Categories and Beer Styles of the European Beer Star

In order to facilitate sensory evaluation, it is necessary for the brewery to provide additional information about the beer when submitting the entry:

• Indication of the type of beer
  

Please note the colour- and alcohol ranges in this category!
Barrel-aged representants must be submitted in the category Wood and Barrel Aged Strong Beer.

Please note the colour- and alcohol ranges in this category!
Barrel-aged representants must be submitted in the category Wood and Barrel Aged Strong Beer.

Please note the colour- and alcohol ranges in this category!
Barrel-aged representants must be submitted in the category Wood and Barrel Aged Strong Beer.

In order to facilitate sensory evaluation, it is necessary for the brewery to provide additional information about the beer when submitting the entry:

• Indication of the type of beer

Note: Sour Beers with recognizable wood barrel aging aromas should be submitted in the category "Wood and Barrel Aged Sour Beer". Traditional Belgian Geuze should be submitted in the designated category "Belgian-Style Geuze". Traditional Berliner Weiße and Gose without fruit additions are to be submitted in the category “German-Style Sour Beer”.

In order to facilitate sensory evaluation, it is necessary for the brewery to provide additional information about the beer when submitting the entry:

• Indication of the type of beer
• Type of fruit used during brewing
  

Fruit beers with a pronounced milk-sour character should be submitted in the “Sour and Fruit Sour Beer” category.
Beer mixed with soft drinks or fruit juice are NOT included in this category.

The brewery should give the following, additional details of the beer during registration to facilitate the sensory evaluation:

• Type of beer
  
• Type of fruit used during brewing
  

Beers which have been aged in a wooden barrel over a longer period of time, or were matured in contact with wood, and therefore possess sensible sensory characteristics originating from the wood with which it was in contact (e.g. aromas reminiscent of vanilla, coconut, tobacco, caramel, honey, black tea or earthy aromas)

Due to the special ageing process, these beers can also have a very low CO2 content; beers without foam can therefore also be regarded as typical of this type

The brewery should give the following, additional details of the beer during registration to facilitate the sensory evaluation:

• Type of beer before being aged in barrels
• Type of wood used (new or old, oak or other wood type)
• The product that was stored in the barrel before
• Added fruits
  

The grape content of this hybrid of malt and grapes can be up to 40% of the total extract. Both grapes and grape must (the latter also partially boiled down) can be used at various stages of the brewing process.

The objective of this beer style is to achieve a balance between the wine and beer character. The wide variety of raw material selection like for example the use of pale malts up to roasted malts in various brewing processes result in a very broad sensory spectrum in this beer style.

Hops aroma is rather subtle in the background

Turbidity is allowed

No Diacetyl

The grape varieties used (red or white) should be recognizable in their typicality.

Both classic brewing yeasts (top or bottom fermenting) or/and wild wine yeasts as well as acid-forming bacteria are permitted during fermentation. Accordingly, acid notes as well as harmoniously integrated Brettanomyces aromas are possible.

Barrel-aged versions may show typical aromas accordingly.

Note: In order to enable the tasters to assess the typicity of the grape variety(ies) used, as well as the underlying beer character, appropriate information should be provided by the sender in this regard.

• Specification of grapes used                                                                               
  
• Specification on fermentation (top/bottom fermented, spontaneous, mixed)

• Spontaneous fermentation
• Colour: golden to amber
• Beer should be served bright, but some haze can be present due to sediment from bottle fermentation
• Aroma: Moderately sour, accented by ethyl esters and grapefruit-aroma. Complex but balanced funky flavours such as leather, goaty or horse blanket may be present. Hints of barrique aromas are acceptable but should not be dominant. Low perception of DMS is tolerated.
• Flavour: For this beer style malted barley and unmalted wheat (minimum 30%) are used. The malt is supportive. The beer has a taste that refers to sparkling wine, but the unmalted wheat can add some grainy flavours to the overall perception.
• The beers of this category should be made with traditional spontaneous fermentation and aged in wooden barrels and therefore present complex and typical lactic acid and Brettanomyces flavours. The perceived sourness should not be one-dimensional. Geuze is a bottle fermented blend of young and up to 3 years old Lambic. The complexity increases when the blend contains larger parts of old Lambic. Through bottle fermentation, the carbonisation is high to very high and results in a lively, tart and refreshing mouthfeel with low astringency. Dominant acetic acid and vinegar notes are considered an off-flavour.
• Body: medium to medium-low
• Bitterness: low; Perceived hop aroma: none
• No Diacetyl; burned rubber and plastic flavour is considered an off-flavour.

