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Styles · Czech Amber Lager

Beer style · BJCP 2021 3C

Czech Amber Lager

Czech Lager

Representative The guidelines publish this style’s ranges per variant or not at all, so these are a representative envelope instead.

Original gravity
1.044–1.060
Final gravity
1.013–1.017
Bitterness
20–35 IBU
Color
10–16 SRM (20–32 EBC)
Alcohol
4.4–5.8 % ABV

What it is

A Czech lager built on caramel and Munich malts, giving toasted depth and sometimes a light caramel sweetness with the Saaz signature still audible underneath. Bitterness is moderate and supportive rather than assertive. It should read as the maltier sibling of the pale Czech lager, never as a sweet or roasty beer.

Flavor

What a Czech Amber Lager should taste like, on the three wheels the studio scores every recipe against. The shaded ring is the style’s range on each axis, from 0 at the center to 5 at the edge.

Hops

Room for floral, spice, herbal or earthy/woody.

Malt

Grainy, bready/biscuit, toasty and caramel, with room for sweet/honey or dark fruit.

Fermentation

Clean, with room for sulfur.

Hops that suit it

The traditional choice

What Czech Amber Lager has classically been brewed with.

Also right on character

Varieties whose loudest notes all sit on this style’s hop wheel, best fit first. How much to use is the recipe’s question; these are the ones that taste right.

And 11 more hops whose character fits. These are the 24 that fit best.

Yeasts that suit it

Strains the lab made for beers like this one, whose fermentation character sits inside the style’s wheel. A strain sold by several labs is listed once; its page names the others.

Style numbers, names and vital statistics are from the BJCP 2021 Beer Style Guidelines, where you will find the official descriptions. The descriptions and flavor wheels here are Beerwright’s own. Beerwright is not affiliated with or endorsed by the BJCP.