Beer Styles

White wooden background with beer, brats, grilled pineapple, chicken, and ribs

Introduction

Hy-Vee Cooking Guide
Beer Styles

Be a craft beer expert. 

Raise Your Glass Game

  • Nonic Pint

    Great for session beers, English ales, or bitters.

  • Snifter

    Good for barley wines and imperial stouts.

  • Pilsner

    For high-carbonated beers like pilsners and light ales.

  • Thistle

    A modified tulip glass designed for Scotch ales.

  • Tulip

    Designed for Belgium ales, but great as a go-to.

See All Glasses

Ales & Lagers

In the world of beer, there are two main categories: ales and lagers. Learn who's who.

  • Ales

    Ales are brewed with top-fermenting yeast at warmer temperatures.

    Types of Ale Beers
  • Lagers

    Lagers are brewed with bottom-fermenting yeast at cooler temperatures.

    Types of Lagers

5 Questions to Ask When You Don't Know What Beer to Buy

So you want to try something new, but oh man, there's a lot of craft beer on the shelf. Here's what you should ask your Hy-Vee Wine & Spirits expert. 

See Questions

Typically when you pair beer with cheese, you want to match strong-flavored beers with pungent cheeses. However, for this recipe, we like a lighter wheat beer to let the sharp notes of cheddar come through. 

Related Content, Appetizer

Just another example of how absolutely delicious beer and cheese can be. 

Related Content, Appetizer

Best Grilled Food & Beer Pairings

Here's to our favorite beers, and the grilled foods we eat with them.

Get Recipes & Pairings

Why beer can chicken? Because beer. And chicken. The steam from the beer helps cook the bird evenly while keeping the meat nice and juicy. Plus, this recipe requires half a can of beer. What you do with the other half is up to you. 

Related Content, Main Dish
How to Make Beer Can Chicken

Charcuterie & Beer Pairings

  • Italian Dry Salami

    Pair with Kolsch or Pilsner. Both are light and crisp, but also acidic enough to cut through the fat.

  • Prosciutto

    Pair with a Pilsner for a light and crisp easy drinking beer, or Gose that will accentuate the salt.

  • Genoa Salami

    Pair with a pale European lager or a American lager. Both are light and crisp, allowing the flavor of the meat to come through.

See All Pairings
west coast ipa and carrot cake
Try Hy-Vee Bakery carrot cake with West Coast IPA
Hyvee Culinary Expert Tip
West Coast India Pale Ale (IPA) and carrot cake is one of my all-time favorite pairings! This style of beer places hop flavor, aroma, and bitterness in the forefront with noticeable floral, fruit, and citrus character.
Brian Hoppe, Certified CiceroneBrian HoppeHy-Vee Director of Restaurant Beverage Development, Certified Cicerone

Say Hello to Sours

  • Lambics

    Lambics are spontaneously fermented with wild yeast and can take a year or more to complete fermentation.

  • Flanders Red Ale

    This fruit-forward sour is described by some as red wine-like with a balancing malt profile.

  • Berliner Weisse

    Pale with a low alcohol content, Berliner Weisse has a high carbonation level and a strong sour taste.

Learn About Sour Beers
Hyvee Culinary Expert Tip
Sour beers have been a favorite of mine recently. Tart styles like Gose and Berliner Weisse have become more and more popular, with many of them being fruited. I never thought I would like fruit in my beer, or a sour beer, but here I am. Can't get enough of them!
Eric DodgeHy-Vee Wine & Spirits Manager, Waterloo, IA, Certified Cicerone, Beer Steward

Let's All Float On

Find out what happens when you drop the root from root beer floats. 

Get Beer Float Recipes

More Rounds of Beer

Learn to make shandies, radlers, beertails, and brush up on your beer terms.