Beer Styles

What is a pale lager? In Melbourne, it's the beer that fills the most glasses: pale, cold, lightly hopped. Victoria Bitter is one of Australia's best-selling beers. After the 2007 recipe change it stood at 4.8% ABV, and from 2009 at 4.6%; in September 2012, CUB announced it would return to the original strength of 4.9%.

Australian lager differs from German pils in having less bitterness and a smoother body. The standard for international pale lagers calls for 18 to 25 bitterness units, while German pils ranges between 22 and 40. Anyone familiar with pils will find VB softer and rounder by comparison.

Alongside it stands the American-style pale ale. It's top-fermented, noticeably hoppier, and amber to golden in color. The craft scene of Fitzroy and Collingwood has added IPA, hazy IPA, and sour beers to the mix. Mountain Goat's amber ale, the Hightail, sits in between, with caramel malt and medium bitterness. It shows that a copper-colored middle ground can also be very drinkable without being a pure hop bomb, and it's popular with pub-goers.

So anyone doing the rounds of Melbourne's pubs drinks mostly cold and pale, but has far more choice with every brewery than they did twenty years ago. The style guidelines below are only meant as orientation for tasting; individual beers may fall above or below them, and the numbers on the label always take precedence over the table.