Previously, we covered some lesser known German Alts. In this second installment of The Missing BJCP Styles, we’ll be going Down Under to investigate some beloved Australian beers. First we’ll look at Australian Pale Ale, also known as Australian Sparkling Ale, a style that has been kept alive by Cooper’s - though I hear some other examples of this style are popping up at brewpubs across Australia. After the Australian Pale/Sparkling Ale, we’ll venture into Australian Dark Ale and finally end with Australian Wheat Beer.

I must note that this information came (almost) straight out of the latest draft version of the “2008 Australian Amateur Brewing Championship Style Guidelines“. So a big thanks to the folks at the AABC and the contributors that helped to put these guidelines together. I say “almost” above because I did make one edit that I felt needed, which I will denote below with italics.

One of the main distinctions of Australian beers in general is the use of unique Australian hops and yeast strains. So, if you’re making any of the below, make sure you get the appropriate hops and yeast.

Note that the descriptions below are in flux, and the AABC will be revising these later this year. More Specifically, Australian Pale will probably have a big revision, the Dark Ale will probably be merged with Mild Ale and the Wheat ale will move into Kristallweizen. If and when these things occur, I’ll edit this post to reflect any changes made.

Next time, I’ll be continuing with Australia - posting about a few Australian Lagers: Australian Lager, Australian Bitter, and Premium Australian Lager.

Appearance: Gold to deep amber. Traditionally cloudy from chill haze and/or suspended yeast, but not dark and murky. Moderately high to high carbonation. Head retention reasonable to very good.

Aroma: Medium to high fruitiness from high primary fermentation temperature, supported by a light malt aroma. Hop aroma low to none. Distinctive fruity ester profile - especially pear. No diacetyl. No DMS.

Flavour: Initial light, sweet, or bready malt flavour. Caramel malt flavours absent. Medium to high fruitiness. Even malt/hop balance in flavour. A mild but distinctive peppery, herbaceous flavour from Pride of Ringwood hops is desirable. (English or German hop character acceptable for historical versions). Medium to high bitterness, which should never be crude or harsh. Dry finish from high attenuation and sulphate water. Bitterness may linger, but should not completely overpower the malt flavour. The best examples will display a long dry finish with a balanced aftertaste. No diacetyl.

Mouthfeel: Light to medium body from high attenuation. Suspended yeast and/or protein may give an impression of substance, but heaviness of body or syrupiness from residual dextrins should be penalized.

Overall Impression: Similarities to British IPA, but more even malt/hop balance from absence of late or dry hopping. Always a fruity, full flavoured session beer, with a dry finish well suited to a hot climate, but open to some interpretation by brewers: historical versions may give an impression of wholesome sustenance - modern versions may be of a lighter, more refreshing nature.

Comments: An early Australian style which has evolved very little, but stood the test of time owing to its uniqueness and depth of character. The cloudy appearance, light bready flavour of Australian malt, distinctive yeast signature, and peppery character of Australian Pride of Ringwood hops, combine to produce a unique pale ale of substantial flavour and character. Bland examples, particularly those lacking fruitiness, should be penalized.

History: Brewed in Australia from the early 1800’s by British immigrants to the new colony, as an alternative to the expensive imported Burton pale ale of the day (eg. Bass). Distinctive in its use of local ingredients and water, and high temperature yeast strains, which generate a unique ester profile. In the hotter climate, these high attenuating, low flocculating strains may have evolved from powdery Burton yeasts through top-cropping over time. The style itself is not well documented, but fortunately an original example has survived in the form of Coopers Sparkling Ale. Founded in 1862 in Adelaide S.A., the family owned and operated Coopers Brewery is Australia’s only surviving independent brewery from colonial times. Coopers have steadfastly resisted the trend to lager brewing – their distinctive ale yeast strain has been in continuous use for almost a century. As recently as the 1980’s Coopers ales were still brewed in open fermenters of native jarrah wood, and matured in oak casks prior to bottling. Something of a misnomer, Coopers Sparkling Ale is traditionally cloudy. A lighter version, brewed since the late 1800’s, was re-released in 1988 as Coopers Original Pale Ale. Both are unfiltered, non-pasteurized, and bottle conditioned using the same yeast as in the primary fermentation.

