American Amber Ale
By Mark Tumarkin

American Amber Ale; Some Clarification on the Style, From a post by Paul Kensler to the Home Brew Digest

<editor's note>
The following was taken from the Homebrew Digest.
</editor's note>

Date: Tue, 6 Aug 2002 06:28:48 -0700 (PDT)
From: Paul Kensler 
Subject: re: American Amber Ale

Erik,
I'm not surprised that you are having a hard time finding information on the 
American Amber Ale - its particularly misunderstood and many beer geeks take 
arms against the suggestion that it should be considered a style at all.  Many 
brewpubs and micros sell an "amber" ale that may actually be an APA, or a 
UK-style bitter but too often its simply just a little redder and just as 
bland as their "blonde" ale. "Amber" is often applied to beers as a product 
name to distinguish them from the brewery's other offerings (and they may be 
great beers) but they don't really fit the bill for the "classic" American 
Amber Ale. Old Dominion Ale, Bell's Amber Ale and New Belgium's Fat Tire come 
to mind - fantastic beers, definitely amber colored ales, but not classic 
examples of the American Amber Ale style.

A real American Amber Ale is truly malt-oriented.  In contrast to an APA where 
hops are forefront and malt provides a nice firm backbone, the AAA is just the 
opposite - the complex malt flavor and aroma is the defining characteristic of 
the style, with hop flavor and bitterness providing balance and complexity but 
clearly in the background.  Most of the malt flavor generally comes from Munich 
or Vienna malts, but crystal is sometimes used also.  The style should be 
relatively dry, so large amounts of crystal should be avoided (much of the 
color and malt flavor comes from the Munich type malts). Roasted flavors are 
inappropriate (black patent, black barley, roasted barley, etc.) in this 
style.  Chocolate-type malts are often used, but only in small amounts and 
usually just for color.  The malt flavors should be toasty, biscuity, 
perhaps a little caramel - again, the grain bill should be mostly pale ale 
malt (or US two row), Munich and/or Vienna, with wheat malt, crystal malt or 
chocolate malt making up a much smaller percentage if used.

Bitterness should be enough to balance the malt flavors and sweetness, but 
shouldn't dominate.  Hop flavor and aroma should be both low but noticeable, 
and should ideally be from US varieties.

Yeast contribution should be negligible - any of the standard US ale yeasts 
will do fine.  Basically you just don't want a yeast that throws any strong 
flavors that will compete with the malt and hops - just ferment the wort and 
give a few fruity ale esters.  No DMS, diacetyl, sulfur, or phenols.

Depending on where you live, you might be able to get a hold of Full Sail 
Amber or Anderson Valley's Boont Amber ale - both are fantastic when fresh and 
are, in my opinion, perfect examples of the style.  Once you've tasted one 
you'll be able to put your finger on exactly how this style differs from a 
Pale Ale.  Others might argue that Mendocino's Red Tail Ale is the ultimate 
Amber Ale, but I think its a little too light in color and malt flavor, and 
too hoppy and thus blurs the line between amber ale and pale ale - but when 
fresh its also a nice beer and shows the progression from pale ales to the 
amber ale side of the spectrum.

Brewing Techniques ran a nice article a few years ago about Amber Ales and I 
recall that the article referred to them as "West Coast Amber Ales" - 
apparently this style originated out west (perhaps in response to all the 
hoppy beers being made?) which would explain why my three examples are all 
Pacific coast breweries.  I'm sure there are some fine east coast examples 
too, and I'm really sure that somebody in Colorado is making a decent Amber - 
I just haven't had the pleasure yet.


Good luck, I hope this helps -
Paul Kensler
Gaithersburg, MD

* * * * * * * * 

After this post, Steve Jones sent in a post which was basically just the BJCP style guidelines for Amber Ales, pointing out some differences between Paul's descriptions and the style guidelines. Paul then replied with the following:

* * * * * * * ** 

Date: Fri, 9 Aug 2002 07:21:16 -0700 (PDT)
From: Paul Kensler 
Subject: re: American Amber Ale

Steve Jones notes in HBD 4010 that the BJCP style
guidelines for the American Amber Ale differ from my
description in HBD 4009, and was thoughtful enough to
post the BJCP guidelines.

To quote Homer Simpson:  ";Well excuse me doctor
(BJCP), but I think I know a little something about
medicine (beer).";

This illustrates the differing of opinions that I
alluded to in my post.  Lots of brewers have
_informed_ opinions about the style that differ
widely, leading to confusion and the inevitable
question: ";what the heck is an American Amber Ale
anyway?";.  In my opinion, the BJCP guidelines are
part of the problem.

The BJCP guidelines for AAA can be summed up as
follows:
";Category 6B, American Amber Ale:  See 6A,
American Pale Ale.  SRM 11 - 18";

Hm.  So if I add some food coloring to my Sierra
Nevada Pale Ale clone, its an American Amber Ale?  Not
very interesting, and certainly not enough of a
difference to justify its own category.  Isn't that
the sort of deceptive ";brewing"; practices that
us homebrewers rail against and accuse the
";mega"; brewpub chains of being guilty of?  

Yes, there are some differences in the guidelines: 
Diacetyl ";can"; be higher.  ";Some";
caramel flavor or aroma ";may"; be present.  The
malt / hop balance ";may"; move more towards
malt.  It seems as though category 6B was created to
protect the pure bloodlines of category 6A (Sierra
Nevada clone) and create a catch-all subcategory for
anything that is simply NOT a Pale Ale, than to create
guidelines for a style that stands on its own.

Again, Mendocino's Red Tail Ale is a fine beer so I'm
not talking ";good"; vs ";bad"; beer - but
I don't know that, if given one blindfolded, I would
be able to tell that it was an Amber, and not a Pale
ale.  Such a beer shouldn't (in my opinion) be the
defining beer for the style.

Anyone who has tasted Full Sail Amber, or Anderson
Valley's Boont Amber will know without a doubt that
they are tasting something clearly separate from a
Pale Ale.  Blindfolded, with hayfever, after having
eaten lox and onions, in a room full of smokers, you
won't mistake these beers for an APA.  In my opinion,
these beers and ones like them should be the
";center"; of the style guidelines and not the
fringe.  Yes, they are clearly hopped with US
varieties.  Yes, they are bitter.  But they are first
and foremost malty, caramelly, toasty, etc. and that
is what you take away from the experience.

At any rate, any BJCP judge worth his or her salt
knows that you have to judge a competition entry by
style and not by taste, and the current guidelines are
certainly clear enough on how an AAA entry should be
judged.  However, a better understanding of what makes
this style of beer unique will lead to more brewers
making interesting and distinct American Amber Ales.  

The BJCP guidelines serve a single purpose - to give
us a target against which homebrew competition entries
should be judged.  The guidelines are created and
occasionally updated to reflect the current brewing
practices of homebrewers.  If as a whole we're making
more distinct Amber Ales, then the BJCP guidelines
must follow suit - perhaps only after some motivated
and well-worded complaints to the BJCP board, but it
must happen.



Cheers!
Paul Kensler
Gaithersburg, MD

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