Valentine’s Day is a holiday mired both in ancient lore and supermarket propaganda. The holiday is supposedly based on the wedding ceremonies the titular Valentine performed for Roman soldiers who were banned from marriage by their Emperor. (Apparently, married men aren’t as hard-hearted.) Whether this is true is anyone’s guess, though greeting card companies enthusiastically promote the story. Every year in remembrance of these alleged acts, we gather heart-shaped boxes of candy and flowers to give to our significant others in the hopes that they won’t find another to elicit favor from.

And just as the décor of this modernized lovefest is tangled up in red, so too is our February beer study: the American Red Ale. An especially fitting choice for the season of love in both color and historical importance, this ale has gone largely unnoticed by brewing historians.

The American Red came to prominence during the craft-brewing boom of the late ’80s and early ’90s. Needing to brew a wider variety of beer, brewers sought to emulate the styles of their English forbears. With few ingredients available to brew English bitter and pale ale, however, American brewers were forced to improvise.

Brewpubs began to create bitter and pale beer clones using domestic ingredients but ran into a problem: Macrobrews, which dominated the market they were looking to break into, all had beer that was pale in color and largely lacking in taste. Though the English pale and bitter were neither of these things, the nomenclature would have been deadly to use on patrons unfamiliar with the style.

To combat this, brewers decided to name beers after a spectrum, christening them after hues that ranged from golden to black. Falling squarely in the middle of this rainbow of suds was the American Red.

So is the American Red an odd choice for an article about the history of beer? Absolutely. But just as there is more to the story of Saint Valentine, there is more to the story of the American Red. Namely, a very important part of its constituent elements: hops.

Hops, of course, are the flowering plants used to give certain beers their distinct tangy and bitter flavor elements. English pales and bitters had long used a variety of native hops discovered by Richard Fuggles in 19th-century Enlgand, thusly (and hilariously) named Fuggles.

With no Fuggles available stateside at the time of the brewing boom, brewers were forced to harvest new varieties derived from the original English plant. These varieties came largely in the form of the Willamette and the Cascade hops. Both are strains of the Fuggles that were developed in Oregon by the USDA and Oregon State University. Due to varying growing conditions in the mountainous state, the breeders were searching for a variety of hops that would be resistant to mildew and found it in these grandchildren of the Fuggles variety.

With these new hops, American brewers began their development of our amber and red ales, leading the charge into brewing nationalism and resurgence. This love affair has led to the creation of the alluring and tasteful Jamaica Brand Red Ale from Mad River Brewing Company. (It’s brewed in California, despite its name.)

The Jamaica Red showcases gorgeous coloration of the red with a thick creamy head and cloudy reddish body. The head lasts and lasts and the carbonation of the beer doesn’t give up. The aroma of the beer boasts the flavors of our national hops excellently, importing flavors of tropical fruit and a bitter pine resin.

First sips also reveal notes of a bitter piney sensation in the back of the throat as well as a hoppiness that is perfectly balanced with the malts of the drink. Combined, the beer tastes of caramelized sugars and warm biscuits. The beverage is thick and fills the mouth but is not dry like similarly heavy porters or stouts.

While the origins of the red ale are not magnificent, it takes a look past the surface to appreciate the finer details of brewing technique and ingenuity. Why not get to know the red ale a little better this Valentine’s Day? You may just fall in love.

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