Strong ale

American Strong Ale

BJCP 22B

Strong, malty and aggressively hopped at once, sitting between a double IPA and an American barleywine without committing to either.

Vital statistics

Each bar is drawn against the full range of all 98 styles

Original gravity

1.062 - 1.090

Final gravity

1.014 - 1.024

Bitterness

50 IBU - 100 IBU

Colour

7 SRM - 19 SRM

Alcohol

6.3% - 10%

Colour also 14-37 EBC

What goes wrong

Ending up with neither. Decide whether the malt or the hop leads before you write the recipe, because the middle of this style is where beers go to be forgettable.

Commercial examples

Fat Head's Bone HeadGreat Lakes NosferatuOskar Blues G'KnightPort Brewing Shark AttackStone Arrogant Bastard

Reference examples of the style, as listed in the BJCP 2021 Style Guidelines. Availability varies by market and year.

Vital statistics as published in the BJCP 2021 Style Guidelines. Not yet checked against the published guidelines: treat these ranges as a planning aid and read the source at bjcp.org before entering a competition.

The rest of the strong ale family

17A

British Strong Ale

5.5-8% · 30-60 IBU

17B

Old Ale

5.5-9% · 30-60 IBU

17D

English Barleywine

8-12% · 35-70 IBU

20C

Imperial Stout