Definitions of Beer Styles?

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Thunder_Chicken

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I'm curious to know if there is some standardized definition of each beer type (IPA, IIPA, ESB...) I've been tinkering with beer recipe calculators and it seems that there is a lot of overlap between different types.
 
Here are the stats on my last brew. What category would this fall into?

Original Gravity: 1.060
Final Gravity: 1.017
ABV (standard): 5.72%
IBU (tinseth): 36.09
SRM (morey): 9.69

At the moment, not knowing any better, I'm calling it a Pale Ale. It fits an ESB except the FG is a little high (this is what the calculator is spitting out).
 
That's not enough info to determine a style. What type of hops are you using? Floral, citrusy American hops (APA)? Or earthy, spicy noble hops (Bitter, Best Bitter, ESB, regular Pale Ale)?

What type of yeast are you using? It could be a pale ale, a lager, or an (admittedly dark) hefeweizen.
 
If you're really interested in styles why not review the BJCP online study exam and take the examination? You will certainly learn quite a bit, although if you spend enough time reading on HBT you can easily pass it.
 
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