Curious why the two are included under the same branch on this site. To me, the two seem like they are their own entities.
Agreed. I'd have the malty, bready beers under American Amber and things like Nugget Nectar, Hop Head Red, and already hoppy, drier beers as "American Red Ale." It only seems appropriate as these style substyles are widely divergent, and "American Red Ale" fits in with the American Black Ale precedent.
I agree. I always think of reds as having a more bright hop presence and ambers being maltier. I think there is definitely a difference.
If I had to make a distinction, maybe it would be that American Amber Ales are more apt to use the more subtle noble hops, whereas American Red Ales will feature the more aggressive citrus/pine American hop family. There's also that east coast (very early on, balanced Amber Ales dominated the east coast scene) / west coast thing going on. Break it all down, though, and they are similar enough- in the same gravity range featuring crystal malt and varying amounts of hoppiness. The ones calling themselves 'reds' just use darker crystal. West coast and east coast IPAs aren't separated, so I can see why these wouldn't be.
I've never gave it much thought but Modern Times calls their Blazing World amber and it's a dank citrus explosion it makes NN taste average easily my favorite Amber.
Yeah, these days anything goes, too- so trying to pin down a distinction will be bound to have many exceptions to it.
Yes, but stouts and porters are still separated, as well as Imperial/Double Imperial this and thats, (which is certainly a blurred line). The difference between a Red and Amber is arguably more distinct than those examples. I have often questioned why reds and ambers are lumped together.
I don't like ambers, esp. English style ambers--I get a blood or copper penny taste from them that I just do not want. I've come to realize, though, that American red ales are usually hoppier and drier and are quite palatable. Personally, I don't care if they're lumped into the same category on here so long as brewers know the difference and I don't start getting that blood/penny thing from American reds now that I'm starting to give them more of a chance.
It's possible, I guess, if you are just talking about the overall flavor contribution from the malts and not getting into the hop aspect. There do seem to be hoppy versions of both types.