Ingredients: Lightly kilned Australian 2-row malt, eg. Schooner, infusion mashed. Judicious use of crystal malt may add some colour. No adjuncts, cane sugar for bottle priming only. Originally a proportion of cane sugar was used to dilute excessive protein levels of early colonial malt. Early versions used English, German or locally grown hops - nowadays Pride of Ringwood, bred in Australia from English Pride of Kent in 1965, is used exclusively in Coopers beers. Coopers yeast, readily cultured from the bottle sediment. (Whitelabs WLP009 Australian Ale Yeast may be similar). Moderately carbonate water, high in sulphate. Note: Carbonate (alkaline) water may impair clarity, but excess levels can lead to astringency, or inappropriate coarseness in flavour and/or harsh bitterness in aftertaste.

Vital Statistics:
OG: 1040-1060
FG: 1006-1012
IBU: 30-45
ABV:4.2-6.2%

Commercial Examples: Coopers Sparkling Ale (5.8% ABV), Coopers Original Pale Ale (4.5% ABV)

Appearance: Mid-brown to dark brown, sometimes almost black and opaque. Low to medium carbonation. Excessive carbonation or flatness should be penalized.

Aroma: Mild malt aroma, with low to moderate fruitiness and toasty or light roasty notes. No to low hop aroma, caramel or diacetyl. Any yeasty notes or phenolics should be penalized, as should any excessive fruitiness or sweet caramel characters. Slight chocolate is acceptable. Clean aroma is essential.

Flavour: Mild maltiness with no hop flavour or diacety. Low to moderate fruitiness, light roastiness can be evident. Dry maltiness on the finish. Clean and quaffable. Low to medium carbonation. Any phenolics, diacetyl, yeasty flavours, astringency, harshness, or noticeable sweetness or alcohol, should be penalized.

Mouthfeel: Light to medium body.  Low to medium carbonation.

Overall Impression: A dry, mildly flavoured session beer. Malt evident but evenly balanced by hop bitterness.

Ingredients: Pale and chocolate malt, clean bittering hop such as Pride of Ringwood.

Vital Statistics:
OG: 1040-1050
FG: 1010-1016
IBU: 15-25
ABV:4.5-5.3%

Commercial Examples: Toohey’s Old Ale

Appearance: Pale straw to light gold. Excellent clarity. Large creamy head with excellent head retention. Generally very pale. High carbonation and protein content contribute to a thick creamy head.

Aroma: Wheat malt aroma complemented by hints of clove, vanilla and banana. Little or no hop aroma. Wheat malt aroma should dominate with underlying spicy clove-like phenols and fruity (banana) esters complementing. Hop aroma, if present, should be subtle.

Flavour: Mild, slightly sweet beer with low hop bitterness and little to no hop flavour. Wheat malt flavours should dominate providing a slightly sweet finish to the beer. Hop bitterness should be low and hop flavour low to undistinguishable. Only noble hops should be present.

Mouthfeel: Light.

Overall Impression: A mildly flavoured, malt dominated, session beer with excellent head retention.

Vital Statistics:
OG: 1040-1050
FG: 1006-1010
IBU: 10-15
ABV: 4.2-5.1%

Commercial Examples: Redback.

Other Missing Styles to Be Covered Soon:
Kellerbier, Gose, Wiess, Honey Beers (not Braggots), Classic American Cream Ale, Czech Dark Lager, English Pale Mild, Scottish 90/-, American Stock Ale, English Strong Ale, Non-alcoholic “Beer”, Malt Liquor, Imperial/Double Red Ale, Imperial/Double Brown Ale, Imperial Lager, Imperial Pilsner, Imperial Porter, Rye IPA, Dark American Wheat/Rye.

In February of this year, the Beer Judges Certification Program (BJCP) updated their beer style guidelines.  Unfortunately, despite all the great updates they made, they didn’t add any new beer styles to the list.  So, I decided to chase down a few of the missing styles myself and create some basic style profiles.

