Lotte Peplow, the Brewers Association’s American craft beer ambassador for Europe, looks at key events this month and highlights new beer style guidelines
Photograph: Brewers Association
July plays host to two iconic American celebrations: Independence Day, on 4th July, and arguably the lesser-known National Ice Cream Day on 20th July! Both are ideal occasions to celebrate with an American craft beer.
Independence Day dates back to 1776, when America formally separated from British rule, while National Ice Cream Day was established in 1984 by President Reagan to commemorate the sweet treat enjoyed by over 90% of the US population. Today, 48 pints of ice cream are consumer annually by the average person in America.
The wide spectrum of flavours found in American craft beer lends itself perfectly to ice cream as a pairing partner, or as an ingredient poured over it to create a beer float extravaganza!
Photograph: craftbeer.com
Try these pairing ideas:
Stout or porter: flavours of chocolate, coffee, dried fruits. Rich, dense, decadent, and full bodied.
Ice cream pairing partners: chocolate, coffee, mocha, vanilla, pistachio (think Dubai chocolate bar!).
Bourbon barrel-aged stout: flavours of bourbon, oak, vanilla, coconut, and more. Intense, robust, and warming.
Pairing partner: best with a vanilla-infused ice cream to let the flavours of the beer shine through.
Barley wine or doppelbock: high level of residual sweetness from the high ABV, malty caramel notes, complex depth of flavour.
Pairing partners: pralines and cream, salted caramel, cookies and cream.
Sours and fruited sours: tart, mild acidity, often fruity flavours.
Pairing partners: creamy vanilla or fruit-based ice cream, such as raspberry, blueberry, or mango, depending on the base fruit in the beer.
Wheat beers: banana, clove, spicy flavours. Highly carbonated and great at refreshing the palate.
Pairing partners: banana, coconut, strawberry.
Milkshake IPA: the use of lactose (milk sugar) gives a subdued bitterness. Tropical fruit hop flavours are common. Lactose may be used in ice cream production, giving a complementary bridging partner.
Pairing partners: mango, pineapple, coconut, most fruit-based ice creams.
A plethora of American craft beer will be available for sampling at the London Craft Beer Festival, on 18th and 19th July at Magazine. Some 22 American craft breweries will be pouring 56 different beers, ranging in strength and style from light and crisp through to big and experimental.
You’ll find fruited sours, spontaneously-fermented saisons, classic wheat beers, and a vast range of IPAs to suit even the most discerning hophead. Daring and bold flavour combinations will be front and centre, including a gose with pickle, a blueberry crumble sour ale, a peach lager made with real fruit, or a Bourbon barrel-aged stout made with monster cookies, honey-glazed coconut, a touch of peanut butter. and candy-coated chocolates! Tickets are available here.
For brewers and judges, the Brewers Association has announced the addition of seven new beer styles to the Beer Style Guidelines, which will apply to the World Beer Cup next year. They comprise:
- Four new styles in the Mexican-style lager category: light, pale, amber, and dark. The uniqueness and growing popularity of these styles warrants individual guideline recognition for brewers and judges as subcategories of the international light lager, the new international amber lager, and the international dark lager categories, respectively.
- Czech-style amber lager and Czech-style dark lager. The distinctive side-pour faucet used to dispense Czech-style beers has created renewed brewer and consumer interest in these traditional beers.
- Representing the constant innovation that is a hallmark of independent American craft brewers, West Coast-style pilsener is a new style that balances the fresh, assertive expression of Pacific Northwest and Southern Hemisphere hops with the character and drinkability of a pilsner. This style is a result of brewers’ recent experimentation with high hop levels in lager styles.
Registration for the World Beer Cup 2026 opens in November. Winners will be announced at the Craft Brewers Conference in Philadelphia, on 23rd April, 2026.
About the author
Lotte Peplow is the American Craft Beer Ambassador for Europe for the Brewers Association and is based in London. She is a certified cicerone, BDI-accredited beer sommelier, beer writer, author, beer communicator, international beer judge, homebrewer, and beer lover.
