All Origin Hybrid/Mixed Lagers or Ales
Mixed / specialty · Varies with underlying style
Malt, hops, and body depend on the underlying style or ingredients. Read the guideline details for the character that defines this category.
Reading guide · The complete guideline attributes below preserve the source’s qualifications.Varies with style
Varies with style. No numeric color range is assigned.
Varies with underlying style · Illustrative colors on the shared, uneven SRM scale.
Return to color discoveryVaries with style
No numeric range is specified.
Varies with style
No numeric range is specified.
Brewers Association 2026 · Printed guideline page 63 · PDF page 72. Color graphics are illustrative.
Official style attributes, including what may be present and what should be absent.
Varies with underlying style. Grains and fermentables which differ from those typically used to produce a given beer style can and will produce flavor and aroma outcomes that differ from traditional versions. Such differences are to be expected and are acceptable.
Varies with underlying style
Varies with underlying style
Varies with underlying style
Varies with underlying style
Varies with underlying style
Although brewers may design and identify these beers according to defined style guidelines, these beers should be evaluated on their own merits without strict adherence to defined style parameters.
This category includes lagers, ales or other beers made from fermentable sugars, grains and converted carbohydrates and must also include some portion of cereal. All ingredients must be free of gluten. Within the framework of these guidelines, beers brewed with barley, wheat, spelt, rye, and other gluten-containing ingredients may not be categorized as Gluten-Free. Gluten-Free Beers may contain malted grains that are gluten-free. NOTE: These guidelines do not supersede any government regulations. Wine, mead, flavored malt beverages or beverages other than ‘beer’ as defined by the TTB (U.S. Trade and Tax Bureau) are not considered ‘gluten-free beer’ under these guidelines. Gluten-reduced beers’ original ingredients would have gluten content that has been reduced by enzymes or other processes to reduced levels. Gluten-reduced beers should be categorized in the classic style category most appropriate for the beer, rather than as Gluten-Free Beer. When using these guidelines as the basis for evaluating entries at competitions, brewers may be asked to provide supplemental information about entries in this category to allow for accurate evaluation of diverse entries. Such information might include an underlying beer style if appropriate, gluten-free grains or other carbohydrate sources, or other information unique to the entry such as ingredients or processing which influence perceived sensory outcomes such as microflora, fruit, spices, other ingredients, wood-aging, etc.
Original Gravity (°Plato) Varies with style • Apparent Extract/Final Gravity (°Plato) Varies with style • Alcohol by Weight (Volume) Varies with style • Hop Bitterness (IBU) Varies with style • Color SRM (EBC)