There are many different styles of beer, but in judging beers there are 9 common classes that will be reviewed. This article summarizes one of these distinct classes of beer.

Class 1: Light Lagers

Light lagers basically consist of American Light (Budweiser, Coors, Michelob) and Pre-prohibition, German and Bohemian pilsners (Bitburger, Pilsner Urquell), Dortmunder Export (Stoudt’s Gold) and Munich Helles (Spaten Premium).

1. Light Lager

Styles

1. 1A. Lite American Lager

2. 1B. Standard American Lager

3. 1C. Premium American Lager

4. 1D. Munich Helles

5. 1E. Dortmunder Export

1A. Lite American Lager

Overall Impression: Very light, refreshing.

Comments: A lower calorie beer than standard international lagers. Not the strongest flavors. these beers were designed to appeal to massive populations.

Commercial Examples: Miller Lite, Bud Light, Coors Light, Amstel Light

1B. Standard American Lager

Comments: Flavors still not too strong. The standard lager is the most popular and the most mass-marketed.

Commercial Examples: Miller High Life, Budweiser, Kirin Lager, Molson Golden, Corona Extra, Foster’s Lager

1C. Premium American Lager

Overall Impression: More filling than lite versions. Still a very light beer. Refreshing.

Comments: More flavor than stadard/lite lagers, but no strong flavors present in the beer. Again, another mass market beer, however, much heavier than the others mentioned. The green bottled imports are included here like Heineken, for example.

Commercial Examples: Miller Genuine Draft, Michelob, Coors Extra Gold, Heineken, Beck’s, Stella Artois, Singha

1D. Munich Helles

Overall Impression: Malty but fully attenuated.

History: Created in Munich in 1895 at the Spaten brewery by Gabriel Sedlmayr. This beer was designed to compete directly with the ever-popular Pilsner style beers.

Comments: this beer focuses on malt flavor with some hop bitterness, which is much unlike the Pilsner style.

Commercial Examples: Hacker-Pschorr M̹nchner Helles, Paulaner Premium Lager, Spaten Premium Lager, Andechser Hell, Augustiner Lagerbier Hell, Weihenstephaner Original, Stoudt’s Gold Lager

1E. Dortmunder Export

Very well balanced, light copper colored beer. hop profile of a Munich Helles, hopped like a pilsner, but tends to be a bit stronger than those.

History: Born in the Dortmund industrial region, Dortmunder has been losing its popularity drastically in the region.

Commercial Examples: DAB Export, Dortmunder Union Export, Dortmunder Kronen, Ayinger Jahrhundert, Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold, Saratoga Lager, Dominion Lager, Gordon Biersch Golden Export