Dark Ale is a bit of a catch-all term for a Dark Beer (encompassing Porter, Stout, Amber, Oud Bruin etc). During the early days of the microbrewing movement in the United States in the 1980s, describing a beer as a “dark ale” was a simple way of making plain the fact that the beer at hand was dark in colour and therefore different from most beers then available. In the 2020’s the craft beer scene has developed considerably, so most breweries use more specific styles for their beers.