My list is by no means exhaustive, but just a few of the beers, that to me, are the most obvious of the missing styles in the BJCP style guide.  Since there are still, quite a few of these missing beer styles in my list, I’ll break my post up into several installments, each covering a few of the “missing” styles.

Some of these styles even get brief mentions in the BJCP Style Guide as part of another similar or contrasting style.  Others are mentioned in BJCP Style Category 23A which is purposely labeled a “catch-all” category of beers that don’t have their own category.

The following style guides won’t be thorough style descriptions since, being relatively obscure styles of beer, data on these is hard to come by.  However, in the desire to make these (and futures posts) as complete as possible, I’ll update these posts indefinitely as I’m able to collect more information.

In trying to keep a theme here, I will start with the missing German beer stlyes, and Part 1 will focus specifically on two of the missing German beer styles: Sticke Alt, and Münster Alt.

Aroma: Malty, fresh, flowery.  Big noble hop aroma.

Appearance: Deep gold to dark-copper in color. Pours with a long lasting white head.

Flavor: Big malt and hops.

Mouthfeel: Malty yet crisp.

Overall Impression: Well balanced, with a light hoppy nose, middle maltiness and a dry finish.

Comments: A darker, stronger and hoppier version of the Düsseldorf Alt.  “Sticke” is sometimes said  to mean secret in the local dialect, though Uerige states that the term comes from “stickum”, the local dialect term for “whispering”, based on the story that that when tasting the strong beer, the customers would whisper to each other that the brewmaster must have been a little too generous when weighing out the ingredients. These beers are made seasonally to surprise the customers.  They are often brewed just once or twice a year and within a few days of tapping the kegs are gone. Sticke Alts are often dry-hopped in the conditioning tank for four to six weeks. Another name for these specialty Alt beers is “latzenbier” which means “slab beer”. Uerige also brews a Doppelsticke at 8.5% that is soley exported to the United States.

Ingredients: Two-row Pilsner malt, Munich malt, Caramel Malt and Black Malt.  Spalt hops are preferred in Düsseldorf, but Hallertauer Mittelfrüh, Mt. Hood and Perle can also be used for bittering and flavor hops, while Tettnanger will work as an aroma hop.

Vital Statistics:
OG:  1.053 - 1.066
IBUs:  35 - 60
FG: 1.010 - 1.014
SRM: 15 - 25
ABV: 5.2 - 6.5

Commercial Examples: Uerige sticke, Schumacher latzenbier, Schlüssel stike, Füchschen Weihnachtsbier

Real Stats
Füchschen Weihnachtsbier:  ABV: 5.2%
Uerige sticke: ABV: 6.5%
Schumacher latzenbier: ABV: 5.5%
Schlüssel stike: ABV: 6%

Aroma: Pilsner malt, slightly sour, with a delicate noble hop nose.

Appearance: Pale, golden color.

Flavor: Excellent, herbaceous aroma, slightly sweet with a hint of sourness, delicate fruit-acid palate, and long dry finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light to medium body. Moderate to moderately high carbonation. Smooth mouthfeel.

Overall Impression: ?

Comments: A regional Altbier that is brewerd in and around Münster, which is about 80 miles (128km) northwest of Düsseldorf.  Münster alt is typically lower in gravity and alcohol, slightly sour, and lighter in color than other Alts.

Ingredients: Pilsener malt, light caramel malts, can include Munich or Vienna malts, can contain a significant portion of wheat.

Vital Statistics:
OG: 1.044 -1.050
IBUs: 30 -45
FG: ?
SRM: 7 - 10
ABV: 4.3 - 5.1

Commercial Examples: Pinkus Organic Münster Alt

Other Missing Styles to Be Covered Soon:
Kellerbier, Gose, Wiess, Honey Beers (not Braggots), Classic American Cream Ale, Czech Dark Lager, English Pale Mild, Scottish 90/-, American Stock Ale, English Strong Ale, Non-alcoholic “Beer”, Malt Liquor, Australian Sparkling Ale, Imperial/Double Red Ale, Imperial/Double Brown Ale, Imperial Lager, Imperial Pilsner, Imperial Porter, Rye IPA, Dark American Wheat/Rye.

