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Beer Styles - Light, Dark Anglo-American Ales

Styles & Seasonals June 12, 2005      
Written by Oakes


Richmond, CANADA -

Amber Ale



A classic non-style, amber ale is a category into which many types of ale fall, as long as they are amber. Some of these are quite hoppy, some malty, others just bland. Ultimately, amber ale is defined more by what it isn’t than what it is. It is not an American Pale. It may have the hop character, but will feature a lot more dark malt character and of course have a darker colour. It is not an English pale either – it has a different malt character and probably less yeast influence. Many lighter amber ales, the bland ones, are fairly similar to their equally bland golden counterparts, and but a hint of caramel and darker colour would differentiate them. Irish or Scottish? No, because amber ale is American, with US hops and more crystal and chocolate malt notes. “Red Ale” is just another name for amber.



So while hop rates can vary quite a bit in amber ales, they should all be amber in colour, of moderate strength, and have caramelly, crystal or even a hint of chocolate malt character.



Most popular examples: New Belgium Fat Tire (USA), Samuel Adams Boston Stock Ale (USA), Rickard’s Red (Canada), Mendocino Red Tail Ale (USA), North Coast Red Seal (USA)



Some of my favourites: Mac & Jack’s African Amber (USA), Mad River Jamaica Red Ale (USA), Rogue St. Rogue Red (USA), Full Sail Amber (USA), Rogue American Amber (USA)



Colour: 2 – 3.5

Flavour: 0.5 – 3.5

Sweetness: 1.25 – 3.5



Brown Ale



Brown-coloured ales have existed for centuries. How these various brown beers have morphed into the brown ales of today is not something I’m going to speculate, but I will describe what today falls into the style of Brown Ale. First, let me say that there are other browns ales, of course – mild, porter, dubbel, Flemish oud bruin. But the ones that are known specifically as a distinct style follow the lead of the famous Newcastle Brown. This is a light brown ale with a caramelly, nutty taste and moderate body. Since then, some examples with fuller flavours have emerged and a substyle in the United States has also come about. The latter, dubbed “American Brown” is distinguished primarily by higher hop rates – a twist added my homebrewers in the 80’s. The reason these are not split off here goes back to one of my fundamental beliefs about beer style – that beer is a continuum. Many examples are clearly one or the other, but many are somewhere in the middle.



The English type is sometimes referred to as “Northern Brown”, to distinguish it from “Southern Brown”. The latter is actually just bottled mild – the classic example Mann’s Brown Ale was originated precisely as that.



No matter where it is made, a brown ale should be of moderate strength and feature a nutty malt character. Hop rates will vary, and some US examples are even dry-hopped. Toasty and/or chocolatey notes will also be present, but brown ale shouldn’t have too much crystal malt character.



Most popular examples: Newcastle Brown (England), Samuel Smith Nut Brown (England), Rogue Morimoto Hazelnut/Hazelnut Brown (USA), Pete’s Wicked Ale (USA), Brooklyn Brown (USA)



Some of my favourites: Sam Smith’s Nut Brown (England), Scotch Irish Corporal Punishment (Canada), Pepperwood Monkey Brown (Canada), Garrison Barrack Street Brown (Canada), Huvila Olutseuran Juhla-Ale (Finland)



Colour: 3.5 – 4.5

Flavour: 1 – 4

Sweetness: 2 – 4



Mild



Mild is a style that developed slowly, and without a specific sense of purpose. The English have long consumed light, fresh beer and certainly some of these would have been more malty than hoppy and thus similar to what we today call mild. Mild appears to have developed as a fresh version of porter, which for a long time was a “stale” beer with vinous notes and acidity (what today would more likely be termed an Old Ale). At what precise point in time the word “mild” came to mean a specific type of beer with a set profile is not clear, but it’s been around since the mid-19th century at the very least.



The name mild refers to a lack of bitterness, not a lack of flavour. These low-gravity traditional English ales are considered a bit of an endangered style, but still have areas of popularity. There are a few pale versions, but most are dark. Alcohol is from 3-4% for the most part. Bitterness is low, as is hop character though a couple examples do have a little hop flavour or aroma. The body is light. The flavour should feature dark malts, but at low levels. They should not be cloying or sticky, but they should show dark fruit, nut, smoke or toffee flavours.



“Southern Brown Ale” is a bottled mild, at the lower end of the alcohol scale and very light in character. Very few of these still exist. Another variant was popular in British Columbia, but seems to be on the wane. A beer called Shaftebury Cream Ale lead a wave of imitators with a style that tasted very much like a mild – not assertive enough to be a brown ale – but with 5% abv. The Shaftebury beer still has some popularity but most of the knockoffs have disappeared and the style barely left the province’s borders.



Most popular examples: Moorhouse Black Cat (England), Gale’s Festival Mild (England), Two Brothers Brown Fox Session Ale (USA), Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby Mild (England), Mann’s Original Brown Ale (England)



Some of my favourites: Cain’s Dark Mild (England), Gale’s Festival Mild (England), Holt Mild (England), Titanic Mild (England), Church End Gravedigger’s Mild (England)



Colour: 3 – 4.5

Flavour: 0.5 – 3

Sweetness: 3 – 4.25



Irish Ale



As with leprechauns and the pot ‘o gold at the end of the rainbow, not everyone believes in Irish Ale. It is a tough style to pin down, actually. Part of the problem is that it fits right inside today’s definition of Amber Ale. But at the time Jackson first decided that Irish Ale was a distinct beer style, there really weren’t that many Amber Ales in the world – and indeed that style was never part of Jackson’s writing. So what is Irish Ale? It is a style of amber/red ale that was modeled on the popular ales of 60’s and 70’s Ireland – Smithwicks, Macardles, Phoenix and beers like that. Of these, only Smithwicks remains a widely-recognized entity.



The style was written more to distinguish it from Bitter than from Amber Ale, with mentions of rich caramel and buttery character. Even those are still to be found in some examples of Bitter, which I suppose isn’t a surprise given the vast range of flavours and aroma found under that rubric.



Ultimately, though, this is a style that exists because people believe it to exist. “Irish” is a word with some serious caché amongst beer lovers and that is why brewers are quick to use it on their labels. The examples listed as Irish Ale tend to fall within pretty much the same range as Amber Ale, but they are labeled as Irish or are from Ireland.



They are amber-red in colour, malty in palate though they might be a bit dry in the finish. Malt caramel varies from earthy to caramelly, complex to simple. Strength is moderate. Macrobrewed examples can be blander still, and some people consider the use of nitrogen on an Irish-themed ale to qualify a beer as an Irish Ale (see Kilkenny). Nitrogen may have been popularized by an Irish brewer, but it can be used with any style, Irish or otherwise.



Most popular examples: Smithwicks (Ireland), Kilkenny (Ireland), Caffrey’s (Northern Ireland), Murphy’s Irish Red (Ireland), Wexford Irish Cream Ale (England)



Some of my favourites: Dublin 1798 Revolution Red (Ireland), Carlow Molings (Ireland), Crannóg Hell’s Kitchen Organic Irish Ale (Canada), Great Lakes Conway’s Irish Ale (USA)



Colour: 2 – 3.5

Flavour: 1 – 3.25

Sweetness: 3 – 4.25

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