Probably too much victory for my taste. I used 0.75 lb in a pale ale and I could really taste it. It's like bread crust.
I'd also split the crystal, maybe half and half 40 and 75.
I'd dump the Victory entirely, add a quarter-pound each of 90L and 120L Crystal, and think real hard about the Chocolate malt; if you plug the darker crystals into your software, you might find the Chocolate unnecessary to get your desired color.
American Amber Ale, remember, is American Pale Ale with a firm to emphatic crystal/caramel malt note. Same basic hops profile, same strengths in OG - just that crystal/caramel malts should be instantly noticeable. See the style writeup in the HBT Wiki.
LOL - you asked for it. I think the problem with this kind of post is that there are SO many opinions and no right answer.
Looking at my recipes I have never use 1lb of Victory - it's always 1/2lb o 1/4lb but that does not say that 1lb is wrong at all!
Victory is used for it's aroma and is great for Nut Brown ales with it's toasty, biscuity, nutty flavors and aroma. SOUNDS GOOD TO ME!!
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Don't get me wrong; Victory is a fabulous malt! As Grinder noted, it provides lots of bready, biscuity overtones - in other words, it adds weight to the malt-hammer. What I'm advising is this: if you want "amber-ish", go after the characteristics of amber. Amber = crystal/caramel, not bread/biscuit. However, with crystal malts included in the grist, the addition of a small amount of Victory might be just different enough to be interesting.
It looks on track to be like Jamil's west coat style amber. The only thing it's missing is some 120L. It's a bit too bright in the IBU's for my taste and I like hoppy ambers. I'd shoot for 35 IBU and move the late additions to 1oz each at 15 and 0.
Amber - (or Amber-ish) - thoughts?
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