Description of Beer Categories for the 2010 USBTC Summer Competition

IPA:                              Strongly hop-accented pale ale with higher ABV, historically gold to copper in color.  We set a cutoff of IBU>45 to place a pale ale in IPA.  An IPA with ABV of 8.0% or higher will be placed in strong ales (a category in our winter competition).

Double/Imperial IPA:      American style Imperial/Double IPA.  Any beer above 8.0% abv of the IPA style will also be included.  ABV between 8.0% and 12.5%.  Beers above 12.5% will be placed in the Barleywine category. 

Pale Ale:                       Ales with both malt and hop presence, but interpretations vary widely from malt to hop dominated.    IBU must be 45 or less.

Amber/Red Ale:             An American creation - not a true style but a color description, though arguably some of these beers trace their origins to Irish or Scottish brewing traditions.  We set limit of ABV<=6.5%, but categorization is left primarily to the brewer.  If “amber” or “red” is on the label and no other style designation is provided, they get placed here. 

Bitter/ESB:                     Pale ales brewed with some aspect of the English tradition such as English hop or malt varieties (e.g., East Kent Goldings or Fuggles hop, Maris Otter malt) or alteration of water characteristics, etc.  Typically, they tend to be hop-accented with a dry, bitter finish, with ESBs having a higher ABV and stronger hop/malt presence.

Belgian/French Specialty: Ales brewed in traditional Belgian/French styles including saison, biere de garde, farmhouse ale, Belgian pale ale, and Abbey single ale.  Excluded from this category are Belgian Wits (see it’s own category), Abbey/Belgian Strong Ales (tasted in Winter Session), and Belgian Bruin/Red Ales. 

Belgian White/Wit:         Ales brewed in the style of Belgian White/Wit, containing a significant amount of wheat added to the barley malt along with spices and/or other flavor additives (excluding fruit-flavored wheat beer).  The ABV must be 6.5% or lower.    

Kolsch/Cream/Gold Ale:  Gold-colored ale, often undergoing cold maturation like a lager, typically with IBU from 20-35 (if IBU>45 or ABV>6.5%, beer is placed in IPA or strong ale, respectively). 

Bock/Doppelbock:          High-ABV lager (typically >6.5%) that can be golden to dark brown in color but with strong malt character.  Typically, true bocks are lagered for a significant amount of time.

Pilsner:                         Gold-colored lager but distinctly hop-accented, typically with a flowery aroma, dry finish, and IBU from 20-40.  ABV must not be >6.5%. 

Dortmunder/Helles:        Gold-colored lager, though clearly less hop-accented than pilsners.  Typically, Dortmunders average 5.5% ABV and IBU of 25-35, and Helles lagers average 4.5% ABV and IBU of 20-30, with Dortmunders being slightly drier and less carbonated.

Fruit Beer:                      Beer of any style that contains a clearly detectable level of fruit flavoring in the taste, including Belgian-style, fruit-flavored beers.     

Wheat Beer:                   Any beer that contains a significant proportion of wheat added to the barley malt.  However, those classified as Belgian Wit/White or fruit wheat beer are placed in other categories.  For this session, we also exclude from this category the wheat beers that fit in our pull-out category, Offbeat Wheat Beer.

Funky Bug:                     Any beer that is brewed with a non Saccharomyces Cervisiae/Uvarum  yeast in primary fermentation, or undergos a secondary fermentation with a non Saccharomyces Cervisiae/Uvarum yeast to produce unique (Funky) flavor and or beer characteristics.  Examples are Lambic, Brettanomyces, Wine yeast, etc.  Beers can be entered in only one category.  IE a Lambic must go in either Belgium or Funky Bug but not both.