Beer Style

I am about to try my first AG brew and it is taken from Greg Hughes Home Brew Beer, page 119 EKG Single Hop Ale. My question is when using brew software it asks for the style of beer. It doesn't mention this in his book. Can anyone offer up some answers. Thanks in advance.

private4587 said:

I am about to try my first AG brew and it is taken from Greg Hughes Home Brew Beer, page 119 EKG Single Hop Ale. My question is when using brew software it asks for the style of beer. It doesn't mention this in his book. Can anyone offer up some answers. Thanks in advance.

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Think i would stick it in as an IPA. Brewdog happen to do a single hop Goldings classed as an IPA.

Ignore styles. Meaningless trite for entering competitions (Stateside?). Doing something that you've always done for good reason and then having some software flag it up "red" is utter twaddle.


I serve a lot of my beers through hand-pumps. The "styles" don't like them. Should I burn my collection of hand-pumps? And get regular deliveries of CO2?

peebee said:

Ignore styles. Meaningless trite for entering competitions (Stateside?). Doing something that you've always done for good reason and then having some software flag it up "red" is utter twaddle.


I serve a lot of my beers through hand-pumps. The "styles" don't like them. Should I burn my collection of hand-pumps? And get regular deliveries of CO2?

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Burn em:nono:

na send em to me:mrgreen:

private4587 said:

I am about to try my first AG brew and it is taken from Greg Hughes Home Brew Beer, page 119 EKG Single Hop Ale. My question is when using brew software it asks for the style of beer. It doesn't mention this in his book. Can anyone offer up some answers. Thanks in advance.

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That was the first beer I made in the wonderful Grainfather.

As it is the actual epitome of English beer, I feel you should not give too much bother to categorisation.

peebee said:

Ignore styles. Meaningless trite for entering competitions (Stateside?). Doing something that you've always done for good reason and then having some software flag it up "red" is utter twaddle.


I serve a lot of my beers through hand-pumps. The "styles" don't like them. Should I burn my collection of hand-pumps? And get regular deliveries of CO2?

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Someone needs a chill pill.

OP put it down as a pale ale or IPA. It helps to add a style when using software because it gives you guidelines

Leon103 said:

Someone needs a chill pill.

OP put it down as a pale ale or IPA. It helps to add a style when using software because it gives you guidelines

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Styles are only any use if they've been made by people who understand how styles fit with a particular area.

The styles most frequently used are all American. Not British.

So we should use these and wave goodbye to any British idiosyncrasies? Some would say "yes" and deserve to be ignored. Even the people writing the American style guides wouldn't like to see them applied abroad and help destroy the beer styles in that country.

The OP put it down as a pale ale or IPA? So the OP want's APA or AIPA pushed on them?

peebee said:

Styles are only any use if they've been made by people who understand how styles fit with a particular area.

The styles most frequently used are all American. Not British.

So we should use these and wave goodbye to any British idiosyncrasies? Some would say "yes" and deserve to be ignored. Even the people writing the American style guides wouldn't like to see them applied abroad and help destroy the beer styles in that country.

The OP put it down as a pale ale or IPA? So the OP want's APA or AIPA pushed on them?

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I stand corrected someone needs two chill pills

private4587 said:

I am about to try my first AG brew and it is taken from Greg Hughes Home Brew Beer, page 119 EKG Single Hop Ale. My question is when using brew software it asks for the style of beer. It doesn't mention this in his book. Can anyone offer up some answers. Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

it's only useful if you really want to brew something to a particular style and or are entering a competition where there are 'style' categories to have the colour abv and bitterness correct. I go freestyle these days and brew wheats with lots of hops or 'stout' with Belgian yeast for example.

the software may show you to be out of style based on what you entered, so if you're following a trusted recipe don't worry about it. :thumb:

private4587 said:

I am about to try my first AG brew and it is taken from Greg Hughes Home Brew Beer, page 119 EKG Single Hop Ale. My question is when using brew software it asks for the style of beer. It doesn't mention this in his book. Can anyone offer up some answers. Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

As you are using a trusted recipe, I wouldn't worry about style in software, it is only really useful when creating your own recipes. Guidelines are useful, but that is what they are, guidelines. Not rules.

Leon103 said:

I stand corrected someone needs two chill pills

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The "chill pills" are sodium valproate. And I take two three times a day. You're telling me they ain't working? Or the "someone" is someone else?

I'd come across someone else's prattling about "styles" who's probably even more anti them than I've been - took a bit of finding but eventually... Nothing like a bit of name-dropping, so this is Clive La Pensée's view in "India Pale Ale" (Homebrew Classics):

"Beer styles have surely done more to ruin an amateur brewer's joy of his craft than any other single thing. Please, don't spend your life jumping over your own shadow wondering if this or that is a genuine IPA. Enjoy the fruits of your labour instead.".

The exclusion of women in this statement is perhaps a sign of those times or a suggestion that female brewers wouldn't be so daft.

private4587 said:

I am about to try my first AG brew and it is taken from Greg Hughes Home Brew Beer, page 119 EKG Single Hop Ale. My question is when using brew software it asks for the style of beer. It doesn't mention this in his book. Can anyone offer up some answers. Thanks in advance.

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Extra Special Bitter.

Sorry this took so long.