Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US, also ambeer, ambier) tobacco juice.

1914		J.C. Ruppenthal ‘A Word-List From Kansas’ in DN IV:ii 102: amber, n. Tobacco juice. ‘You know he chews, for the amber runs down his chin.’.
1927		E.C.L. Adams Congaree Sketches 24: I reckon dey is lousy jes like her mind wid ambier drippin’ off her bill jes like it drip off her tongue in dis world.
1931		V. Randolph ‘Witches and Witch-Masters’ in Botkin Folk-Say 90: They set thar a-drinkin’ an’ a-jowerin’ an’ a-spewin’ ambeer over each an’ ever’.
1939		J.L. Dove ‘Fighting Ben’ in Mss. from the Federal Writers’ Project 🌐 Well, sir, that old alley bat came within an inch of spitting that gob of snuff amber in my face.

2. (US/Aus.) beer; usu. as the amber [amber adj.].

[1598		J. Hall Virgidemiarum (1599) Bk V 87: He quaffe pure amber in his bowle Of March-brewd wheat].
1941		(con. 1920s) A. Lomax Mister Jelly Roll (1952) 180: Gentlemen who [...] wore sharp clothes and snap brim hats, bulged at hip and armpit, and drank only ‘the amber’.
1947		B. Schulberg Harder They Fall (1971) 216: The amber? [...] I haven’t got enough troubles? Why, my ulcer is havin’ ulcers!
1952		A.W. Upfield New Shoe 107: What about shot of amber?
1960		A. Seymour One Day of the Year I i: mum: It’s too cold for beer anyway. alf: Never too cold for the old amber, love.
1986		R. Campbell In La-La Land We Trust (1999) 73: Glass of something amber always in his hand for effect.
2007		S. Maloney Sucked In 141: Carrying on like they’d just pulled a major swiftie [...] And hitting the amber pretty hard.