American Pale Ale

This colonial-era pale ale recipe—a collaboration with Mount Vernon to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence—takes a page right out of Martha Washington’s cookbook.

From Odell Brewing in Fort Collins, Colorado, this recipe is a celebration of Strata hops and the people who pick them.

From Offset Bier in Park City, Utah, this session-strength IPA—which features the new public hop, Vera—is fresh off a gold-medal win at the Great American Beer Festival.

With a gluten-free grist of 100 percent rice malt, this homebrew recipe comes from Jim Eckert, the rice-malting pioneer who founded Eckert Malting & Brewing in Chico, California.

Malt extract and hop extract join hands for this American pale ale recipe, which gets some aromatic bang from a potent cold-side addition.

From Lukáš Tomsa, head brewer at Dva Kohouti in Prague, comes this recipe for a Czech-style American pale ale—with a base of Czech pale ale malt, it gets a single decoction meant to promote body, foam, and attenuation.

Pale ale makes an ideal base for trying out the split-batch method and experimenting with the different flavors you can get from one kettle of wort and a single brew day. Following this recipe, you’ll get an American-style pale ale, a Belgian-style pale ale, and a British-style strong bitter—but it’s easy to imagine more variations.

There is not one pale ale—they are infinite. For example: There are a few classic types that can be assembled from essentially the same wort based on some key choices. Let’s explore the versatility.

American craft beer’s archetypal classic style, updated with some contemporary ideas.

With greater awareness of its pitfalls and a few new tricks up our sleeves, the time for a resurgence in beautifully balanced American pale ale is now.

American craft beer’s most important style—the American pale ale—is versatile for any occasion. Likewise, its approachability makes it an easy fit as an ingredient. Here we celebrate this bright, balanced beer with the most important meal of the weekend.

The foundational style of independent American brewing is still rooted in its bedrock, even as today’s brewers riff on it in new ways. Whatever take on pale ale you fancy, Josh Weikert explains why you should always order one.

From old school to new and from breweries across the country, here are a few of our favorite American pale ales.

Our country’s signature flavor profile was not born in Burton, but in the hop fields of Oregon.

This beer will be smooth in the mouth and features aggressive late and dry hopping, making it more of a “New School” (hence the name) American pale ale.

The constant hopping techniques used in Dogfish Head 60 and 90 Minute IPAs inspired this pale ale.

While the original gravity of this pale ale is right in line with American pale ale, the hops load is more akin to American IPA.

L.A.’s Golden Road Brewing teamed up with HMSHost to create this unique, journey-enhancing beer that you can brew at home.

This single-hops pale ale showcases the versatility of high alpha-acid Citra hops as both a bittering and aroma hops.

This bright and hoppy pale ale is a great complement to a wide range of dishes.