Style: German Leichtbier

All Styles

Style Profile based on 102 recipes

BU:GU

0.59

Hops

5.4 g/L

Mash pH

5.48

Dry Hop

0.1 g/L

Style Guidelines BJCP 2015 Beer

1.026 1.034

1.047

1.006 1.01

1.011

IBU

15 28

ABV

2.4% 3.6%

4.8%

SRM

2 5

Description

A pale, highly-attenuated, light-bodied German lager with lower alcohol and calories than normal-strength beers. Moderately bitter with noticeable malt and hop flavors, the beer is still interesting to drink. History: Traditional versions existed as drinks for physical laborers in factories or fields, but modern versions are more based on popular American products in the same class. Style Comparison: Like a lower-alcohol, lighter-bodied, slightly less aggressive German Pils or Helles.

Examples: Beck’s Light, Bitburger Light, Mahr’s Leicht, Paulaner Münchner Hell Leicht, Paulaner Premium Leicht

Typical Grain Bill

43% Pilsner
32% Pale
17% Toast
6% Crystal

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

Common Additions

% of German Leichtbier recipes using each malt category (addition % in brackets)

Hop Usage by Addition Type

g/L · median with IQR range

Bittering

0.37 g/L 1.28 g/L

0.62 g/L

Flavour

0.56 g/L 1.37 g/L

0.69 g/L

Aroma

0.59 g/L 1.68 g/L

1.13 g/L

Whirlpool

0.7 g/L 2.03 g/L

1.31 g/L

Dry Hop

1.37 g/L 2.73 g/L

1.82 g/L

Common Hops

% of German Leichtbier recipes using each hop

Dry-Hop Rate by Year

g/L · median with IQR range

2020

1.71 g/L 2.39 g/L

2.05 g/L

2023

0.66 g/L 1.43 g/L

1.04 g/L

dated German Leichtbier recipes with at least one dry-hop addition

Common Fermentables

Colour = malt category · bar = % of recipes

Common Yeasts

% of German Leichtbier recipes using each strain

Mash Profile

74% Single Infusion
22% Step Mash
4% Decoction

23 recipes with mash data

Typical Water Profile

66 ppm Ca²⁺
5 ppm Mg²⁺
10 ppm Na⁺
61 ppm Cl⁻
75 ppm SO₄²⁻
25 ppm HCO₃⁻

median across recipes with a declared water profile

Similar Styles

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

Czech Pale Lager

96%

International Pale Lager

British Golden Ale

German Pils

Trappist Single

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