So, I’ve been taking some spare time lately and converting the new updated 2008 Beer Judges Certification Program styles into XML format. Their last update was in 2004 and the guy that created the XML for the 2004 guidelines has either disappeared or doesn’t have time to update.

So….. I’ve taken up the effort to update the XML version of the guidelines for the 2008 version. It’s a whole lot of copying and pasting. I’m on category 7 now. I do a little bit each evening. I figure it’ll take a month or so. Seems like a lot? Just take a look at how extensive the 2008 BJCP guidelines are. You’ve got 23 categories, each category divided into 1 to (around) 6 styles of beer (or mead, etc). In pdf format, it’s 51 pages.

So, while I’m at it, I figured, well, I’m reading all these style guidelines, perhaps I should taste the beers too. I don’t plan to taste the beers in sync with my editing of the XML. I think that would be a tad on the dangerous side. It’ll take quite some time, but in the end, I’m sure I’ll be ready to take the BJCP exam!

My good friend Dean, and fellow BrewSession author has taken the exam and is a certified beer judge. So, I guess I’m playing catch-up!

Tonight I decided to go out an get the first beers, representing the first two styles in the BJCP guidelines. Here’s where problem #1 arises. The first two styles in the guidelines are: “Lite American Lager” and “Standard American Lager”. Probably my least favorite of all beer styles! But you gotta do what you gotta do (even if it means typing out phrases in terrible grammar).

So, take a look at my fridge in the above photograph. Now THAT is a scene that you will never EVER see again. I promise.

To represent the Lite American Lagers I purchased Amstel Light (yeah, it’s made in Holland, but it’s “style” is in this category), Miller Lite, and Bud Lite. Tonight I split a Miller Lite and Amstel Lite with my wife. She hated them. In fact, I was given a lecture for actually wasting money on such awful beer. Depending on your outlook, this sort of lecture from a wife can be a really bad thing, or a really good thing. I choose to see it as a very positive thing. A toast to wives with good taste everywhere!

To represent the Standard American Lagers, I bought: Pabst Blue Ribbon, Coors, and Miller High Life. Ouch, ouch ouch. Sometime later in the week, or more likely, on the weekend when I have help, I’ll sample these beers.

So, problem #2 arises in the fact that I was stupid enough to buy two bottles of each beer (note again, the photo). What was I thinking?!?!? Two bottles of Fullers ESB might be considered “not enough”, but 2 bottles of Coors? Damn, I wasn’t thinking. I must know SOMEONE who I can invite over for a “beer” this weekend.

In any case, both of the Lite American Lagers we sampled were watery, had what I’d call an “odd bitterness” and were generally unpleasant to drink. The BJCP guidelines say these are very thirst-quenching. I’d rather just drink water. It also states, “Strong flavors are a fault”. That almost needs revising…”flavor is a fault”. Okay, they do have some flavor. It’s just not particularly enjoyable. There’s a bitterness, but it’d be difficult to identify it as a “hop bitterness”. Could be anything. There’s little maltiness to these beers. There’s little to enjoy.

Going forward with this little endeavor, my goal is to try and get beers that are actually stated as “examples” for each style in the BJCP Guidelines. I may or may not succeed, but occasionally, I’ll update you here on how it’s going.

By all means, if you’re interested in going through all these beers with me…post a comment here, drop me a line, whatever. It’d be great to get a discussion going.

My analysis for tonight? Both beers are extremely bland. Amstel light is a bit more watery than Miller Lite — which strikes me as odd because I always heard that Amstel is one of the better light beers. Well, I think it’s the sophisto-foreign aspect of Amstel that causes people to say such things. Trust me. It’s not any better (than Miller Lite, at least), just more watery. Both beers are light in body, light in color, light in mouth-feel, and low on taste. I don’t see any reason for anybody to drink such a beer. Honestly? I’d rather have a Clausthaler non-alcohol beer. At least you’re just going all out at that point — and Clausthaler is actually not bad, considering. The BJCP doesn’t seem to have a non-alcoholic beer category though.