Beerwright
Open the studio

Styles · Pre-Prohibition Lager

Beer style · BJCP 2021 27E

Pre-Prohibition Lager

Historical Beer

Published ranges These are the ranges the BJCP 2021 guidelines publish for this style.

Original gravity
1.044–1.060
Final gravity
1.010–1.015
Bitterness
25–40 IBU
Color
3–6 SRM (6–12 EBC)
Alcohol
4.5–6.0 % ABV

What it is

The American pale lager as it was before 1920: more gravity, more hops and more grainy corn character than anything sold under that name today. Flaked maize dries the finish while a firm bitterness and real hop flavor keep it from tasting bland.

Flavor

What a Pre-Prohibition 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

Floral, with room for herbal, spice, resin/pine or earthy/woody.

Malt

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

Fermentation

Clean, with room for sulfur.

Hops that suit it

The traditional choice

What Pre-Prohibition 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 27 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.