch, use ale yeast but are cold-conditioned like a lager.
Ales vs lagers: the first fork in the road
Ale yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) works at warmer temperatures and tends to throw off fruity compounds called esters, plus, in some strains, spicy phenols. That is why a hefeweizen can smell like banana and clove without a single banana involved. Ales generally ferment faster and taste rounder and fruitier.
Lager yeast (Saccharomyces pastorianus) prefers the cold and works slowly. After fermentation, lagers are usually held near freezing for weeks (the German word lagern means "to store"). The result is a cleaner, crisper beer where malt and hops do the talking. For the science, see beer yeast: ale vs lager.
Color and strength have nothing to do with the split. There are pitch-black lagers and pale, delicate ales. The yeast decides the family; the malt and hops decide most of what you taste.
The big style groups
Within those two families, styles cluster into groups that share a region, an ingredient or a lineage.
Pale and hoppy ales. The American IPA and its many offshoots, plus pale ales. Bitterness and hop aroma are the point. Start with American IPA and hazy IPA.
Brown and malty ales. Beers built on toasted, caramel and chocolate-flavored malts, with hops in support. See American brown ale.
Dark ales. Porter and stout, which share a London origin and a long, tangled family tree. See porter vs stout.
Wheat beers. Beers with a large share of wheat in the grain bill. The German hefeweizen is the classic, with its distinctive yeast aromas. See hefeweizen.
Belgian ales. Yeast-forward, often strong, often highly carbonated beers from a country that treats style rules as suggestions. See Belgian tripel and dubbel.
Hybrid and German ales. Top-fermented beers that are cold-conditioned, such as Cologne's kölsch.
Pale lagers. The most-consumed beers on earth: pilsners, international lagers, American lagers and light lagers.
Amber and Mexican lagers. Vienna lager and its descendants, including the lagers Mexico made famous. See Mexican lager.
Specialty and wood-aged beers. Beers defined by a process or added ingredient rather than a base style, like barrel-aged beer and bourbon cask finishes.
How to use this guide
Each style article follows the same pattern. The first two sentences answer the main question. A quick-facts list gives the BJCP and BA ranges for strength, bitterness and color, so you can compare a beer on the shelf against what the style usually looks like. Then come the history, the flavor profile, how it differs from its neighbors, and how to serve it.
If you are new to this, a good order is: read the ale vs lager section above, then how to taste beer, then pick a style you already like and read its page. From there, jump sideways. A brown ale fan will probably find something to like in porter. An IPA drinker curious about softer bitterness should read the hazy IPA page.
Labels help too. Brewers often print the style name, ABV and sometimes IBU on the can. Our guide to reading a beer label explains what those numbers do and do not tell you.
All style articles
FAQ
What is the difference between an ale and a lager?
The yeast. Ales use top-fermenting yeast at warmer temperatures and tend to taste fruitier; lagers use bottom-fermenting yeast at cold temperatures and are conditioned for weeks, which makes them cleaner and crisper. Color and strength are not part of the definition.
How many beer styles are there?
It depends on who is counting. The BJCP 2021 guidelines organize beers into 34 categories, each with several substyles, and the Brewers Association publishes an even longer list of individual styles for competition. New styles get added as brewers invent them, as happened with hazy IPA in 2018.
Is stout an ale or a lager?
Stout is an ale. Porters and stouts are traditionally top-fermented, though a few breweries make dark lagers that look similar in the glass.
What is a hybrid beer style?
A hybrid uses one family's yeast with the other family's process. Kölsch is the classic example: it is fermented with ale yeast, then cold-conditioned like a lager, which gives it a clean, crisp finish with a faint fruitiness.
Who decides what counts as a beer style?
Nobody owns the definitions. The BJCP and the Brewers Association publish the most widely used guidelines for judging competitions, and brewers, drinkers and history shape them over time. A few names, such as kölsch in the European Union, are legally protected.