Style Details

Name
Ger­man Leichtbier
Cate­go­ry
Pale Bit­ter Euro­pean Beer
BJCP Style Code
5 A
Appearance
Straw to pale gold in color. Bril­li­ant cla­ri­ty. Mode­ra­te white head with avera­ge to below avera­ge persistence.
Aro­ma
Low to medi­um hop aro­ma, with a spi­cy, her­bal, or flo­ral cha­rac­ter. Low to medi­um-low grai­ny-sweet or slight­ly cra­ckery malt aro­ma. Clean fer­men­ta­ti­on profile. 
Fla­vour
Low to medi­um grai­ny-sweet malt fla­vor initi­al­ly. Medi­um hop bit­ter­ness. Low to medi­um hop fla­vor, with a spi­cy, her­bal, or flo­ral qua­li­ty. Clean fer­men­ta­ti­on cha­rac­ter, well-lage­red. Dry finish with a light mal­ty and hop­py aftertaste.
Mouth­feel
Light to very light body. Medi­um to high car­bo­na­ti­on. Smooth, well-attenuated.
Over­all Impression
A pale, high­ly-atte­nu­a­ted, light-bodi­ed Ger­man lager with lower alco­hol and calo­ries than nor­mal-strength beers. Modera­te­ly bit­ter with noti­ceable malt and hop fla­vors, the beer is still inte­res­t­ing to drink.
Typi­cal Ingredients
Simi­lar to a Ger­man Pils or Hel­les, con­ti­nen­tal Pils malt, Ger­man lager yeast, Saa­zer-type hops.
Histo­ry
Tra­di­tio­nal ver­si­ons exis­ted as drinks for phy­si­cal labo­rers in fac­to­ries or fields, but modern ver­si­ons are more based on popu­lar Ame­ri­can pro­ducts in the same class.
Comm­ents
Mar­ke­ted pri­ma­ri­ly as a diet-ori­en­ted beer with lower car­bo­hy­dra­tes, alco­hol, and calo­ries. Pro­no­un­ced “LYESHT-beer.” May also be known as a Diat Pils or Hel­les, this style is in the schank­bier gra­vi­ty class. Other varia­ti­ons of Leicht class beers can be made from Weiss­bier, Kölsch, and Alt­bier; tho­se beers are best ente­red in the Mixed-Style Beer category.
Com­mer­cial Examples
Beck’s Light, Bit­bur­ger Light, Mahr’s Leicht, Pau­la­ner Münch­ner Hell Leicht, Pau­la­ner Pre­mi­um Leicht
Ori­gi­nal Gravity
1.026 - 1.034 SG
Final Gra­vi­ty
1.006 - 1.010 SG
Color
2 - 5 SRM
Alco­hol
2.0 - 3.0 %vol
Bit­ter­ness
15 - 28 IBU