AMost beers tend to have a complementary season. Of course, you can enjoy a tropical, hazy IPA any time of the year, but the fruity, citrus body seems to pair best with sunny days. If zippy ales are for summer, then ambers and stouts must be for the colder months. That’s why we are bringing you these six toasty and roasty red ales that will warm you up from the inside.
Kulshan Brewing Red Cap
A Bellingham, Washington classic, Kulshan was founded in 2012 as the city’s second brewery and has been cranking out award-winning beers ever since. This amber ale is more on the hoppy side but still provides a malty sweetness from the roasted barley giving it a creamy finish.
Elysian Brewing Men’s Room Original Red
This Elysian beer was originally brewed as a collaboration with the popular Seattle-based radio show The Men’s Room on 99.9 The Rock but has stuck around for the long haul. It has a deep toasty flavor and finishes with almost a spiced taste that compliments the maltiness.
Laurelwood Brewing Co. Free Range Red
Just as malty and red as you’d expect it to be, this ale from the Portland mainstay receives an ample dosing of hops for bitterness to brighten up the hearty backbone. A year-round beer for the brewery and one of its best-known sips.
Odin Brewing Odin’s Gift
An award-winning beer (check it out here) from the Seattle-area brewery, Odin’s Gift makes use of Norse imagery on its can and in its traditional recipe. Flavored with juniper boughs, this amber has a rich, earthy profile. The caramel finish makes the beer delectable and easily paired with spicy food.
Mac and Jack’s African Amber
Mac and Jack’s has been serving top-shelf beers to Washingtonians since 1993. Best known for being a draft exclusive, the African Amber is no exception. This unfiltered beer is screaming with malty flavor from the special blend of malts used in production, pulling together a well-balanced ambers with a perfect blend of hoppy and malty flavors.
Boneyard Beer Diablo Rojo
Capping the list is another Sip Northwest award-winning red from Boneyard Beer in Bend, Oregon. Hailing from one of the most competitive beer regions in the U.S., Bend, Oregon, this beer needed to pack a pretty convincing punch to stand out – and it totally does! This semi-sweet, malty beer reeks of toasted sugar and caramel and finishes with a slightly bitter bite.
