Style: American Light Lager

All Styles

Style Profile based on 3,362 recipes

BU:GU

0.32

Hops

5.2 g/L

Mash pH

5.59

Dry Hop

0.4 g/L

Style Guidelines BJCP 2015 Beer

1.028 1.04

1.053

0.998 1.008

1.012

IBU

8 12

ABV

2.8% 4.2%

5.4%

SRM

2 3

Description

Highly carbonated, very light-bodied, nearly flavorless lager designed to be consumed very cold. Very refreshing and thirst quenching. History: Coors briefly made a light lager in the early 1940s. Modern versions were first produced by Rheingold in 1967 to appeal to diet-conscious drinkers, but only became popular starting in 1973 after Miller Brewing acquired the recipe and marketed the beer heavily to sports fans with the “tastes great, less filling” campaign. Beers of this genre became the largest sellers in the United States in the 1990s. Style Comparison: A lighter-bodied, lower-alcohol, lower calorie version of an American Lager. Less hop character and bitterness than a Leichtbier.

Examples: Bud Light, Coors Light, Keystone Light, Michelob Light, Miller Lite, Old Milwaukee Light

Typical Grain Bill

52% Pale
28% Pilsner
7% Toast
6% Wheat
4% Crystal

% of total grain weight across all recipes · sums to ~100%

Common Additions

% of American Light Lager recipes using each malt category (addition % in brackets)

Hop Usage by Addition Type

g/L · median with IQR range

Bittering

0.35 g/L 1.37 g/L

0.75 g/L

Flavour

0.35 g/L 1.37 g/L

0.69 g/L

Aroma

0.44 g/L 1.74 g/L

1.01 g/L

Whirlpool

0.51 g/L 2.65 g/L

1.37 g/L

Dry Hop

0.77 g/L 2.97 g/L

1.5 g/L

Common Hops

% of American Light Lager recipes using each hop

Dry-Hop Rate by Year

g/L · median with IQR range

2018

0.88 g/L 3.73 g/L

1.5 g/L

2019

0.73 g/L 3 g/L

1.69 g/L

2020

1.31 g/L 2.22 g/L

1.5 g/L

2021

2.13 g/L 2.13 g/L

2.13 g/L

2022

1.37 g/L 2.16 g/L

1.6 g/L

2023

0.7 g/L 2.63 g/L

1.43 g/L

2024

0.42 g/L 1.03 g/L

0.63 g/L

dated American Light Lager recipes with at least one dry-hop addition

Common Fermentables

Colour = malt category · bar = % of recipes

Common Yeasts

% of American Light Lager recipes using each strain

Mash Profile

79% Single Infusion
13% Step Mash
8% Decoction

479 recipes with mash data

Typical Water Profile

80 ppm Ca²⁺
5 ppm Mg²⁺
25 ppm Na⁺
75 ppm Cl⁻
80 ppm SO₄²⁻
100 ppm HCO₃⁻

median across recipes with a declared water profile

Similar Styles

Ranked by similarity across OG, IBU, ABV, hop rate, and grist composition.

Australian Sparkling Ale

90%

Blonde Ale

89%

Mixed-Fermentation Sour Beer

87%

Saison

87%

International Amber Lager

87%

Search recipes...