The brewery should give the following, additional details of the beer during registration to facilitate the sensory evaluation:

• Ingredients used during brewing

• Colour: pale gold to dark amber.´
• Yeast(s): a wide range of yeasts can be used.
• Historically, this style ranges from vinous and sour mix-fermented beers with wild Brettanomyces and lactic bacteria, to cleaner, Saccharomyces-only, hoppy-bitter ales.
• Phenolic notes are often encountered but are not mandatory. If present, they should not overwhelm the beer but must be well-integrated.
• Esters from the different microorganisms possibly involved are present, but in balance.
• Cereals: any “noble” cereal can be used. 100% malted barley can be used but malted or unmalted spelt, wheat, oats or buckwheat can be added too.
• The bitterness is mild to high, even for the sour versions, but, if high, it must be integrated.
• For the hoppy versions, hoppy aromas of the noble or earthy type should be noticeable. They can contribute to some fruitiness, especially slightly citrusy but must be balanced.
• Spices are allowed, but not mandatory. Addition of fruits is not allowed.
• To distinct them from other styles, an important trait is that they should have some “rustic” character, coming from either the fermentation organism(s), the grains or the hops used.
• Dry finish
• No diacetyl
• Turbidity is allowed

Note: "German-Style Leichtbier", "South German-Style Leichtes Weizen", "Grodziskie", "Session India Pale Ale" and "Bohemian-Style Session Lager" must be entered in their respective categories.

In order to facilitate sensory evaluation, it is necessary for the brewery to provide additional information about the beer upon entry:

• Indication of the beer type

In order to facilitate sensory evaluation, it is necessary for the brewery to provide additional information about the beer during registration:

• Indication of the type of beer

In order to facilitate sensory evaluation, it is necessary for the brewery to provide additional information about the beer during registration:

• Indication of the type of beer

Baltic Portes with additions need to be submitted in the category “Herb and Spice Beer”. Barrel aged samples must be submitted in the category “Wood and Barrel Aged Beer”

In order to facilitate sensory evaluation, it is necessary for the brewery to provide additional information about the beer during registration:

• Indication of the type of beer

In order to facilitate sensory evaluation, it is necessary for the brewery to provide additional information about the beer during registration:

• Indication of the type of beer
• Indication of added flavours and additions
  

In order to facilitate sensory evaluation, it is necessary for the brewery to provide additional information about the beer when submitting the entry:

• Indication of the type of beer

Note: Smoke beers with the base style Märzen, Kellerbier, Helles or Dunkles must be submitted to the designated category "Franconian-Style Smoke Beer".

In order to facilitate sensory evaluation, it is necessary for the brewery to provide additional information about the beer when submitting the entry:

• Indication of the beer type

In order to facilitate sensory evaluation, it is necessary for the brewery to provide additional information about the beer when submitting the entry:

• Indication of the type of beer

Please note the compliance with the specified alcohol content when registering!

In order to facilitate the sensory evaluation, it is necessary that the brewery provides additional information on the beer during registration:

• Indication of the type of beer

In order to facilitate the sensory evaluation, it is necessary that the brewery provides additional information on the beer during registration:

• Indication of all added herbs and/or spices
• Indication of the type of beer
  

In order to facilitate the sensory evaluation, it is necessary that the brewery provides additional information on the beer during registration:

• Indication of the type of beer
• Indication of honey used
  

In order to facilitate sensory evaluation, it is necessary for the brewery to provide additional information about the beer during registration:

• Indication of the type of beer
• Indication of the added alternative cereals

Wood and Barrel Aged Strong Beers which are characterized by an acidic taste caused during barrel ageing have to be registered in category 26 Wood and Barrel Aged Sour Beer.

In order to facilitate sensory evaluation, it is necessary for the brewery to provide additional information about the beer when registering:

• Indication of the type of beer
  
• Type of wood or barrel used (new/old, type of wood)
  
• Information on the products that were previously stored in the barrel

The following beer styles are not allowed in this category (out of style):

• Imperial India Pale Ale
• Wood and Barrel Aged Strong Beer
• Wood and Barrel Aged Sour Beer

These beers must be entered in the corresponding categories.

To facilitate sensory evaluation, it is necessary for the brewery to provide additional information about the beer when registering:

• Indication of the type of beer

In order to facilitate sensory evaluation, it is necessary for the brewery to provide additional information about the beer during registration:

• Indication of the type of beer

In order to facilitate sensory evaluation, it is necessary for the brewery to provide additional information about the beer during registration:

• Indication of the type of beer