The Brewers Association (BA), Boulder, Colo., released its 2013 Beer Style Guidelines. This year’s edition defines two new beer styles and includes updated descriptive text for virtually all of the 142 included beer styles, BA says. The collaborative effort behind the 2013 version incorporates more than 100 suggestions from U.S. and international beer judges and experts, brewers and beer lovers, it adds.
This year, Adambier and Grätzer styles were added for the first time. Both are historic pre-Reinheitsgebot, smoky ale styles, with the former originating in Dortmund, Germany, and the latter brewed primarily in Poland, that are making a slow revival among U.S. and international brewers, the association says.
Changes also were made to the guidelines for American wheat ale, reflecting a growing trend in the craft brewing and homebrewing communities of using all-wheat grists in the brewing process, it says.
Because consumers and beer judges generally use their senses of sight and smell before they taste a beer, the descriptive text for nearly every listed beer style has been updated and reorganized to reflect the order of the beer sensory experience, BA says. The guidelines now focus on appearance, aroma, flavor and finish, in that order. The descriptions also include vital statistics about each of the 142 styles, including ranges for original gravity/plato, apparent extract/final gravity, alcohol by weight/volume, bitterness and color.
“These guidelines are first and foremost an educational tool, but they also help to illustrate the United States’ role as a leading beer nation,” said Charlie Papazian, president of the Brewers Association, in a statement. “The Brewers Association toasts America’s small and independent brewers, including homebrewing enthusiasts, who continue to push the evolution of style guidelines with their innovative brewing and ingredients.”
