Green’s Dictionary of Slang

pertaining to alcohol, mostly beer; usu. in compound below.

[1866		Night Side of N.Y. 54: The finest horses in the world are harnessed to the chariots of this ‘Amber God’].
1886		Public Opinion (Canada) 1 420/1: Soldiers in the recently opened saloon at the Soldiers’ Home, at Dayton, each with his ‘mug of amber brew, a full pint, filled up solid to the brim’.
1908		E.G. Murphy ‘Apples’ in Jarrahland Jingles 165: The loyal liquor they were swilling [...] whenever there’s a plentitude of amber eau-de-vie, Cronk sentiment is equally abundant.
1908		Phi Beta Pi Qly 5-6 183/2: Henry Loftus from Om-ha-ha is a good German and quite fond of the amber fluid.
1910		Spokane Press (WA) 27 Mar. 5/4: Not the first attempt that has been made to hold back bottles till the brewers were ‘up against’ it for receptacles for their amber brew.
1910		Truth (Brisbane) 4 Dec. 11/3: He clutched a heavy weight amber-drench, and I the extensively advertised tired-bloke’s tincture.
1918		Truth (Sydney) 3 Feb. 9/1: [heading] Rogue Reggie – runs amuck with a rug – but blames the amber beverage [AND].
1920		Capt. Billy’s Whiz Bang Aug. 40: A nice, large, cooling glass of lager. You know, the kind we got before the war — the amber fluid that would almost make you side-slip into a tail spin.
1949		A. Hynd We Are the Public Enemies 126: The amber brew [...] had just returned to slake the parched national palate.
1954		B. Kiely Honey Seems Bitter 175: The happy times I’d walked that way [...] with a full amber mind.
1972		Bulletin (Sydney) 19 Aug. 6/2: Barry Crocker as Bazza is beautiful. He shows off remarkable cultural achievements, like being able to open a tube of the chilled article with one hand and give himself a swift amber transfusion.
1972		A. Buzo Tom (1975) 15: I’ll stick with the old amber article.