BJCP 30D · Spiced Beer
Specialty Spice Beer
A beer with spices, herbs or vegetables plus another ingredient or process, such as honey or specialty sugars. Everything should be recognizable.
This is a specialty category, so it has no numbers of its own. Gravity, bitterness, color and alcohol are those of the base style you choose, plus whatever the special ingredient or process adds.
What Specialty Spice Beer is like
A category 30 beer with a special fermentable or a particular process added. The spices and the addition have to come through and form a balanced whole.
Appearance
That of the base, influenced by the additions.
Aroma
Recognizable spices or herbs alongside the character of the extra ingredient, with the base in the background.
Flavor
Base, spices and addition in balance. The extra sugars usually ferment out completely, so they add more alcohol and dryness than sweetness.
Mouthfeel
Depends on the base, with whatever warmth the alcohol or spices bring.
Where Specialty Spice Beer comes from
It's the category for spiced beers that don't fit in 30A, 30B or 30C because they include something more.
Ingredients
A base style, spices, herbs or vegetables and another fermentable, such as honey, brown sugar or maple syrup, or a special process. If it also has fruit, it goes in 29B.
Brew it yourself
How to brew Specialty Spice Beer at home
Add the sugars late in the boil or during fermentation, and the spices carefully, preferably as a tincture so you can adjust. You have to state the base, the spices and the extra ingredient or process; judges look for everything to come through without any one element covering up the rest.
Food pairing
Spicy dishes, honey-glazed meats and aged cheeses.
Glassware: Teku glass, a tasting glass that works with almost any style.
Frequently asked questions
What food pairs well with Specialty Spice Beer?
Spicy dishes, honey-glazed meats and aged cheeses.
Which styles are similar?
If you like it, also try Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer, Alternative Sugar Beer and Specialty Fruit Beer.
If you like Specialty Spice Beer, try these
Classification and statistics: official Specialty Spice Beer guidelines from the BJCP, 2021 edition. Original text by Hacer Cerveza Casera.