The Birthplaces of Every Popular Style of Beer [MAP]

Beer isn’t just the most popular alcoholic beverage in the world — it’s also one of the most popular beverages in general. Behind water and tea, beer is the most consumed drink on the planet, and it’s got some serious history behind it. From the earliest stages of human existence, people have brewed beer, and today, it’s produced in nearly every country.

Over the centuries as beer production expanded and migrated, styles evolved and new categories emerged. Today, the Brewers Association recognizes approximately 175 beer styles, with each grouped into one of 15 overarching style families spanning everything from lagers, to ales, to IPAs. But where do each of these styles actually come from? And who was the first to brew it?

Check out our map below to discover the birthplace of 14 of the most popular beer styles.

Gose

Goslar, Germany

First brewed in Goslar in the year 1000, gose beer predates the Reinheitsgebot (German Beer Purity Law) by more than 400 years, which explains its less-than-conventional ingredients. In the simplest terms, a gose is a beer that is top-fermented German wheat beer made with lactic fermentation, which gives the style a distinctly sour taste. In a further departure from German tradition, gose beers are flavored with salt and coriander. The beer style gets its name from the Gose River, which runs through the broader Lower Saxony region and was the original water source for brewing the beer. Despite having roots in the Middle Ages, it wasn’t until 1738 that the gose would rise to prominence as Goslar brewers sought out bigger markets in nearby Leipzig and Halle. The former city was particularly important for the category, quickly contributing to production in order to fulfill demand. By the 1800s, there were over 80 gosenschenke (gose taverns) operational in Leipzig, each of which open-fermented the beer right there on the premises.

Unfortunately, the 1900s spelled trouble for the style, and World War II caused many German brewers to close their doors. Following the war, Leipzig, which was located in East Germany, struggled to recover and gose production continued to dwindle. By 1966, the style was extinct. That was until 1986 when Lothar Goldhahn found an old gosenschenke, reopened the pub, and brought gose back to life. By 1995, the style was fully revived when production was outsourced to the Bavarian Andreas Schneider brewery.

Witbier

Leuven, Belgium

While the name witbier might make you think there’s a higher dose of wheat in the brew, the style actually translates to “white beer,” and that’s because of the color of the beer itself. First brewed by monastic brewers in the Leuven region of Belgium in the 1300s, witbiers are characterized by the use of unmalted wheat, which contributes to the beer’s hazy pale hue. Witbier is also notable for the coriander and orange peel used during the brewing process, which lend a citrusy, botanical profile. By the 1500s, witbier was brewed throughout Belgium’s Flemish region, which encompasses the village of Hoegaarden, which boasted 36 breweries in the late 1700s, despite only having 2,000 residents. Things shifted in the 1900s, though, when the last brewery in Hoegaarden closed its doors in 1957.

But in 1966, the style had a powerful resurgence when milkman Pierre Celis started a new brewery out of his apartment and dubbed his creation Hoegaarden witbier in homage to his hometown. Today, Hoegaarden is owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, though it remains one of the most popular witbiers on the market.

Lager

Bavaria, Germany

First brewed in the German state of Bavaria in the 1400s, the lager is one of the most historic (and most enjoyed) styles of beer. Distinct from the ale category — which is any beer made from top-fermenting yeasts — lagers are a broad class of beers that encompasses any brew made from bottom-fermenting yeast at cooler temperatures. In the 1400s, lager was actually produced out of necessity in order to meet demand, not because the style was preferred. At that time, brewers were looking to produce more beer in the winter months, but they needed a way to keep it fresh until the summer. Luckily, bottom-fermenting yeasts like Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Saccharomyces eubayanus are cold-tolerant, meaning beers made from the strains were better equipped to withstand cold German winters in the cellar. This is actually where the style gets its name — in German, the word “lagern” means “to store.”

While the Germans were the creators of the category, not all lagers are produced in the German style. The Brewers Association currently recognizes four distinct types of lager — European Origin, North American Origin, German Origin, and Other Origin — with each housing several sub-styles.

Red Ale

Kilkenny, Ireland

The exact origins of red ale are challenging to pin down, but what is known is that the first-known mention of the beer is in Celtic, hence why the style is often referred to as the Irish red ale. These early Celtic beers were likely similar to the red ales we know today, though they became much more refined when the friars moved to Kilkenny. There, the order established the St. Francis Abbey, a Franciscan abbey, in the 13th century, and brewing started on the grounds shortly thereafter. However, only a few centuries later, the friars were forced to vacate the abbey during the English Reformation. While a few friars eventually returned, the order had dwindled significantly, with only a handful remaining in the 1700s.

