Amber Hybrids

Most beers fit easily into either the ale (top fermenting at relatively warm temperatures) or lager (bottom fermenting at relatively cool temperatures) but there are a handful of beers that combine some features of both ales and lagers. We call those beers hybrids. Hybrid beers are typically divided into two categories, the Light Hybrids and the Amber Hybrids.

 

Amber Hybrid beers include three different sub-styles including Northern German Altbiers, California Common Beers (Steam Beers) and Dusseldorf Altbiers.

Northern German Altbiers

The Northern German Altbier is a very clean and relatively bitter beer, balanced by some malt character. The Northern German version is more often brewed like a lager (with lager yeast) than the  Düsseldorf version The Northern version is also generally darker, sometimes more caramelly, and usually sweeter and less bitter than Düsseldorf Altbier. Most are simply moderately bitter brown lagers.

But while most Dusseldorf Altbiers come from Dusseldorf, Northern German Altbiers come from other German cities and from abroad as well.

DAB Traditional (Germany) and Alaskan Amber (United States) are great examples of the Northern German Altbier style.

California Common Beer (Steam Beer)

 

No one really knows how or why the word "steam" came to be associated with the style, but some speculate that because the beer was so highly carbonated, it tended to let off some “steam” when a keg was tapped. Brewed without refrigeration (there wasn’t any in 1849!), the beer was highly carbonated and under a lot of pressure in the kegs of the day. 

 

According to the Anchor Brewing Company, the name "steam" came from the fact that the brewery had no way to effectively chill the boiling wort using traditional means. So they pumped the hot wort up to large, shallow, open-top bins on the roof of the brewery so that it would be rapidly chilled by the cool air blowing in off the Pacific Ocean. Thus while brewing, the brewery had a distinct cloud of steam around the roof let off by the wort as it cooled, hence the name.

 

Today, Anchor Brewing Company of San Francisco has a trademark on the phrase “Anchor Steam Beer ™” and while the name is similar to the beers of Gold Rush days, the quality of the beer has gone up considerably since 1849. Anchor creates its Steam Beer ™  with the highest quality ingredients.

 

Because of the trademark that Anchor Brewing owns on the “Steam” phrase, this style of beer is often referred to as California Common.  Flying Dog’s Old Scratch Amber Lager is a second great example of the California Common beer style.

 

Dusseldorf Altbiers

 

The Düsseldorf version is a bitter beer balanced by a pronounced malt richness.

 

Like neighboring Cologne, Germany can lay claim to the Kolsch style of beer, Dusseldorf lays claim to the origin of the Altbier style. However, Dusseldorf has not protected the term Altbier, so many other cities in Germany and abroad brew beers called Altbiers.

 

Because they are brewed at cooler temperatures like lagers but with ale yeast, Altbiers are referred to as “hybrid” beers that don't fit readily into either the Ale or Lager categories. "Alt" refers to the "old" style of brewing (i.e. making top-fermented ales) that was common before lager brewing became popular. Over the years, the yeast strains that are used to brew Altbiers have become well adjusted to working in cooler temperatures, like lagers.

 

Some breweries brew special, usually darker and richer versions of their Altbiers called "sticke alt" ("secret alt"). These beers are normally special occasion beers and are a stronger version of the Dusseldorf Altbier.

Cuisine

Amber Hybrids pair well with many different foods including pizza, poultry, beef and fish.

Drink Amber Hybrids in a pint glass.