Many people would argue that beer is one of God’s gifts to mankind. Throughout the years, many breweries have experimented with their production and created some truly unique and smooth flavors.
Today, we will be walking you through the different types of beer that are currently on the market. We have chosen some of our favorite beers to share with you!

Beer is a popular drink, especially in the United States. Figures show that in 2020, there were over 7000 breweries in the US. Think of all that beer!
Now, whether you’re a lager lover or a pale ale pundit, you will love our recommendations below. If you are thinking about trying something new, maybe use our list to find your next go-to beer.
What are the different styles of beer?
Whatever way you decide to create your beer, you will get a slightly different result. There are so many varieties of beer out there, some of which you have probably never heard of.
But, don’t sweat it! As today, we are going to take a look at every type of beer you could think of and then some!
Just to kick things off, below is a list of all of the beers we will be looking at today. Do you recognize any? Are any new finds shouting out to you?
- Pale Lager and Pilsner
- Brown Ale
- Porter
- Wheat Beer
- Dark Lager
- Pale Ale
- Stout
- Wild and Sour Ale
- German Bock
- Indian Pale Ale
- Belgium Style Ale
- Specialty Beer
Beer is a wonderful thing. It can bond together a group of people who have never met before. Think of the last time you hit a bar alone and got talking to the guy drinking that IPA you had never tried before. Didn’t you love getting to hear about a new beer to try?
Before we get into our compiled list of beers, here is some information on how you can differentiate beer types. It all comes down to the fermentation process.
How do you categorize beer?
The main way to categorize your beer is by looking at the type of yeast used during its fermentation process.
There are three different types of yeast used in fermentation and each of these can determine whether your beer is an ale, lager, or sour ale.
The Differences in the Beer Fermentation Process
Let’s take a look at the three main ways of beer fermentation and what types of beer that they produce.
Top Fermentation
Starting off, we have top fermentation. This type of fermentation creates an ale. When the yeast is added to the beer it settles up at the top of the mixture.
This process allows the beer to have a higher tolerance to alcohol. It also ferments at a warmer temperature than in bottom fermentation.
Below are some of the types of beer created through the top fermentation process:
- India Pale Ale (IPA)
- Stout
- Brown Ale
- Pale Ale
- Wheat Beer
- Porter
- Belgian Style Beer
Bottom Fermentation
The next type of fermentation process is bottom fermentation. This type of fermentation process creates lagers and pilsners. This is due to the yeast settling at the bottom of the liquid.
Bottom fermentation occurs at cooler temperatures and ferments a lot more slowly than in top fermentation. These usually result in lower alcohol content in the finished product.
Below are some of the types of beer produced through the bottom fermentation process:
- Dark Lagers
- Pale Lagers and Pilsners
- German Style Bocks
Spontaneous Fermentation
Last, but not least, we have spontaneous fermentation. These are becoming more and more popular, especially as sales of craft beers continue to spike. This type of fermentation happens when the beer is exposed to wild yeast and bacteria.
This type of fermentation originated in Belgium and is now a popular practice in many breweries over the world. Spontaneous fermentation creates sour and wild ales.
Below are some of the types of beer that spontaneous fermentation creates:
- Belgian Gueuze
- Belgian Fruit Lambic
- American Sour
- Flanders Red Ale
The Types of Beer
Below, we have compiled a list of some of the most popular beer types in the world. In this list, we have included information on the ABV, IBU, examples, serving temperature, and what cuisine they are best paired with.

Types of Pale Lager and Pilsner
American Lager
ABV: 3.2-4.0% IBU: 5-15
Examples: Budweiser, Coors, Pabst Blue Ribbon
Serving Temperature: 30-40 F
Pairs With: Spicy food, American cuisine
German Pilsner
ABV: 4.6-5.3% IBU: 25-40
Examples: Tröegs Sunshine Pils, Sierra Nevada’s Nooner Pilsner
Serving Temperature: 40-45 F
Pairs With: German cuisine, poultry, fish, spicy cheese
Types of Brown Ale

American Brown Ale
ABV: 4.2-6.3% IBU: 25-45
Examples: Brooklyn Brown Ale, Sierra Nevada Tumbler Autumn Brown
Serving Temperature: 45-50 F
Pairs With: American cuisine, heavy foods like beef stew, red meat
English Brown Ale
ABV: 4.0-5.5% IBU: 15-25
Examples: Newcastle Brown Ale, City Star Brewing’s Bandit Brown
Serving Temperature: 40-45 F
Pairs With: American cuisine, heavy foods, red meat, poultry, gouda cheese
Types of Porter

American Imperial Porter
ABV: 7.0-12.0% IBU: 35-50
Examples: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company’s Porter, Stone Smoked Porter
Serving Temperature: 40-45 F
Pairs With: American cuisine, barbecue, meat, and asiago cheese
English Brown Porter
ABV: 4.5-6.0% IBU: 20-30
Examples: Shipyard Longfellow Winter Ale, Arcadia London Porter
Serving Temperature: 50-55 F
Pairs With: American and English cuisines, meat, chocolate, and fontina cheese
Types of Wheat Beer

