Belgian and farmhouse

Belgian Pale Ale

BJCP 24B

The Belgian everyday beer: toasty amber malt, a restrained pear-and-pepper yeast character, and enough bitterness to finish clean. Much quieter than the strong Belgian styles.

Vital statistics

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

Original gravity

1.048 - 1.054

Final gravity

1.010 - 1.014

Bitterness

20 IBU - 30 IBU

Colour

8 SRM - 14 SRM

Alcohol

4.8% - 5.5%

Colour also 16-28 EBC

What goes wrong

Fermenting too warm. This is one Belgian style that wants restraint, and a big phenolic character overwhelms the malt it is supposed to sit beside.

Commercial examples

De Koninck BollekeDe Ryck SpecialPalmPalm Dobbel

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 belgian and farmhouse family

24C

Biere de Garde

6-8.5% · 18-28 IBU

25A

Belgian Blond Ale

6-7.5% · 15-30 IBU

25B

Saison

5-7% · 20-35 IBU

25C

Belgian Golden Strong Ale