American Amber Ale

Tier B · BJCP 19A · Ale, American craft

ABV

4.5-6.2%

IBU

25-40

SRM

10-17

Serve

45-50F

Glass

Pint

Identify

Deep amber to copper, sometimes with a red tone at the edges. Usually clear. A moderately large off white head that holds. The smell is caramel first, then a modest citrus or pine note from American hops sitting behind it. A soft sweet start, then caramel and toffee through the middle, then a firm bitterness that arrives late and clears the sweetness away. Medium to medium full body. The finish is dry, not sticky.

Place

United States, early 1980s. A darker cousin of American Pale Ale

Cause

Crystal malt is made by holding damp grain hot before it is kilned. The starch inside turns to sugar and then caramelises in the husk. Adding five to fifteen percent of it to a pale ale grain bill gives you the colour, the toffee flavour and a fuller body all at once. Some of that caramelised sugar cannot be eaten by yeast.

Confused with

American Pale Ale, which is paler and more bitter. American Brown Ale, which is darker and tastes of chocolate. Red IPA, which is stronger and far hoppier. Vienna Lager, which is the same colour and is a lager.

Numbers

An American Amber Ale is a pale ale with caramel malt added and the hop rate pulled back a little. That one swap changes the colour, the smell and the weight. It does not change the family, and this is still an American craft ale at heart. Watch the order of events.

Will you like it, Order and Try

Caramel sauce, toffee, or the burnt sugar on top of a creme brulee. That flavour is the centre of this beer. Orange marmalade on toast. Sweet, slightly bitter, slightly citrus, all at once. This is close to that. Roasted almonds or pecans. The malt reads as browned and nutty rather than as raw grain. Strong tea with a little sugar.

Pair, Judge, Myth and Remember

What does not work: delicate white fish, fresh salads, sushi. The caramel rolls straight over them. This beer needs food with some browning on it, and it is genuinely one of the easiest styles in the course to put on a table. Clear copper with a head that stays.