American Style Lagers

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American Style Lager

The style is categorized by a light-gold or straw color, moderate alcohol content (4-6% abv), and muted to nonexistent hop character (carried to an extreme in dry beer). Malt flavor is generally rather light, with a very light-bodied mouth feel.

One belief of the use of rice or corn as adjuncts seems to stem from the high protein content of American six-row barley, which can be more difficult to clarify than European two-row, the standard for most European beer styles; the use of the adjunct therefore dilutes the protein haze from the six-row barley as well as lightens the body of the beer. The use of rice in particular has an effect similar to the use of candi sugar in Belgian brewing, allowing the brewer to increase the alcohol content of the beer without changing the flavor or mouthfeel of the beer; the use of corn, on the other hand, gives a detectable flavor of corn that is not always desirable, though sometimes it is specifically sought out (especially in examples meant to emulate pre-Prohibition American beers). It is often the case that such adjuncts are used to reduce the production costs of the beer as well; in addition, hop additions have been decreased in mass-market beers over the years due to a desire to make a product more acceptable to a large number of people.

The primary reasoning for the use of rice in the domestic market is for its ability to reduce the cost of production. Rice in the brewing process destroys the subtle flavors of hops and barley present in most American lagers. Rice gained popularity in the domestic brewing market during World War II due to grain rationing on the home-front. Most breweries were unable to afford the necessary amounts of barley required for production and so began using rice as a filler. This also had the added benefit of lightening the flavor of beer making it more appealing to the new female workforce. After the war, the process was not changed and as a result the style changed as a whole, losing many of the subtle flavors that had characterized the style.

Some "premium" beers made in this style use only barley malt, with no corn or rice at all, though they are considered more or less the same style.