American Pale Wheat
ABV: 3.5-5.6% IBU: 10-35
Examples: Blue Moon Summer Honey Wheat, Shipyard Summer Ale
Serving Temperature: 45-50 F
Pairs With: Mexican cuisine, spicy food, poultry, and mozzarella cheese
Berliner Weisse
ABV: 2.8-3.4% IBU: 3-6
Examples: Dogfish Head’s Festina Peche, Freetail Brewing Company’s Yo Soy Un Berliner
Serving Temperature: 45-50 F
Pairs With: German Cuisine, ham, salad, and soft cheeses
Types of Dark Lager
Amber American Lager
ABV: 4.8-5.4% IBU: 18-30
Examples: Yuengling Lager, Samuel Adams Boston Lager
Serving Temperature: 45-50 F
Pairs With: American cuisine, poultry and beef, cheddar
Oktoberfest
ABV: 5.1-6.0% IBU: 18-25
Examples: Paulaner Oktoberfest-Märzen, Victory Brewing Company Festbier
Serving Temperature: 45-50 F
Pairs With: German cuisine, meat and vegetables, spicy cheese
Types of Pale Ale

American Amber Ale
ABV: 4.4-6.1% IBU: 25-45
Examples: Lagunitas Imperial Red Ale, Stone Brewing Company’s Levitation Ale
Serving Temperature: 40-45 F
Pairs With: American cuisine, meat, fish, bleu cheese
English Bitter
ABV: 3.0-4.2% IBU: 20-35
Examples: Sharp’s Brewery’s Doom Bar Bitter, Surly Brewing Company’s Bitter Brewer
Serving Temperature: 45-50 F
Pairs With: Fried food, fish, feta cheese
Types of Stout

American Stout
ABV: 5.7-8.9% IBU: 35-60
Examples: Highland Black Mocha Stout, Bell’s Kalamazoo Stout
Serving Temperature: 45-50 F
Pairs With: Heavy foods, meat, oysters, chocolate, and brie cheese
Irish Dry Stout
ABV: 3.8-5.0% IBU: 30-40
Examples: Guinness Draught, Murphy’s Irish Stout, Beamish Irish Stout
Serving Temperature: 45-50 F
Pairs With: Heavy food like beef and stew, barbecue, burgers
Types of Wild and Sour Ale

American Sour
ABV: Varies IBU: Varies
Examples: Samuel Adams American Kriek, Weyerbacher Riserva
Serving Temperature: 45-50 F
Pairs With: Fruit and strong cheese
Flanders Red Ale
ABV: 4.8-6.6% IBU: 5-18
Examples: New Belgium Lips of Faith La Folie, The Lost Abbey’s Red Poppy Ale
Serving Temperature: 45-50 F
Pairs With: Meat, blue cheese, and cheddar cheese
Types of German Bock
Traditional Bock
ABV: 6.3-7.5% IBU: 20-30
Examples: Samuel Adams Winter Lager, Great Lakes Rockefeller Bock
Serving Temperature: 40-45 F
Pairs With: German cuisine, meat and vegetables, chocolate, Camembert cheese
Maibock
ABV: 6.0-8.0% IBV: 20-38
Examples: Capital Maibock, Hofbräu Maibock, Smuttynose Maibock
Serving Temperature: 45-50 F
Pairs With: Italian and German cuisines, fish and shellfish, asiago and swiss cheese
Types of India Pale Ale

American IPA
ABV: 6.3-7.5% IBU: 50-70
Examples: Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA, Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA
Serving Temperature: 40-45 F
Pairs With: American and Indian cuisines, meat, poultry, fish, and gorgonzola cheese
English IPA
ABV: 5.0-7.0% IBU: 35-63
Examples: Goose Island India Pale Ale, Shipyard IPA, Samuel Smith’s India Ale
Serving Temperature: 40-45 F
Pairs With: American and Indian cuisines, fish, and parmesan cheese
Types of Belgian Style Ale
Belgian Pale Ale
ABV: 4.0-6.0% IBU: 20-30
Examples: Weyerbacher Brewing Company’s Verboten, Samuel Adams Belgian Session
Serving Temperature: 45-50 F
Pairs With: American cuisine, fried food, fish, salad, and tangy cheeses
Belgian Saison
ABV: 4.4-6.8% IBU: 20-38
Examples: Samuel Adams Rustic Saison, Dogfish Head Brewery’s Noble Rot, Victory Brewing Company’s Helios
Serving Temperature: 45-50 F
Pairs With: Indian and Asian cuisine, poultry, seafood, and parmesan cheese
Types of Specialty Beer
American Black Ale
ABV: 6.0-7.5% IBU: 50-75
Examples: Lagunitas NightTime, Founders Dark Penance, Victory Yakima Glory
Serving Temperature: 50-55 F
Pairs With: Aged cheeses, seafood, and chocolate
Chocolate Beer
ABV: 2.5-12.0% IBU: 15-40
Examples: Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock, Shenandoah Chocolate Donut Beer, Boneyard Beer Company Backbone Chocolate Espresso Stout
Serving Temperature: 50-55 F
Pairs With: Varies