Glossary of Lager beer styles
American Lager
A pale, very light bodied, and lightly hopped lager. Made with a percentage of adjuncts like rice and/or corn which contribute to the light profile.
Bock
A stronger, full bodied, normally lightly hopped lager. Regular bocks are usually moderately dark, though pale versions exist as well. Doppelbocks are double-strength with even more body and alcohol. Pale (Helles) bocks are usually more hoppy then dark bocks.
California Common
(AKA "Steam Beer")A lager fermented at warmer temperatures. Moderately hopped and light amber in color. Anchor Brewing in San Francisco has trademarked the term "Steam Beer."
Dortmunder
A golden lager similar to Pilsner, but a bit more full bodied and with less hop bitterness.
Dunkel
A delicate dark lager, malty and bready and lightly hopped with just a hint of chocolate or roasted character.
Helles
A light colored lager with low hop bitterness and smooth, medium malty body. Similar to Pilsner but less hoppy and bitter. "Helles" is a German term for "pale colored"
Kellerbier
A hazy lager, unclarified by either filtration or long storage. Usually is less crisp and clean because of the shorter fermentation or lack of filtration.
Mexican lager
A somewhat nebulous term referring to the style of lagers brewed by Mexican breweries. Usually very light bodied, lightly hopped, and often brewed using flaked maize (corn) which contributes to the light dryness. Can vary from pale to amber in color, the darker versions are essentially lightened versions of a Vienna lager.
Oktoberfest/Marzen
A malty, amber lager typically associated with the fall season. "Fest" beer versions are sometimes golden in color,
Pilsner
A clean, crisp, light bodied golden lager with significant hop bitterness.
Schwartzbier
A dark black lager, light bodied with a balanced roasty flavor from the dark malt.
Vienna
An amber lager similar to Oktoberfest/Marzen but a bit lighter in body and malt.
Other Styles very similar to Lager but technically ales:
Altbier
A smooth, dark amber beer with moderate hop bitterness. Very clean and crisp like a lager, though a strain of ale yeast is used.
Kolsch
A blonde colored, dry and clean beer with moderate hop bitterness. Also clean and crisp like lager though an ale strain is used.
Cream Ale
Similar to American Lager but with a bit more fruitiness due to the use of an ale strain. Still clean and crisp and light due to the use of a percentage of corn as an adjunct.