An Overview of the Style

The American Lager style is a beer brewed to be a thirst quenching and refreshing beverage with a flavor and aroma that’s barely there. There’s a remarkable amount of skill in making a consistently thirst-quenching American Lager. There’s not an abundance of any flavor – hops, malt, water, alcohol – so any flavor that’s accidentally introduced, either by contamination or fermentation controls, is magnified and screams failure. Your ingredients, process, yeast viability, and your fermentation control all matter. Nothing will test your skills as a brewer more than brewing a clean American Lager.

2015 BJCP Style Guidelines (American Lager – 1B)

OG 1.040 – 1.050
FG 1.004 – 1.010
ABV 4.2% – 5.3%
IBU 8 – 18
SRM 2 – 4
AppearanceAromaFlavorMouthfeelCharacteristic Ingredients
Very pale straw to medium yellow color. A white, frothy head that seldom persits. Very clear.
Low to no malt aroma, although it can be perceived as grainy, sweet, or corn-like if present. Hop aroma may range from none to a light, spicy, or floarl hop presence. While a clean fermentation character is desireable, a light amount of yeast character (particularly a light apple character) is not a fault. Light DMS is also not a fault..
Relatively neutral palate with a crisp and dry finish
and a moderately-low to low grainy or corn-like flavor that might be perceived as sweetness due to the low bitterness. Hop flavor ranges from none to moderately-low levels, and can have a floral, spicy, or herbal quality (although often not strong enough to distinguish). Hop bitterness at low to medium-low level. Balance may vary from slightly malty to slightly bitter, but is relatively close to even. High levels of carbonation may accentuate the crispness of the dry finish. Clean lager fermentation character.
: Low to medium-low body. Very highly carbonated with slight carbonic bite on the tongue.
Two- or six-row barley with high percentage (up to 40%) of rice or corn as adjuncts.

Educational Material For The American Lager Style

Did you miss getting the handout from our meeting where we discussed the American Lager style? Download it now or print it out.

Sample American Lager Recipe

Our June competition is for the American Lager style. To help you create your own American Lager recipe, we’ve included a sample recipe as a starting point for those who aren’t sure where to start. Champagne Lager was a 2006 AHA National Homebrew Competition medal winner.