In 1710, Kilkenny resident John Smithwick established Smithwicks Brewery on the grounds of the abbey’s former brewhouse and got to work producing a red ale. This beer was characterized, of course, by its copper color, but also by its heavy malt and roasted barley flavors, with hops playing second fiddle. Smithwicks still produces its flagship red ale to this day, though in 1965 it was purchased by Guinness (now owned by Diageo), and in 2013 production was moved from Kilkenny to Dublin.

Stout

London, England

While stout might today be considered its own category of beer (with numerous sub-styles), the style actually originated as a version of the porter. And while Ireland might be synonymous with modern stout production, the style was actually born in London. In the 1700s, dark-hued, malty porters were extremely popular among the working-class tradesmen who transported goods around the city — a.k.a. porters, hence the name. But as demand for higher-ABV porters grew, London brewers got to work crafting a boozier beer they referred to as stout porter. As popularity spread to Ireland, Irish brewers started churning out stout porters of their own. One of those brewers was Arthur Guinness ,who started brewing his stout porter at the St. James’s Gate Brewery in Dublin in 1759. The beer, of course, was his eponymous Guinness, which is now the most famous stout in the world.

Saison / Farmhouse Ale

Wallonia, Belgium

Saisons — also known as farmhouse ales — date all the way back to the 1700s. First brewed in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium, in the early 18th century, saisons were originally made to offer crisp refreshment for farmers and farmhands during the hot summer months. As they were typically brewed in the warmer months of the year, these beers were called “les saisonniers,” which translates to seasonal workers. In the 1800s, the term “biere de saison” (beer of the season) first appeared in print, and the term was later shortened to simply “saison.”

As the beers were historically brewed on the farms themselves, many also choose to call them farmhouse ales, but the style remains the same. Saisons and farmhouse ales alike are defined by their relatively low ABV, spiced fruit flavors, and dry finish. Some farmhouse ales were even made using native cultures from Wallonian farms, mixing brewing yeasts with these wild yeasts, thus creating the wild ale category.

India Pale Ale (IPA)

Burton upon Trent, England

By now, it’s fairly common knowledge that the India pale ale, despite its name, did not originate in India. Instead, its origins lie in the United Kingdom. From 1757 to 1858, India was under control of the British East India Company and settlers and soldiers in the South Asian country were always looking for a taste of home. But as beers from home arrived on Indian shores, they were often stale or spoiled from the six-month journey. British brewers needed to come up with a way to ship beers to India and ensure they would still taste good when they got there. The IPA was their eventual solution. And while George Hodgson’s October ale from Bow Brewery in London might be considered the first IPA by some, it was essentially a heavily hopped barley wine.

Instead, what we now know as the IPA was likely first produced in Burton upon Trent, a small city roughly 150 miles northwest of London. In the early 1820s, brewers in the city are said to have reformulated the recipe for pale ales destined for export, hopping them up to produce a more bitter and drier brew. One of those was allegedly Allsopp’s the Famous Original, which was first brewed in 1822 by Samuel Allsopp to survive the trip to Bombay. Today, IPA is brewed all over the globe in dozens of styles.

Pilsner

Pilsen, Czech Republic

It’s no surprise that the country that consistently drinks the most beer also created one of its most iconic styles — the pilsner. In 1842, the pilsner was brewed for the first time in the city of Pilsen, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic), but how it actually came about was a bit of an accident. Before the 1840s, beer quality in Pilsen left something to be desired, and brewers were looking for solutions. After Bohemian brewers produced a batch of lager that spoiled, they consulted Bavarian brewer Josef Groll to see what could be done to save their beers. While working at the Bürgerbrauerei, Groll wisely thought to add more hops to the brew — namely noble hop varieties like Saaz — thus creating the pilsner variety. But while the pilsner is technically a lager made with pilsner malt, it’s important to note that not all lagers are pilsners.

Helles

Munich, Germany

At the midpoint between the traditional lager and the Czech pilsner, one will find the helles, a German-style lager brewed as a response to the Czech’s success with the aforementioned pils. Following the pilsner’s debut, the style quickly took off in Germany, becoming the preferred style for many beer drinkers there. Naturally, the Germans weren’t having it. In 1894, Gabriel Sedlmayr II — who had taken over the Spaten Brewery in Munich following the death of his father decades earlier — responded to the popularity of the pilsner by brewing what he dubbed the helles. Maltier than a lager, but less bitter than a pilsner, helles beers tend to be brewed from pilsner malt, German lager yeast, and German noble hop varieties such as Saaz or Hallertau.

Kölsch

Cologne, Germany

Cologne is an important city for beer history in general, but particularly for German beer history. Brewing has taken place in the city since as early as the Middle Ages, and in the 1600s, Colognian brewers made the decision to go against traditional German production methods. Rather than lagering their beers, Cologne passed a law mandating all beer be produced using top fermentation. One of those beers is kölsch, which has roots dating back centuries, though modern commercial production started in the late 1800s as pale lagers grew in popularity.

