English-Style Summer Ale

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Location:British
Category:Ale

Beer Style Description

This is the description of how the English-Style Summer Ale style of beer should taste, feel and look. However, there may be perfectly fine beers in this style that fall outside of these ranges and descriptions. This information is just to show the most commonly accepted ranges for the English-Style Summer Ale beer style.

The overall impression is refreshing and thirst quenching

  • Color: Straw to gold
  • Body: Low to medium-low
  • Malt Flavors & Aromas: Residual malt sweetness is low to medium. Torrified or malted wheat is often used in quantities of 25 percent or less. Malt attributes such as biscuity or low levels of caramel are present.
  • Hop Flavors & Aromas: English, American or noble-type hop aroma should be low to medium. English, American or noble-type hop flavor should not be assertive and should be well balanced with malt character.
  • IBUs/Bitterness: Medium-low to medium
  • Fermentation Characteristics: Mild carbonation traditionally characterizes draft-cask versions, but in bottled versions, a slight increase in carbon dioxide content is acceptable. Fruity esters are low to medium. Diacetyl and DMS should not be present.

Brewing Properties of English-Style Summer Ale

These are the functional brewing properties of English-Style Summer Ale beers, as descided by the Brewers Association. These guidelines reflect, as accurately as possible, the historical significance, authenticity or a common profile in the current commercial beer market.

ABV
The alcohol by volume is shows the amount of alcohol this style of beer should have.
3.7 - 5.1%
Bitterness
The International Bittering Units (IBU) scale is used to approximately quantify the actual (not perceived) bitterness of beer.
20 - 30 IBUs
SRM
SRM is a scale for measuring the color intensity of a beer. Low SRM grains impart a pale straw color while higher values mean it will add a darker color to the wort. Learn more »
–
3 - 6 SRM
(6 - 12 EBC)
Original Gravity
Original Gravity (OG) is a measure of the sugar content in the wort before alcoholic fermentation has started to produce the beer.
1.036 - 1.050
Final Gravity
The Final Gravity (FG) is how much sugar is left over in the beer when fermentation is complete.
1.006 - 1.012

If you see an error in our data, please let us know!

Based on Brewers Association 2020 Beer Style Guidelines with changes. Used with permission of Brewer's Association.