Amber and dark lager

International Amber Lager

BJCP 2B

The amber export lager: a little caramel, a little toast, and a balance that leans sweet. Vienna lager's mass-market descendant, brewed on five continents.

Vital statistics

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

Original gravity

1.042 - 1.055

Final gravity

1.008 - 1.014

Bitterness

8 IBU - 25 IBU

Colour

7 SRM - 14 SRM

Alcohol

4.6% - 6%

Colour also 14-28 EBC

What goes wrong

Adding roast. Any coffee note pushes it into the dark category, and the style's whole character is caramel without bitterness.

Commercial examples

Abita AmberBrooklyn LagerDos Equis AmberGrain Belt NordEastYuengling Lager

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 amber and dark lager family

International Dark Lager

4.2-6% · 8-20 IBU

Czech Amber Lager

4.4-5.8% · 20-35 IBU

Czech Dark Lager

4.4-5.8% · 18-34 IBU

Marzen

5.6-6.3% · 18-24 IBU

Rauchbier

4.8-6% · 18-30 IBU

Vienna Lager

4.7-5.5% · 18-30 IBU

Altbier

4.3-5.5% · 25-50 IBU

Munich Dunkel

4.5-5.6% · 18-28 IBU

Schwarzbier

4.4-5.4% · 20-35 IBU

Plan a batch to these numbers.

Bitterness Colour Alcohol