Golden or Blonde Ale

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Location:North American
Category:Ale
BJCP Comparable Category:18A - Blonde Ale

Beer Style Description

This is the description of how the Golden or Blonde 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 Golden or Blonde Ale beer style.

  • Color: Straw to gold
  • Body: Low to medium with a crisp finish
  • Malt Flavors & Aromas: Low malt sweetness and toast, cereal-like or other pale malt attributes should be present in flavor and aroma at low to medium-low levels.
  • Hop Flavors & Aromas: Hop aroma and flavor should be medium-low to medium, with attributes typical of hops of any origin present but not dominant.
  • IBUs/Bitterness: Low to medium
  • Fermentation Characteristics: Fruity esters may be present at low to medium-low levels. Diacetyl and DMS should not be present.
  • Common Ingredients: Generally all malt, but can include up to 25% wheat malt and some sugar adjuncts. Any hop variety can be used. Clean American, lightly fruity English, or Kölsch yeast. May also be made with lager yeast, or cold-conditioned. Some versions may have honey, spices and/or fruit added, although if any of these ingredients are stronger than a background flavor they should be entered in those specialty categories instead.
  • Commercial Examples: Kona Big Wave Golden Ale, Pelican Kiwanda Cream Ale, Russian River Aud Blonde, Victory Summer Love, Widmer Citra Summer Blonde Brew

Brewing Properties of Golden or Blonde Ale

These are the functional brewing properties of Golden or Blonde 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.
4.1 - 5.1%
Bitterness
The International Bittering Units (IBU) scale is used to approximately quantify the actual (not perceived) bitterness of beer.
15 - 25 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 - 7 SRM
(6 - 14 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.
1.045 - 1.054
Final Gravity
The Final Gravity (FG) is how much sugar is left over in the beer when fermentation is complete.
1.008 - 1.016

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.