Similar to Red Beers, the term amber ale is primarily a catch all for any beer less than a Dark Ale in color, ranging from light amber to deep copper tones. This style of beer tends to focus on the malts, but hop character can range from low to high. Expect a balanced beer, with toasted malt characters and a light fruitiness in most examples. These are usually not as hoppy as a pale ale, but have more bite that wheat beers.

They are characterized by American-variety hops used to produce a medium hop bitterness, flavor, and medium to high aroma. Amber ales have medium-high to high maltiness with medium to low caramel character. They should have medium to medium-high body. The style may have low levels of fruity-ester flavor and aroma. Diacetyl can be either absent or barely perceived at very low levels. Chill haze is allowable at cold temperatures. Slight yeast haze is acceptable for bottle-conditioned products.