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Styles · Kellerbier

Beer style · BJCP 2021 7C

Kellerbier

Amber Bitter European Beer

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

Original gravity
1.045–1.060
Final gravity
1.008–1.015
Bitterness
20–35 IBU
Color
3–17 SRM (6–33 EBC)
Alcohol
4.7–5.8 % ABV

What it is

Unfiltered German lager served young and often straight from the cask, which makes it rounder, softer and hazier than the filtered version of the same beer. Depending on the brewery it can be pale or amber. Freshness, low carbonation and a lively hop or yeast lift are the whole appeal.

Flavor

What a Kellerbier 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

Floral, with room for herbal, spice or grassy.

Malt

Grainy and bready/biscuit, with room for sweet/honey.

Fermentation

Clean, with room for sulfur.

Hops that suit it

The traditional choice

What Kellerbier 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 5 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.

And 15 more yeasts whose character fits. These are the 24 that fit best.

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.