Brewer's Association adds 11 Categories to 2008 Guidelines

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ShortSnoutBrewing

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Sorry if this was already posted, I searched by only found the BJCP 2008 Guidelines:

Announcing the Brewers Association 2008 Beer Style Guidelines

Boulder, CO - Thursday, February 28, 2008 -The Brewers Association recently released their 2008 Beer Style Guidelines. Eleven categories were added to the guidelines this year, reflecting the industry's direct focus on helping develop craft beer. Of the 11 new categories being introduced into the guidelines, five new additions were added just for barrel-aged beers.

"These guidelines help to illustrate the growth of craft brewers in the United States and also offer insight and a foundation for helping appreciate the hundreds of beer types brewed for the beer lover," said Brewers Association President, Charlie Papazian.

Since 1979 the Brewers Association has provided beer style descriptions as a reference for brewers and beer competition organizers. Much of the early work was based on the assistance and contributions of beer journalist Michael Jackson. The task of creating a realistic set of guidelines is always complex. The beer style guidelines developed by the Brewers Association use sources from the commercial brewing industry, beer analyses, and consultations with beer industry experts and knowledgeable beer enthusiasts as resources for information.

2008 Added Categories:

Fresh Hop Ale
Ales which are hopped exclusively with fresh and un-dried ("wet") hops.

American-Belgo Styles Ales
These beers portray the unique characters imparted by yeasts typically used in fruity and big Belgian-style ales.

Leipzig-Style Göse
The original versions of this style of beer were spontaneously fermented German ales, similarly to Belgian-style gueuze/lambic beers.

Belgian-Style Blonde Ale
Belgian-style blonde ales are characterized by low yet evident hop bitterness, flavor and sometimes aroma.

Australasian-Style Pale Ale
This style is a mild, pale, light-bodied ale with a color varying from light to amber. Hop bitterness and flavor range from very low to low.

Out of Category- Traditionally Brewed Beers
There are many excellent and popular beers that are brewed with traditional ingredients and processes, yet their character may vary from styles currently defined or included in these guidelines.

Barrel Aged Beer categories:

Wood- and Barrel- Aged Beer
Any lager, ale, or hybrid beer, either a traditional style or a unique experimental beer that has been aged for a period of time in a wooden barrel or in contact with wood.

Wood- and Barrel- Aged Pale to Amber Beer
Any classic style or unique experimental beer that has been aged for a period of time in a wooden barrel or in contact with wood.

Wood- and Barrel- Aged Dark Beer
Any classic style or unique experimental style of dark beer beer can be wood or barrel-aged for a period of time in a wooden barrel or in contact with wood.

Wood- and Barrel- Aged Strong Beer
Any strong classic style or unique, experimental style of beer can bee wood or barrel-aged for a period of time in a wooden barrel or in contact with wood.

Wood- and Barrel- Aged Sour Beer
A wood- or barrel- aged beer is any lager, ale, or hybrid beer, either a traditional style or a unique experimental beer that has been aged for a period of time in a wooden barrel or in contact with wood and has developed a bacterial induced natural acidity.

Here
 
Guess it will be a few more years before the dark, hoppy beers hit the style sheets.

Wonder how Australasian-Style Pale Ale differs from a Mild?
 
Most Fresh Hopped ales aren't over-whelming (at least the 30 or so I've tasted) in bitterness or flavor/aroma. I think in part because of the weight & volume of wet hops. A recipe using 4 ounces of dried hops would require almost TWO pounds of wet hops. There is also a trend to use only one hop variety, so that restricts the choices a bit. Single hopping with wet Cascades wouldn't leave much room in the kettle for wort!

I've seen India Dark Ale and Cascadian Dark Ale (as in Pacific Northwest, not the hop) used.
 
American-Belgo Styles Ales

This might be for the "Dubbel IPA's" I see. Just brewed one myself 2 month ago, and must say it is FANTASTIC.

Allagash Brewing probobly pushed for that catagory as well because BY LAW you can not call a beer "Belgian" unless its actually made in Belgian regions. You have to say "Belgian-style", but at the same time, Americans tend to like dryier beers, with more hops. Thus the American/Belgian-style.

nick
 
david_42 said:
Wonder how Australasian-Style Pale Ale differs from a Mild?


As in english mild? Alot. I would not call a mild a low bodied beer. and its color should be brown not light colored to amber.

I know this because in the fermentor i have 12 gallons of tasty mild that is about ready to be kegged.
 
Dude said:
Fresh hop ale is really so popular it needs its own category?

That's an odd one for a couple of other reasons. It's very time-constrained. You can only brew it once a year, and since it's so focused on particular hop characteristics, I can't imagine this being a style that would really hold up well even for twelve months.

It's also creating a category around what could almost be considered a technique. I mean, why not a "first-wort hopped" category, or "decoctions," or "single infusion mash"? It's not like you can't put fresh hops into ANY beer style that's got a hop character as a main profile characteristic.
 
Every way we use ingridients is a "technique". I mean, look at the IPA. we use large amounts of bittering hops, would that not be a technique?

While i agree it is limited due to "fresh hops" being a very seasonal thing, i think that it is a special enough item to warrant its own catagory.


My brewclub made a fresh hop ale at the big brew last july. It was phenominal!

I think the idea of a fresh hop beer is not from using fresh hops for bittering so much as it is using mass amounts of fresh hops in a hopback type "technique"

That is what we did anyway.
 
Ryan_PA said:
What the hell is the difference between Out of Category and Specialty?

Jamil, sorry to quote him ad nauseum but you have to admit he knows about styles, said that specialty is for beers like Chocolate Cherry Stout where it can't be in the fruit category b/c of spices ad vice versa(sp?). So it sounds like Out of Category is for beers that are 'normal' but don't fit into any style guidelines. Like a high gravity darker Saison, doesn't fit into the saison category or anything else. Just my thoughts not 100% on this.
 
i've seen a fair amount of india brown ales up here in Vancouver lately.....surprised as well that a dark IPA didn't hit the list.
 
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