British ale

British Golden Ale

BJCP 12A

Britain's answer to lager: pale, dry, and hoppier than a bitter, brewed to be drunk cold in summer.

Vital statistics

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

Original gravity

1.038 - 1.053

Final gravity

1.006 - 1.012

Bitterness

20 IBU - 45 IBU

Colour

2 SRM - 6 SRM

Alcohol

3.8% - 5%

Colour also 4-12 EBC

What goes wrong

Too much crystal malt. This style wants pale malt and little else.

Commercial examples

Adnams ExplorerCrouch Vale Brewers GoldExmoor GoldHop Back Summer LightningOakham JHBSpitfire Golden Ale

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 british ale family

11A

Ordinary Bitter

3.2-3.8% · 25-35 IBU

11B

Best Bitter

3.8-4.6% · 25-40 IBU

11C

Strong Bitter

4.6-6.2% · 30-50 IBU

12B

Australian Sparkling Ale

4.5-6% · 20-35 IBU

13A

Dark Mild

3-3.8% · 10-25 IBU

13B

British Brown Ale

4.2-5.9% · 20-30 IBU

Plan a batch to these numbers.

Bitterness Colour Alcohol