Style Question - American or British Light Ale

General Homebrew Discussion
1

Just brewed a very nice ale, with S-04 yeast.
It was a takeoff on my recent Fest Bier recipe, but used Cascade hops (whole leaf).
The beer promises to be a show stopper, very smooth, clean, balanced, with a nice subtle hop character in the aroma and taste (not dry hopped).
Light in color, looks just like a German Pils.

The taste might be a bit hop forward, with malt close behind. The balance is spot on.

This is NOT a Pale Ale.

So my question…what beer is this? What BJCP category would it fall under?

And here is what shocked me…the brew date was 12-26-20, with an OG of 1.055. My refractometer reading today shows a Brix of 6.6, original was 13.4. this works out to 6.0% ABV. I employed the online calculator at Brewer’s Friend. And the beer is still working.

2

First of all, congrats on making a show stopper. Pretty impressive that it’s still fermenting and is so good.

I’d call it whatever tastes like. German malt, American hops, British yeast. Sounds like a higher abv blonde ale to me from your description. I wouldn’t worry about classifying it according the BJCP.

3

LOL.

4

Thanks. Yes, I was shocked at the taste profile, being a very young ferment. Guess I got lucky this time.

But all of the forum members make great beer, that is without question. I’m not worthy to be among such pros, but my effort at improvement is never ending.

It is competition worthy, and that is why I am curious about the correct category. While it is not a IPA Pale Ale, it has a hint of Sierra Nevada flavor…must be the Cascade hops?

Blonde Ale? Ok, I’ll look at that.

Plus as everyone pointed out in another tread, S-04 is a fast worker. This beer is very near the end, close enough to give a good indication on the ultimate flavor.

5

18B. American Pale Ale
Overall Impression: A pale, refreshing and hoppy ale, yet with sufficient supporting malt to make the beer balanced and drinkable. The clean hop presence can reflect classic or modern American or New World hop varieties with a wide range of characteristics. An average-strength hop-forward pale American craft beer, generally balanced to be more accessible than modern American IPAs.

Aroma: Moderate to strong hop aroma from American or New World hop varieties with a wide range of possible characteristics, including citrus, floral, pine, resinous, spicy, tropical fruit, stone fruit, berry, or melon. None of these specific characteristics are required, but hops should be apparent. Low to moderate maltiness supports the hop presentation, and may optionally show small amounts of specialty malt character (bready, toasty, biscuit, caramelly). Fruity esters vary from moderate to none. Dry hopping (if used) may add grassy notes, although this character should not be excessive.

Appearance: Pale golden to light amber. Moderately large white to off-white head with good retention. Generally quite clear, although dry-hopped versions may be slightly hazy. Flavor: Moderate to high hop flavor, typically showing an American or New World hop character (citrus, floral, pine, resinous, spicy, tropical fruit, stone fruit, berry, melon, etc.). Low to moderate clean grainy-malt character supports the hop presentation, and may optionally show small amounts of specialty malt character (bready, toasty, biscuity). The balance is typically towards the late hops and bitterness, but the malt presence should be supportive, not distracting. Caramel flavors are often absent or fairly restrained (but are acceptable as long as they don’t clash with the hops). Fruity yeast esters can be moderate to none, although many hop varieties are quite fruity. Moderate to high hop bitterness with a medium to dry finish. Hop flavor and bitterness often lingers into the finish, but the aftertaste should generally be clean and not harsh. Dry hopping (if used) may add grassy notes, although this character should not be excessive.

I think this is it. Even though my ingredients are all wrong, except for the hops!

But this is close, except mine is a bit more hop forward…

18A. Blonde Ale
Overall Impression: Easy-drinking, approachable, malt- oriented American craft beer, often with interesting fruit, hop, or character malt notes. Well-balanced and clean, is a refreshing pint without aggressive flavors.

6

American Blonde Ale

7

This might be it. Will have to wait and see how the flavor profile matures over the next couple weeks. Maybe one more week in the fermenter, then time to keg!
Is a Blonde Ale more hop forward in the aroma and flavor? This beer is hops first, malt second. At least for now.

8

Blonde Ale is a somewhat forgiving style.  I have had good examples that I would consider quite hoppy but not quite to the point of a Pale Ale.  I have also had good examples with very little hop character.  Yours seems to be on the hoppy end of the spectrum and I think that is okay as long as there is malt to balance it out and as long as it is not overly bitter.  Once it gets into more bitter territory, it might turn into a 12A British Golden Ale or 12B Australian Sparkling Ale.  I got familiar with all these recently as I just brewed something that is right in between 12A and 12B.  Wonderfully bitter golden ale but without any hop flavor to speak of, only the bitterness.

9

British Golden Ale sounds correct here - it is allowed for American hops in that style.  Glad it tastes good, regardless of style category!

10

Yes, and thanks.
The main issue is this beer (so far) hits many of the targets for several styles, but does not nail any one style 100%.
It was brewed as an experiment, mostly Pils malt with Vienna and Munich supplemented.
The flavor is good enough to be worthy of an entry in a competition. But determining the correct category is a challenge.

11

Add to this that the average judge doesn’t know a damn thing about a British Golden Ale, i.e., they never actually tasted one, then you should receive some good feedback as they’ll be forced to review the guideline in detail.

12

This being the case, maybe the competition won’t be too stiff? If the judges are not familiar with the style, probably not many brewers know about it either. I did not, until now.
I’ll give this a shot and see what happens.

13

Yes.  Part of what I meant to say was, in the USA, this is an obscure style that nobody really enters, so you should stand a great chance at medaling if your beer is any good at all.  Unless they lump the category with APA and IPA in which case you don’t have any chance at all.  Crapshoot as usual.

14

Thanks for your input!
They are limiting entries to a maximum of 48 per category. That seems pretty small to me.
Maybe I would be the only one in the British Golden Ale category? That would make me hands down the best entry! But…it would also make my beer the worst entry!

15

You could enter the same beer into multiple categories if you want to.

16

Yes, and we might just do that!

17

I’m in trouble!
The beer has fermented a bit more (might be done), and the hop presence has abated. Early on, it had a big hop aroma, and a forward hop flavor that reminded me very much of Sierra Nevada.

Now it tastes like an American Ale, but with more of an equal balance between malt and hops. The Cascade hops are still there, just not as potent as before. Certainly not “hop forward”.

As my entry is already selected, both for English Golden Ale, and American Pale Ale, I do not think this is a good example of either one.

While it is a very good beer, it is more like a Pils (from the malt) with Ale Yeast and Cascade hops. All in perfect balance. Oh well…

18

So add a couple ounces dry hops for a couple days.  Problem solved.

19

How many ounces? How many days?
Keep in mind I’m not an IPA drinker, so want it to be low to moderate in hop profile.

Thanks!

20

Here in Wisconsin, “a couple” means two.  ;D  :wink:

Cheers.