Style: American Pale Ale

All Styles

Style Profile based on 13,091 recipes

BU:GU

0.74

Hops

6.4 g/L

Mash pH

5.56

Dry hop

0.5 g/L

Style Guidelines BJCP 2015 Beer
OG
1.045 1.06
1.054
FG
1.01 1.015
1.012
IBU
30 50
40
ABV
4.5% 6.2%
5.5%
SRM
5 10
Description

A pale, refreshing and hoppy ale, yet with sufficient supporting malt to make the beer balanced and drinkable. The clean hop presence can reflect classic or modern American or New World hop varieties with a wide range of characteristics. An average-strength hop-forward pale American craft beer, generally balanced to be more accessible than modern American IPAs. History: A modern American craft beer era adaptation of English pale ale, reflecting indigenous ingredients (hops, malt, yeast, and water). Prior to the explosion in popularity of IPAs, was traditionally the most well-known and popular of American craft beers. Style Comparison: Typically lighter in color, cleaner in fermentation by-products, and having less caramel flavors than English counterparts. There can be some overlap in color between American pale ale and American amber ale. The American pale ale will generally be cleaner, have a less caramelly malt profile, less body, and often more finishing hops. Less bitterness in the balance and alcohol strength than an American IPA. More balanced and drinkable, and less intensely hop-focused and bitter than session-strength American IPAs (aka Session IPAs).

Examples: Ballast Point Grunion Pale Ale, Firestone Walker Pale 31, Great Lakes Burning River, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Stone Pale Ale, Tröegs Pale Ale

Typical Grain Bill

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

Common Additions

% of American Pale Ale recipes using each malt category (addition % in brackets)

Hop Usage by Addition Type

g/L · median with IQR range

Bittering
0.22 g/L 1.13 g/L
0.47 g/L
Flavour
0.27 g/L 1.37 g/L
0.63 g/L
Aroma
0.37 g/L 1.59 g/L
0.78 g/L
Whirlpool
0.4 g/L 1.88 g/L
0.84 g/L
Dry Hop
0.61 g/L 2.55 g/L
1.29 g/L

Common Hops

% of American Pale Ale recipes using each hop

Typical Water Profile

Ca²⁺ 75 ppm
Mg²⁺ 5 ppm
Na⁺ 10 ppm
Cl⁻ 50 ppm
SO₄²⁻ 132 ppm
HCO₃⁻ 0 ppm

median across recipes with a declared water profile

Similar Styles

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