Typically divided into subsects of ales (made with top-fermenting yeast) and lagers (made with bottom-fermenting yeast), the types of beer that exist follow some loose guidelines. Below you’ll learn about some of the more prominent variations, what distinguishes them and some of the local breweries that craft them so you can decode what to order next time you’re confronted with a wall of taps or several menu pages of bottled choices.
Ale: Beers brewed using top-fermenting yeast
Abbey — A strong ale, similar to a trappist beer, but doesn’t have to be made in a monastery. Single (“blondes,” light color, light alcohol), Dubbel (largely malt forward), Tripel (generally over 8 percent ABV), quadruple (darkest and strongest).
Glass: Goblet or snifter
Amber Ale — A catch-all for amber-colored beers
Glass: Pint glass
Find: Mt. Carmel Amber Ale, Mt. Carmel Brewing Company
American Pale Ale (APA) — Made when brewers tried to recreate British pale ales with American hops
Glass: Pint glass or mug
Find: Prodigal APA American Pale Ale, Ei8ht Ball Brewing; Jungle Honey American Pale Ale, Listermann Brewing Company; Copperhead American Pale Ale, Cellar Dweller
Blonde Ale — Includes golden ale and Belgian blonde ale; lighter in body with high carbonation
Glass: Pint glass or mug
Find: Mastadon Belgian strong ale, Rhinegeist; Cougar blonde ale, Rhinegeist; Leopold Belgian-style blonde ale, Listermann; Jenneke Belgian-style blonde ale (May release), Rivertown Brewing Company; Tarnished lightly hopped golden ale, Ei8ht Ball Brewing; Daywalker blonde ale (summer release), MadTree Brewing Company
Bitter — A term used in England to distinguish hopped beers from other ales; dry and heavily hopped with a relatively low alcohol content
Glass: Pint glass or mug
Find: E.S.B. Eastern Standard Bitter, Fifty West Brewing Company
Brown Ale — Commonly called a nut brown or honey brown ale; tends to have a more hoppy, nutty flavor and aroma
Glass: Pint glass or mug
Find: Shroominous brown ale with shiitake mushroom, Blank Slate Brewing Company; Cat Lady American Brown Ale, Ei8ht Ball Brewing; Gnarly Brown with roasted coffee malt, MadTree Brewing Company; Chickow hazelnut double brown ale, Triple Digit Brewing Company
India Pale Ale — Subsect of the more generic Pale Ale; developed in England to withstand sea journeys to the outlying British Empire, like British India. IPAs have high levels of hops and alcohol to improve preservative qualities.
Glass: Pint glass
Find: Northern Liberties IPA, Christian Moerlein; Mt. Carmel IPA with a pine hop aroma, Mt. Carmel Brewing Compay; Lil Sipa, Rivertown Brewing Company; Truth intensely hopped IPA, Rhinegeist; Preach West Coast-style double IPA, Ei8ght Ball Brewing; Like Rabbits crisp IPA, Ei8ht Ball Brewing; PsycHOPathy, MadTree Brewing Company; Hoppy Poppy, Cellar Dweller; Shawsome Black IPA, Cellar Dweller
Kölsch — A pale blond, alt-style ale; sort of sour, a little bitter
Glass: Stange
Find: Speed Bump Kölsch-Style Ale, Fifty West Brewing Company
Pale Ale — Not actually very pale; generic name for a group of hops-forward, bitter beers
Glass: Pint glass or mug
Find: Zeppelin Bavarian Style Pale Ale, Christian Moerlein; Hop Bomber rye pale ale, Rivertown Brewing Company; Sprye with spicy rye (spring release), MadTree Brewing Company; Dead Dweller English Ale with espresso and peanut, Cellar Dweller; Happy Amber dry-hopped ale, MadTree Brewing Company
Saison — Tart, refreshing, highly hopped and spicy; traditionally brewed in winter for aging until summer
Glass: Tulip glass or pint glass
Find: The Awakening and Ryesing Up rye Saison with peppercorn, Blank Slate Brewing Company; Tiny Pig Saison brewed with lime leaves, Ei8ht Ball Brewing; Are We There Yet?(spring release), Fifty West Brewing Company
Scottish Ale/Scotch Ale — Rich and malty with low hops; Scotch ale is sweeter
Glass: Mug or pint glass; snifter or tulip glass for Scotch Ale
Find: Springtime Ale, Mt. Carmel Brewing Company; Word Scotch Ale, Ei8ht Ball Brewing; Aftermath Scotch Wee Heavy, Triple Digit Brewing Company
Stout — Made as a full-bodied variety of porter; includes dry or Irish stout (like Guinness), oatmeal stout, Russian imperial stout, etc.
