These are Belgian-styled ales to which herbs, fruits, or atypical spices have been added in order to impart flavor or color. Depending on whether or not the seasonings have been used in the fermentation or as an addition of juice or extract, the beer will have more or less of the desired character. These beers are highly individualistic, and they allow the brewers great creativity in their formulations. They will range from mild aromatic overtones to intense and pungently-flavored concoctions.
If one were asked to name the definitive American craft beer style, they would pick pale ale. Ask a Brit
The precise definition of English brown ale would depend on where you are in England. It is nowadays much more closely associated with Northern England, specifically Tadcaster and Newcastle, home to Newcastle Brown Ale. These medium-bodied reddish-brown beers are malt-accented with a nutty character, a gentle fruitiness, and low bitterness. Alcohol is moderate, a maximum of 5 percent ABV. The much less prevalent Southern English style, not seen abroad, is much darker in color, sweeter on the palate, and made in a lighter style. English-style brown ales of the former type have become very popular with U.S. brewers, no doubt for the same reason as they took hold in England: namely, they offer great drinkability.
Many North American brewers are now producing ales that are identified by the term “amber ale.” This is a more modern, non-traditional style, and many of these beers borrow heavily from the characteristics associated with more classical styles such as pale ales or bitters. Amber ales are light- to medium-bodied and can be anywhere from light copper to light brown in hue. Flavorwise they can vary from generic and quaffable to serious craft brewed styles with extravagant hoppy aromas and full malt character. Typically amber ales are quite malty but not heavily caramelized in flavor. For our purposes amber ales will also include ales commonly identified as “red ales,” and “American ales” as, from the consumer’s viewpoint, the dividing line between these styles can often be a more a marketing concern than a consistently observed brewing convention.
Mild ale is a traditional style of English ale that is characterized by darker colors, sweetish malt flavors, and subtle hopping levels, all within a lower alcohol frame (typically 3.5 percent ABV). Their purpose is to allow the drinker to get a full quotient of flavor in a “session” beer―a trick to which English ale brewing lends itself readily. In the 1940s, mild was more popular than bitter in English pubs, though it is less common now. U.S. craft brewers occasionally pay homage to this style.
India pale ales are deep gold-to-amber in color, and are usually characterized by floral hop aromas and a distinctive hop bitterness on the finish. India pale ales were originally brewed by British brewers in the 19th century, when British troops and colonizers depended upon supplies of beer shipped from England. Standard ales did not survive the journey; hence, brewers developed high gravity, highly-hopped ales that survived shipment in casks to their largest market, India. This style, probably not anywhere near as bitter as it was when destined for India, continues to be brewed in a toned-down manner in the United Kingdom and is undergoing a mini-revival at present. However, U.S. craft brewers have claimed the style as their own, and often brew them with assertive Pacific Northwestern hop varieties that give such examples a hugely aromatic hop accent.
Pale ales tend to be fuller-bodied with a more assertive character on the palate than the standard bitter in a English brewer’s portfolio. In England, they are generally bottled, as opposed to being sold on draft. Despite the name, pale ales are not pale but, in fact, more of an amber hue. The original designation was in reference to this style of beer being paler than the brown and black beers that were more popular at the time of the style’s inception. In the United States, pale ale styles have become one of the benchmarks by which craft brewers are judged. The U.S. version of pale ale is crisper and generally much more hoppy. Indeed, this style is well suited to assertive domestic Pacific Northwestern hop varieties that give the United States examples inimitable character. A good U.S. example should be available on tap in any bar worth frequenting for its beer selection.
Bitter is an English specialty, and very much an English term, generally denoting the standard ale―the “session” beer―in an English brewer’s range. They are characterized by a fruitiness, light-to-medium body and an accent on hop aromas more than hop bitters. Colors range from golden to copper. Despite the name, they are not particularly bitter. Indeed, British-brewed bitters will often be less bitter than U.S. craft-brewed amber ales. A fuller-bodied bitter is labeled as “Extra Special Bitter” (ESB). These weightier versions of bitter often stand up better to the rigors of travel overseas than the lower gravity standard versions. An important element of faithful bitters is the use of English yeast cultures in fermentation. These impart a fruity, mildly estery character that should be noted in examples of the style. Bitters are now widely emulated in North America, sometimes with domestically grown hops, imparting a rather more assertive character than seen in traditional English bitters.
Bitter is an English specialty, and very much an English term, generally denoting the standard ale―the “session” beer―in an English brewer’s range. They are characterized by a fruitiness, light-to-medium body and an accent on hop aromas more than hop bitters. Colors range from golden to copper. Despite the name, they are not particularly bitter. Indeed, British-brewed bitters will often be less bitter than U.S. craft-brewed amber ales. A fuller-bodied bitter is labeled as “Extra Special Bitter” (ESB). These weightier versions of bitter often stand up better to the rigors of travel overseas than the lower gravity standard versions. An important element of faithful bitters is the use of English yeast cultures in fermentation. These impart a fruity, mildly estery character that should be noted in examples of the style. Bitters are now widely emulated in North America, sometimes with domestically grown hops, imparting a rather more assertive character than seen in traditional English bitters.
New York’s Rheingold Brewery produced the first light beer, Gablinger’s Diet Beer, in 1967, but it was a failure (didn’t
