Style trails

Where does this style come alive?

Explore the regions, rituals, and routes that gave beer styles their identity — the styles worth knowing, organized by family, from the great branches to the offshoots that matter. Numbers follow the BJCP guidelines; every word of history is our own.

The illustrated style guides

One infographic and one plain-language read per topic — where to start, how the families differ, and what the numbers on the label actually mean. New guides land here first.

Style explainer

How Beer Styles Organize a World of Fermentation and Flavor

July 31, 2026

Style explainer

How IPA Became a Family Rather Than a Single Style

July 31, 2026

Style explainer

The Quiet Precision of Lager

July 31, 2026

Style explainer

What Beer Numbers Really Tell You

July 31, 2026

Style explainer

Choosing Beer by Mood, Flavor, and Occasion

July 31, 2026

Style explainer

Twelve Gateway Styles That Teach the Language of Beer

July 31, 2026

Style explainer

Building a Beer Vocabulary Without Turning Tasting Into Homework

July 31, 2026

Style explainer

Ale and Lager Are Processes Before They Are Flavors

July 31, 2026

Style explainer

Pilsner: The Pale Lager That Refuses to Be One Thing

July 31, 2026

Style explainer

Stout Is a Family, Not a Flavor

July 31, 2026

Style explainer

Pale Ale, IPA, and Double IPA: A Continuum of Balance

July 31, 2026

Style explainer

Beer Color Is Chemistry, Optics, and Expectation

July 31, 2026

Style explainer

Three Beer Myths That Survive Because They Look True

July 31, 2026

Style explainer

Belgian Beer Is a Web of Regional Traditions, Not a Ladder

July 31, 2026

Style explainer

Why Glass Shape Changes the Beer Experience—and Where the Rules End

July 31, 2026

Style explainer

Hazy IPA and West Coast IPA: Two Ways to Build Hop Intensity

July 31, 2026

Style explainer

Wheat Beer Is a Grain Family With Many Fermentation Personalities

July 31, 2026

Style explainer

Porter and Stout: The Family Argument History Refuses to Settle

July 31, 2026

Style explainer

Sour Beer Is a Method, an Ecology, and a Spectrum

July 31, 2026

Style explainer

How Beer and Food Create Balance at the Table

July 31, 2026

Lager & Pilsner

11 styles

dark lager

ABV 4.2–6%

dark lager variants

Dunkel

ABV 4.5–5.6%

schwarzbier

ABV 4.4–5.4%

Bock

ABV 6.3–7.2%

Bock variants

doppelbock

ABV 7–10%

American lager

ABV 4.2–5.3%

helles

ABV 4.7–5.4%

Märzen

ABV 5.8–6.3%

Mexican-style lager

ABV 4–5.5%

pilsner

ABV 4.4–5.2%

Vienna Lager

ABV 4.7–5.5%

Pale Ale & IPA

10 styles

pale ale

ABV 4.5–6.2%

pale ale variants

English pale ale

ABV 4.6–6.2%

India Pale Ale

ABV 5.5–7.5%

Black India Pale Ale

ABV 5.5–9%

Double India Pale Ale

ABV 7.5–10%

New England India Pale Ale

ABV 6–9%

West Coast India Pale Ale

ABV 5.5–7.5%

bitter

ABV 3.2–4.8%

American pale ale

ABV 4.5–6.2%

session India Pale Ale

ABV 3.5–5%

Wheat Beer

2 styles

wheat beer

ABV 4.3–5.6%

wheat beer variants

witbier

ABV 4.5–5.5%

Amber & Red Ale

3 styles

Amber Ale

ABV 4.5–6.2%

Flanders red ale

ABV 4.6–6.5%

Irish Red Ale

ABV 3.8–5%

Belgian & Abbey

7 styles

abbey beer

ABV 6–12%

abbey beer variants

Trappist beer

ABV 4.8–12%

Dubbel

ABV 6–7.6%

blond

ABV 6–7.5%

quadrupel

ABV 9–13%

saison

ABV 5–7%

tripel

ABV 7.5–9.5%

Sour & Wild

3 styles

American wild ale

ABV 4–9%

Gose

ABV 4.2–4.8%

lambic

ABV 5–6.5%

Porter & Stout

5 styles

stout

ABV 4–8%

stout variants

oatmeal stout

ABV 4.2–5.9%

sweet stout

ABV 4–6%

porter

ABV 4–5.4%

porter variants

Baltic porter

ABV 6.5–9.5%

Fruit & Spiced

2 styles

fruit beer

kriek

Low & No-Alcohol

1 style

non-alcoholic IPA

Experimental & Specialty

8 styles

barley wine

ABV 8–12%

brown ale

ABV 4.3–6.2%

cream ale

ABV 4.2–5.6%

Kölsch

ABV 4.4–5.2%

light beer

ABV 2.8–4.2%

rye beer

Scotch ale

ABV 6.5–10%

smoked beer

ABV 4.8–6%