pilafdm

Recipes 

Hi, folks!

When feeling experimental, I get a kick out of using themes in my recipes. This time, I thought I'd use stuff with as many "C"s as possible, and invoke some lame office humor.

Problems with this:
1. This removes rhyme or reason from a flavor standpoint, and
2. I'm not experienced enough to know how to take a "challenging" list of ingredients and pull an Iron Chef (Iron Brewmaster?) and wring something awesome out of it.

Essentially, I'll be relying on luck, and I just want to have fun with this.

Before I go through with it, though, I was hoping folks might check out whether there're any huge red flags showing up (apart from the fact it's likely to be an odd brew). I'm particularly concerned with the possibility of accidentally bittering with hops that aren't great for bittering, and the possibility of just having a really funky ratio of malts.

That said, here it is:
"Could you C.C. Me on That?"

Any feedback?
Thank you!

Cheers,
P

dzlater

Recipes 

off the top of my head
90% Canadian 2 row
10% crystal 40
cascade hops
Cal ale yeast

ReverseApacheMaster

Recipes 

You could use quite a few hops since so many start with C. Same with crystal malts.

pilafdm

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Thanks! I posted the tentative recipe, already, though (and I'll make sure to use Canadian 2-row!). Any "OMG DO NOT DO THIS" moments in the recipe?

Gduck

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You really want ro get creative you also could go with clove and cardamon. Both of which, if you do use, use VERY sparingly as they have very aggressive flavors, especially clove.

beergynt

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I'd stay away from crab legs, catfish, cicadas...

__________________
C6H12O6 → 2 CH3CH2OH + 2 CO2

teucer

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The "C" hops actually play together rather well. Sounds like the makings of a good American Pale or American IPA. Alternatively, a California Common but without the focus on NB hops typical in the style.

Don't mention the base malt, since there's nothing particularly special about it anyhow in such a beer, but do mention the crystal/caramel malt that gives it some depth and starts with the right letter.

TheGreatReverend

Recipes 

I've never used Cooper's or Canada Malting, but I can't imagine they are too different from other pale malts. I've never used CaraBohemian, either, but it's a small amount used for head retention and some body anything odd would be masked by the crystals which should all be fine. Candi sugar always makes me think Belgiums -- anyone else used it outside of a Belgium? -- but that should be fine.

The hop profile looks pretty good, too. Challenger, Centennial, Crystal, and Cascade are all good to fantastic hops and close enough to the right times. Though I love Citra, it lives up to it's name and produces less of a piney, floral sent and more of a citrusy one. You seem to have a spicy, semi-floral, earth tone going is the only reason I bring that up and citrus would be a little outside a typical amber ale. I'm not saying take it out, just making sure you know it will add a bit of that characteristic.
I've never use Comet, but it's supposed to be a distinctive bittering hop (as high as 12.4%AA) a few brewers don't like. I'd pull it from the 10 min drop.

Cardamon is going to move it out of the usual style of an Amber Ale, too. It gives an interesting, aromatic quality, with a unique taste. It can be used in a variety of cooking including semi-sweet and sweet candies. If it's freshly ground, I'd use half--0.25 oz. I had a Honey Wheat ruined by fresh Cardamon (it was good stuff, I was following a recipe that must have used inferior ingredients) and fresh Coriander (has a slightly-spicy, slightly-woody, very-orange flavor).

Right now I'm partial to Citrus Wheats (don't know why!) so I'd recommend putting Citra or Cascade in place of the 10 min Comet (I like hops and since we're leaving the genre of amber ale for an experiment, I'd even add something as a 60 min boil and why not 0.1 to 0.2 oz of Coriander!)

If anyone else thinks the Candi will make it pretty sweet, or give it a flavor similar to a belgium, then it really can't hurt to add coriander for the orange taste

Hope that helps!

pilafdm

Recipes 

GREAT advice, all! Thank you!

I recently made a Comet SHIPA and LOVED it. I think Comet may actually be one of my go-to hops -- and so much the better if it's a bit of a black sheep, as perhaps by embracing it and lacing most brew with it I can develop a distinctive flavor profile for my beers, huh?

I'll tweak the recipe and check back. This'll probably be my next brew, so I'll be sure to let you know how poorly (I mean -- how well!) it turns out.

Thanks again.

I like cardamom for the dumbest of reasons: I studied Icelandic in Iceland, and cardamom plays a special role in their food and drink -- most notably in their trademark "black death" schnapps, and given that I had some really good times being a bit out of my head on that stuff, I kind of put it in everything now...

I think I will pull Citra. Living in San Diego, I get enough of it.

I may, however, add the cloves and a bit of coriander -- in small doses. I think I'll reduce the Candi to a nominal level.

I'll check back soon!

pilafdm

Recipes 

Oh, hey! I have some Centurion hops on hand. I understand them to be a proprietary dual-use blend? So, I think I'll sprinkle a little throughout.