Amber Ale recipe

lyacovett · 11-23-2009, 03:41 PM

I am thinking about brewing something along the lines of an Amber Ale. I came up with the recipe below. Does this look like a decent recipe? Not sure if this would be considered an Amber Ale or not, but I'm pretty sure it falls within the guidelines for one.

What do you think?

A ProMash Recipe Report

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.50 Wort Size (Gal): 5.50
Total Grain (Lbs): 9.63
Anticipated OG: 1.047 Plato: 11.72
Anticipated SRM: 12.1
Anticipated IBU: 37.8
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
57.1 5.50 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) America 1.036 2
20.8 2.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) Great Britain 1.038 3
10.4 1.00 lbs. Vienna Malt America 1.035 4
5.2 0.50 lbs. Victory Malt America 1.034 25
5.2 0.50 lbs. Crystal 80L 1.033 80
1.3 0.13 lbs. Chocolate Malt America 1.029 350

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.

Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.25 oz. Columbus Pellet 15.00 16.8 60 min.
0.25 oz. Centennial Pellet 10.50 11.8 60 min.
0.50 oz. Centennial Pellet 10.50 6.3 15 min.
0.50 oz. Willamette Pellet 5.00 3.0 15 min.

Yeast
-----
S-05

jlpred55 · 11-23-2009, 03:59 PM

I would sub the Vienna with a couple pounds of munich which should help ramp up your OG to 1.055-1.060. You also need more crystal. Ambers are heavy on the crystal malts. Don't be scared to use them I use 1.25-2.0 pounds in mine. Usually a mix of 2 different lovibonds, one lower, one higher. Hops look great, I like em about 40 where you have them (all about balance) but don't be afraid to throw in some aroma hops at flame out. Good luck. If you want an easy recipe that is damn near fail proof, try Jamils Evil Twin- it is an easy and tasty amber to whip up and is similar to yours. You can modify the hops how you wish.

PT Ray · 11-23-2009, 04:53 PM

I'll second bumping up the crystal. I'd shoot for 10-12% of the grain bill.

lyacovett · 11-23-2009, 05:48 PM

OK, this is what I came up with. I kept the OG reasonable, as I have been getting pretty good efficiency lately, and I'd prefer to keep this under 1.060.

Would you mash this at 152?

Amber

A ProMash Recipe Report

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.50 Wort Size (Gal): 5.50
Total Grain (Lbs): 11.00
Anticipated OG: 1.054 Plato: 13.38
Anticipated SRM: 13.4
Anticipated IBU: 37.0
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
50.0 5.50 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) America 1.036 2
18.2 2.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) Great Britain 1.038 3
13.6 1.50 lbs. Munich Malt Great Britain 1.037 6
9.1 1.00 lbs. Crystal 90L America 1.033 90
9.1 1.00 lbs. Crystal 20L America 1.035 20

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.

Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.25 oz. Columbus Pellet 15.00 16.4 60 min.
0.25 oz. Centennial Pellet 10.50 11.5 60 min.
0.50 oz. Centennial Pellet 10.50 6.1 15 min.
0.50 oz. Willamette Pellet 5.00 2.9 15 min.

Yeast
-----
S-05

PT Ray · 11-23-2009, 06:24 PM

You went from 5% to 18% for the crystal, think that's too much. I also would have kept the chocolate, 1-2% like you had it.

jlpred55 · 11-23-2009, 06:32 PM

Agreed. Try 1 lbs Crystal 20 and a half pound Crystal 90L. That should get you close. Also agreed on the chocolate, a little is nice in the amber. Then adjust your base malt or the munich malt to give you 1.055 or so like you had it. This will be tasty.

Question: Why are you using both the base malts? (MO and US 2-row), one or the other is fine- I don't know if you are just using it up or what?

lyacovett · 11-23-2009, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlpred55

You also need more crystal. Ambers are heavy on the crystal malts. Don't be scared to use them I use 1.25-2.0 pounds in mine. Usually a mix of 2 different lovibonds, one lower, one higher.

This is what I decided to do. Maybe I will increase the 60 min Centennial a bit to adjust for the sweetness??

lyacovett · 11-23-2009, 06:39 PM

No, I prefer the taste and aroma of MO, but I was trying to use American Ingredients on this one, but I bent some for the MO.

jlpred55 · 11-23-2009, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lyacovett

No, I prefer the taste and aroma of MO, but I was trying to use American Ingredients on this one, but I bent some for the MO.

OK. Either is fine, if you prefer the MO use it as all your base malt...no issue with that.

Bob · 11-23-2009, 08:37 PM

Dig the Wiki article on American Amber Ale.

Given the guidelines therein, I suggest you make the following changes:

Omit the UK malt. AAA is not necessarily a malt-forward beer; it is definitely a Crystal malt-forward beer. There's a difference. Munich, Vienna and Victory will all contribute to a different maltiness than Crystal malts. I'm not saying it's going to be bad; I'm saying it'll be removed from where one expects AAA to be. American Amber Ale is American from the ingredients used. The crackery, bready notes of MO are not appropriate for the style.

Use a broad spectrum of Crystal malts. Remember darker Crystal malts will contribute substantially more flavor and color than lighter; too much 90L will easily overwhelm 40L. I suggest no more than 10-15% of the grist be Crystal malts. In your recipe, I'd use a pound of 20L and a half-pound maxmimum of 80-90L.

If you use Munich, try not to exceed 5% of the grist. Omit Victory entirely.

Hops must be distinctively American varieties. Willamette, unfortunately,* is not one of those varieties. As Willamette is a Fuggles cultivar, and is a good substitute for Fuggles, it is not distinctive enough. Choose instead one of the American varieties which give that distinctive, American citrus flavor/aroma.

S-05 is the perfect yeast.

Have fun! It's gonna be a good beer no matter what you do!

Bob