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Standard American Beer / 1A

American Light Lager

Certified Beer Server Candidate Style Profile

Official BJCP guideline sections attached for full style exploration.

Certification exam alignment
Certified Beer Server Certified Cicerone® Advanced Cicerone® BJCP Beer Judge Entrance Exam
Source
BJCP 2021 Beer Style Guidelines

Overall Impression

A highly carbonated, very light-bodied, nearly flavorless lager designed to be consumed very cold. Very refreshing and thirst-quenching.

Aroma

Low malt aroma optional, but may be perceived as grainy, sweet, or corn-like, if present. Light spicy, floral, or herbal hop aroma optional. While a clean fermentation profile is desirable, a light amount of yeast character is not a fault.

Appearance

Very pale straw to pale yellow color. White, frothy head seldom persists. Very clear.

Flavor

Relatively neutral palate with a crisp, dry finish and a low to very low grainy or corn-like flavor that might be perceived as sweetness due to the low bitterness. Low floral, spicy, or herbal hop flavor optional, but is rarely strong enough to detect. Low to very low bitterness. Balance may vary from slightly malty to slightly bitter, but is usually close to even. High carbonation may accentuate the crispness of the dry finish. Clean fermentation profile.

Mouthfeel

Very light, sometimes watery, body. Very highly carbonated with slight carbonic bite on the tongue.

Vital Statistics

IBU
8 - 12
SRM
2 - 3
ABV
2.8% - 4.2%

Commercial Examples

  • Bud Light
  • Coors Light

Similar Styles: How to Tell Them Apart

Use these guideline-based sensory contrasts to organize comparative tasting practice.

These pale, highly attenuated lagers can all be light-bodied, clean, crisp, and refreshing. Separate them by intensity rather than color: American Light Lager is the least flavorful and thinnest, American Lager adds modest body, International Pale Lager adds more flavor and bitterness, and German Leichtbier combines low strength with distinctly German malt and hop character.

Compare with: 1B. American Lager; 2A. International Pale Lager; 5A. German Leichtbier

By aroma

  • American Light Lager is nearly neutral, with only optional low grainy, sweet, or corn-like malt, less aromatic intensity than International Pale Lager or German Leichtbier.
  • Its optional light spicy, floral, or herbal hop aroma is normally harder to detect than the low to medium hops of German Leichtbier.
  • American Lager has a similarly restrained aroma but permits a little more grain and hop expression; International Pale Lager is more likely to show both clearly.

By taste

  • American Light Lager has the lowest flavor intensity, bitterness, alcohol, and body of the group, often seeming very light or watery.
  • Its low to very low bitterness and grainy or corn-like flavor remain below American Lager, while International Pale Lager and German Leichtbier are more flavorful and bitter.
  • Very high carbonation supplies most of the crisp bite in an otherwise nearly flavorless, dry finish.

Quick tell: The thinnest body and least malt, hop, and bitterness identify American Light Lager.

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