Top to bottom: Flagship Reserve, Cave-Aged Marisa

Amber and Red Ales

STYLE NOTES: A uniquely American category associated largely with West Coast breweries, amber ale makes the case for balance. Its malty sweetness, hops bitterness, and alcohol warmth blend seamlessly, with no single element clamoring for attention. Compared to the popular West Coast pale ales, ambers tend to be darker, richer, and maltier, with a more muted hops aroma and bite. These quaffable brews hover around 5 to 6 percent alcohol, in the midrange of the alcohol spectrum. Unlike many of the heavily hopped and high-proof ales from America’s small-production breweries, amber ales shy away from extremes.

Oregon’s Full Sail Brewing Company launched the amber ale phenomenon in 1989, but New Belgium Brewing’s Fat Tire took the concept to the masses. Its success encouraged other brewers to try their hand at the style, making amber ales a lively American category. Red ale, a term popularized in the Pacific Northwest, is a variation on the amber-ale theme, with similar amber to copper color but often more ample hops and alcohol.

American hop varieties put their citrus, pineapple, and floral signature on amber ales alongside malty notes of biscuit and caramel. Expect moderate carbonation and a crisp, refreshing finish. Bitterness ranges from subtle to pronounced, with brews like Grand Teton’s Pursuit of Hoppiness venturing into the hop-centric realm of an IPA. But with the exception of such outliers, amber and red ales are friendly beers, appreciated equally by the novice and the connoisseur. When you are unsure of your guests’ beer preferences, amber ale is one choice that is likely to bridge a wide range of tastes.

BEERS TO TRY: Alaskan Amber; Anderson Valley Boont Amber; Bear Republic Red Rocket Ale; Bell’s Amber Ale; Breckenridge Avalanche Ale; Eel River Organic Amber Ale; Full Sail Amber Ale; Grand Teton Pursuit of Hoppiness; Mendocino Brewing Red Tail Ale; New Belgium Fat Tire; North Coast Brewing Red Seal Ale.

CHEESE AFFINITIES: Cheeses with a hint of sweetness connect with the malty heart of an amber ale. For that experience, look to alpine and alpine-style cheeses like Beaufort, Gruyère, or Pleasant Ridge Reserve; to young cow’s milk or goat’s milk Gouda; or to France’s sweet and nutty aged sheep’s milk cheeses like Abbaye de Belloc. Mellow Cheddars have a nutty, well-integrated flavor that complements these balanced beers, although full-on tangy Cheddars will make amber ale seem sweeter. Even washed-rind cheeses can work if they aren’t too pungent.

Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Toma, a semifirm cow’s milk wheel aged for about three months, has a warm-butter scent, a smooth and creamy mouthfeel, and the sweet finish of young Gouda. It isn’t classic Gouda by any means—it more closely resembles young Asiago—but the cheesemaker borrows some Gouda techniques to produce a wheel with rich sour-cream flavor and muted acidity. It’s hard to find a beer that doesn’t go with this irresistible snacking cheese, but amber ale particularly responds to its sweet, buttery notes.

Inspired by the classic bandage-wrapped English Cheddars, Beecher’s Flagship Reserve has a character all its own. The cheesemaker uses a nontraditional mix of cultures to give the cheese a creamier texture, nuttier aromas, and a gentler flavor than many Cheddars, without the typical tang. An aggressively hoppy IPA can handle Cheddar with more bite; but the brown-butter aromas and rounded flavors of Flagship Reserve appreciate a beer with a softer side.

Using milk from a Wisconsin cooperative, Carr Valley produces one of America’s finest sheep’s milk cheeses, Cave-Aged Marisa. Cheesemaker Sid Cook releases the 10-pound wheels after at least twelve months of aging, when they have a semifirm, golden interior and appetizing aromas of brown butter, mushrooms, wet stone, and hazelnuts. This mellow cheese is creamier than many aged sheep’s milk wheels from Europe, with none of the lanolin scent that drives some people away from sheep cheese. Sweet, tart, and salty flavors merge seamlessly, leaving a balanced impression. A malty amber or red ale would complement Cave-Aged Marisa’s buttery and nutty notes.

MORE CHEESES TO TRY: Abondance; Ardrahan; Arina Goat Gouda; Beemster XO; Cheshire; Comté; Lamb Chopper; Meadow Creek Grayson; MouCo ColoRouge; Parmigiano Reggiano; Petit Agour; Pilota; Pleasant Ridge Reserve; Roth Käse Gruyère Surchoix; Tumalo Farms Fenacho or Rimrocker; Wisconsin Sheep Dairy Cooperative Dante.