Brewers Association Announces 2010 Beer Style Guidelines

Boulder, CO—The Brewers Association recently released its 2010 Beer Style Guidelines. Updated annually, the guidelines currently describe 140 styles of beer.

For 2010, American-style Imperial Porter, American-Style India Black Ale, Belgian-Style Quadrupel and Fruit Wheat Ale or Lager categories were added and defined, reflecting the emergence of these styles as popularly available in the U.S. and other beer-drinking countries.

Since 1979 the Brewers Association has provided beer style descriptions as a reference for brewers and beer competition organizers. The beer style guidelines developed by the Brewers Association use sources from the commercial brewing industry, beer analyses, and consultations with beer industry experts and knowledgeable beer enthusiasts as resources for information. Much of the early work was based on the assistance and contributions of beer journalist Michael Jackson.

“These guidelines help to illustrate the growth of craft brewers in the United States and also offer insight and a foundation for helping appreciate the hundreds of beer types brewed for the beer lover,” said Charlie Papazian, president of the Brewers Association.

The style revisions and additional styles will be used as the basis for the 2010 Great American Beer Festival? competition. The 2010 Beer Style Guidelines are available for download in the Publications section of BrewersAssociation.org.