American-Style Amber/Red Ale

« View all styles

Location:North American
Category:Ale
BJCP Comparable Category:19A - American Amber Ale

Beer Style Description

This is the description of how the American-Style Amber/Red Ale style of beer should taste, feel and look. However, there may be perfectly fine beers in this style that fall outside of these ranges and descriptions. This information is just to show the most commonly accepted ranges for the American-Style Amber/Red Ale beer style.

  • Color: Copper to reddish-brown
  • Body: Medium to medium-high
  • Malt Flavors & Aromas: Medium-high to high maltiness with low to medium caramel character
  • Hop Flavors & Aromas: American-variety hop character may range from low to medium-low in aroma and flavor
  • IBUs/Bitterness: Medium to medium-high
  • Fermentation Characteristics: Fruity esters, if present, are low. Diacetyl is usually absent in these beers but may be present at very low levels.
  • Common Ingredients: Pale ale malt, typically North American two-row. Medium to dark crystal malts. May also contain specialty grains which add additional character and uniqueness. American or New World hops, often with citrusy flavors, are common but others may also be used.
  • Commercial Examples: Deschutes Cinder Cone Red, Full Sail Amber, Kona Lavaman Red Ale, North Coast Ruedrich's Red Seal Ale, Rogue American Amber Ale, Tröegs HopBack Amber Ale

Brewing Properties of American-Style Amber/Red Ale

These are the functional brewing properties of American-Style Amber/Red Ale beers, as descided by the Brewers Association. These guidelines reflect, as accurately as possible, the historical significance, authenticity or a common profile in the current commercial beer market.

ABV
The alcohol by volume is shows the amount of alcohol this style of beer should have.
4.4 - 6.1%
Bitterness
The International Bittering Units (IBU) scale is used to approximately quantify the actual (not perceived) bitterness of beer.
25 - 45 IBUs
SRM
SRM is a scale for measuring the color intensity of a beer. Low SRM grains impart a pale straw color while higher values mean it will add a darker color to the wort. Learn more »
–
11 - 18 SRM
(22 - 35 EBC)
Original Gravity
Original Gravity (OG) is a measure of the sugar content in the wort before alcoholic fermentation has started to produce the beer.
1.048 - 1.058
Final Gravity
The Final Gravity (FG) is how much sugar is left over in the beer when fermentation is complete.
1.010 - 1.018

If you see an error in our data, please let us know!

Based on Brewers Association 2020 Beer Style Guidelines with changes. Used with permission of Brewer's Association.