Kölsch, by definition, is a member of the ale family, though it can very much be viewed as a drawbridge between ales and lagers. While the beer is produced from top-fermenting yeast like an ale, it’s cold-conditioned just like a lager. Kölsch is so integral to Cologne’s history that in 1986, the Kölner Brauerei-Verband (Cologne Brewery Association) outlined exactly what makes a beer a true kölsch, from its ingredients, to its taste, to how it should be served. It even outlined who can legally produce it. In 1997, the European Union followed suit, awarding kölsch with a protected geographical indication (PGI), mandating that only those located within 31 miles of the city can legally label their applicable beers “kölsch.”

Belgian Dubbel

Westmalle, Belgium

Belgium’s impact on the brewing industry cannot be understated — it’s why its beer culture was recognized as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage in 2016. And some of the most important contributions have come from Belgium’s Trappist monks, who have been brewing beer since the 1830s. One of those contributions is the dubbel, a style of Belgian Trappist ale known for its prominent malt flavors. The style, named for its higher alcohol content than standard ales, originated at the Westmalle Brewery in the Westmalle Abbey in 1856. The beers tend to have a dark color thanks to the inclusion of candi sugar, a carmelized syrup that lends notes of burnt sugar and raisins. Dubbels are typically bottled between 6 and 8 percent ABV, but if you’re looking for something even boozier, check out the Belgian tripel, which also originated at the Westmalle Brewery.

American Barleywine

San Francisco, United States

American barleywine is, as the name suggests, an evolution of barley wine, which was first created in 1800s England at breweries attached to aristocratic houses. But barleywine is a bit of a misnomer, because it’s not wine. Instead, it gets its name from the beer’s high alcohol content and longer aging process. To make barleywine, sugars are extracted from grains, which requires an extremely high amount of malt that needs to be boiled for an extended period of time to achieve the proper flavor profile. Once brewing is complete, barleywine then spends at least a year maturing in wood casks before it’s bottled.

In 1872, the term “barley wine” was first coined by the team at Brass Brewery in Burton upon Trent, but it took another 100 years for the style to travel across the Atlantic. In 1975, San Francisco’s Anchor Brewing launched Old Foghorn Ale, the very first American barleywine. To prevent confusion with wine, barleywine is spelled as one word, rather than the English spelling with two. But that’s not the only difference. While English barley wines are characterized by their heavy malt, American barleywines are recognizable for their hops. To craft the first American barleywine, Anchor founder Fritz Maytag took a recipe for the classic style and added dry hopped Cascade hops from the Pacific Northwest.

West Coast IPA

Bay Area, Calif., United States

While New England IPAs are defined by their hazy appearance and punchy juicy fruit flavors, West Coast IPAs are defined by the types of hops typically used: Cascade, Centennial, and Chinook. Clear instead of hazy, West Coast IPAs tend to be copper colored and deliver tropical fruit flavors on a hop-forward palate. The style is thought to have originated at Anchor Brewing with the release of Liberty Ale in 1975, which Maytag produced by adding dry hopped Cascade hops to a pale ale to highlight the hop’s aromatics. But while Liberty Ale could possibly be the first West Coast IPA, it was not labeled as such. However, the dry hop technique was later used as a foundation for the style that is now used to make some of the most popular IPAs in America, including Russian River’s Pliny the Elder, Lagunitas IPA, and Ballast Point Sculpin.

New England IPA (NEIPA)

Stowe, Vt., United States

Easily the most popular IPA substyle to emerge from the craft beer boom is the New England IPA, or, as it’s perhaps more commonly known, the juicy or hazy IPA. Despite the multitude of names to describe the beer, hazy IPAs are recognizable for their creamy mouthfeel, mild bitterness, and robust juicy fruit flavors. And the first one to ever hit the market is quite famous. It is, of course, Heady Topper. First brewed in 2004 at The Alchemist brewery in Stowe, Vt., Heady Topper is one of the most widely beloved beers on the planet, with drinkers traveling far and wide to try it from the source. To make the beer, The Alchemist co-founder and brewer John Kimmich took a standard IPA recipe, but rather than filtering and pasteurizing the beer, he left it untouched and found that it took on a murky color and distinctly fruity notes. Once the brewery started canning Heady Topper, it quickly ignited the “haze craze” in the United States, inspiring brewers from coast to coast to produce IPAs in the same style (much to some drinkers’ chagrin).

*Image retrieved from Davide Valerio via Unsplash

The article The Birthplaces of Every Popular Style of Beer [MAP] appeared first on VinePair.