Glass: Pint glass
Find: Friend of an Irishman Brewer’s Stout, Christian Moerlein; Mt. Carmel Stout, Mt. Carmel Brewing Company; K-Hole imperial mocha stout, Ei8ht Ball Brewing; Axis Mundi Russian Imperial Stout, MadTree Brewing Company; Coffee Please coffee stout, Fifty West Brewing Company; 562 Lateral oatmeal sweet stout, Listermann Brewing Company; Lookout Stout Irish dry stout, Cellar Dweller
Red Ale — Tart, Flemish beer; almost vinegary
Glass: Mug or pint glass
Find: Red Drink American red ale with centennial hops, Ei8ht Ball Brewing
Wheat ale/Weizen — Highly carbonated German-style wheat beer. Hefeweizen is the name for an unfiltered wheat beer
Glass: Weizen glass
Find: Seven Hefeweizen, Christian Moerlein; Out & About, Blank Slate Brewing Company; Spike American wheat ale, Rhinegeist; Lift, MadTree Brewing Company; Orange VV American wheat, Cellar Dweller
Witbier — Belgian wheat beer, generally flavored with orange peel and coriander
Glass: Pint glass, mug or pilsner glass
Find: Wit Ale, Rivertown; Wit Ale (March release), Rivertown Brewing Company
Lager: Beers brewed using bottom-fermenting yeast
Bock — Strong with chocolaty overtones; divided into doppelbock (stronger), eisbock (richer and higher in alcohol than doppelbock made by freezing and then removing the frozen water), maibock (paler a little more bitter), hellesbock (medium-bodied a little bitter)
Glass: Pilsner, flute or mug
Find: Moerlein Sangerfest Maibock Lager, Christian Moerlein; Emancipator Doppelbock, Christian Moerlein; Michael J. Bocks malty German maibock, Ei8ht Ball Brewing; Gravitator double bock, Triple Digit Brewing Company; Barbarossa Double Dark Lager, Christian Moerlein
Dunkel — Smooth, dark lager
Glass: Pilsner or flute
Find: Dunkel Beer, Rivertown Brewing Company
Helles — A lighter version of a dunkel
Glass: Pilsner or flute
Find: Original Golden Helles, Christian Moerlein; Helles Lager, Rivertown Brewing Company
Marzen or Oktoberfest — A copper-colored lager traditionally brewed in March and aged until Oktoberfest; similar to a Bock — full-bodied, toasty and rich
Glass: Mug
Find: Oktoberfest marzen (July release), Rivertown Brewing Company
Pilsner — American pilsner is light-bodied and more carbonated with some slight hoppiness.
Glass: Pilsner
Find: Penny’s Pilsner German-style pilsner, Fifty West Brewing Company
Porter — Dry, dark brown to black and slightly lighter cousin of the stout
Glass: Mug or pint glass
Find: Fume cherrywood smoked porter, Blank Slate Brewing Company; Roebling vanilla espresso imperial robust porter malt beverage, Rivertown Brewing Company; Identity Crisis, MadTree Brewing Company; Nutcase peanut butter porter, Listermann Brewing Company
Rauchbier — German smoked beer
Glass: Mug or stange
Steam or California Common — A hybrid of an ale and a lager; completely unique to America.
Glass: Pint glass or pilsner
Vienna — Amber-red lager, often called “pre-Prohibtion” style
Glass: Mug or pilsner
Find: Moerlein Exposition Vienna Lager, Christian Moerlein
*Note: Basically any German-style lager (which is most) can be enjoyed out of a large, glass boot
Brewery info:
50 West Brewing Company, 7668 Wooster Pike, Mariemont, fiftywestbeer.com
Blank Slate Brewing Company, 4233 Airport Road, Unit C, East End, blankslatebeer.com
Cellar Dweller, 2276 E. U.S. 22 and OH 3, Morrow, valleyvineyards.com/cellardwellerbeers.html
Christian Moerlein, 1621 Moore St., Over-the-Rhine, christianmoerlein.com
Ei8ht Ball Brewing, 18 Distillery Way, Bellevue, Ky., ei8htballbrewing.com
Listermann/Triple Digit, 1621 Dana Ave., Evanston, listermannbrewing.com
MadTree Brewing Company, 5164 Kennedy Ave., Norwood/Ridge, madtreebrewing.com
Mt. Carmel Brewing Company, 4362 Mt. Carmel-Tobasco Road, Mt. Carmel, mtcarmelbrewingcompany.com
Rivertown, 607 Shepherd Drive, Unit 6, Lockland, rivertownbrewery.com
