Types of Beer: A Guide & List to Different Styles
There are over 50+ different types of beer and there are even more ways to categorize them—by flavour, by type, by color, by bitterness, by ingredients, etc. In this post we’ll cover a list of the popular beer types and styles and help you better-understand beer beyond ales and lagers.
By The Beer Community on Feb. 19, 2022
What is a “Beer Style”?
Simply put, beer styles are how we classify different types of beer.
This classification of beer is based on how the beer is made; this includes factors such as process, ingredients, fermentation methods, and often, the history or place of origin of the beer. Bring these factors together and you end up with a beer style. The most common (and most broad) categorization of beer groupings are by yeast & fermentation, Ales (Top-Fermenting) or Lagers (Bottom-Fermenting) but in this article we want to get into the details beyond these two groupings.
Beers made the same way will generally have similar flavours
The process in which a beer is made affects the flavour. This is why many “main stream” beers like Budweiser, Miller, and Molson Canadian all generally have a similar taste (light, crisp & “crushable“)—they’re all the same style of beer, made in a similar method (with similar ingredients) and are classified as pale or light lagers.
Beer Styles are one way to categorize and organize the many types of beer. Other examples of popular beer styles are IPAs, Amber Ales or Sour Ales. All three of these beer styles are classified as “Ales”, but they are distinct in flavour as a result of their ingredients, appearance, and how they are made (fermenting process).
The Many Types of Beer
There are over 100+ distinct styles of beer (over 73 different ales, more than 25 different lagers and a handful of hybrid styles) but to confuse the classification process, there are even more ways to group and/or sub-categorize beer. For example you could group beers by flavour, by colour, by bitterness, by ingredients, by region/country, by alcohol percentage, and so on.
Further down we’ve included a list of the more common beer types you’ll encounter. Understanding these can help you better understand beer beyond just ales and lagers, and more importantly, it can give you insight into the other beers you might find appealing or why you like the style that you like.
Did you know that all beers are either an ale, lager or hybrid?
Learn more about the difference between lagers, ales and hybrids.
What are the different
beer styles?
List of Popular Beer Types:
A Guide to Different Styles
Adjunct Lager
Amber, Red or Dark Ale
Amber, Red or Dark Lager
Barleywine
Belgian IPA or White India Pale Ale
Berliner Weisse
Black or Cascadian Dark Ale
Blonde & Golden Ales
Bock
Chile Beer
Cream Ale
Doppelbock
Dortmunder or Export Lager
Double or Imperial IPA
Dunkelweizen
English Bitter
English Brown Ale
Euro Dark Lager
Euro Lager
Fruit or Vegetable Beer
German Lagers
Golden or Pale Lager
Gose
Gruit or Spiced Beers
Hefeweizen
India Pale Ale (IPA)
Kölsch
Kvass
Lambic
Milkshake IPA
NEIPA – New England Style IPA
Pale Ale
Pilsner
Porter
Rye Beer
Saison or Farmhouse Ale
Schwarzbier
Scottish Ale
Sour Beer or Wild Ales
Stout
Strong Ale
Weizenbock
Wheat Ale
Witbier
Grouping Beer Types – by Flavour
Heads up! The styles of beer are one way to we organize and categorize beer, but it should not to be confused with the profiles of beer! Beer Profiles group beer styles by their common flavours. For example, a Blonde Ale and a Czech Pilsner both classify as crisp and clean beers due to their mild flavours similar to the light lagers mentioned above. These are not the same beer styles, but they all generally have a mild and somewhat similar taste. If you want to figure out which beers you’ll like, check out this post on choosing the perfect group of beers for you.
Now that you know about the different styles of beer, learn more! You may also like…
- The 7 Flavour Groupings of Beers
- Choosing a Beer Style & Flavour You’ll Actually Like
- What is Beer?
- What is Homebrewing?
- Ale vs Lager – What’s the Difference?
- Beer vs Cider – What’s the Difference?